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. The European Exchange Rate Mechanism attempted to minimize fluctuations between member state currencies and the ECU. The ECU was also used in some international financial transactions. 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 (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 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...

The ECU was conceived on 13 March 1979 as an internal accounting unit. It had the ISO 4217 currency code XEU. March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... ISO 4217 is an international standard describing three letter codes to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ... Former ISO currency code for the European Currency Unit, the predecessor of the Euro. ...

On January 1, 1999, the euro (with the code EUR) replaced the ECU, at the value EUR 1 = XEU 1. Unlike the ECU, the euro is a real currency, although not all member states participate (for details on Euro membership see Eurozone). 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 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 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 Euro area (also called Euro zone or Eurosystem) is the subset of European Union member states which have adopted the euro, creating a currency union. ...

Until 1999, all member states that participated in the ERM, also participated in the ECU. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Due to the ECU being used in some international financial transactions, there was a concern that foreign courts might not recognize the euro as the legal successor to the ECU. This was unlikely to be a problem, since it is a generally accepted principle of private international law that states determine their currencies, and that therefore states would accept the European Union legislation to that effect. However, for abundant caution, several foreign jurisdictions adopted legislation to ensure a smooth transition. Of particular importance here were the U.S. states of Illinois and New York, under whose laws a large proportion of international financial contracts are made. Both these states passed legislation to ensure that the euro was recognized as successor to the ECU. Private International Law, International Private Law, or Conflict of Laws is that branch of public law regulating all lawsuits involving a foreign law element where a difference in result will occur depending on which laws are applied. ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 25th 149,998 km² 340 km 629 km 4. ... Official language(s) English Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 455 km 530 km 13. ...

Although the acronym ECU is formed from English words, at the same time the word ecu was a reference to an ancient French coin of the same name. That was one (perhaps the main) reason that a new name was devised for its successor currency, euro, which was felt to not favour any single language. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

The currency's symbol, ₠ (U+20A0), comprises an interlaced C and E, which are the initial letters of the phrase 'European Community' in many European languages. However, this symbol was not widely used: few systems at the time could render it and in any case banks preferred (as with all currencies) to use the ISO code XEU. Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some web browsers may not display some special characters in this article. ... 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. ... Most of the many indigenous languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. ... Former ISO currency code for the European Currency Unit, the predecessor of the Euro. ...

The Belgian franc (Dutch Belgische frank, French franc belge) was the currency of Belgium before the adoption of the euro. ... The Deutsche Mark (DM, DEM) was the official currency of West and, from 1990, unified Germany. ... The Danish krone is the currency used in Denmark and the Danish dependency of Greenland. ... The peseta is the former currency of Spain and, (along with the French Franc), of Andorra. ... French Franc. ... The pound sterling is the official currency of the United Kingdom (UK). ... Drachma, pl. ... The harp has long been associated with the Irish pound, here on a 1990 Irish pound coin. ... Lira is the name of the former currency of Italy. ... The franc is the name of several currency units. ... Guilder is the English name for the Dutch Gulden. ... 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). ...

See also

• Asian Currency Unit