European Union Currency EURO EUR EU sign symbol central bank coins banknotes paymnets clearing electronic funds transfer eurozone

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EURO

The euro (currency sign: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of the European Union (EU). Fifteen member states have adopted it, known collectively as the Eurozone (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain). The currency is also used in five further countries with formal agreements and six other countries without such agreements. Hence it is the single currency for over 320 million Europeans. Including areas using currencies pegged to the euro, the euro directly affects close to 500 million people worldwide. With more than €610 billion in circulation as of December 2006 (equivalent to US$802 billion at the exchange rates at the time), the euro is the currency with the highest combined value of cash in circulation in the world, having surpassed the U.S. dollar (USD).

Taking official estimates of 2007 GDP, the Eurozone is the largest economy in the world by March 2008 after the USD/EUR exchange rate surpassed 1.56.

The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency in 1999 and launched as physical coins and banknotes on 1 January 2002. It replaced the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1.

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Currency sign

A special euro currency sign (€) was designed after a public survey had narrowed the original ten proposals down to two. The European Commission then chose the design created by the Belgian Alain Billiet. The official story of the design history of the euro sign is disputed by Arthur Eisenmenger, a former chief graphic designer for the EEC, who claims to have created it as a generic symbol of Europe.

Inspiration for the € symbol itself came from the Greek epsilon (Є) – a reference to the cradle of European civilisation – and the first letter of the word Europe, crossed by two parallel lines to ‘certify’ the stability of the euro.

The European Commission also specified a euro logo with exact proportions and foreground/background colour tones. While the Commission intended the logo to be a prescribed glyph shape, font designers made it clear that they intended to design their own variants instead. Typewriters lacking the euro sign, can create it by typing a capital 'C', backspacing and overstriking it with the equal ('=') sign. Placement of the currency sign relative to the numeric amount varies from nation to nation, and there are no official recommendation on the issue

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The European Central Bank

The ECB is the central bank for Europe's single currency, the euro. The ECB’s main task is to maintain the euro's purchasing power and thus price stability in the euro area. The euro area comprises the 15 European Union countries that have introduced the euro since 1999.

The Eurosystem comprises the ECB and the NCBs of those countries that have adopted the euro. The Eurosystem and the ESCB will co-exist as long as there are EU Member States outside the euro area.

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Coins and banknotes

The euro is divided into 100 cent (also referred to as euro cent, especially when distinguishing them from other currencies). All circulating euro coins (including the €2 commemorative coins) have a common side showing the denomination (value) with the old 15 EU-countries in the background. This common side was designed by Luc Luycx. From 2007 or 2008 on (depending on the country where the coin is issued) that “old” map is replaced by a map of Europe, thus also showing non-EU-members like Norway. The coins also have a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued the coin. Euro coins from any country may be freely used in any nation which has adopted the euro.

The coin denominations are €2, €1, 50 cent, 20 cent, 10 cent, 5 cent, 2 cent and 1 cent. In the Netherlands, some, and in Finland, by law, cash transactions are rounded to the nearest five cents, to avoid the use of the two smallest coins

Commemorative coins with €2 face value have been issued with changes to the design of the national side of the coin — as Greece did for the 2004 Summer Olympics. These coins are legal tender throughout the Eurozone. Coins with various other denominations have been issued as well, but these are not intended for general circulation. These later coins are only legal tender in the nation which issued them.^{[citation
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The design for the euro banknotes have common designs on both sides. Notes are issued in €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, €5. Each banknote has its own colour and is dedicated to an artistic period of European architecture. The front (recto) of the note features windows or gateways while the back (verso) has bridges. Care has been taken so that the architectural examples do not represent any actual existing monument, so as not to induce jealousy or controversy in the choice of monuments. Some of the highest denominations such as the €500 are not issued in all countries, though they remain legal tender throughout the Eurozone.

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Payments clearing, electronic funds transfer

All intra-Eurozone transfers shall be considered domestic and bear the corresponding domestic transfer costs. This is true for retail payments, although several ECB payment methods can be used. Credit/debit card charging and ATM withdrawals within the Eurozone are also charged as domestic. The ECB has not standardised paper-based payment orders, such as cheques; these are still domestic-based.

The ECB has set up a clearing system, TARGET, for large euro transactions

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Eurozone

The euro is the sole currency in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. These 15 countries together are frequently referred to as the Eurozone or the euro area, and, more informally, "euroland" or the "eurogroup". Outside of the area covered by the map, the euro is the legal currency of the French overseas possessions of French Guiana, Réunion, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Mayotte, and the uninhabited Clipperton Island and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands; the Portuguese autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira; and the Spanish Canary Islands.
By virtue of some bilateral agreements, the European microstates of Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City mint their own euro coins on behalf of the European Central Bank. They are, however, severely limited in the total value of coins they may issue.
Andorra, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopted the foreign euro as their legal currency for movement of capital and payments without participation in the ESCB or the right to mint coins. Andorra is in the process of entering a monetary agreement similar to that of the microstates above.
Several possessions and former colonies of EU states have currencies pegged to the euro. These are French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna (the CFP franc); Cape Verde; the Comoros; and fourteen nations of Central and West Africa (the CFA franc). See Currencies related to the euro.
Although not legal tender in Denmark and the United Kingdom, the euro is accepted in some stores throughout both countries, particularly international stores in large cities, and shops in Northern Ireland near the border with the Republic of Ireland, where the euro is the official currency. Similarly, the euro is widely accepted in Switzerland, even by official boards, such as the Swiss Railways.

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