NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Euro (currency)

The euro (symbol: €; banking code: EUR) is the currency of twelve European Union member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, collectively known as the Eurozone. The Maastricht Treaty introduced the concept of citizenship of the European Union. ... Cultural cooperation in the European Union has become a community competency since its inclusion in 1992 in the Maastricht Treaty. ... The European Union has over 456 million inhabitants and currently has 25 member states. ... The European Union (EU) was originally created by the six founding states in 1952, but has grown to its current size of 25 member states. ... Foreign relations of the European Union Foreign relations of Austria Foreign relations of Belgium Foreign relations of Cyprus Foreign relations of the Czech Republic Foreign relations of Denmark Foreign relations of Estonia Foreign relations of Finland Foreign relations of France Foreign relations of Germany Foreign relations of Greece Foreign relations... This is the history of the European Union. ... |- |} The European Union or EU is a supranational and intergovernmental union of 25 European states. ... Statistics in the European Union are collected by Eurostat. ... ISO 4217 is an international standard describing three letter codes to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ... The euro area (also called Eurozone, Eurosystem or Euroland) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ...

The euro is the result of the most significant monetary reform in Europe since the Roman Empire. Although the euro can be seen simply as a mechanism for perfecting the Single European Market, facilitating free trade among the members of the Eurozone, it is also regarded by its founders as a key part of the project of European political integration. Monetary Reform is accounting reform that reaches more deeply into banking central bank, money supply and monetary policy. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Augustus). ... The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ... Free trade is an economic concept referring to the selling of products between countries without tariffs or other trade barriers. ... The euro area (also called Eurozone, Eurosystem or Euroland) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ...

Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City, which formerly used the French franc or the Italian lira as their currency, now use the euro as their currency and are licensed to mint their own euro coins in small amounts, even though they are not EU states. The euro is also used for payment of debt in other European non-EU jurisdictions such as Montenegro, Kosovo and Andorra. Lira is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries, as well as the former currency of Italy, San Marino and the Vatican City. ... Serbia and Montenegro â€“ Serbia â€“ Kosovo and Metohia (UN administration) â€“ Vojvodina â€“ Montenegro Official language Serbian Capital Podgorica Former Royal Capital Cetinje President Filip VujanoviÄ‡ Prime Minister Milo ÄukanoviÄ‡ Area â€“ Total â€“ % water 13,812 kmÂ² n/a Population â€“ Total (2003) â€“ Density 616,258 48. ... Kosovo (Serbian: ÐšÐ¾ÑÐ¾Ð²Ð¾ Ð¸ ÐœÐµÑ‚Ð¾Ñ…Ð¸Ñ˜Ð° / Kosovo i Metohija, Albanian: KosovÃ« / Kosova) is a province of Serbia. ...

The euro is administered by the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), composed of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurozone central banks operating in member states. The ECB (headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany) has sole authority to set monetary policy; the other members of the ESCB participate in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins, and the operation of the Eurozone payment system. The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) is composed of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks (NCBs) of all 25 EU Member States. ... The ECB building in Frankfurt, with the Euro sculpture in the foreground. ... The euro area (also called Eurozone, Eurosystem or Euroland) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ... â–¶ (helpÂ· info) is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany. ... Monetary policy is the process of managing money supply to achieve specific goalsâ€”such as constraining inflation, achieving full employment or economic growth. ... The euro (EUR or â‚¬) is the currency of 12 European Union (EU) member states - Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain - four European microstates - Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City - Montenegro and Kosovo, as well as various EU institutions. ...

Image File history File links Euro_banknotes. ... Download high resolution version (698x666, 173 KB) This work is copyrighted. ...

Characteristics

The euro is divided into 100 cents. In the English language, the form "cent" is officially required to be used in legislation in the singular and in the plural, though the natural plural cents is recommended for use in material aimed at the general public. (For more information on language and the euro, see the relevant section below.) The euro (EUR or â‚¬) is the currency of 12 European Union (EU) member states - Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain - four European microstates - Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City - Montenegro and Kosovo, as well as various EU institutions. ... The euro symbol The euro (EUR or â‚¬) is the single currency for many countries within the European Union. ... A two cent euro coin A US penny In currency, the cent is a monetary unit that equals th of the basic unit of value. ...

All euro coins have a common side showing the denomination (value) and a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued it; the monarchies often have a picture of their reigning monarch, other countries usually have their national symbols. All the different coins can be used in all the participating member states: for example, a euro coin bearing an image of the Spanish king is legal tender not only in Spain, but also in all the other nations where the euro is in use. There are €2, €1, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c and 1c coins, though the latter two are not generally used in Finland or the Netherlands (but are still legal tender). The euro (EUR or â‚¬) is the currency of 12 European Union (EU) member states - Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain - four European microstates - Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City - Montenegro and Kosovo, as well as various EU institutions. ... A monarchy, (from the Greek monos, one, and archein, to rule) is a form of government that has a monarch as Head of State. ...

Euro banknotes have a common design for each denomination on both sides. Notes are issued in the following amounts: €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, and €5. Some higher denominations are not issued in some countries, though again, are legal tender. The euro symbol The euro (EUR or â‚¬) is the single currency for many countries within the European Union. ...

There is a Europe-wide clearing system for large transactions, set up prior to the launch of the euro - TARGET. For retail payments, several arrangements are used and the general rule is that an intra-eurozone transfer shall cost the same as a domestic one. Credit card charging and ATM withdrawals within the eurozone also are charged as if they were domestic. Paper based payment orders, such as cheques, are still domestic based.

Accommodation for vision impairments

The euro is designed from the start in consultation with organizations representing people suffering from blindness or other vision impairments. Both banknotes and coins for the euro have been designed to facilitate their use by people who may not be able to see the currency very well (or at all). Cues to aid in identification include gross differences in appearance (colour, size) for banknotes and coins, and tactile cues such as thickness and edge decoration for coins in particular. Although there have been other currencies predating the Euro were specifically designed in similar ways (different sizes, colours, and ridges) to aid the visually impaired, the introduction of the Euro constitutes the first time that the authorities have consulted associations representing the blind before and not after the event. See the articles Euro banknotes and Euro coins for details. Blindness can be defined physiologically as the condition of lacking visual perception. ... Visual impairment is the functional loss of vision. ... The euro symbol The euro (EUR or â‚¬) is the single currency for many countries within the European Union. ... The euro (EUR or â‚¬) is the currency of 12 European Union (EU) member states - Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain - four European microstates - Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City - Montenegro and Kosovo, as well as various EU institutions. ...

Name and linguistic issues

Several linguistic issues have arisen in relation to the spelling of the words euro and cent in the many languages of the member states of the European Union, as well as in relation to grammar and the formation of plurals. Immutable word formations have been encouraged by the European Commission in usage with official EU legislation (originally in order to ensure uniform presentation on the banknotes), but the "unofficial" practice concerning the mutability (or not) of the words differs between the member states. Several linguistic issues have resulted from the inclusion of the new word euro into the vocabularies of the languages of the member states of the European Union. ...

In the English language, the form "euro" is used both in the singular and the plural in legislation, without much justification apart from an apparent wish not to have to revise older legislation. The natural plurals euros and cents are recommended (by the Translation Section of the European Commission) for use in "all material aimed at the general public". However, in the only English-speaking country in the Eurozone, the Republic of Ireland, the "s" is rarely added in the plural, either officially in legislation, by the government, media or even in everyday speech by the people (as is consistent with conventional Hiberno-English usage). The euro area (also called Eurozone, Eurosystem or Euroland) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

No plural form is given in design of the notes and coins themselves — avoiding language-specific plurals, they display such constructions as "5 EURO" and "20 CENT" -- though the design is clearly not "plain text" and should not be construed to be "linguistic".

The term "euro-cent" is sometimes used in countries (such as USA, Canada, Australia) that also have "cent" as a subcurrency, to distinguish them from the local coin. This usage is not correct, though is perhaps understandable, given that the coins themselves have the words "EURO" and "CENT" displayed on the common side. The terms "eurodollar", which commonly refers to US dollar deposits in European banks, or the non-existent "euro dollar" have occasionally been used incorrectly to refer to the euro by sources in other parts of the world, particularly the United States. In finance, the prefix euro as in eurodollars or euroyen refer to currency deposited outside the country of their origin. ...

Though the European Central Bank requires all EU member countries to call the currency as "Euro", with the expansion of EU, more and more countries oppose the monopoly of this name. They believe that the word "euro" does not fit within the phonology of their languages and see it as a form of cultural interference. One such country has been Latvia—the 'eu' diphthong is alien to the Latvian language.

Transition

The euro was established by the provisions in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty on European Union that was used to establish an economic and monetary union. In order to participate in the new currency, member states had to meet strict criteria such as a budget deficit of less than three per cent of GDP, a debt ratio of less than sixty per cent of GDP, combined with low inflation and interest rates close to the EU average. Maastricht (Limburgish and city dialect: Mestreech; French: Maestricht) is a municipality, and capital of the province of Limburg. ... The Maastricht treaty (formally, the Treaty on European Union) was signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht between the members of the European Community and entered into force on 1 November 1993. ... This article covers the general information on the topic. ... A budget deficit occurs when an entity (often a government) spends more money than it takes in. ... In finance, interest has three general definitions. ...

Due to differences in national conventions for rounding and significant digits, all conversion between the national currencies had to be carried out using the process of triangulation via the euro. The definitive values in euro of these subdivisions (which represent the exchange rates at which the currency entered the euro) are as follows:

The above rates were determined by the Council of the European Union, based on a recommendation from the European Commission based on the market rates on 31 December 1998, so that one ECU (European Currency Unit) would equal one euro. (The European Currency Unit was an accounting unit used by the EU, based on the currencies of the member states; it was not a currency in its own right.) These rates were set by Council Regulation 2866/98 (EC), of 31 December 1998. They could not be set earlier, because the ECU depended on the closing exchange rate of the non-euro currencies (principally the pound sterling) that day. See Schilling of Solothurn for the Swiss family. ... The gulden (sometimes guilder in English), represented by the symbol Æ’, was the name of the currency used in the Netherlands from the 15th century until 1999, when it was replaced by the euro (coins and notes were not introduced until 2002). ... The markka or mark was the currency used in Finland from 1861 until January 1, 1999 (in practice on January 1, 2002), when it was replaced by the euro (â‚¬). The currency code used for the markka was FIM, and the usual familiar notation was a postfix mk. ... The Deutsche Mark (DM, DEM) was the official currency of West and, from 1990, unified Germany. ... The harp has long been associated with the Irish pound, here on a 1990 Irish pound coin. ... The lira (plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. ... The escudo was the official currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the euro in 1 January 1999 (euro coins and notes were not introduced until 2002). ... The peseta is the former currency of Spain and, (along with the French Franc), of Andorra. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The European Currency Unit (â‚ ; ECU) was a basket of the currencies of the European Community member states, used as the unit of account of the European Community before being replaced by the euro. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The pound sterling is the official currency of the United Kingdom (UK). ...

Greece failed to meet the criteria for joining initially, so it did not join the common currency on 1 January 1999. It was admitted two years later, on 1 January 2001, at the following exchange rate: January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

The procedure used to fix the irrevocable conversion rate between the drachma and the euro was different, since the euro by then was already two years old. While the conversion rates for the initial eleven currencies were determined only hours before the euro was introduced, the conversion rate for the Greek drachma was fixed several months beforehand, in Council Regulation 1478/2000 (EC), of 19 June 2000. Drachma, pl. ... June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

The currency was introduced in non-physical form (travellers' cheques, electronic transfers, banking, etc.) at midnight on 1 January 1999, when the national currencies of participating countries (the Eurozone) ceased to exist independently in that their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other, effectively making them mere non-decimal subdivisions of the euro. The euro thus became the successor to the European Currency Unit (ECU). The notes and coins for the old currencies, however, continued to be used as legal tender until new notes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The European Currency Unit (â‚ ; ECU) was a basket of the currencies of the European Community member states, used as the unit of account of the European Community before being replaced by the euro. ... Legal tender or forced tender is payment that cannot be refused in settlement of a debt denominated in the same currency by virtue of law. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The changeover period during which the former currencies' notes and coins were exchanged for those of the euro lasted about two months, until 28 February 2002. The official date on which the national currencies ceased to be legal tender varied from member state to member state. The earliest date was in Germany; the mark officially ceased to be legal tender on 31 December 2001, though the exchange period lasted two months. The final date was 28 February 2002, by which all national currencies ceased to be legal tender in their respective member states. (Note that some of these dates were earlier than was originally planned.) However, even after the official date, they continued to be accepted by national central banks for several years up to forever (Austria, Germany, Ireland, Spain). The earliest coins to become non-convertible were the Portuguese escudos, which ceased to have monetary value after 31 December 2002, although banknotes do remain exchangeable until 2022. February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Deutsche Mark (DM, DEM) was the official currency of West and, from 1990, unified Germany. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Although some countries are not printing the €500 and €200 banknotes, all banknotes are legal tender throughout the Eurozone. Finland decided not to mint or circulate one-cent and two-cent coins, except in small numbers for collectors. All cash transactions in Finland ending in one, two, six or seven cents are rounded down, and those ending in three, four, eight or nine cents are rounded up. Despite this convention, the one-cent and two-cent coins are still legal tender in Finland.

Participation in the economic and monetary union

The euro area (also called Eurozone, Eurosystem or Euroland) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ...

Countries using the euro

At present the member states officially using the euro are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France (except Pacific territories using the CFP franc), Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Overseas territories of some Eurozone countries, such as French Guiana, Réunion, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, and Martinique, also use the euro. These countries together are frequently referred to as the "Eurozone", "Euroland" or more rarely as "Eurogroup". The CFP franc (in French: franc Pacifique or franc CFP ; CFP stood for Colonies françaises du Pacifique (i. ... The euro area (also called Eurozone, Eurosystem or Euroland) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ...

Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City previously used currencies that were replaced by the euro, and now mint their own euro coins by virtue of agreements concluded with EU member states (Italy in the case of San Marino and Vatican City, and France in the case of Monaco), on behalf of the European Community. The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ...

Andorra, Montenegro, and Kosovo also used currencies that were replaced by the euro (the French franc and Spanish peseta in the case of Andorra, and the German mark in the case of Montenegro and Kosovo). They have now adopted the euro as their de facto currencies, without having entered into any legal arrangements with the EU that explicitly permit them to do so. In October 2004, Andorra began negotiating a monetary agreement with the European Union that would allow the country to issue euro coins as Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican City do. Serbia and Montenegro â€“ Serbia â€“ Kosovo and Metohia (UN administration) â€“ Vojvodina â€“ Montenegro Official language Serbian Capital Podgorica Former Royal Capital Cetinje President Filip VujanoviÄ‡ Prime Minister Milo ÄukanoviÄ‡ Area â€“ Total â€“ % water 13,812 kmÂ² n/a Population â€“ Total (2003) â€“ Density 616,258 48. ... Kosovo (Serbian: ÐšÐ¾ÑÐ¾Ð²Ð¾ Ð¸ ÐœÐµÑ‚Ð¾Ñ…Ð¸Ñ˜Ð° / Kosovo i Metohija, Albanian: KosovÃ« / Kosova) is a province of Serbia. ... The peseta is the former currency of Spain and, (along with the French Franc), of Andorra. ... The Deutsche Mark (DM, DEM) was the official currency of West and, from 1990, unified Germany. ...

Many of the foreign currencies that were pegged to European currencies are now pegged to the euro. For example, the Cape Verdean escudo used to be pegged to the Portuguese escudo, but is now pegged to the euro. Bosnia-Herzogovina uses a convertible mark which was pegged to the Deutsche mark but is now pegged to the euro. Similarly the CFP franc, CFA franc and Comorian franc, all once pegged to the French franc, are now pegged to the euro. The euro is widely accepted in Cape Verde already on an informal basis, and in November 2004, during a meeting in Portugal, the prime minister of Cape Verde considered formally adopting the euro as his country's currency. Also East Timor resumed using the Portuguese Escudo as legal tender in 1999, when the escudo was already a subdivision of the euro. There was no changeover as the USD was later introduced as sole legal tender in the territory. Currently there are several currencies pegged to the euro, some with fluctuation bands around a central rate and others with no fluctuations allowed around the central rate. ... The Cape Verdean Escudo is the currency of Cape Verde. ... The CFP franc (in French: franc Pacifique or franc CFP ; CFP stood for Colonies françaises du Pacifique (i. ... The countries using the CFA franc The CFA franc (in French: franc CFA, or just franc in everyday conversation if no ambiguity is possible) is a currency used in 12 formerly French-ruled African countries, as well as in Guinea-Bissau (former Portuguese colony) and in Equatorial Guinea (former Spanish... The Comorian franc (ISO 4217 currency code KMF) is the official currency of the nation of Comoros. ...

Since December 2002, North Korea has switched from the dollar as its official currency for all foreign transactions to the euro. The euro has since then also replaced the dollar in large parts of the black market and in shops where the dollar was used earlier.

In total, the euro is the official currency in 31 states and territories. Also, 27 states and territories that have a national currency are also pegged to the euro including fourteen West African countries including Senegal and Cameroon, three French overseas territories including French Polynesia and New Caledonia, two African island countries where the currency was formerly pegged to the Portuguese or French currency, three former Communist countries where the currency was pegged to the German mark including Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Morocco, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia and Hungary are also pegged to the euro.

EU members outside the Eurozone

The ten newest European Union members are required by their treaties of accession to eventually use the euro, as eventual adoption of the euro was part of their accession agreements. Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia have already joined Denmark in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, ERM II. The dates these ten states hope to complete the third stage of the EMU vary: 1 January 2007 for Estonia, Slovenia and Lithuania 1 (since they are already part of ERM II); 1 January 2008 for Cyprus; 2008 for Latvia and Malta; 2009 for Slovakia; 2010 and later for the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia have already finalised the design for the country's coins' obverse side. 1 2 3 4 Image File history File links Download high resolution version (864x1228, 195 KB) Summary Swedish Anti-Euro propaganda by the Green Partyâ€™s youth organization for the EMU referendum of 2003. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (864x1228, 195 KB) Summary Swedish Anti-Euro propaganda by the Green Partyâ€™s youth organization for the EMU referendum of 2003. ... Green Youth (in Swedish: GrÃ¶n Ungdom) is the youth organization of the Green Party in Sweden. ... This article covers the general information on the topic. ... The European exchange rate mechanisms (or ERM) was a system introduced by the European Community in March 1979, as part of the European Monetary System (EMS), to reduce exchange-rate variability and achieve monetary stability in Europe, in preparation for Economic and Monetary Union and the introduction of a single... This article covers the EMU of the European Union. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2007 (MMVII) will be a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The European exchange rate mechanism (or ERM) was a system introduced by the European Community in March 1979, as part of the European Monetary System (EMS), to reduce exchange-rate variability and achieve monetary stability in Europe, in preparation for Economic and Monetary Union and the introduction of a single... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will a Leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will a Leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the film, see 2010: The Year We Make Contact. ...

The countries need first to comply with the Convergence criteria, so joining may be delayed if some state does not cover them. Convergence criteria, also known as the Maastricht criteria, is the criteria for European Union member states to enter the third stage of European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and adopt the euro. ...

The United Kingdom and Sweden have no plans at present to adopt the euro; however Sweden, unlike the UK and Denmark, does not have a formal opt-out from the monetary union (the third stage of EMU) and therefore must, in theory at least, convert to the euro at some point. Notwithstanding this, on 14 September 2003, a consultative Swedish referendum was held on the euro, the result of which was a rejection of the common currency. The Swedish government has argued that such a line of action is possible since one of the requirements for Eurozone membership is a prior two-year membership of the ERM II. By simply choosing to stay outside the exchange rate mechanism, the Swedish government is provided a formal loophole avoiding the theoretical requirement of adopting the euro. Sweden's major parties continue to believe that it would be in the national interest to join, but they have all pledged to abide by the results for the time being. September 14 is the 257th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (258th in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Since the introduction of parliamentarism in Sweden six referendums have been held. ...

UK eurosceptics believe that the single currency is merely a stepping stone to the formation of a unified European superstate, and that removing Britain's ability to set its own interest rates will have detrimental effects on its economy. The contrary view is that, since intra-European exports make up 60% of the UK's total, it eases the Single Market by removing currency risk. An interesting parallel can be seen in the 19th century discussions concerning the possibility of the UK joining the Latin Monetary Union [1]. The UK government has set five economic tests that must be passed before it can recommend that the UK join the euro. It assessed these tests in October 1997 and June 2003, and decided on both occasions that they had not all been passed. All three main political parties in the UK have promised to hold a referendum before joining the euro, and opinion polls consistently report a majority of the public to be opposed to joining the euro. Euroscepticism is scepticism about, or disagreement with, the purposes of the European Union, sometimes coupled with a desire to preserve national sovereignty. ... The Latin Monetary Union (1865-1927) was a 19th century attempt to unify several European currencies into a single currency that could be used in all the member states, at a time when most national currencies were still made out of gold and silver. ... ...

Denmark negotiated a number of opt-out clauses from the Maastricht treaty after it had been rejected in a first referendum (namely, Denmark attained an opt-out from joint defence, common currency, judicial cooperation, and European citizenship). The modified treaty was then accepted in another referendum one year after the first one. In 2000, another referendum was held in Denmark regarding the euro; once more, the population decided to stay outside the eurozone for now. However, Danish politicians have suggested that debate on abolishing the four opt-out clauses may possibly be re-opened in 2006. In addition, Denmark has pegged its krone to the euro (€1 = DKr7.460,38 ± 2.25%), something which Sweden has not done. The Maastricht Treaty (formally, the Treaty on European Union) was signed on 7 February 1992 in Maastricht between the members of the European Community and entered into force on 1 November 1993, under the Delors Commission. ... The euro area (also called Eurozone, Eurosystem or Euroland) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ... Krone can mean: Krone - the former currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1892. ...

Bulgaria and Romania

Bulgaria and Romania are not yet members of the EU, being scheduled to enter on January 1st, 2007.

The Bulgarian National Bank and the Bulgarian government have agreed on the introduction of the euro in mid-2009, when the Bulgarian National Bank is expected to become part of the EMU and will receive the right to issue Bulgarian euro coins. The early accession to the EMU is due to existing currency board agreement that was signed in 1997 to help put an end to the deep financial crisis and foreign debt reimbursement problems. The agreement effectively binds the Bulgarian lev to the Euro (between 1997 and 1999, before the Euro came into existence, the lev was bound to the German Mark). As a consequence, Bulgaria has fulfilled the great majority of the EMU membership criteria. central bank of the Republic of Bulgaria and one of the oldest central banks in the world, established on 25 January 1879. ... central bank of the Republic of Bulgaria and one of the oldest central banks in the world, established on 25 January 1879. ... A currency board is a system by which a currency is convertible at a fixed exchange rate with another currency. ...

In Romania, the National Bank retained its monetary policy attributes throughout the financial crisis of the 1990s (which gradually ended). Hence, Romania's accession to the EMU will take more time. It is likely that Romania will join the Eurozone in the 2010–12 period, and strategies have been established to this end. Categories: Romania-related stubs | Romanian economy | Central banks ...

Effects of a single currency

The introduction of a single currency for many separate countries presents a number of advantages and disadvantages for the participating nations. Opinions differ on the actual effects of the euro so far, as most of them will take years to understand. Theories and predictions abound.

Removal of exchange rate risk

One of the most important benefits of the euro will be lowered exchange rate risks, which will make it easier to invest across borders. The risks of changes in the value of respective currencies has always made it risky for companies or individuals to invest or even import/export outside their own currency zone. Profits could be quickly eliminated as a result of exchange rate fluctuations. As a result, most investors and importers/exporters have to either accept the risk or "hedge" their bets, resulting in further costs on the financial markets. Consequently, it is less appealing to invest outside one’s own currency zone. The Eurozone greatly increases the potentially "exchange-risk free" investment area. Since Europe’s economy is heavily dependent on intra-European exports, the benefits of this effect can hardly be overstated. This is particularly important for countries whose currencies have traditionally fluctuated a great deal such as the Mediterranean nations. Hedging is a strategy, usually some form of transaction, designed to minimise exposure to an unwanted business risk. ...

At the same time, this will inevitably increase foreign investment in some countries, which some people worry will see profits flowing away from peripheral zones. It might also result in the removal of local decision makers in businesses.

Removal of conversion fees

A benefit is the removal of bank transaction charges that previously were a cost to both individuals and businesses when exchanging from one national currency to another. Although not an enormous cost, multiplied thousands of times, the savings add up across the entire economy. A bank is an institution that provides financial service, particularly taking deposits and extending credit. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

For electronic payments (e.g. credit cards, debit cards and cash machine withdrawals), banks in the Eurozone must now charge the same for intra-Euroland cross-border transactions as they charge for domestic transactions. Banks in France have attempted to circumvent this regulation by charging for all bank transfers, domestic and cross-border, except if the transfer is instructed via online banking, via which they do not offer cross-border payments. In this way, banks in France continue to charge more for cross-border transfers than for domestic transfers. A credit card system is a type of retail transaction settlement and credit system, named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Outdoor ATMs may be free-standing, like this kiosk, or built into the side of banks or other buildings An automatic teller machine (ATM) is an electronic device which allows a banks customers to make cash withdrawals and check their account balances at any time without the need for... The euro area (also called Eurozone, Eurosystem or Euroland) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ... The Eurozone (also called Euro-area or Euroland) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the Euro (€) currency, creating a currency union. ... Online banking (or Internet banking) is a term used for performing transactions, payments etc. ...

Deeper financial markets

Another significant advantage of switching to the euro is the creation of deeper financial markets. Financial markets on the continent are expected to be far more liquid and flexible than they were in the past. There will be more competition for, and availability of financial products across the union. This will reduce the financial servicing costs to businesses and possibly even individual consumers across the continent. The costs associated with public debt will also decrease. It is expected that the broader, deeper markets will lead to increased stock market capitalisation and investment. Larger, more internationally competitive financial and business institutions may arise. Market liquidity is a business or economics term that refers to the ability to quickly buy or sell a particular item without causing a significant movement in the price. ... This article is about capitalization in written language. ...

Price parity

Another effect of the common European currency is that differences in prices—in particular in price levels—should decrease. Differences in prices can trigger arbitrage, e.g. artificial trade in a commodity between countries purely to exploit the price differential, which will tend to equalise prices across the euro area. It is held that this is supposed to result in increased competition or consolidation of companies, which should help to contain inflation and which therefore will be beneficial to consumers. Similarly, price transparency across borders is said to benefit consumers find lower cost goods or services. There is no universally accepted scientific theory based on firm evidence that this is an inevitable consequence, but rather is more likely to come about, if and when it does, due to popular belief in this system. Template:Science-based support for these views is invited In economics, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a state of imbalance between two or more markets: a combination of matching deals are struck that exploit the imbalance, the profit being the difference between the market prices. ...

Competitive funding

Competitive funding is also a plus for many countries (and companies) that adopted the euro.

Macroeconomic stability

An important side-effect of the euro will be greater macroeconomic stability for the entire continent. Much of Europe has been susceptible to economic problems such as inflation throughout the last 50 years. Inflation is a very damaging phenomenon from most of society’s perspective. It discourages investment, can cause social unrest, and causes problems for taxation. However, many countries are unable or unwilling to deal with serious inflationary pressures. They often have other priorities that compromise their ability to deal with inflation. Sometimes their economic clout is simply insufficient. However, there have been models, particularly with largely independent central banks, that have successfully countered inflation. One such bank was the Bundesbank in Germany; since the European Central Bank is modeled off of the Bundesbank, is independent of the pressures of national governments, and has a mandate to keep inflationary pressures low, many economists foresee a period of increasing price stability in Europe after the euro’s introduction. The Deutsche Bundesbank is the central bank of Germany and a part of the European System of Central Banks. ...

Less-specific monetary policy

Some economists are concerned about the possible dangers of adopting a single currency for a large and diverse area. Because the Eurozone has a single monetary policy, and so a single interest rate, set by the ECB, it cannot be fine-tuned for the economic situation in each individual country (however, prior to the introduction of the euro, exchange rates were already very much in sync after the latest European currency crisis in the early 1990s). Public investment and fiscal policy in each country is thus the only way in which government-led economic stimulus can be introduced specific to each region or nation. This inflexible interest rate might stifle growth in some areas, while over-promoting it in others. The result could be extended periods of economic depression in some areas of the continent, disadvantaged by the central interest rate. Given such a situation resentment and friction within the community, and toward the bank, might well increase. Others point out that in today's globalised economy, individual countries do not have power to effectively manage their monetary policy, as it creates other imbalances. This effect was already visible in the last European currency crises of 1992, when the Bundesbank was effectively coordinating monetary policy for the whole continent. Monetary policy is the process of managing money supply to achieve specific goalsâ€”such as constraining inflation, achieving full employment or economic growth. ... An interest rate is the price a borrower pays for the use of money he does not own, and the return a lender receives for deferring his consumption, by lending to the borrower. ... Structural considerations taken into account, it will be much easier to public investment fits into fiscal policy. ... Fiscal Policy is the economic term which describes the actions of a governmetn in setting the level of public expenditure and how that expenditure is funded. ...

Some proponents of the euro point out that the Eurozone is similar in size and population to the United States, which has a single currency and a single monetary policy set by the Federal Reserve. However, the individual states that make up the USA have less regional autonomy and a more homogeneous economy than the nations of the EU. Of particular concern in accordance with this theory is the notion that the economies of the EU may not all be 'in sync'— each may be at a different stage in the boom and bust cycle, or just be experiencing different inflationary pressures. Labour mobility is also much lower in the Eurozone than across the United States, largely due to the vast differences in language and culture between European nations, and despite labour, capital and goods full mobility rules. The Federal Reserve System is headquartered in the Eccles Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. ... Regional autonomy is the term for the de-centralisation of governance to outlying regions. ... In economics, the term boom and bust refers to the movement of an economy through economic cycles due to changes in aggregate demand. ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary. ...

It can also be argued that a single currency works for the USA because the US dollar is a hegemonic currency. Before the euro, eighty per cent of the world's currency reserves were held in US dollars. This gives the US economy a huge subsidy in that reserve dollars are invested in US institutions or foreign institutions under US control. This subsidy helps cushion the effects of a possible strong dollar hurting certain regions of the USA. The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...

If the euro were to become either a hegemonic currency replacing the dollar or a co-hegemonic currency equal in reserve status to the dollar, some of the subsidy the USA gains would be transferred to the EU and help balance out some of the problems of the present heterogeneous economic structure still in place.

A new reserve currency?

The euro will probably become one of two, or perhaps three, major global reserve currencies. Currently, international currency exchange is dominated by the American dollar. The dollar is used by banks as a stable reserve on which to ensure their liquidity and international transactions and investments are often made in dollars. A reserve currency, also called an anchor currency, is a currency which is held in significant quantities by other governments and institutions as part of their foreign exchange reserves. ...

A currency is attractive for foreign transactions when it demonstrates a proven track record of stability, a well-developed financial market to dispose of the currency in, and proven acceptability to others. The euro will almost certainly be able to match these criteria at least as well as the U.S. dollar, so given some time to become accepted, it will likely begin to take its place alongside the dollar as one of the world’s major international currencies.

There are several benefits to reserve currencies of being such an internationally acceptable currency. If the euro were to become a reserve currency it would benefit member countries by lowering the service charges on their debts. Since the currency would be so broadly acceptable it would make the premiums paid to debt holders lower, since the risk to the borrower is lower. It is estimated that the American government currently saves 10-15 billion dollars a year on 2 trillion dollars of international debt because of this principle. The issuer of the reserve currency is freer to pursue macroeconomic policy adjustments to suit its own needs in terms of financing its debt, or influencing other countries. Reserve status would also lower the cost of many commodities for Europeans. Debt is that which is owed. ...

The euro and oil

The Eurozone consumes more imported petroleum than the United States. This would mean that more euros than US dollars would flow into the OPEC nations, but oil is priced by those nations in US dollars only. There have been frequent discussions at OPEC about pricing oil in euros, which would have various effects, among them, requiring nations to hold stores of euros to buy oil, rather than the US dollars that they hold now. Venezuela under Hugo Chávez has been a vocal proponent of this scheme, despite selling most of its own oil to the United States. Another proponent was Saddam Hussein of Iraq, which holds the world's second largest oil reserves. Since 2000 Iraq had used the euro as oil export currency. In 2002, Iraq changed its US dollars into euro, a few months prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. If implemented by the OPEC, the changeover to the euro would be a transfer of a 'float' that presently subsidises the United States to subsidise the European Union instead. Another effect would be that the price of oil in the Eurozone would more closely follow the world price. When oil prices skyrocketed to almost 50 USD/barrel in August 2004, the oil price in euros didn't change nearly as much because of the concurrent rise in the exchange rate of the euro to the US dollar (to an exchange rate of EUR 1.00 = USD 1.33 in December 2004). Similarly, should oil prices lower significantly, together with the USD/EUR exchange rate, the oil price in the Eurozone would not fall as much. On the other hand, if the exchange rate and the oil price move in different directions, oil price changes are magnified. Pricing oil in euros would nullify this dependency of European oil prices on the USD/EUR exchange rate. Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario Petroleum (from Greek petra â€“ rock and elaion â€“ oil or Latin oleum â€“ oil ), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. ... Logo The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is made up of Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela; since 1965, its international headquarters have been in Vienna, Austria. ... Hugo Rafael ChÃ¡vez FrÃas (IPA: ; born July 28, 1954) is the 53rd[1] and current President of Venezuela. ... Wikinews has news related to this article: Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein in a Suit Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic ), born April 28, 1937 , was President of Iraq from the year of 1979 until his removal and capture after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Logo The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is made up of Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela; since 1965, its international headquarters have been in Vienna, Austria. ... In economics, Float makes up the smallest part of the money supply. ...

Euro exchange rate

Against the U.S. dollar

After the introduction of the euro, its exchange rate against other currencies, especially the US dollar, declined heavily. At its introduction in 1999, the euro was traded at USD1.18; on 26 October 2000, it fell to an all time low of $0.8228 per euro. It then began what at the time was thought to be a recovery; by the beginning of 2001 it had risen to nearly $0.96. It declined again, although less than previously, reaching a low of $0.8344 on 6 July 2001 before commencing a steady appreciation. In the wake of U.S. corporate scandals, the two currencies reached parity on 15 July 2002, and by the end of 2002 the euro had reached $1.04 as it climbed further. The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 66 days remaining. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... July 6 is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 178 days remaining. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... July 15 is the 196th day (197th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 169 days remaining. ... 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On 23 May 2003, the euro surpassed its initial ($1.18=€1.00) trading value for the first time. At the end of 2004, it had reached a peak of $1.3668 per euro (€0.7316 per $) as the US dollar fell against all major currencies. At that time, some analysts expected the dollar to continue to fall, a few even suggesting $1.60 per euro by the end of 2005, fuelled by the so called twin deficit of the US accounts. However, the dollar recovered in 2005, rising to $1.18 per euro (€0.85 per $) in July 2005 (and stable throughout the second half of 2005). The fast increase in US interest rates during 2005 had much to do with this trend. May 23 is the 143rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (144th in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Currencies pegged to euro

Currently there are several currencies pegged to the euro, some with fluctuation bands around a central rate and others with no fluctuations allowed around the central rate. ...

Drivers

Part of the euro's strength in the period 2001-2004 was thought to be due to more attractive interest rates in Europe than in the United States. The US Federal Reserve had maintained lower rates than the ECB for these years, despite key European economies, notably Germany, growing relatively slowly or not at all. This is attributed in part to the ECB's duty to check inflation across the Eurozone, which in high-performing countries such as Republic of Ireland is above the ECB's target. In finance, interest has three general definitions. ... The Federal Reserve System is headquartered in the Eccles Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. ... The ECB building in Frankfurt, with the Euro sculpture in the foreground. ...

However, although the interest rate differential formed part of the backdrop, the main a posteriori justification for the euro's continuing ascent against the dollar was the concern over the huge unsustainable US current account deficits. The market has been awash with concerns about the US twin deficits, which have been a key driver of dollar weakness. The US budget deficit is about $427 billion, or 3.7% of gross domestic product (GDP), while the current account—the broadest trade measure since it adds investment flows—hit a record $166.18bn shortfall in the second quarter of 2004. The term current account usually refers to the current account of the balance of payments (BOP) and contains the import and export items of goods and services as well as transfer payments including net investment income. ... A budget deficit occurs when an entity (often a government) spends more money than it takes in. ... An economy is deemed to have a double deficit if it has a current account deficit and a fiscal deficit. ... A budget deficit occurs when an entity (often a government) spends more money than it takes in. ... The billion its equivalents in other languages refer to one of two different numbers, depending on whether the writer is using the long or short scale. ... Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a calculation method in national accounting (see Measures of national income and output) is defined as the total value of final goods and services produced within a countrys borders in a year, regardless of ownership. ...

A key factor is that a number of Asian currencies are rising less against the dollar than is the euro. In the case of China, the renminbi was until recently pegged against the dollar, whilst the Japanese yen is supported by intervention (and the threat of it) by the Bank of Japan. This means much of the pressure from a falling dollar is translated into a rising euro. 100 Renminbi Yuan issued in 1999 The renminbi (Simplified Chinese: äººæ°‘å¸; Traditional Chinese: äººæ°‘å¹£; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally peoples currency) is the official currency in the mainland of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... Japanese 10 yen coin (obverse) showing Phoenix Hall of Byodoin Yen is the currency used in Japan. ... The Bank of Japan has its headquarters in this building in Tokyo. ...

The euro's climb from its lows began shortly after it was introduced as a cash currency. In the time between 1999 and 2002, eurosceptics believed that the weak euro was a sign that the euro experiment was doomed to fail. It may be that its weakness in this period was due to low confidence in a currency that did not exist in "real" form. While the overt conversion to notes and coins had not yet occurred, it remained possible that the project could fail. Once the euro became "real" in the sense of existing in the form of cash, confidence in the euro rose and the increasing perception that it was here to stay helped increase its value. This effect was probably significant in the euro's decline and recovery between 1999 and 2002, but other factors are more significant since then. Euroscepticism is scepticism about, or disagreement with, the purposes of the European Union, sometimes coupled with a wish to preserve national sovereignty. ...

Another factor in the early decline of the euro was that many investors and central banks sold large portions of their legacy (national) currency holdings once the irrevocable exchange rates were set, as the goal of holding multiple currencies is to dampen losses when one currency falls. Once the exchange rates between Eurozone countries were pegged against each other, holdings in German marks and French francs (for example) became identical. There is also some reason to believe that significant sums of illegally held money were sold for dollars to avoid an official and public exchange for euros. The Deutsche Mark (DEM, DM) or German mark was the official currency of West and, from 1990 onwards, unified Germany. ...

Consequences

Despite the euro's rise in value, as well as the value of other major and minor currencies, the US trade deficits continue to rise. Economic theory would suggest that a fall in the dollar and a rise in the euro should lead to an improvement in US exports and a decline in US imports, as the former becomes cheaper and the latter more expensive. However, this depends to some extent on how currency costs are passed down the supply chain. Furthermore, the declining dollar makes foreign investment in the US cheaper (although also reducing the return), so that continuing foreign investment may underpin the dollar to some extent.

The role of the dollar as the world's de facto reserve currency helps support both the dollar and the US budget deficit — but it depends on the continued willingness of foreigners to finance both. Central banks and others finance the budget by acquiring newly-issued, dollar-denominated US government bonds, which they need to acquire dollars for. If at some point foreigners become unwilling to accept new bonds at the prevailing interest rate (perhaps because the falling dollar is reducing the bonds' value too much), the dollar will fall even more — or the US will have to raise interest rates, which would reduce economic growth. De facto is a Latin expression that means in fact or in practice. It is commonly used as opposed to de jure (meaning by law) when referring to matters of law or governance or technique (such as standards), that are found in the common experience as created or developed without...

There is speculation that the strength of the euro relative to the dollar might encourage the use of the euro as an alternative reserve currency; Saddam Hussein's Iraq switched its currency reserves from dollars to euros in 2000. Moves by central banks with major reserve currency holdings such as those of India or China to switch some of their reserves from dollars to euros, or even of OPEC countries to switch the currency they trade in from dollars to euros, will further reinforce the dollar's decline. In 2004, the Bank for International Settlements reported the proportion of bank deposits held in euros rising to 20%, from 12% in 2001, and it is continuously rising. The falling dollar also raises returns for US investors from investing in foreign stocks, encouraging a switch which further depresses the dollar. A reserve currency, also called an anchor currency, is a currency which is held in significant quantities by other governments and institutions as part of their foreign exchange reserves. ... Wikinews has news related to this article: Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein in a Suit Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic ), born April 28, 1937 , was President of Iraq from the year of 1979 until his removal and capture after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... Logo The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is made up of Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela; since 1965, its international headquarters have been in Vienna, Austria. ... BIS Headquarters in Basel The Bank for International Settlements (or BIS) is an international organization of central banks which exists to foster cooperation among central banks and other agencies in pursuit of monetary and financial stability. It carries out its work through subcommittees, the secretariats it hosts, and through its...

The rise in the euro should dampen Eurozone exports, but there is little sign of this happening yet. The main reason is that the currencies of Euroland's major world-wide customers are also seeing their currencies rise relative to the dollar. As the current account deficits continue to rise and the US plans no austerity measures to curb foreign imports and increase exports, the situation may cause the US dollar to lose its position as a hegemonic currency replaced by either the euro or the euro and a basket of currencies.

The euro sign

The international three-letter code (according to ISO standard ISO 4217) for the euro is EUR. A special euro currency sign (€) was also designed. After a public survey had narrowed the original ten proposals down to just two, it was then up to the European Commission to choose the final design. The eventual winner was a design allegedly created by a team of four experts who have not, however, been officially named. The symbol is (according to the European Commission) "a combination of the Greek epsilon, as a sign of the weight of European civilisation; an E for Europe; and the parallel lines crossing through standing for the stability of the euro". The official story of the design history of the euro symbol is disputed by Arthur Eisenmenger, a former chief graphic designer for the EEC, whose claims to have created it as a generic symbol of Europe are being increasingly accepted by many investigators. Eisenmenger's undisputed design achievements include the flag of the European Union. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2348x1840, 116 KB) Summary This diagram illustrates how to draw a euro symbol, based on official documentation. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2348x1840, 116 KB) Summary This diagram illustrates how to draw a euro symbol, based on official documentation. ... Logo of the International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from national standards bodies. ... ISO 4217 is an international standard describing three letter codes to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ... The euro (€; ISO 4217 code EUR) is the currency of twelve European Union member states: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. ... For the 2005 hurricane, see Hurricane Epsilon. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Possible meanings: Energy Efficiency Centre Energy Efficiency in Construction Engineering Education Centre Eurocontrol Experimental Centre European Economic Community, former name of the now-called European Community European Egg Consortium Extended Error Correction, see RAM parity This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page â€” a navigational... The European flag consists of a circle of twelve golden stars on a blue background. ...

The euro is represented in the Unicode character set with the character name EURO SIGN and the code position U+20AC (decimal 8364) as well as in updated versions¹ of the traditional Latin character set encodings. In HTML "€" can also be used. The HTML masking was only introduced with HTML 4.0; shortly after the introduction of the euro, many browsers were unable to render it. Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... A character encoding is a code that pairs a set of characters (such as an alphabet or syllabary) with a set of something else, such as numbers or electrical pulses. ... A piece of HTML code with syntax highlighting In computing, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a markup language designed for the creation of web pages with hypertext and other information to be displayed in a web browser. ...

The European Commission originally specified the euro sign to have exact proportions, not varying from font to font. By this specification, the euro sign would have effectively been a logo, unlike designable characters such as the letters or other currency signs like the dollar and pound signs. Keeping it to exact measurements would have made it rather broad in comparison to other symbols and digits in most fonts and would sometimes have resulted in layout problems. For these reasons, most type designers have ignored the commission and designed their own variants for each font instead, often based upon the capital letter C in the respective font. The illustration at the top of this section shows the official, invariant euro sign. Euro symbol in many fonts This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Euro symbol in many fonts This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Arial is a font packaged with several Microsoft Corporation applications. ... Times New Roman is a serif typeface commissioned by The Times (London) newspaper in 1931 and designed by Stanley Morison together with Starling Burgess and Victor Lardent. ... Comic Sans is a digital typeface from Microsoft Corporation designed to imitate comic book lettering, for use in casual and informal settings. ... Courier is a monospace font that resembles the output from a typewriter. ... Lucida is a family of typefaces designed by Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes. ... Verdana is a sans-serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter for Microsoft Corporation, with hand-hinting done by Agfa Monotypeâ€™s Tom Rickner. ... In typography, a typeface consists of a co-ordinated set of grapheme (i. ...

Typing the euro sign on a computer depends on the operating system and national conventions. See Keyboarding the euro sign for details. Some mobile phone companies did an interim software update on their special SMS character set, replacing the rarely used symbol for the Japanese yen with the euro sign: modern phones have both currency signs. In computing, an operating system (OS) is the system software responsible for the direct control and management of hardware and basic system operations. ... Methods for keyboarding the euro sign (â‚¬) are dependent on the computer being used and on the keyboard attached to it. ... A received SMS being announced on a Nokia phone. ... Japanese 10 yen coin (obverse) showing Phoenix Hall of Byodoin Yen is the currency used in Japan. ...

No "official" recommendation is made with regard to the use of a cent sign, and sums are often expressed as decimals of the euro (for example €0.05 rather than 5¢ or 5c). The small letter c is often used (as it was for the gulden's subdivision, the cent). In Ireland, the small letter c is often seen (for instance on postage stamps) but in shops the cent sign (¢) makes an appearance from time to time. Ireland also uses a decimal point rather than a decimal comma. In Greece, the capital letter lambda (Λ) is widely used, as an abbreviation for lepta (Λεπτά) and indeed the latter is written on the national side of the Greek-issue coins. In Germany, the abbreviation "ct" is widely used for "cent". In Finland, usually the decimal method is shown -,82 €, however sometimes you see the "snt" abbreviation from the Finnish "sentti", e.g. 50 snt. A two cent euro coin In currency, the cent is a monetary unit that equals th of the basic unit of value. ... The gulden (sometimes guilder in English), represented by the symbol Æ’, was the name of the currency used in the Netherlands from the 15th century until 1999, when it was replaced by the euro (coins and notes were not introduced until 2002). ... Lepton pl. ...

Placement of the symbol is also an example of diversity. While the official recommendation is to place it before the number, people in many countries have kept the placement of their former currencies. This is the case in Spain and France, where people are reluctant to change to a system they find somewhat illogical (writing the currency before, "€2", but reading it after, as in "deux/dos euros"). In France, therefore, € 3,50 is quite often written as 3€50 instead, following the informal style for the franc: (example 22F96). Recently, people have been using the more formal format "3,75 €" in France, Portugal, Spain, and sometimes in Belgium. It must be noted that, although it is not an official stance that centime be used in France as a decimal value of the Euro instead of cent,many phone services such as telephone pay as you go credit or bank statements will state the balance like so: 50 Euros 30 Centimes. (Centime literally means a hundredth of the monetary unit). Centime is French for cent, and is used in English as the name of the fraction currency in several Francophone countries (including Switzerland and formerly France), where it is one hundredth of a franc. ...

Note 1: For details please see the Western Latin character sets (computing). Several binary representations of the character sets used for Western European languages in computers are compared in this article. ...

Reactions following the European Constitution votes

Although the failure of the European Constitution to be ratified would have no direct impact on the status of the euro, some pessimism regarding the euro arose after the negative outcome of the French and Dutch referenda in mid 2005. The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, commonly referred to as the European Constitution, is an international treaty intended to create a constitution for the European Union. ...

However, soon after these suggestions were made, the European Commission issued a statement denying any possibility of this, stating "the euro is here to stay". June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Northern League (Italian: Lega Nord) is an Italian political party that advocates autonomy for a part of Northern Italy they call Padania (see the article for usage of the name). ... The Movement for France (French: Mouvement pour la France), or MPF, is a small conservative, traditionalist and arguably nationalist party, founded on November 20, 1994, with a marked regional implementation in VendÃ©e. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive body of the European Union. ...

Economists who helped realise the euro

Economist Robert Mundell is sometimes referred to as the father of the euro. Other economists that helped include Wim Duisenberg, Robert Tollison and Neil Dowling. Robert Alexander Mundell (born October 24, 1932) is a Canadian economist who graduated from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. ... Order: 1st President Nationality: Dutch Vice President: Christian Noyer Lucas Papademos Term of office: June 1, 1998 â€“ October 31, 2003 Preceded by: None Succeeded by: Jean-Claude Trichet Willem Frederik Duisenberg, commonly known as Wim Duisenberg, (July 9, 1935 â€“ July 31, 2005) was a Dutch banker and politician. ...

Trivia

Thai banknotes and coins. ... General Name, Symbol, Number nickel, Ni, 28 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 4, d Appearance lustrous, metallic Atomic mass 58. ... Nordic gold is the alloy from which the middle three denominations of euro coins, 50 cent, 20 cent, and 10 cent coins are made. ...

Contents

Characteristics

Accommodation for vision impairments

Name and linguistic issues

Transition

Participation in the economic and monetary union

Countries using the euro

EU members outside the Eurozone

Bulgaria and Romania

Effects of a single currency

Removal of exchange rate risk

Removal of conversion fees

Deeper financial markets

Price parity

Competitive funding

Macroeconomic stability

Less-specific monetary policy

A new reserve currency?

The euro and oil

Euro exchange rate

Against the U.S. dollar

Currencies pegged to euro

Drivers

Consequences

The euro sign

Reactions following the European Constitution votes

Economists who helped realise the euro

Trivia

See also

External links

Articles

Books

Contents

Characteristics GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Accommodation for vision impairments

Name and linguistic issues

Transition

Participation in the economic and monetary union

Countries using the euro

EU members outside the Eurozone

Bulgaria and Romania

Effects of a single currency

Removal of exchange rate risk

Removal of conversion fees

Deeper financial markets

Price parity

Competitive funding

Macroeconomic stability

Less-specific monetary policy

A new reserve currency?

The euro and oil

Euro exchange rate

Against the U.S. dollar

Currencies pegged to euro

Drivers

Consequences

The euro sign

Reactions following the European Constitution votes

Economists who helped realise the euro

Trivia

See also

External links

Articles

Books

Characteristics