You just noticed? It passed the US dollar a couple of months ago, and has pulled back from a peak of $1.09=€1. (NB, obviously manufacturers of keyboards are preparing for British entry to the € if I can type it now, ) The € has strengthened because of the greater weakness of others. Bush seems to be neglecting strong $ policy, and is also weakened by his various crusades. Japan seems to be wanting to deliberately weaken the Yen, China won't break the link with the $, and the others are too small (=> volatility). So the € strengthens. Brussels and Frankfurt seem quite happy with this, but I don't think the German exporters are laughing about it.
One Euro was worth more than one USD back in November. It's been pretty much trending upward since then.
This wasn't expected? C'mon, what if the US combined currencies with 9 other countries? IM pretty sure that new dollar would be flossin' flying.