Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union (EMU)
The economic situation in Europe is very bad, especially in Greece. The animals are particularly vulnerable to economic crises. Try to support the animals in those countries where the economic situation is difficult. Contact the well-established organizations and associations and donate some money. Not all European Union member countries are members of the EMU or use the Euro as currency - EU and EMU are separated in this regard. The euro is the single currency shared by (currently) 17 of the European Union's Member States, which together make up the euro area. The introduction of the euro in 1999 was a major step in European integration.
When the euro was launched on 1 January 1999, it became the new official currency of 11 Member States, replacing the old national currencies – such as the Deutschmark and the French franc – in two stages.
First introduced as a virtual currency for cash-less payments and accounting purposes, while the old currencies continued to be used for cash payments and considered as 'sub-units' of the euro, it then appeared in physical form, as banknotes and coins, on 1 January 2002.
The euro is not the currency of all EU Member States. Two countries (Denmark and the United Kingdom) agreed an ‘opt-out’ clause in the Treaty exempting them from participation, while the remainder (many of the newest EU members plus Sweden) have yet to meet the conditions for adopting the single currency. Once they do so, they will replace their national currency with the euro.
Sweden meets all the requirements (conditions) to switch to the Euro currency, but Sweden has a referendum opted not to use the Euro as currency in the country.
Which countries have adopted the euro – and when?
1999 Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Austria, Portugal and Finland
2001 Greece
2002 Introduction of euro banknotes and coins
2007 Slovenia
2008 Cyprus, Malta
2009 Slovakia
2011 Estonia
The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is an umbrella term for the group of policies aimed at converging the economies of members of the European Union in three stages so as to allow them to adopt a single currency, the euro. As such, it is largely synonymous with the eurozone.
All member states of the European Union are expected to participate in the EMU. The Copenhagen criteria is the current set of conditions of entry for states wanting to join the EU.
It contains the requirements that need to be fulfilled and the time framework within which this must be done in order for a country to join the monetary union.
An important element of this is the European Exchange Rate Mechanism ("ERM II"), in which candidate currencies demonstrate economic convergence by maintaining limited deviation from their target rate against the euro.
All member states, except Denmark and the United Kingdom, have committed themselves by treaty to join EMU. Seventeen member states of the European Union, including, most recently, Estonia, have entered the third stage and have adopted the euro as their currency. Denmark, Latvia and Lithuania are the current participants in the exchange rate mechanism. Of the pre-2004 members, the United Kingdom and Sweden have not joined ERM II and Denmark remains in ERM without proceeding to the third stage. The five remaining (post-2004) states have yet to achieve sufficient convergence to participate. These ten EU members continue to use their own currencies.
First ideas of an economic and monetary union in Europe were raised well before establishing the European Communities. For example, already in the League of Nations, Gustav Stresemann asked in 1929 for a European currency against the background of an increased economic division due to a number of new nation states in Europe after WWI.
A first attempt to create an economic and monetary union between the members of the European Communities goes back to an initiative by the European Commission in 1969, which set out the need for "greater co-ordination of economic policies and monetary cooperation," which was followed by the decision of the Heads of State or Government at their summit meeting in The Hague in 1969 to draw up a plan by stages with a view to creating an economic and monetary union by the end of the 1970s.
On the basis of various previous proposals, an expert group chaired by Luxembourg’s Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Pierre Werner, presented in October 1970 the first commonly agreed blueprint to create an economic and monetary union in three stages (Werner plan). The project experienced serious setbacks from the crises arising from the non-convertibility of the US dollar into gold in August 1971 (i.e. the collapse of the Bretton Woods System) and from rising oil prices in 1972. An attempt to limit the fluctations of European currencies, using a snake in the tunnel, failed.
The debate on EMU was fully re-launched at the Hanover Summit in June 1988, when an ad hoc committee (Delors Committee) of the central bank governors of the twelve member states, chaired by the President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, was asked to propose a new timetable with clear, practical and realistic steps for creating an economic and monetary union. This way of working was derived from the Spaak method.
The Delors report of 1989 set out a plan to introduce the EMU in three stages and it included the creation of institutions like the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), which would become responsible for formulating and implementing monetary policy.
EMU - a historical documentation
European central bank
The three stages for the implementation of the EMU were the following:
Stage One: 1 July 1990 to 31 December 1993
On 1 July 1990, exchange controls were abolished, thus capital movements were completely liberalised in the European Economic Community.
The Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 establishes the completion of the EMU as a formal objective and sets a number of economic convergence criteria, concerning the inflation rate, public finances, interest rates and exchange rate stability.
The treaty enters into force on the 1 November 1993.
Stage Two: 1 January 1994 to 31 December 1998
The European Monetary Institute is established as the forerunner of the European Central Bank, with the task of strengthening monetary cooperation between the member states and their national banks, as well as supervising ECU banknotes.
On 16 December 1995, details such as the name of the new currency (the euro) as well as the duration of the transition periods are decided.
On 16–17 June 1997, the European Council decides at Amsterdam to adopt the Stability and Growth Pact, designed to ensure budgetary discipline after creation of the euro, and a new exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) is set up to provide stability above the euro and the national currencies of countries that haven't yet entered the eurozone.
On 3 May 1998, at the European Council in Brussels, the 11 initial countries that will participate in the third stage from 1 January 1999 are selected.
On 1 June 1998, the European Central Bank (ECB) is created, and in 31 December 1998, the conversion rates between the 11 participating national currencies and the euro are established.
Stage Three: 1 January 1999 and continuing
From the start of 1999, the euro is now a real currency, and a single monetary policy is introduced under the authority of the ECB. A three-year transition period begins before the introduction of actual euro notes and coins, but legally the national currencies have already ceased to exist.
On 1 January 2001, Greece joins the third stage of the EMU.
The euro notes and coins are introduced in January 2002.
On 1 January 2007, Slovenia joins the third stage of the EMU.
On 1 January 2008, Cyprus and Malta join the third stage of the EMU.
On 1 January 2009, Slovakia joins the third stage of the EMU.
On 1 January 2011, Estonia joins the third stage of the EMU.
The European crisis, January 2012
More information
The economic situation in Europe is very bad, especially in Greece. The animals are particularly vulnerable to economic crises. Try to support the animals in those countries where the economic situation is difficult. Contact the well-established organizations and associations and donate some money. Not all European Union member countries are members of the EMU or use the Euro as currency - EU and EMU are separated in this regard. The euro is the single currency shared by (currently) 17 of the European Union's Member States, which together make up the euro area. The introduction of the euro in 1999 was a major step in European integration.
When the euro was launched on 1 January 1999, it became the new official currency of 11 Member States, replacing the old national currencies – such as the Deutschmark and the French franc – in two stages.
First introduced as a virtual currency for cash-less payments and accounting purposes, while the old currencies continued to be used for cash payments and considered as 'sub-units' of the euro, it then appeared in physical form, as banknotes and coins, on 1 January 2002.
The euro is not the currency of all EU Member States. Two countries (Denmark and the United Kingdom) agreed an ‘opt-out’ clause in the Treaty exempting them from participation, while the remainder (many of the newest EU members plus Sweden) have yet to meet the conditions for adopting the single currency. Once they do so, they will replace their national currency with the euro.
Sweden meets all the requirements (conditions) to switch to the Euro currency, but Sweden has a referendum opted not to use the Euro as currency in the country.
Which countries have adopted the euro – and when?
1999 Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Austria, Portugal and Finland
2001 Greece
2002 Introduction of euro banknotes and coins
2007 Slovenia
2008 Cyprus, Malta
2009 Slovakia
2011 Estonia
The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is an umbrella term for the group of policies aimed at converging the economies of members of the European Union in three stages so as to allow them to adopt a single currency, the euro. As such, it is largely synonymous with the eurozone.
All member states of the European Union are expected to participate in the EMU. The Copenhagen criteria is the current set of conditions of entry for states wanting to join the EU.
It contains the requirements that need to be fulfilled and the time framework within which this must be done in order for a country to join the monetary union.
An important element of this is the European Exchange Rate Mechanism ("ERM II"), in which candidate currencies demonstrate economic convergence by maintaining limited deviation from their target rate against the euro.
All member states, except Denmark and the United Kingdom, have committed themselves by treaty to join EMU. Seventeen member states of the European Union, including, most recently, Estonia, have entered the third stage and have adopted the euro as their currency. Denmark, Latvia and Lithuania are the current participants in the exchange rate mechanism. Of the pre-2004 members, the United Kingdom and Sweden have not joined ERM II and Denmark remains in ERM without proceeding to the third stage. The five remaining (post-2004) states have yet to achieve sufficient convergence to participate. These ten EU members continue to use their own currencies.
First ideas of an economic and monetary union in Europe were raised well before establishing the European Communities. For example, already in the League of Nations, Gustav Stresemann asked in 1929 for a European currency against the background of an increased economic division due to a number of new nation states in Europe after WWI.
A first attempt to create an economic and monetary union between the members of the European Communities goes back to an initiative by the European Commission in 1969, which set out the need for "greater co-ordination of economic policies and monetary cooperation," which was followed by the decision of the Heads of State or Government at their summit meeting in The Hague in 1969 to draw up a plan by stages with a view to creating an economic and monetary union by the end of the 1970s.
On the basis of various previous proposals, an expert group chaired by Luxembourg’s Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Pierre Werner, presented in October 1970 the first commonly agreed blueprint to create an economic and monetary union in three stages (Werner plan). The project experienced serious setbacks from the crises arising from the non-convertibility of the US dollar into gold in August 1971 (i.e. the collapse of the Bretton Woods System) and from rising oil prices in 1972. An attempt to limit the fluctations of European currencies, using a snake in the tunnel, failed.
The debate on EMU was fully re-launched at the Hanover Summit in June 1988, when an ad hoc committee (Delors Committee) of the central bank governors of the twelve member states, chaired by the President of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, was asked to propose a new timetable with clear, practical and realistic steps for creating an economic and monetary union. This way of working was derived from the Spaak method.
The Delors report of 1989 set out a plan to introduce the EMU in three stages and it included the creation of institutions like the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), which would become responsible for formulating and implementing monetary policy.
EMU - a historical documentation
European central bank
The three stages for the implementation of the EMU were the following:
Stage One: 1 July 1990 to 31 December 1993
On 1 July 1990, exchange controls were abolished, thus capital movements were completely liberalised in the European Economic Community.
The Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 establishes the completion of the EMU as a formal objective and sets a number of economic convergence criteria, concerning the inflation rate, public finances, interest rates and exchange rate stability.
The treaty enters into force on the 1 November 1993.
Stage Two: 1 January 1994 to 31 December 1998
The European Monetary Institute is established as the forerunner of the European Central Bank, with the task of strengthening monetary cooperation between the member states and their national banks, as well as supervising ECU banknotes.
On 16 December 1995, details such as the name of the new currency (the euro) as well as the duration of the transition periods are decided.
On 16–17 June 1997, the European Council decides at Amsterdam to adopt the Stability and Growth Pact, designed to ensure budgetary discipline after creation of the euro, and a new exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) is set up to provide stability above the euro and the national currencies of countries that haven't yet entered the eurozone.
On 3 May 1998, at the European Council in Brussels, the 11 initial countries that will participate in the third stage from 1 January 1999 are selected.
On 1 June 1998, the European Central Bank (ECB) is created, and in 31 December 1998, the conversion rates between the 11 participating national currencies and the euro are established.
Stage Three: 1 January 1999 and continuing
From the start of 1999, the euro is now a real currency, and a single monetary policy is introduced under the authority of the ECB. A three-year transition period begins before the introduction of actual euro notes and coins, but legally the national currencies have already ceased to exist.
On 1 January 2001, Greece joins the third stage of the EMU.
The euro notes and coins are introduced in January 2002.
On 1 January 2007, Slovenia joins the third stage of the EMU.
On 1 January 2008, Cyprus and Malta join the third stage of the EMU.
On 1 January 2009, Slovakia joins the third stage of the EMU.
On 1 January 2011, Estonia joins the third stage of the EMU.
The European crisis, January 2012
More information
