A magnificent achievement, but still a political liability

The pan-continental currency is now two decades old, and its advocates want deeper European integration to support it. But can an ambitious agenda survive the fraught politics of modern Europe?

Jean-Claude Trichet, former president of the European Central Bank, hands over a bell to his successor, Mario Draghi, during a farewell celebration in 2011Ralph Orlowski/Getty

Trust an Italian to use a carnal metaphor to sum up the difficulties facing the euro, without making it sound tacky.

Addressing an audience of political and fiscal A-listers in Brussels last week, Beppe Severgnini, a columnist with the Milanese broadsheet Corriere della Sera, offered this metaphor for the problem Europeans face when trying to get excited about the euro: “It’s like trying to rekindle the sex drive of a middle-aged man by ...