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The Euro
Currency:
History and Adoption |
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The euro was developed in an effort to "create one of the largest and
most powerful economic areas of the world" (Ref).
The euro was introduced on January 1, 2002 to 12 European countries.
These countries included Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Ireland,
Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. While there were many beneficial
reasons for European countries to unite and switch to a single currency, one
must ask why Great Britain, Sweden, and Denmark chose not to adopt it. Did cultural,
economic or political reasons play a part in this decision or was it a combination?
Planning
for its implementation began in 1957 with the signing
of the Treaty of Rome. This was a little over four decades prior to the
euro's actual introduction on January 1, 2002. The Treaty of Rome "declared
a common European market to be a European objective with the aim of increasing
economic
prosperity and contributing to a closer union among the peoples of Europe" (Ref).
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In 1979 the European Monetary System (EMS) went into operation.
The EMS "was
designed to create a zone of monetary stability in Europe, control inflation,
and coordinate exchange rate policies of EU countries." (Hill 676) "It
used a mechanism called the European currency unit (ECU). The ECU is an
entity that is used for accounting purposes only" (Ref).
At that time, there were only eight member nations that agreed to hold
exchange rates within certain limits. |
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