This day in history The euro debuts

On this day in 1999, for the first time since Charlemagne’s reign in the ninth century, Europe is united

with a common currency when the “euro” debuts as a financial unit in corporate and investment markets.

Eleven European Union (EU) nations (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,

Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain), representing some 290 million people, launched the

currency in the hopes of increasing European integration and economic growth. Closing at a robust 1.17

U.S. dollars on its first day, the euro promised to give the dollar a run for its money in the new

global economy. Euro cash, decorated with architectural images, symbols of European unity and member-

state motifs, went into circulation on January 1, 2002, replacing the Austrian schilling, Belgian franc,

Finnish markka, French franc, German mark, Italian lira, Irish punt, Luxembourg franc, Netherlands

guilder, Portugal escudo and Spanish peseta. A number of territories and non-EU nations including Monaco

and Vatican City also adopted the euro.

Conversion to the euro wasn’t without controversy. Despite the practical benefits of a common currency

that would make it easier to do business and travel throughout Europe, there were concerns that the

changeover process would be costly and chaotic, encourage counterfeiting, lead to inflation and cause

individual nations to loose control over their economic policies. Great Britain, Sweden and Demark opted

not to use the euro. Greece, after initially being excluded for failing to meet all the required

conditions, adopted the euro in January 2001, becoming the 12th member of the so-called eurozone.


The euro was established by the 1992 Maastricht Treaty on European Union, which spelled out specific

economic requirements, including high degree of price stability and low inflation, which countries must

meet before they can begin using the new money. The euro consists of 8 coins and 7 paper bills. The

Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) manages the euro and sets interest rates and other monetary

policies. In 2004, 10 more countries joined the EU—-Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,

Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Several of these countries plan to start using the euro

in 2007, with the rest to follow in coming years.