The Creation and Introduction of the Euro to Europe.
On January 1, 2002 over 300 million European citizens saw the Euro transform from a virtual currency into reality. Twelve countries ended their use of individual currency and joined forces in creating a uniform monetary system. These twelve countries are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Britain, Sweden and Denmark choose not to switch to the Euro. The creation and implementation of the Euro was a long and tedious process that began in 1958 with the Treaty of Rome. The objective of this treaty was to create a common European market, which would benefit the regional economy by bringing these countries closer together economically. (Grabbe, 2002).
Creation and Implementation Time Line.
• 1958, Treaty of Rome is ratified which laid the ground work for the Euro's creation.
• 1969, Prime Minister Pierre Werner of Luxembourg, is chosen to head a committee that will decide how to form the European Monetary Union (EMU) by 1980.
• 1986, The Single European Act is signed. This contains the basic provisions, the EMU's economic policy, organization and objective.
• June 1988, A committee headed by EMU President Jacques Delors proposes three distinct steps to implementing the new currency.
• February 1992, The Treaty of the European Union called the Maastricht Treaty, is signed, and the European Community officially changes their name to the European Union.
• January 1994, The European Monetary Institute (EMI) is created. They are responsible for the preparatory work and exchange rate relationships between the EMU and participating countries.
• December 1995, The name Euro is chosen for the new currency.
• February 1996, The EMI promotes a campaign to solicit designs for the Euro currency.
