The Eurozone
The euro (currency sign: €; banking code: EUR) is the official currency of the European Union's Eurozone. It is the single currency for more than 320 million Europeans. Including areas using currencies pegged to the euro, the euro directly affects close to 500 million people worldwide. With more than €610 billion in circulation as of December 2006 (equivalent to US$802 billion at the exchange rates at the time), the euro is the currency with the highest combined value of cash in circulation in the world, having surpassed the U.S. dollar.
The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency in 1999 and launched as physical coins and banknotes on 1 January 2002. It replaced the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1.
The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurosystem (composed of the central banks of the euro zone countries). As an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all member states, and the operation of the Eurozone payment systems.
While all European Union (EU) member states are eligible to join if they comply with certain monetary requirements, not all EU members have chosen to adopt the currency. All nations that have joined the EU since the 1993 implementation of the Maastricht Treaty have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Maastricht obliged current members to join the euro; however, the United Kingdom and Denmark negotiated exemptions from that requirement for themselves.[3] Sweden turned down the euro in a 2003 referendum, and has circumvented the requirement to join the euro area by not meeting the membership criteria. In addition, several small European states (Vatican City, Monaco, and San Marino), although not EU members, have adopted the euro due to currency unions with member states. Andorra, Montenegro, and Kosovo have adopted the euro unilaterally, while not being EU members either. Switzerland and Liechtenstein continue using the Swiss franc. (cf. #Eurozone.)
Coins and banknotes
The ECB is in charge of the Eurozone's monetary policyMain articles: euro coins and euro banknotes
The euro is divided into 100 cent (sometimes referred to as eurocent, especially when distinguishing it from the U.S. cent or the former currency in a particular country). All circulating euro coins (including the €2 commemorative coins) have a common side showing the denomination (value) with the old 15 EU-countries in the background. From 2007 or 2008 on (depending on the country where the coin is issued) that "old" map is replaced by a map of Europe, thus also showing non-EU-members like Norway. The coins also have a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued the coin. Euro coins from any country may be freely used in any nation which has adopted the euro.
The euro coins are €2, €1, €0.50, €0.20, €0.10, €0.05, €0.02, and €0.01. In the Netherlands some cash transactions are rounded to the nearest five cent, to avoid the use of €0.02, and €0.01, and in Finland, the two smallest denominations are no longer struck, though they remain legal tender there.
Coins have a common side, and a national side designed by the respective national authorities.Commemorative coins with €2 face value have been issued with changes to the design of the national side of the coin — as Greece did for the 2004 Summer Olympics. These two-euro coins are legal tender throughout the Eurozone. Coins with various other denominations have been issued as well, but these are not intended for general circulation. These later coins are only legal tender in the nation which issued them.
All euro banknotes have a common design for each denomination on both sides. Notes are issued in €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, €5. The design for each of them has a common theme of European architecture in various artistic periods. The front (or recto) of the note features windows or gateways while the back (or verso) has bridges. Care has been taken so that the architectural examples do not represent any actual existing monument, so as not to induce jealousy and controversy in the choice of which monument should be depicted. Some of the highest denominations such as the €500 are not issued in a few countries, though they remain legal tender throughout the Eurozone.
The currency sign
The official construction of the euro sign, which was specified to be printed in Pantone Yellow on a Reflex Blue backgroundA special euro currency sign (€) was designed after a public survey had narrowed the original ten proposals down to two. The European Commission then chose the final design.
The eventual winner was a design created by the Belgian Alain Billiet. The official story of the design history of the euro sign is disputed by Arthur Eisenmenger, a former chief graphic designer for the EEC, who claims to have created it as a generic symbol of Europe.
The glyph is according to the European Commission "a combination of the Greek epsilon, as a sign of the weight of European civilization; an E for Europe; and the parallel lines crossing through standing for the stability of the euro".
The European Commission also specified a euro logo with exact proportions and foreground/background colour tones. While the Commission intended the logo to be a prescribed glyph shape, font designers made it clear that they intended to design their own variants instead.
Placement of the currency sign varies from nation to nation. There are no official standards on where to place the euro sign.
Another advantage to the final chosen symbol is that it is easily created on a typewriter lacking the euro sign, by typing a capital 'C', backspacing and overstriking it with the equal ('=') sign.
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