From the article of 'Petrel'
No.707 / December 27, 1998
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//EDITORIAL//
The Birth of the European Joint Currency
It is not the Abolishment of "National Principle" but the Reinforcement.
The Euro (European Joint Currency) is going to be born from January 1.
They are clamoring that "the border" of the 11 countries in Europe will disappear.
However, needless to say, the border general do not necessarily disappear and even all of "the economic" borders do not disappear.
It is only money and financial policy that is commonized this time fundamentally.
The transfer of the capital (the money capital), person, merchandise has already been liberalized after the EU birth in 1993, and the money unification advances this one step more.
Although we do not deny that such "integration" has big significance, on the other hand, we will not be able to evaluate this "economic integration" excessively, too
First of all, it is never the economic integration in a general meaning even if it is called to be an economic integration. It does not exceed the level such as the unification of the interest rate yet, even if it is called as unification of the financial policy.
The fiscal policies of the 11 nations are left to the hand of the nations, and we will not be able to separate the fiscal policy and the financial policy in the present capitalism. The birth of Euro does not have abolished this "contradiction."
The European Central Bank may embrace the policy of deflation. However, the persons organizing the governments of the 11 countries at present are not necessarily so, but rather are the public finance expansionist contrarily and even the believers of the social democracy and Keynesism. They are not necessarily opposite to "welfare" and protectionism, and these things will become connecting with the public finance expansion policy unavoidably.
The opposition between the European Central Bank and the national sovereignty will do nothing but develop instantly when the contradiction will be deepened.
As for the European Central Bank itself, even the representatives of the central bank of every country are participating in the board of trustees, and the economic interests of every country have to be reflected to the policy of the European Central Bank. The interests of Germany and France of the powerful nation, are than every country.
Above all, the security that the economic integration--it is essentially partial and is staying in partial--will advance even to the political integration is not exist at all now.
Therefore, the European monetary integration connotes the possibility--even the inevitability --that the nation judging to participate in it does not become the profit but rather become the loss of the country in the future break away from it.
Although we are unable to deny entirely that it advances from the currency integration or the economic integration to the political integration, but many factor will must act on it for that. Generically, the possibility is never big.
Even if the present economic partial integration would go on to the general integration, the political integration, it would not be such as the overcoming of national boundary, or the abolishment of the national principle at all, it would be only a phenomenon, a form of accomplishment of the national principle, too.
In this case, it is that the 11 countries or Europe confront and antagonize the bourgeois nation such as USA or Japan or China as one nation.
It is that the countries of Europe wish to appear as an unified nation just because they can not confront and compete with these powerful nations as they are too small as each one country, so it is clear at a glance that it is not the abolishment nor the overcoming of contemporary world moving on the foundation of the national antipathy even though it is the augmentation and the revision of it.
The capital and the power will turn to be powerful and will be developed more and more, and will not be receded nor swept by the appearance of the unified nation of Europe. The monopolistic capital will be supported by the "new" unified nation and will strengthen power more and more, will develop globally.
The thing telling eloquently that it is a fantasy to think the monetary integration to be "the abolishment of the border" is the prevailing conversation with regard to international position of Euro.
According to it, Euro is said to play a new role as "the international currency" competing with the dollar.
If the world becomes divided to the Dollar area, the Euro area or the Yen area, it may be the expression of the disunion and opposition of the world economy.
The Asian countries tasted the "risk" and unfair of the dollar reliance with a pang in the economic crisis in this time. The hegemony of the dollar brought about a big economic shock and loss for many nations. If so, it must be an outgrowth that these nations evade dollar and rely on euro and become to hold not only dollar but euro as "foreign currency.
No one can say that the sharp conversion from dollar to euro does not go on, if the the "worth" of dollar would be expected to drop. Although the dollar had rose and had become international currency in place of the pound once, the era when the position is threatened realistically has come at last this time.
However, in the contemporary capitalism world where lacks the gold standard, the "international currency" area is merely the reflection of the economic capacity of the strong powerful nation (USA, Japan, China or integrated Europe) of this and that, or only the things that express the range of the economic hegemony. If not only dollar but also euro, yen or yuan would become to have each "economic bloc," it might be true only in the situation that the unitary world economy would become to the collapse and disunion.
The birth of Euro is not the one step of the overcoming of the nation principle such as a part of dreamers are believing but rather the reinforcement or even the development.
The abolishment of the nation does not become possible by the bourgeois integration or by the birth of the World State, the World Federation as the ultimate expression, but will only be possible and realistic only as the world revolution of the working class, the world of the world socialism.
It may be a fantasy if to see the one step to the World Federation, or the one step advance of the try in the birth of Euro. It is because Euro was born and is moving by "the principle of the nation" thoroughly, may be so from now on. If the national principle would appear as the"collective" national principle (For example such as "the United States of Europe"), it does not mean that the nation principle has abolished in the least.
(Translated by Yoshi)