The relation of the Swiss franc to the euro

June 23, 2004
"Europa Institut" of the University of Zurich, Zurich

Summary

The introduction of the euro has ushered in a new era in monetary policy for the member countries of the European Monetary Union. Monetary union offers the participating countries numerous advantages, but also some disadvantages. The chief disadvantage is forfeiting the possibility of adjusting monetary policy to the needs of the individual countries.

The introduction of the euro has definitely had positive effects on Switzerland. Europe now enjoys considerably greater monetary stability than in the past, and this is a decided advantage for Switzerland as a very open economy. At the same time, the Swiss franc's independence has not been jeopardised. The euro has not displaced the Swiss franc as legal tender in Switzerland, nor has it established itself as a parallel currency.

The Swiss National Bank's scope for conducting an autonomous monetary policy has not been diminished by the introduction of the euro. There is no reason for the National Bank to peg the Swiss franc to the euro, and the relation of the Swiss franc to the euro is likely to remain harmonious in future too.

Download file now

The file can be downloaded with the button below.

Additional files

Related content

Author(s)

  • Thomas Jordan
    Alternate Member of the Governing Board

Your settings

Required: These cookies (e.g. for storing your IP address) cannot be rejected as they are necessary to ensure the operation of the website. These data are not evaluated further.
Analytics: If you consent to this category, data such as IP address, location, device information, browser version and site visitor behaviour will be collected. These data are evaluated for the SNB's internal purposes and are kept for two years.
Third-party: If you consent to this category, third-party services (used, for example, to add social multimedia content to the SNB's website) will be activated which collect personal data, process these data, disclose them abroad - worldwide - and place cookies. The relevant data protection regulations are linked in the 'Privacy statement for the website of the Swiss National Bank'.

Choose your preferred settings:

This website uses cookies, analytics tools and other technologies to provide requested features, content and services, to personalise the content shown, to provide links to social media, and to analyse the use of the website in anonymised form for the purposes of improving usability. Personal data are also disclosed abroad - worldwide - to video service providers and the analytics tools of these providers are used. More information is available under 'Manage settings'.