What is a Euro?

The origin of today's euro dates back to the finish of World War II when European countries tried to encourage growth and peace with a single monetary system. Little was done until 1957 when the Treaty of Rome was signed and started the development of a common market to increase economic prosperity and unity within Europe.

It took another 20 years before this plan started to become reality. In 1979, the European Monetary System came into effect and created a currency called the ecu to stabilize rates of exchange and inflation.

The Maastricht Treaty (signed in Maastricht, the Netherlands in 1992) set January 1, 1999 as the deadline for a shared currency. On that date, eleven European countries officially started to use the euro in non-cash transactions. Companies used the euro for international reports, invoicing and issuing bonds; stocks began trading in euros; banks were offering euro credit cards and euro balances for bank accounts; and people could pay mortages and use travellers cheques in euros.

January 2002 introduced the euro notes and coins, with old currency being phased out within the next few months. The member countries increased substantially to:

Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain.

The French overseas territories, including Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, French Guiana in South America and Reunion in the Indian Ocean all use the euro. It's also used in The Vatican City, Andorra, San Marino and Monaco and former Yugoslav states Montenegro and Kosovo use it as an official currency.

The euro is used daily by 300 million European citizens and, since its introduction, has been the second most widely held international reserve currency after the U.S. dollar.

People of Europe and visitors to those areas no longer have to worry about rates of exchange and changing monies. This single currency can be used freely in any of the member countries regardless of country of issue.