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Euro - Europe’s single currency
The euro is the currency of fiveteen
European Union countries, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Arctic
Circle (namely Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Malta
and Cyprus).
Slovenia was the first of the
recently acceded new Member States to adopt the euro as its currency (1
January 2007), followed by
Malta and
Cyprus (1 January 2008). The other countries
are Member States with a derogation (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and
Sweden) will join the euro area as soon as they fulfil the necessary
conditions on the basis of the "Maastricht" convergence criteria following
the established procedure. UK and Denmark have a special status allowing
them to decide when (and if) they will join the euro area.
Future enlargement of the euro area
Euro banknotes and coins have been in circulation since 1 January 2002 and
are now a part of daily life for 316.6 million Europeans living in the
euro area.
The following information is designed to give a basic
understanding of the euro and the practical implications of the
introduction of the notes and coins. Should you require further
information please also see the website of the European Commission at www.ec.europa.eu/euro or
the European Central Bank at www.euro.ecb.int
Which countries have adopted the euro?
15 of the 27 European Union's member countries are
participating in the common currency. They are:
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Belgium
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Germany
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Greece
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Spain
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France
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Ireland
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Italy
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Luxembourg
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The Netherlands
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Austria
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Portugal
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Finland
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Slovenia (since 1st January 2007)
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Cyprus (since 1st January 2008)
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Malta (since 1st January 2008)
Over a period of just a few days, more than 14 billion
euro banknotes and 50 billion euro coins replaced almost as many national
currency banknotes and coins. Over 300 million people were affected by
this change. Never before had such an operation been undertaken on this
scale.
What is the symbol for the euro?
The Euro symbol - € - , developed by the European
Commission, was inspired by the Greek letter epsilon and also denotes the
first letter of the word "Europe". The two parallel lines refer
to the stability inside the Euro area.
The official international abbreviation for the euro is
EUR. |
