THEEuro turns 25. In fact, the single European currency saw the light of day January 1st of the 1999, although at first it was only a virtual currency, used only for accounting purposes and for electronic payments. Eleven of the then 11 member states adopted the new currency: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Greece later joined in 15, having met the economic requirements in 2001.
Coins e bills they arrived just three years later, the January 1st of the 2002.
Today the Euro is present in the lives of 350 million people 20 member countries.
In 2007, Slovenia became the thirteenth state to join the eurozone, followed in 2008 by Malta and Cyprus. In 2009, Slovakia introduced the euro as its currency. In 2011, Estonia became the first Baltic state to adopt the euro, followed in 2014 by Latvia and in 2015 by Lithuania. In 2023, Croatia adopted the euro, becoming the twenty-first country in the eurozone.
“The euro – write the EU leaders – has become an indispensable part of our daily lives, giving us simplicity, stability and sovereignty”.
Ecu substitute
The Euro replaced the ECU, acronym for "European Currency Unit", and its name was established at the European Council in Madrid in 1995.
The Ecu was a unit of account used before the introduction of the euro. The ECU was not a real physical currency, but a synthetic unit of measurement used to facilitate transactions and calculations between the currencies of the member countries of the European Union.
The objective of the single European currency
The introduction of the single currency had as its main effect theelimination of risks and exchange costs, with the aim of creating aoptimal currency area (GOOSE). This has led to an increase in economic interdependence and a simplification of trade between member states, benefiting all citizens of the eurozone, as economic growth is historically driven by increased trade.
Furthermore, the single currency has become integrated into the long-term plan of a single market within the European Union. A second effect was a reduction of price fluctuations, with greater containment of inflation (with the objective of 2%), especially advantageous for large capital holders.
Euro: banknotes and coins
Le bills euros are issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros, while the monete they are available in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, as well as 1 and 2 euros.