European Monetary Union (The Euro)

Created by webmaster. Last modified on 2007-01-15 22:22:29
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Topic: European Union

The euro (€) is legal tender for the following European Union countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The euro is used also in Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City, as well as in the Canaries, Madeira, the Azores, Guyana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, Mayotte and St Pierre and Miquelon, which are all part of EU countries using the euro.

The euro is also used in Kosovo and Montenegro.

The euro is divided into 100 cents. The euro notes are identical in all countries but each country produces its own coins with one common side and one national side. All the notes and coins can be used anywhere in the euro zone.

The legal tender of national banknotes ceased on 1 July 2002. Any remaining notes or coins in the old national currencies can be exchanged at national central banks for several years or can be given to charity.

Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, are not currently participating in the single currency. The exchange rates for the Danish krone, the Swedish krona and the British pound are not fixed and vary with the market.

The new countries which joined the European Union on 1st May 2004 (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and the Slovak Republic), as well as Romania and Bulgaria (joined 1 Jan 2007) are expected to adopt the euro when they are ready to do so, but not immediately upon accession. On 1 January 2007 Slovenia adopted the Euro.