The Euro: many countries, one currency

currency
Perm
2013
by Natalia Lukutova
group ROM-1-10

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extra information

- answer the question

did the euro become the common currency?

Who designed the

euro?

When was it adopted?

Where is it being used?

official currency of European Union member states that replaced the

old currencies.

The euro is one of the major global reserve currencies.

The euro is issued by the National Central Banks of the Eurosystem or the European Central Bank.

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€500.

Look at
the Euro’s
ancestor
What is the euro?
25.75 mms
23.25 mms
24.25

mms

22.25 mms

19.75 mms

21.25 mms

18.75 mms

16.25 mms.

markets for business
Financial market stability
Macroeconomic stability

Lower interest rate

What are the disadvantages of using the euro?

euro banknotes were approved after a contest.
The Council of

the European Monetary Institute (EMI) chose the winner who was the Austrian artist Robert Kalina.
He works on the Oesterreichische National Bank.
The theme is "Ages and Styles of Europe". There are windows, gateways, and bridges on each banknote.

More about banknotes

Who designed coins?

Belgium, won a European wide competition organised by the European

Commission to design the euro coins. He designed the European common side. The national side is different in each of the EU countries.

The common side of each euro 1, 2, and 5 cent coin has a design that shows Europe's place in the world.

The 20 cent euro is different because it isn't completely round. It has 7 little indentations. This shape is known as the Spanish Flower, a circle with 7 dents in a regular heptagon.

The 1 and 2 euro coin design shows the EU without borders.

was adopted by 11 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.

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Finland 7) France 8) Germany 9) Greece 10) Ireland 11) Italy 12) Kosovo 13) Luxembourg 14) Malta 15) Monaco 16)

Montenegro 17) Netherlands 18) Portugal 19) San Marino 20) Slovakia 21) Slovenia 22) Spain 23) Vatican City

to learn more). The designers didn't want a particular bridge

or building on the banknotes, because then people would feel the euros would belong to a particular country instead of all the countries.
The twelve stars show "dynamism and harmony between European nations.“
The bridges show "co-operation and communication between Europe and the rest of the world.“
Each paper banknote has :
- The flag of the EU on the back
- The initials of the country that made it (click to learn more)
- President of the ECB's signature

grey, and shows Classical architectural style.
The euro 10 is 127

by 67 mm, it is red, and shows Romanesque architectural style.
The euro 20 is 133 by 72 mm, it is blue, and shows Gothic architectural style.
The euro 50 is 140 by 77 mm, it is orange, and it shows Renaissance architectural style.
The euro 100 is 147 by 82 mm, it is green, and it shows Baroque and Rococo architectural style.
The euro 200 is 153 by 82 mm, it is yellow-brown, and it shows iron and glass architectural style.
The euro 500 is 160 by 82 mm, it is purple, and is done in the Modern 20th century architectural style.

“Ages and Styles of Europe”

coin designer who lived in Dendermonde, Belgium. Luycx had been

working at the Koninklijke Belgische Munt (Royal Belgium Mint) for 15 years, designing coins on computer. In 1996, Luyncx created a series of coins in CorelDRAW and sumbitted them to the design competition held by every EU member state, with the exception of Denmark. He was not alone of course. Professional coin designers, artists and sculptors from all over the European Union submitted their own designs for the contest which was limited to three themes: architectural, abstract and European personalities.
A European jury of independent experts chose the nine best series out of a total of 36 in March 1997. The winning design was the clear favourite of an opinion poll organised by the European Commission among both the general public and a wide range of currency users' organisations, including consumers and representatives of the blind and the visually impaired, and also with the European Parliament. In the final stages 63.8% of a sample of 1900 europeans selected Luycx's series of coins, featuring the map of Europe with all the countries' borders and a background symbolizing Europe with 12 stars. The final decision on the design was taken by the European Council meeting in Amsterdam in June 1997. Luycx won the competition for the common face of the coins and today his designs appear on the back of 50 billion euro coins circulating throughout Europe. He also received 24,000 ECU for his prize-winning series of design.

Euro Designer Luc Luycx

His signature on all euro coins is visible as two L letters connected together (LL). On the 2-euro coin, this is visible under the O of the word EURO on the common side

11 initial countries that would participate in the third stage

of the euro adoption from 1 January 1999 were selected.

In order to participate in the new currency, member states had 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
Low inflation
Interest rates close to the EU average.

 Greece failed to meet the criteria and was excluded from participating on 1 January 1999.

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When was the euro
adopted?

Criteria