2004 News Releases

For immediate release:
May 4, 2004

Media contact:
James Hoard
Phone: (214) 922-5307
e-mail: james.hoard@dal.frb.org

Euro Successes and Challenges Focus
of Dallas Fed Conference

DALLAS—The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and University of Texas at Austin—with support of the Delegation of the European Commission—will host an assembly of key economists and European central bankers to discuss the euro’s successes and assess challenges it now faces.

"Five Years of the Euro: Successes and New Challenges" will be May 14, 2004, at the Dallas Fed, 2200 N. Pearl St., Dallas.

Check-in and continental breakfast will open at 10 a.m., followed by the first session at 11 a.m. A detailed conference schedule and registration information can be found at www.dallasfed.org.

The conference will feature presentations by speakers from across the European Union. Keynote speakers will include Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, European Central Bank, and Christian Noyer, Bank of France. Dallas Fed President Robert D. McTeer, Jr. will provide opening remarks.

“The European Union is the United States’ most important trading partner,” said Mark Wynne, Dallas Fed vice president and senior economist. “The success of its single currency, the euro, will have important long-term implications for the United States. The European Central Bank has achieved significant successes during the past five years but will face major challenges in the years to come.”

Twelve European Union countries have adopted the euro as their common currency. On May 1, the European Union expanded to include 10 additional countries, drawn mainly from Eastern Europe. These new members are expected to eventually adopt the euro.

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