Where was the fanfare and fuss for the Euro as it marks its 10th anniversary this weekend? The launch on January 1st 2002 was marked by big celebrations and it was declared as a key feature in the change from a common market to an "ever-closer union".

The British National Party always said that the restrictions imposed on national economic policies by tying a group of different European countries to a single currency would lead to disaster. The desire for a single currency was driven by political not economic motives. The global recession and mounting debt have exposed the fundamental weaknesses in this Federalist scheme.

A "one-size-fits-all" economic policy and interest rate policy has prevented eurozone nations with differing financial circumstances from reacting to the crisis in their own best interests. The Eurocrats have reacted by trying to prop-up weak economies with large transfers of funds. So far Greece, Ireland and Portugal have required financial bail-outs - Greece twice.

Italy is now in difficulties and Spain's economic troubles loom large.

On the 10th anniversary, the euro's long-term future remains in doubt - with the latest of another round of emergency summits to tackle the crisis getting under way at the end of January.

European economic and monetary affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn used the 10th anniversary landmark to declare: "Against the backdrop of today's economic fragility, this is an opportune moment to recall the fundamental principles on which the euro was built and bring about a return to a Europe of strength and opportunity."

He insisted: "We have the bricks and mortar, we have the manpower. We now look forward to political will, strong determination and swift action to restore economic growth, and create more jobs and restore confidence in investors and the public."

German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble also voiced his faith in the currency, insisting that next year would see the risk of euro "contagion" banished and stability returned. He expressed confidence that the eurozone would not break up or lose any of its current members - "according to everything that I know at the moment".

Nick Griffin, MEP, said "despite the optimistic words from the Eurocrats the future of the single currency as it reaches ten years old is in doubt. We always said it was a misconceived idea based on a desire for a single European State. A single currency value and interest rate for seventeen very different economies is not going to work for many of those countries. Time is proving us right about the Euro as about so much else."