On January 2002, twelve countries agreed to have a common currency, the euro. After three years of planning the union of the European currencies, in January 2002 the euro was introduced. Of the 15 European Union members, only 12 decided to join the EMU (economic and monetary union) forming what is called the euro zone. These countries are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Portugal and Spain. The countries that did not want to enter are Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom (Fairlamb, 2001).
Source: Fairlamb, D. (2001, July 2). Ready, set, euros! Business Week [Online], (3739), .
48-50. CSULB Library: ABI Inform Global. Available: http://0proquest. umi.com.coast.library.csulb.edu:80/pqdweb? ["European currencies"] [2002, November 25].
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This map shows the countries that joined the euro zone and the flags of the twelve countries. The currencies of these twelve countries, worth $315 billion, are converted to one, the euro. There are two steps to take into account. The first one is the introduction of the electronic Euro, and that is when companies started trading using the Euro and the second one is when every country has to give up their own currencies to adopt the currency of the European Union.
Advantages and Disadvantages.
There are positive and negative things that come with the euro. First of all, the fact that so many countries will be using a single currency will give power to the euro against other currencies like the dollar, for example. The euro will increase the trade within the businesses in Europe and will make it easier to form mergers and joint ventures that will help the European economy overall. A single currency is going to help Europe's commerce. Every country will have competent prices, wages and taxes. They hope that once all the work is done and the euro is settled in Europe, the economy of the euro zone will improve (Fairlamb, 2001).
