Building the Global Euro

Europe’s financial system has been tied to the dollar since the postwar era but today that dependence is a geopolitical liability. 30% of EU exports and 50% of imports are invoiced in dollars, and the US has a strategy to keep it that way. Europe has only begun to admit it needs one of its own.

Join the European Macro Policy Network (EMPN) for the launch of Building the Global Euro: A Strategy for Reclaiming Monetary Sovereignty in a Multipolar World, a new report by EMPN Fellows Jens van’t Klooster and Shahin Vallée.

Conventional narratives of the EU’s dollar dependence blame technical gaps: insufficient safe assets, shallow capital markets, and treaty reform constraints. The report argues the problem is political, it reflects the structure of the EU itself and it can be fixed outside of Treaty changes.

The authors will present the diagnosis and the three concrete steps EMPN proposes for building a global euro. Participants will be able to ask questions live.

When: Monday 28 September 2026, 14:00–15:00 CEST

Speakers: Jens van ‘t Klooster (University of Amsterdam) and Shahin Vallée (DGAP)
Moderator: Max Krahé (EMPN and Dezernat Zukunft)