To participate in the currency, member states are meant to meet strict criteria, such as a budget deficit of less than 3% of their GDP, a debt ratio of less than 60% of GDP (both of which were ultimately widely flouted after introduction), low inflation, and interest rates close to the EU average. In the Maastricht Treaty, the United Kingdom and Denmark were granted exemptions per their request from moving to the stage of monetary union which https://www.currency-trading.org/ resulted in the introduction of the euro. To ensure that you remain free to choose cash as a way to pay both now and in the future, the ECB and the central banks of the euro area are working to ensure that cash remains accessible to all. We will make sure it remains an accepted, competitive and reliable means of payment and a store of value. Our euro banknotes symbolise the integration, openness and cooperation between the people of Europe.

They have a common side symbolising unity and a national side showcasing our rich and diverse cultural heritage. Small and medium-sized enterprises form the backbone of the euro area economy. Using a common currency allows businesses to grow as it reduces costs and risks, and encourages investment. These are the average exchange rates of these two currencies for the last 30 and 90 days. As of January 2014, and since the introduction of the euro, interest rates of most member countries (particularly those with a weak currency) have decreased. Some of these countries had the most serious sovereign financing problems.

These percentages show how much the exchange rate has fluctuated over the last 30 and 90-day periods. The following EU member states are legally obligated to adopt the euro, though they do not have a deadline for adoption. Bulgaria and Romania are actively working to adopt the euro, while the remaining states do not plan to switch in the near future. The euro makes our lives simpler by enabling citizens to live, work and study abroad more easily. At the ECB, we safeguard the euro so that you can make the most of all that Europe has to offer. In general, those in Europe who own large amounts of euro are served by high stability and low inflation.

The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of euro banknotes and coins in all member states, and the operation of the eurozone payment systems. It was introduced as a noncash monetary unit in 1999, and currency notes and coins appeared in participating countries on January 1, 2002. After February 28, 2002, the euro became the sole currency of 12 EU member states, and their national currencies ceased to be legal tender.

The most obvious benefit of adopting a single currency is to remove the cost of exchanging currency, theoretically allowing businesses and individuals to consummate previously unprofitable trades. For consumers, banks in the eurozone must charge the same for intra-member cross-border transactions as purely domestic transactions for electronic payments (e.g., credit cards, debit cards and cash machine withdrawals). The euro was established by the provisions in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.

Flexible exchange rates

The euro unites us – it’s used by about 350 million people across 20 European Union countries. Bulgaria has negotiated an exception; euro in the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet is spelled eвро (evro) and not eуро (euro) in all official documents.[124] In the Greek script the term ευρώ (evró) is used; the Greek “cent” coins are denominated in λεπτό/ά (leptó/á). The euro is divided into 100 cents (also referred to as euro cents, especially when distinguishing them from other currencies, and referred to as such on the common side of all cent coins).

1. After February 28, 2002, the euro became the sole currency of 12 EU member states, and their national currencies ceased to be legal tender.
2. The changeover period during which the former currencies’ notes and coins were exchanged for those of the euro lasted about two months, until 28 February 2002.
3. They may also agree to use privately issued ‘money’ like local exchange trading systems (e.g. voucher-based payment systems) or virtual currencies (e.g. Bitcoin).
4. The euro unites us in diversity, as reflected by the two sides of our coins.

All nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. The Maastricht Treaty was amended by the 2001 Treaty of Nice,[19] which closed the gaps and loopholes in the Maastricht and Rome Treaties. The currency is also used officially by the institutions of the European Union, by four European microstates that are not EU members,[7] https://www.forexbox.info/ the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, as well as unilaterally by Montenegro and Kosovo. Outside Europe, a number of special territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally, over 200 million people worldwide use currencies pegged to the euro. To future-proof our money, we are also preparing for a possible digital euro.

We keep an eye on and report on the use of the euro outside the euro area. These are the lowest points the exchange rate has been at in the last 30 and 90-day periods. These are the highest points the exchange rate has been at in the last 30 and 90-day periods. For local phonetics, cent, use of plural and amount formatting (€6,00 or 6.00 €), see Language and the euro. Outside the eurozone, two EU member states have currencies that are pegged to the euro, which is a precondition to joining the eurozone. The Danish krone and Bulgarian lev are pegged due to their participation in the ERM II.

Historical Exchange Rates For Euro to United States Dollar

These private and business transactions are still subject to taxation law, business law, anti-money laundering law and other general commodity trade rules. However, currencies which are not official within the euro area, are not governed by monetary law. Parties may also agree to transactions using other official foreign currencies (e.g. the US dollar).

Other countries that adopted the currency include Slovakia (2009), Estonia (2011), Latvia (2014), Lithuania (2015), and Croatia (2023). (The euro is also the official currency in several areas outside the EU, including Andorra, Montenegro, Kosovo, and San Marino.) The 20 participating EU countries are known as the euro area, euroland, or the euro zone. All circulating coins have a common side showing the denomination or value, and a map in the background. Due to the linguistic plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used (as opposed to the less common Greek or Cyrillic) and Arabic numerals (other text is used on national sides in national languages, but other text on the common side is avoided). For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, the map only showed the 15 member states of the union as of 2002. Beginning in 2007 or 2008 (depending on the country), the old map was replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the EU.[34] The 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, however, keep their old design, showing a geographical map of Europe with the EU member states as of 2002, raised somewhat above the rest of the map.

In Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage.[31][32] Otherwise, normal English plurals are used,[33] with many local variations such as centime https://www.topforexnews.org/ in France. The euro is the official currency of 20 European Union countries which collectively make up the euro area, also known as the eurozone. The euro unites us in diversity, as reflected by the two sides of our coins.

Xe Currency Converter

The symbol € is based on the Greek letter epsilon (Є), with the first letter in the word “Europe” and with 2 parallel lines signifying stability. We are developing future banknotes to make them even more secure, sustainable and relatable to Europeans of all ages and backgrounds. Find out about the different steps in the process and how you can get involved. The Xe Rate Alerts will let you know when the rate you need is triggered on your selected currency pairs.

The definitive values of one euro in terms of the exchange rates at which the currency entered the euro are shown in the table. In 2007 Slovenia became the first former communist country to adopt the euro. Having demonstrated fiscal stability since joining the EU in 2004, both Malta and the Greek Cypriot sector of Cyprus adopted the euro in 2008.

Since 2005, stamps issued by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta have been denominated in euros, although the Order’s official currency remains the Maltese scudo.[73] The Maltese scudo itself is pegged to the euro and is only recognised as legal tender within the Order. Since 1995, the Xe Currency Converter has provided free mid-market exchange rates for millions of users. Our latest currency calculator is a direct descendent of the fast and reliable original “Universal Currency Calculator” and of course it’s still free! Learn more about Xe, our latest money transfer services, and how we became known as the world’s currency data authority.

The ECB targets interest rates rather than exchange rates and in general, does not intervene on the foreign exchange rate markets. This is because of the implications of the Mundell–Fleming model, which implies a central bank cannot (without capital controls) maintain interest rate and exchange rate targets simultaneously, because increasing the money supply results in a depreciation of the currency. In the years following the Single European Act, the EU has liberalised its capital markets and, as the ECB has inflation targeting as its monetary policy, the exchange-rate regime of the euro is floating. The euro is managed and administered by the European Central Bank (ECB, Frankfurt am Main) and the Eurosystem, composed of the central banks of the eurozone countries. As an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy.