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When Did the Euro Begin? 1848
In 1848 a famous French writer named Victor Hugo said these words: "A day will come when all nations on our continent will form a European brotherhood... A day will come when we shall see ... the United States ofAmerica and the United States of Europe, face to face, reaching out for each other across the seas." From ideas like this one, the people of Europe decided to form a European Union.
1946 December 17, 1946 The European Federalists Union is made in Paris, France.
1957 After the Second World War, there was a treaty called the Treaty of Rome that was signed in 1957. A treaty is an agreement that countries sign. This treaty formed something called the European Economic Community (EEC). It had six European countries in it. The countries were Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, and Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. This group was the one that wanted to do more to pull Europe together.
1958 The European Community (EC) was established in 1958 to promote trade and cooperation between its members. The first six members were Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands,France, Italy, and West Germany.
1973 The United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark joined the EC.
1979 The European Monetary System was formed.
1981 Greece joined the EC.
1986 Portugal and Spain joined the EC.
1991 There was another treaty called The Maastricht Treaty. It was the first time anyone talked about a union that would have common currency, and would join together for money reasons. They met in Maastricht, which is in the Netherlands. They wanted to have a European currency in place by January 1, 1999. The treaty talked about other things, too, like the environment, education, and public health. They wanted a stronger Europe.
1992 The Treaty on European Union introduced the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The European Monetary Union is an agreement for participating countries that allows pooling of currency reserves and introduction of a common currency.
1993 The European Union (EU) was established in 1993 by the members of the European Community. The EU is an economic and political union.
1994 In 1994 the European Monetary Institute was created as a step toward establishing the European Central Bank (ECB) and a common currency.
1995 A group called the European Council of Madrid (in Spain) decided to call this new money the euro, and said it should be divided into cents.
Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EC. That made a total of 15 countries in the EC.
1997 The designs for the euro were agreed upon at the European Council meeting in Amsterdam in June 1997.
1998 The European Common Bank (ECB) was established. The ECB's job was to set a single money policy and interest rate for the countries who would use the new currency. The ECB worked with the central banks of all twelve countries.
1999 The euro was adopted by eleven countries including Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,The Netherlands, Portugal and Spain as their official currency. On January 1, 1999, the money from the 11 countries that were in the European Union had the value of their money set. That means they couldn't change it anymore.
2001 Greece became country number 12 to adopt the euro.
2002 The euro became the common currency of Europe for twelve countries in the European Union. This was the biggest changing of money that the world had even seen!
The Spanish government took over the European Union's rotating presidency.
Postage stamps with the euro are valid in January. After June 30, 2002. existing stamps with the old currencies aren't valid.
For a timeline that gives the whole history of the European union, click here.
Visit the European Union on-line.