European Union leaders pledged to "stand by" the euro as they collected their Nobel Peace Prize in the face of the worst crisis in its 60-year history.
The leaders of European institutions said the single currency was one of the strongest symbols of unity it had.
However, the award comes against a backdrop of an EU riven by divisions over budgets and violent anti-austerity protests.
The EU was awarded the prize for turning Europe "from a continent of war to a continent of peace".
Accepting it, the European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said: "Today one of the most visible symbols of our unity is in everyone's hands.
"It is the euro, the currency of our European Union. We will stand by it."
Tensions between the 17 nations that share the euro and those that remain outside the single currency are heightening amid crisis-linked demands to tighten the economic and monetary union.
Making the award, Thorbjoern Jagland, the Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman, said: "We are not gathered here today in the belief that the EU is perfect.
Europe's leaders watch the award presentation "Europe needs to move forward. Safeguard what has been gained. And improve what has been created, enabling us to solve the problems threatening the European community today.
"This is the only way to solve the problems created by the financial crisis, to everyone's benefit."
Based on the will of old enemies France and Germany to reconcile after three bloody wars, the EU has grown from six states to 28 next July, when Croatia becomes the latest of Balkans nations embroiled in conflict only 20 years ago to join the bloc.
A score of EU heads of state and government attended to see the EU president, Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso and European parliament president, Martin Schulz, accept the award.
Speaking from Oslo, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "Today's prize is a tribute to the people of Europe, not an institution.
"For centuries, the idea of Europe and peace was a contradiction in terms.
"The fact that we have not been to war with our neighbours for nearly 70 years now is a testament to the sacrifices of the generations that have gone before us and the hard work since."
However, half a dozen EU leaders snubbed the event, taking place just four days before a key EU summit on monetary union.
Efforts to agree a new EU budget for 2014-2020 last month collapsed amid deep divisions between Europe's leaders.
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