Europe must prepare for greater global safe haven role, says ECB

Europe must prepare to play a greater role in global finance given the dollar's retreat and needs to strengthen its financial architecture for the euro to take on a larger market share, European Central Bank policymaker Martin Kocher said.

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The ECB last week unveiled plans to widen access to its euro liquidity backstop in a bid to boost the currency's global standing, and said it would give EU leaders a ‘checklist’ of tasks, hoping that long-debated financial reform finally gains greater urgency.

The ECB's moves come as Europe's increasingly turbulent relationship with the United States and greater economic competition from China are shaking the foundations of economic and defence policy, forcing leaders to rethink the EU's role on a global stage.

“We have been seeing a stronger role for the euro over some time,” Kocher, Austria's central bank governor, said in an interview.

“We are seeing more interest in the euro by counterparts and I think that’s one of the reasons why we're seeing some appreciation of the euro, why the euro is becoming more of a safe haven currency,” he said.