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I. The Official
Currency
35 States and Territories
with a population of more than 316 million people use the euro as the official currency.
Seventeen countries in the EU |
|||
Country | From | Includes | Excludes |
Austria | 1 January 2002 | ||
Belgium | 1 January 2002 | ||
Cyprus | 1 January 2008 | The northern Turkish part does not recognise the Euro and uses the New Turkish Lira but the use of the Euro is now expected to spread to the north as well. | |
Estonia | 1 January 2011 | ||
Finland | 1 January 2002 | ||
France | 1 January 2002 | Corsica in the Mediterranean | |
Germany | 1 January 2002 | ||
Greece | 1 January 2002 | ||
Ireland | 1 January 2002 | ||
Italy | 1 January 2002 | Sardinia and Sicily in the Mediterranean | Campione d'Italia, an Italian enclave near Lake Lugano in Switzerland, uses the Swiss franc, though the euro also circulates. |
Luxembourg | 1 January 2002 | ||
Malta | 1 January 2008 | ||
Netherlands | 1 January 2002 | Netherlands Antilles - its guilder is linked to the US dollar. | |
Portugal | 1 January 2002 | - Nine islands of the Azores - Three Madeira Islands all in the Atlantic west of Africa |
|
Slovakia | 1 January 2009 | ||
Slovenia | 1 January 2007 | ||
Spain | 1 January 2002 | - The three Balearic Islands
in the Mediterranean:- Ibiza, Majorca, and Minorca - The seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic |
|
Four small European states | |||
Country | From | Previous currency | Location |
Andorra | 1 January 2002 | French franc; Spanish peseta | In the eastern Pyrenees between France and Spain |
Monaco | 1 January 2002 | French franc | On the Mediterranean coast in south eastern France close to the Italian border. |
San Marino | 1 January 2002 | Italian lire | West of Rimini in north eastern Italy |
Vatican City | 1 January 2002 | Italian lire | Rome, Italy |
Notes Liechtenstein, between Austria and Switzerland, uses the Swiss franc, although the euro also circulates informally. In Gibraltar, which uses the Gibraltar Pound, the euro circulates and is accepted informally. |
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Seven French overseas departments and territories | |||
Overseas department | Location | Includes | |
French Guiana | South America | ||
Guadeloupe | Caribbean | - Northern half of Saint
Martin (Southern half is part of the Netherlands Antilles - which uses a
guilder linked to the US dollar) - St Barthélemy |
|
Martinique | Caribbean | ||
Réunion | Indian ocean, Southern Africa | ||
Overseas Territory | Location | Includes | |
St Pierre-et-Miquelon | North Atlantic, off Newfoundland | ||
Mayotte | Indian ocean, Southern Africa | ||
Territoire des Terres australes et antarctiques françaises | Southern Indian Ocean | - Islands of St Paul and Amsterdam - Island groups of Crozet and Kerguelen - Terre Adélie on Antarctica |
|
Note No-one lives in the Territoire, but visitors use the euro and it issues stamps denominated in euro. | |||
Five Spanish territories in Northern Morocco | |||
Autonomous communities | Location | ||
Ceuta | Western end of north Moroccan coast, east of Tangier | ||
Melilla | Eastern end of north Moroccan coast | ||
Directly administered island groups | Location | ||
Islas Chafarinas | East of Melilla off north Moroccan coast | These three islands are uninhabited but are part of Spain and if they used a currency it would be the euro. | |
Penon de Alhucemas | In the middle of the north Moroccan coast | ||
Penon de velez de la Gomera | In the middle of the north Moroccan coast, west of Penon de Alhucemas | ||
Two Balkan countries | |||
Kosovo | |||
Montenegro | |||
Note In other Balkan countries the German mark was widely used and accepted as an unofficial currency in the informal economy. It has now been unofficially replaced by the euro or, in Bosnia and Croatia, by the US dollar. | |||
but NOT Cuba | |||
In 2002 it was reported that the euro would be adopted as an official currency in Cuba's most famous beach resort, Varadero, to the east of Havana on the northern coast. The government wanted to attract more European tourists to the island. But since then the Cuban economy has changed. Millions of tourists now visit Cuba and the currency for them is definitely the Convertible Peso, fixed to the US dollar and worth approximately 23 times the Cuban peso that the locals use. The Government takes an 11% commission each time foreign currency is converted into these pesos. Although some hotels and restaurants will accept euro, as they will in many parts of the world, they do not price in it nor use it as a local currency. |
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II. Fixed To The Euro
24 states and territories have a
national currency which is pegged to the euro
Fourteen West African countries - Members of the Zone Franc | ||
Country | currency | Fixed rate |
Benin |
The CFA franc, a currency originally pegged to the French franc and now pegged to the euro |
€1=CFAF655.957 |
Burkina Faso | ||
Cameroon | ||
Central African Republic | ||
Chad | ||
Congo | ||
Equatorial Guinea | ||
Gabon | ||
Guinea-Bissau | ||
Ivory Coast | ||
Mali | ||
Niger | ||
Senegal | ||
Togo | ||
Three French overseas territories | ||
Country | currency | Fixed rate |
French Polynesia | The CFP Franc, a currency which was pegged to the French franc and is now pegged to the euro. | €1=CFPF119.2529826 |
New Caledonia | ||
Wallis and Futuna Islands | ||
Two African island countries where the currency was pegged to Portuguese or French currency | ||
Country | currency | Fixed rate |
Cape Verde | Cape Verde Escudo | €1=CVE110.2651 |
Comoros | Comoros Franc | €1=CF491.96775 |
Three former Communist countries where the currency was pegged to the German mark | ||
Country | currency | Fixed rate |
Bosnia-Herzogovina | convertible mark | €1=KM1.95583 |
Bulgaria | Lev (BGL) | €1=BGL1.95583 |
Macedonia | Denar MKD | Pegged since January 1999. The de facto peg to the euro is described as "the cornerstone of its monetary policy". Trades around €1=MKD60 |
One North African country | ||
Country | currency | Exchange rate |
Morocco | Moroccan Dirham | The Dirham is roughly pegged at around €1=MAD10. The euro circulates widely. Morocco is moving towards becoming a Free Trade Area with the EU by 2012. |
One European Union countries | ||
Country | currency | Exchange rate |
Denmark | Danish Krone | Pegged through the original European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Trades around €1=DKK7.4265 |
Hungary pegged the forint to the euro in January 2000. But after loosening the tie in May 2001 it abandoned the peg on 26 February 2008.
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III.
New European Union members
Ten countries joined the EU on 1
May 2004 and another two on 1 January 2007. Five of the 2004 entrants - Cyprus,
Estonia, Malta,
Slovakia and Slovenia - have now adopted
the euro. The others from 2004 and 2007 will all do so eventually. See
adoption.
Eight more states may join the EU in
the next few years. But three existing members of the EU may not adopt the euro
at all.
These seven countries joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 but have not yet joined the euro. | |||
Country | Currency | Progress on joining euro | Notes |
Bulgaria | Lev | Not in ERMII. No firm target date. | Joined EU 1 January 2007. Currency pegged to euro at 1.95583 lev. |
Czech Republic | Koruna (Czech) | Not in ERMII. No firm target date. | |
Hungary | Forint | Not in ERMII. No firm target date. | In May 2006 Hungary's new Government set a target of 2010 to join the euro. |
Latvia | Lats | In ERMII. No target date. | Currency already pegged to euro at 0.702804 lats. |
Lithuania | Litas | In ERMII. As soon as possible from 2010. | EU Finance Ministers thwarted Lithuania's hopes to join the euro on 1 January 2007 as its inflation rate was too high. |
Poland | New Zloty | Not in ERMII. No firm target date. | a |
Romania | Leu | Not in ERMII. Has set 2014 as its target date to join euro. | Joined EU 1 January 2007. The new currency, the leu, replaced the old lei from 1 July 2005 and the lei was phased out on 31 December 2006. |
Three more states hope to join the EU in the next few years, with five behind them in the queue. It seems likely that the pace of enlargement of the EU will slow down. Even if these states do eventually join the EU, adopting the Euro would come much later. | ||
Acceding Country | date of Joining EU | Notes |
Candidate Country | Applied to join | Notes |
Turkey | 1987 | Accession negotiations may begin in October 2005. Reunification of Cyprus and human rights issues continue to delay matters. May join in 2015 or so. |
Croatia | 2003 | Croatia presented its formal application to join the EU on 21 February 2003. Accession negotiations began on 17 March 2005. Croatia had hoped to join at the same time as Bulgaria and Romania but 2010 is now the earliest likely date. |
Republic of Macedonia | 2004 | Applied to be a candidate in January 2004. It was accepted as a candidate in 2005. It could join 2010-2012. |
Potential candidates | First steps taken | Notes |
Albania | 2003 | May join in 2015. |
Bosnia & Herzegovina | 2005 | May join in 2015. |
Serbia | 2005 | Hopes to join in 2015 with other Balkan states. But talks were broken off by the EU over the failure of Serbia to arrest Ratko Mladic who is wanted for trial on war crimes. |
Montenegro | 2006 | Montenegro formally applied to join the EU on 15 December 2008. Since its independence from Serbia on 21 May 2006 Montenegro has made its ambition to join the EU clear. May join in 2015. |
Kosovo | 2007 |
Three European Union countries have chosen not to join the euro | |
Denmark | Danish people voted on 28 September 2000 to stay out of the euro. Turnout was more than 90 per cent and the vote was 53:47 to keep the krone. A new referendum was promised by the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen after he was re-elected for a third term. He told journalists on 22 November 2007 "The time is approaching. It is the government's view that the people in this parliamentary term should have the opportunity to take a stance on the Danish EU opt-outs. It is the government's view that the opt-outs damage Danish interests." No date has yet been set. An opinion poll taken after the introduction of the euro notes and coins showed 57% in favour of joining. The Danish currency is already pegged to the euro through the Exchange Rate Mechanism. |
Sweden | The Swedish people voted by a significant majority to stay out of the euro in a referendum held on 14 September 2003. Despite support for the euro by the political and business establishment the result was 56.1% against, 41.8% in favour of Sweden adopting the euro as its currency. Turnout was 81.2% and 1.9% of votes were neither for nor against. |
United Kingdom | The Coalition Government in the UK has ruled out joining the euro in the current Parliament which is due to end in May 2015. There is little political or public appetite to join especially after the economic difficulties in several euro members including Greece and Ireland. |
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IV. Old Currencies
The currencies of the original 12 countries in the eurozone disappeared into museums by the end of February 2002. The Slovenian
tolar disappeared on 15 January 2007; the Cypriot pound and the Maltese lire
in January 2008; the Slovak Koruna on 16 January 2009. The Estonian kroon will
vanish on 15 January 2011.
Country | Currency | Date first used in modern form |
Austria | schilling | 1924 |
Belgium | franc | 1833 |
Cyprus | pound | 1960 |
Estonia | kroon | 1992 (from 1928 in its old form) |
Finland | markka | 1860 |
France | franc | 1795 |
Germany | mark | 1948 |
Greece | drachma | 1832 |
Ireland | punt | 1928 |
Italy | lire | 1861 |
Luxembourg | franc | 1848 |
Malta | lira | 1972 |
Netherlands | guilder | 1816 |
Portugal | escudo | 1910 |
Slovakia | koruna (Slovak) | 1993 (from 1919 as the Czechoslovak Koruna) |
Slovenia | tolar | 1991 |
Spain | peseta | 1869 |
Source: British Museum Department of Coins and Medals; Wikipedia.
Interview
with the curator of an exhibition on the disappearing currencies at the
British Museum.
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Eurocountries
version 3.6 - 1 January 2011