The European Parliament (EP) marked Tuesday the tenth anniversary of the introduction of the euro as the common currency of the European Union.

The EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering, the European Central Bank (ECB )President Jean-Claude Trichet, the Eurogroup chair Jean-Claude Juncker, the Economics Commissioner Joaquín Almunia and former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing were all present at the formal session marking the ten years of the euro.

In his opening speech, EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering called the common currency "a bastion of economic stability", saying that "the creation of the euro was a logical development for a growing economic community".

"Today, in the European Parliament we are celebrating one of the most important historical decisions made in the European Union," Pöttering said.

In spite of skepticism surrounding the planned common currency, after ten years "we can see that the euro has created a lot of trust, and has offered a lot of benefits for EU citizens and companies", Pöttering further pointed out, adding that with the majority of trade being internal to the euro areas, it "is better prepared to protect Member States from external shocks".

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet told MEPs that the euro was "one of the great achievements of Europe..., helping fellow Europeans to enjoy "a level of price stability which previously had been achieved in only a few of the euro area countries."

Eurogroup Chair Jean-Claude Juncker stated that "Europe has often showed the ability to develop ambitious plans and the necessary determination to see them realized. The EU itself is the best example of that, along with the internal market, enlargement - and Economic and Monetary Union."

The euro, and European Monetary Union are an "unarguable success" of which Europeans can be proud, and which are still providing strength and stability in the current crisis, said Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner JoaquГ­n Almunia.

"This celebration is justified", France's former President Valery Giscard D'Estaing declared, because the euro has made "the biggest contribution to the European project since direct elections to the European Parliament were introduced in 1979".

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