Today in History: The euro debuts as a currency
At present, 19 eurozone nations as well as eight microstates and territories outside the eurozone use the currency.
On this day in 1999, for the first time since Charlemagne’s reign in the ninth century, Europe was united by a common currency when the euro debuted 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 US 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 1 January 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 Denmark 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 the European Union, which spelled out specific economic requirements, including a high degree of price stability and low inflation, which countries must meet before they can begin using the new money. The euro consists of eight coins and seven paper bills. The Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) manages the euro and sets interest rates and other monetary policies.
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