Currencies of the European Union

Map of currencies used within the EU and dates of Euro adoption

States which used the euro from 1999 (currency entered circulation 2002)

States which subsequently adopted the euro

States using other currencies

There are eleven currencies of the European Union as of 2015, the principal currency being the Euro. The Euro is used by the institutions of the European Union and by the Eurozone states, which account for 19 of the 28 member states of the European Union. All but two states are obliged to adopt the currency; Denmark and the United Kingdom, through a legal opt-out from the EU treaties, have retained the right to operate independent currencies within the European Union. The remaining eight states must join the ERM II and attain the third stage and adopt the Euro eventually.

Euro

The euro is the result of the European Union's project for economic and monetary union which came fully into being on 1 January 2002. and it is now the currency used by the majority of European Union's member states, with all but three bound to adopt it. It is the currency used by the institutions of the European Union and in the failed European Constitution it was to be included with the symbols of Europe as the formal currency of the European Union. The euro is also widely used by other states outside the EU.

Current currencies

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Currency	Region	¤	ISO	Euro peg	Year	Notes
Euro	Eurozone Austria Belgium Cyprus Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain	€	`EUR`	See below	1999/2002	Also used by the institutions
Bulgarian lev	Bulgaria	лв	`BGN`	Currency board	2007	No target date for euro adoption
British pound sterling Gibraltar pound	United Kingdom Gibraltar	£	`GBP GIP`	Floating Currency board	1973	Opt-out
Croatian kuna	Croatia	kn	`HRK`	Floating	2013	No target date for euro adoption
Czech koruna	Czech Republic	Kč	`CZK`	Floating	2004	No target date for euro adoption
Danish krone	Denmark	kr	`DKK`	ERM	1973	Opt-out
Hungarian forint	Hungary	Ft	`HUF`	Floating	2004	No target date for euro adoption
Polish złoty	Poland	zł	`PLN`	Floating	2004	No target date for euro adoption
Romanian leu	Romania	Leu	`RON`	Floating	2007	Official target date: 1 January 2019^[1]^[2]
Swedish krona	Sweden	kr	`SEK`	Floating	1995	Pending referendum approval^{[Note 1]}
Swiss franc	23px Campione d'Italia (Italy)^[3]	Fr.	`CHF`	Floating^[4]	1957	Also unofficially used in Büsingen am Hochrhein, Germany.^[5] Swiss Franc is issued by Switzerland.

Note that there are other currencies used in overseas territories of member states. Those territories however are not part of the European Union proper (legally subject to all its law) so are not listed here.

Exchange rate regimes of EU countries according to Reinhart and Rogoff

Reinhart and Rogoff classifies the exchange rate regimes of EU countries as following:^[6]

The classification codes are:

n/a : Data missing
1 : No separate legal tender
2 : Pre announced peg or currency board arrangement
3 : Pre announced horizontal band that is narrower than or equal to +/-2%
4 : De facto peg
5 : Pre announced crawling peg
6 : Pre announced crawling band that is narrower than or equal to +/-2%
7 : De factor crawling peg
8 : De facto crawling band that is narrower than or equal to +/-2%
9 : Pre announced crawling band that is wider than or equal to +/-2%
10 : De facto crawling band that is narrower than or equal to +/-5%
11 : Moving band that is narrower than or equal to +/-2% (i.e., allows for both appreciation and depreciation over time)
12 : Managed floating
13 : Freely floating
14 : Freely falling
15 : Dual market in which parallel market data is missing.

Northern Cyprus

EU law and treaties application to Northern Cyprus is currently suspended.^[7] Its territory is claimed by the Republic of Cyprus, one of the EU member states, but currently Northern Cyprus is under Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) control. TRNC isn't recognised by the Republic of Cyprus (which claims jurisdiction over the whole island) and the European Union.

EU law would start to apply in Northern Cyprus if it comes under control of the Republic of Cyprus (if the Cyprus dispute is resolved through unification), whose official legal tender is the Euro.

Presently, the TRNC government has declared the Turkish lira (TL, TRY) to be its legal tender. TL is not issued by any EU member state, but by Turkey and it has a free floating regime.^[8] Nevertheless, usage of the Euro in Northern Cyprus is already high in practice.^[9]^[10]^[11]

Opt-outs

During the negotiations of the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 the United Kingdom secured an opt-out,^[12] while a protocol gave Denmark the right to decide if and when they would join the euro. Denmark subsequently notified the Council of the European Communities of their decision to opt out of the euro, and this was included as part of the 1992 Edinburgh Agreement, a Decision of Council, reached following the Maastricht Treaty's initial rejection in a 1992 Danish referendum. The purpose of the agreement was to assist in its approval in a second referendum, which it did.

Sweden, which is obliged to adopt the treaty under the terms of its accession treaty, held a referendum in 2003 on adopting the euro which was rejected by the Swedish electorate. The government has chosen to deliberately fail to meet the convergence criteria for euro adoption by not joining ERM II without prior approval by a referendum. The European Commission stated it would respect this decision for now but not tolerate similar moves from countries that join the EU after the euro is introduced.

Institutions

Those European Union states that have adopted it are known as the eurozone and share the European Central Bank (ECB). The ECB and the national central banks of all EU countries, including those who operate an independent currency, are part of the European System of Central Banks. Before a state adopts the euro, its currency has to spend at least two years in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism which pegs it to the euro within a fixed band. Currently two currencies are in ERM, including the Danish Krone which has an opt-out. The Bulgaria lev is also pegged via a currency board.^[13]

Historic currencies

Currency	State	Symbol	ISO	Completely Yielded on	Rate to euro	Notes
Austrian schilling	Austria	S or öS	`(ATS)`	1999/2002	13.7603
Belgian franc	Belgium	fr.	`(BEF)`	1999/2002	40.3399	Interchangeable with Luxembourgian franc (BLEU)
Cypriot pound	Cyprus	£	`(CYP)`	2008	0.585274
Dutch guilder	Netherlands	ƒ or fl.	`(NLG)`	1999/2002	2.20371
Estonian kroon	Estonia	Kr	`(EEK)`	2011	15.6466
Finnish markka	Finland	mk	`(FIM)`	1999/2002	5.94573
French franc	France	₣, F or FF	`(FRF)`	1999/2002	6.55957	Linked to Monegasque franc,^[14] both valid in France, Andorra and Monaco.
German mark	Germany	DM	`(DEM)`	1999/2002	1.95583
Greek drachma	Greece	Δρχ., Δρ. or ₯	`(GRD)`	2001/2002	340.75
Irish pound	Ireland	£	`(IEP)`	1999/2002	0.787564
Italian lira	Italy	₤, L. or LIT	`(ITL)`	1999/2002	1,936.27	Linked to Sammarinese & Vatican lira,^[15] all valid in Italy, San Marino and the Vatican City.
Latvian lats	Latvia	Ls	`(LVL)`	2014	0.702804
Lithuanian litas	Lithuania	Lt	`(LTL)`	2015	3.4528
Luxembourgian franc	Luxembourg	fr. or F	`(LUF)`	1999/2002	40.3399	Interchangeable with Belgian franc (BLEU).
Maltese lira	Malta	₤ or Lm	`(MTL)`	2008	0.4293
Portuguese escudo	Portugal	$\mathrm{S}\!\!\!\Vert$ or $	`(PTE)`	1999/2002	200.482
Slovak koruna	Slovakia	Sk	`(SKK)`	2009	30.126
Slovenian tolar	Slovenia	SIT	`(SIT)`	2007	239.64
Spanish peseta	Spain	₧	`(ESP)`	1999/2002	166.386
European Currency Unit	Accounting only	₠, ECU or XEU	`(XEU)`	1999/2002	1	Accounting currency alongside national currencies until the euro introduction.

Future

Except for the two states with opt outs, all current and future members of the EU are obliged to adopt the Euro as their currency, thus replacing their current ones.^[16] Denmark, which has an opt out, is planning to hold a referendum on its opt-outs due to increasing pressure to adopt the euro. The Danish Kroner is already pegged to the euro, and Denmark has fulfilled all the requirements for adoption.

Notes

↑ Sweden, while obliged to adopt the euro under its Treaty of Accession, has chosen to deliberately fail to meet the convergence criteria for euro adoption by not joining ERM II without prior approval by a referendum.

References

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↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ Swiss franc is the official currency and euro is widely accepted.
↑ But capped as of September 2011
↑ Euro is the officially currency, but the Swiss franc is commonly used
↑ Carmen Reinhart's homepage"Exchange Rate Regime Reinhart and Rogoff Classification - Annual fine classification, 1946-2010." 5th November 2014.
↑ Protocol 10 to the Treaty of Accession 2003 (OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 955).
↑ De Facto Classification of Exchange Rate Regimes and Monetary Policy Frameworks, IMF 2008
↑ Hadjicostis, Menelaos (30 December 2007) In north Cyprus, the Turkish lira is the official currency, but euro is embraced, International Herald Tribune
↑ Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro BBC
↑ Cyprus' isolated north will be enthusiastic – if unofficial – euro users
↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
↑ cite web|http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currency_board.asp
↑ Replaced alongside French franc with euro
↑ Replaced alongside Italian lira with euro
↑ The euro - European Commission

[3] Sweden, while obliged to adopt the euro under its Treaty of Accession, has chosen to deliberately fail to meet the convergence criteria for euro adoption by not joining ERM II without prior approval by a referendum.

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[2] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[4] Swiss franc is the official currency and euro is widely accepted.

[5] But capped as of September 2011

[6] Euro is the officially currency, but the Swiss franc is commonly used

[7] Carmen Reinhart's homepage"Exchange Rate Regime Reinhart and Rogoff Classification - Annual fine classification, 1946-2010." 5th November 2014.

[protocol10-8] Protocol 10 to the Treaty of Accession 2003 (OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 955).

[9] De Facto Classification of Exchange Rate Regimes and Monetary Policy Frameworks, IMF 2008

[10] Hadjicostis, Menelaos (30 December 2007) In north Cyprus, the Turkish lira is the official currency, but euro is embraced, International Herald Tribune

[11] Cyprus and Malta adopt the euro BBC

[12] Cyprus' isolated north will be enthusiastic – if unofficial – euro users

[13] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[14] te web|http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currency_board.asp

[15] Replaced alongside French franc with euro

[16] Replaced alongside Italian lira with euro

[17] The euro - European Commission

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Currencies of the European Union

Contents

Euro

Current currencies

Exchange rate regimes of EU countries according to Reinhart and Rogoff

Northern Cyprus

Opt-outs

Institutions

Historic currencies

Future

See also

Notes

References

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