NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Euro symbol

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. Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City which formerly used the French Franc or the Italian Lira as their currency, mint their own Euro coins in small amounts. The euro is also the currency of Montenegro and Kosovo and is used in Andorra as well. The euro is the result of the most significant monetary reform in Europe since the Roman Empire. Though the euro can be seen simply as a mechanism for perfecting the Single European Market, facilitating free trade between the members of the Eurozone, the euro is also a key part of the European project of political integration. ISO 4217 is an international standard describing three letter codes to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ... 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 – Serbia – Kosovo and Metohia (UN administration) – Vojvodina – Montenegro Official language Serbian Capital Podgorica Former Royal Capital Cetinje President Filip Vujanović Prime Minister Milo Đukanović Area – Total – % water 13,812 km² n/a Population – Total (2003) – Density 616,258 48. ... Kosovo and Metohia (Serbian: Косово и Метохија / Kosovo i Metohija, Albanian: Kosovë / Kosova), in English most often called just Kosovo, is a province of Serbia. ... Monetary Reform is accounting reform that reaches more deeply into banking central bank, money supply and monetary policy. ... 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 Caesar 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 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. ...

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 European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany is the central bank of the eurozone, in charge of monetary policy for the 12 countries that use the new euro currency. ... 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. ... Frankfurt am Main [ˈfraŋkfʊrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hessen and the fifth largest city of Germany. ... Monetary policy is the process of managing a nations money supply to achieve specific goals—such as constraining inflation, achieving full employment or more well-being. ... The euro (EUR or €) 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 micro-states: (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Holy See - Vatican City), Montenegro and Kosovo, as well as EU institutions. ...

Characteristics

The euro is divided into 100 cents, but various vernacular terms are also used in some countries: in Greece, the name leptó, plural leptá (Λεπτά) is used instead, and in Italy the original word "centesimo", from which "cent" is derived, is used currently. In France, people tend to keep using "centime", the subdivision of their former money (French franc). And in Spain everyone uses "céntimo", much more natural sounding in Spanish than "cent". In Finland the Finnish-speaking people use "sentti", and the Swedish-speaking people use "cent". The form "cent" is officially used in the singular and in the plural in English (see the relevant section below). The euro (EUR or €) 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 micro-states: (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Holy See - Vatican City), Montenegro and Kosovo, as well as EU institutions. ... The euro symbol The euro (EUR or €) is the single currency for many countries within the European Union. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The letter E is the fifth letter in the Latin alphabet. ... C is the third letter of the Roman alphabet. ... Graphic symbols are often used as a shorthand for currency names. ... A two cent euro coin In currency, the cent is a monetary unit that equals th of the basic unit of value. ... Lepton pl. ... Though abolished as a legal coin by Louis XIII in 1641 in favor of the gold louis or ecu, the term franc continued to be used in common parlance for the livre tournois. ...

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 two-euro, one-euro, fifty-cent, twenty-cent, ten-cent, five-cent, two-cent and one-cent coins, though the latter two are not generally used in Finland or the Netherlands (but are still legal tender). The euro (EUR or €) 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 micro-states: (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Holy See - Vatican City), Montenegro and Kosovo, as well as 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 €) is the single currency for many countries within the European Union. ...

There is a eurowide clearing system for large transactions, setup prior to the launch of the euro - TARGET (http://www.ecb.int/paym/target/html/index.en.html). For retail payments, several arrangements are used and the general rule is that a intra-eurozone transfer shall cost the same as a domestic one. Credit card charging and ATM withdrawals withing the eurozone also are charged as if they were domestic. Paper based payment orders, such as cheques, are still domestic based.

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. 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Maastricht (Limburgish: Mestreech; French: Maestricht; local dialect: Mestreech) 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. ... In economics, a monetary union is a situation where several countries have agreed to share a single currency among them. ... 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. The Schilling was the currency of Austria until the Euro exchange in 2002. ... The guilder (Dutch gulden), represented by the symbol ƒ, 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, when it was replaced by the euro (€). The currency code used for the markka was FIM, and the usual familiar notation was a postfix mk. ... A 10 Deutsche Mark banknote from Germany 1993 showing Carl Friedrich Gauss (http://www. ... The Irish pound (Irish: punt) was the currency unit of the Republic of Ireland until 1999. ... 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. ... The escudo was the official currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the euro in January 1, 1999 (euro coins and notes were not introduced until 2002). ... The peseta (₧) was the currency of Spain (and Andorra, along with the French franc) until December 31, 1998. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The European Currency Unit (₠; 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 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... The pound sterling, which strictly speaking refers to basic currency unit of sterling, now the pound, can generally refer to the 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 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, 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 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The European Currency Unit (₠; 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 is payment that cannot be refused in settlement of a debt. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2002 is 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, and in some states for several decades hence. 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 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A 10 Deutsche Mark banknote from Germany 1993 showing Carl Friedrich Gauss (http://www. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 is 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 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2022 is a common year starting on Saturday. ...

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 or two cents are rounded down and three or four 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 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. ...

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. ... Réunion is an island and overseas département (département doutre-mer, or DOM) of France, located in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, about 200 km southwest of Mauritius. ... 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. ...

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 (http://europa.eu.int/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l25040.htm) 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 – Serbia – Kosovo and Metohia (UN administration) – Vojvodina – Montenegro Official language Serbian Capital Podgorica Former Royal Capital Cetinje President Filip Vujanović Prime Minister Milo Đukanović Area – Total – % water 13,812 km² n/a Population – Total (2003) – Density 616,258 48. ... Kosovo and Metohia (Serbian: Косово и Метохија / Kosovo i Metohija, Albanian: Kosovë / Kosova), in English most often called just Kosovo, is a province of Serbia. ... The peseta (₧) was the currency of Spain (and Andorra, along with the French franc) until December 31, 1998. ... A 10 Deutsche Mark banknote from Germany 1993 showing Carl Friedrich Gauss (http://www. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Many of the foreign currencies that were pegged to European currencies are now pegged to the euro. For example, the escudo of Cape Verde 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 Comoros 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. 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 escudo was the official currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the euro in January 1, 1999 (euro coins and notes were not introduced until 2002). ... 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...

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 blackmarket and in shops where the dollar was used earlier.

EU-members outside the Eurozone

The ten newest European Union members are expected to eventually use the euro, as eventual adoption of the euro was part of their accession agreements. Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia 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 (http://www.lb.lt/news/pg.dll?lng=EN&did=1014)(since they are already part of ERM II); 2007 for Cyprus; 2008 for Latvia, Malta and Slovakia; 2009 for the Czech Republic and Poland; and finally 2010 for Hungary. Estonia finalised the design for the country's coins' reverse side in late 2004. 1 (http://www.eestipank.info/pub/en/majandus/euroopaliit/euro/kavand/_1kava.html) 2 (http://www.eestipank.info/pub/en/yldine/press/pressiteated/pt2004/_20041215.html) 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... In economics, a monetary union is a situation where several countries have agreed to share a single currency among them. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2007 is 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... 2007 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 is a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar There will be a United States Presidential Election this year; it will be the election of the fourty-fourth president of the United States. ... 2009 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2010 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

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 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. September 14 is the 257th day of the year (258th in leap years). ... 2003 is 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. 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] (http://www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-924366-2.pdf). 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. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Latin Monetary Union 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 be re-opened in late 2005 or early 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. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 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. ... Krone can mean: Krone - the former currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1892. ...

Bulgaria and Romania

Although Bulgaria is not a member state yet (member as of January 1, 2007), the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) 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 the extremely tight monetary policy currently in use, which is the result of Bulgaria's agreement with the Monetary Board. In 1999 the Bulgarian currency was re-denominated (1 New Lev = 1000 Old Levs) and the value of the lev was fixed to one German Mark, therefore its value has since been fixed in relation to the euro. Even at this point of time Bulgaria has fulfilled the great majority of the EMU membership criteria. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2007 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... central bank of the Republic of Bulgaria and one of the oldest central banks in the world, established on 25 January 1879. ... 2009 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... central bank of the Republic of Bulgaria and one of the oldest central banks in the world, established on 25 January 1879. ... The Lev (lv) (Bulgarian: лев) is the currency of Bulgaria, and it has been used since 1881. ...

As for Romania (member as of January 1, 2007), it is likely to join the Eurozone in the 2012-2013 period. However, there is no clear strategy of the Romanian government at this point, so the actual date depends on the future development in the Romanian fiscal and monetary policies. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 2007 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Effects of a single currency

Having a single currency is expected to increase the economic interdependency of and the ease of trade between the EU members that have adopted the euro. This, in theory, should be beneficial for citizens of the euro area, as increases in trade are historically one of the main driving forces of economic growth. Moreover, this would fit with the long-term purpose of a unified market within the European Union, inlcuding the (legally enforced since 1992) free movement of persons, goods and capital. The services industries are still lagging behind in terms of free movement. A unified market is the economic term for a single market where goods, services, capital and people can move freely without regard to national boundaries. ...

A major benefit is the removal of bank currency transaction charges that previously was a significant cost to both individuals and businesses when changing from one currency to another. Conversely, banks will suffer a significant reduction in profits with the loss of this income. The essential function of a bank is to provide services related to the storing of deposits and the extending of credit. ... Business refers to at least three closely related commercial topics. ...

A second effect of the common European currency is that differences in prices—in particular in price levels—will decrease. Differences in prices can trigger arbitrage, e.g. trade between countries, which will equalise prices across the euro area. Often this will also result in increased competition between companies, which should help to contain inflation and which therefore will be beneficial to consumers. In economics, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a state of imbalance between two (or possibly more) markets: a combination of matching deals are struck that exploit the imbalance, the profit being the difference between the market prices. ...

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. Public investment and fiscal policy in each country is thus the only way in which economic changes can be introduced specific to each region or nation. Eurozone members are experiencing large variations in inflation and unemployment, though not yet great enough to cause significant economic damage. 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 behaviour of governments in raising money to fund current spending and investment for collective social purposes and for transfer payments to citizens and residents of the territory for which the government is responsible. ...

Others 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 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. The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central bank 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. ...

It can also be argued that the 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.

It has been said that the euro would add great liquidity to the financial markets in Europe. Governments and companies can now borrow money in euros instead of their local currency, and this would allow access to many more sources of funds. Other economists consider that the potential strength of the Eurozone would be in the coherent efforts of a virtual greater super-economy, in which it is now potentially easier to create stronger financial associations, rather than in the mere sum of single liquidities. 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. ...

The euro and oil

A final and possibly decisive effect is on the pricing of 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, except that 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. If implemented, this 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 US dollars 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. Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Latin petra – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which exists in the upper strata of some areas of the Earths crust. ... 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 Chavez in 1999, as President of Venezuela Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (born July 28, 1954) is the President of Venezuela. ... Note: as an adjective (stressed on the second syllable instead of the first), august means honorable. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The deficit structure of the US economy relies heavily on the dollar's hegemonic reserve status as a means of securing US debts and deficits. Without this status, the dollar and the US economy might experience what many Latin American countries experienced during the 1980s. As long as the US dollar was not threatened, the US economy was in no danger of collapse. The individual European currencies offered no threat to the dollar's hegemonic position. In the opinion of some economists the euro may pose a threat to US dollar hegemony, and could under certain circumstances result in a US economic collapse. Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ...

Euro exchange rate

Against the US 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 worth USD $1.18; by late 2000 it had fallen to below $0.85. It then began what at the time was thought to be a recovery; by the beginning of 2001 it had risen to $0.95. It declined again, finally reaching a low of below $0.84 in July 2001. The currency then began to recover against the U.S. dollar. 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. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 15 is the 196th day (197th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 169 days remaining. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On 23 May 2003, the euro surpassed its initial trading value for the first time as it again hit $1.18, and broke the $1.35 barrier (€0.74 = $1) on 24 December 2004. On 30 December 2004 it reached a peak of $1.3668. Some analysts expected the euro to continue to strengthen against the dollar, a few even suggesting $1.60 by the end of 2005. However, the dollar started to recover in 2005 and few analysts today are as inclined to predict the long term trend as confidently. May 23 is the 143rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (144th in leap years). ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 1 day remaining. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

Currencies pegged to euro

For information on currencies pegged to euro, see: Currencies related to the 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 has had maintained lower rates than the ECB for some 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 (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central bank of the United States. ...

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. ... A budget deficit occurs when an entity (often a government) spends more money than it takes in. ... Usage in this encyclopedia One billion = 109 unless otherwise noted. ... For GDP in neuroscience see Giant depolarizing potentials. ...

A key factor is that a number of Asian currencies are rising less against the dollar than the euro is. In the case of China, the renminbi is 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. The renminbi (Simplified Chinese: 人民币; Traditional Chinese: 人民幣; pinyin: ; literally peoples currency) is the legal tender in the mainland of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A 1,000 yen note, featuring the portrait of Natsume Soseki. ... 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 tried to imply the weak euro was a sign that the euro experiment was doomed to fail. But it can also be said that its weakness in this period was due to low confidence in a currency that did not exist in "real" form. While the conversion to notes and coins was scheduled to occur, it remained possible that the project could fall apart at any time. Once the euro became "real" in the sense of existing in the form of cash, the 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. 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 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 decline of the euro was that many investors and central banks sold large portions of their euro 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 instance, became redundant. This has largely been offset by a strong commitment at the European Central Bank to low inflation. A 10 Deutsche Mark banknote from Germany 1993 showing Carl Friedrich Gauss (http://www. ... ECB is an abbreviation for: European Central Bank, other central banks include the FED, BOE and BOJ England and Wales Cricket Board Electronic codebook mode in data encryption using block ciphers This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

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 is a currency which is held in significant quantities by other governments and institutions as part of their foreign exchange reserves. ... Saddam Hussein Saddām Hussein ʻAbd al-Majīd al-Tikrīt, spelled Husayn or Hussain; Arabic صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي; born April 28, 1937 1) was President of Iraq from 1979 until 2003. ... 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. ... The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is a financial international organization established under the Hague agreements of 1930. ...

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.

Plural formation and grammar

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. ...

The (misnomer) "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. 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. Eurodollar may refer to: Eurodollars: deposits denominated in United States dollar at banks outside the United States. ...

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 created by a team of four experts. 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." This is [disputed (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4325292-102275,00.html)] by Arthur Eisenmenger, a former chief graphic designer for the EEC, who claims to have created it as a generic symbol of Europe. Download high resolution version (1891x1418, 14 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1891x1418, 14 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Logo of the International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO or iso) is an international standard-setting body made up 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 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. ...

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 versions of the traditional Latin character sets. Western nations should switch from ISO 8859-1 (Latin 1) to ISO 8859-15 (Latin 9) or Unicode in order to represent this character. ISO 8859-16 represents this character also. 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. In computing, Unicode is the international standard whose goal is to provide the means to encode the text of every document people want to store in computers. ... 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. ... ISO 8859-1, more formally cited as ISO/IEC 8859-1 or less formally as Latin-1, is part 1 of ISO/IEC 8859, a standard character encoding defined by ISO. It encodes what it refers to as Latin alphabet no. ... ISO 8859-15 is part 15 of ISO 8859, a standard character encoding defined by ISO. It is also known as Latin-9, and unofficially as Latin-0 but not as Latin-15. ... In computing, Unicode is the international standard whose goal is to provide the means to encode the text of every document people want to store in computers. ... ISO 8859-16, also known as Latin-10 or South-Eastern European, is an 8-bit character encoding, part of the ISO 8859 standard. ... In computing, HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is a markup language designed for the creation of web pages and other information viewable in a 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 article is of 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. ... Arial is a font packaged with several Microsoft Corporation applications. ... Times New Roman is a serif typeface, developed for The Times newspaper in the early 1930s, designed by Starling Burgess, Victor Lardent and Stanley Morison and produced by the Monotype Corporation. ... 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 Monotype’s Tom Rickner. ... In typography, a typeface is a co-ordinated set of character designs, which usually comprises an alphabet of letters, a set of numerals and a set of punctuation marks. ...

On many computer keyboards, the euro sign often appears as secondary function to the letter E, which can be reached by the Alt or Alt Gr key (Ctrl+Alt on US PC keyboards). When a US International keyboard layout is used the euro can be typed using Alt Gr+5 or Ctrl+Alt+5 (US International is a common layout in Europe due to the need to be able to type diacritics easily). On modern Irish and British keyboards (where that position was already in use for é), the euro sign appears as a secondary function to the digit 4 (digit 2 on Macintosh keyboards). 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. A received SMS being announced on a Nokia phone. ... A 1,000 yen note, featuring the portrait of Natsume Soseki. ...

No "official" recommendation is made with regard to the use of a cent sign, and sums are often expressed as fractions of the euro (for example €0.05 rather than 5¢ or 5c). The small letter c is often used (as it was for the guilder subdivision 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. 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". A two cent euro coin In currency, the cent is a monetary unit that equals th of the basic unit of value. ... The guilder (Dutch gulden), represented by the symbol ƒ, 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 of 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 "two euro").

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 referendums 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. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

Northern League can mean: Northern League (baseball) for minor league baseball in the United States and Canada Northern League (football) (Albany Northern League) for the association football league in North East England Northern Premier League (UniBond League) for the association football league covering the whole of the north of England... The Movement for France (French: Mouvement pour la France), or MPF, is a small conservative nationalist and traditionalist party, founded on November 20, 1994. ...

Economists who helped realise the euro

Economist Robert Mundell is sometimes referred to as the father of the euro. Other economists that helped include 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. ...

Slang words

The markka or mark was the currency used in Finland from 1861 until January 1, 1999, when it was replaced by the euro (€). The currency code used for the markka was FIM, and the usual familiar notation was a postfix mk. ... The Irish pound (Irish: punt) was the currency unit of the Republic of Ireland until 1999. ... The yo-yo is a toy consisting of two equally-sized discs of plastic, wood, or metal, connected with an axle, around which a string is wound. ... Wikicities has a wiki related to this article: The Lord of the Rings Wiki The Encyclopedia of Arda - Mark Fishers tribute site to the works of Tolkien Tolkien Gateway Tolkien Collectors Gateway The Tolkien Wiki Community TheOneRing. ...

Characteristics

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

The euro and oil

Euro exchange rate

Against the US Dollar

Currencies pegged to euro

Drivers

Consequences

Plural formation and grammar

The euro sign

Reactions following the European Constitution votes

Economists who helped realise the euro

Slang words

See also

External links

Articles

Books

Characteristics GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

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

The euro and oil

Euro exchange rate

Against the US Dollar

Currencies pegged to euro

Drivers

Consequences

Plural formation and grammar

The euro sign

Reactions following the European Constitution votes

Economists who helped realise the euro

Slang words

See also

External links

Articles

Books

Characteristics