The euro will not become a global reserve currency "overnight", European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Monday in Brussels, urging lawmakers to complete the capital markets union, which she described as the most important step.
Europe is considering how to expand the global role of the euro as US President Donald Trump's confrontational approach to foreign policy and trade has accelerated the debate.
At the centre of the discussion are three main challenges: reducing dependence on US payment infrastructure, complete the EU reform agenda, and making the euro a competitive global currency, in a landscape where the dollar's supremacy is no longer guaranteed.
"It doesn't happen overnight. If you look at history, no currency has been an international reserve currency unless and until it had the capacity to defend itself and to have the military might to resist counterparts," Lagarde said during the event.
US giants Visa and Mastercard account for 61% of card payments in the eurozone and nearly all cross-border transactions, according to European Central Bank (ECB) data from 2025.
