The euro, once written off as a crisis-prone project, is suddenly looking a lot more ambitious. The European Central Bank is rolling out a permanent facility that lets foreign central banks tap euros when needed—an echo of the Federal Reserve's influential dollar "swap lines." ECB chief Christine Lagarde says the move to become a "lender of last resort for central banks worldwide" should push the euro from a largely regional role to a broader global one by assuring governments they can get liquidity in market turmoil, making it safer to borrow, lend, and price trade in euros.
It's part of a wider European push to reduce reliance on the US in a "Trump-shaped" world marked by tariffs, geopolitical tension, and questions about the Fed's independence, Axios reports. A stronger euro presence wouldn't necessarily dethrone the dollar as the dominant reserve currency, but could slowly chip away at America's edge in global finance. ING strategists see a shift toward a "multipolar" system of dollars, euros, and China's renminbi. The euro's rising profile comes as it trades near a three-year high against the dollar and as Sweden, fresh off joining NATO, debates adopting the currency—another signal of deepening European financial and security integration.
At the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, Lagarde was among many European leaders calling for the bloc to become less reliant on the US. She may not have much time left to secure her legacy. Source tell the Financial Times that Lagarde is planning to leave before her eight-year term expires in October next year. As leader of the eurozone's second-largest economy, French President Emmanuel Macron will have a large role in selecting the central bank's next leader, Bloomberg notes. The FT's sources say that with the far-right Rassemblement National leading in the polls, Lagarde wants to depart before the April 2027 election in France.
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