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I. The Official
Currency
31 States and Territories
use the euro as an official currency
|
Twelve countries in the EU |
||
| Country | Includes | Excludes |
| Austria | ||
| Belgium | ||
| Finland | ||
| France | Corsica in the Mediterranean | |
| Germany | ||
| Greece | ||
| Ireland | ||
| Italy | 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 | ||
| Netherlands | Netherlands Antilles - its guilder is linked to the US dollar. | |
| Portugal | - Nine islands of the Azores - Three Madeira Islands all in the Atlantic west of Africa |
|
| Spain | - The three Balearic Islands
in the Mediterranean:- Ibiza, Majorca, and Minorca - The seven Canary Islands in the Atlantic |
|
| Four small European states | ||
| Country | Previous currency | Location |
| Andorra | French franc; Spanish peseta | In the eastern Pyrenees between France and Spain |
| Monaco | French franc | On the Mediterranean coast in south eastern France close to the Italian border. |
| San Marino | Italian lire | West of Rimini in north eastern Italy |
| Vatican City | 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. |
||
| 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. | ||
| Cuba | ||
| From 1 June 2002, the euro has been accepted as an official currency in Cuba's most famous beach resort, Varadero, to the east of Havana on the northern coast. The government wants to attract more European tourists to the island and shops, hotels, and restaurants will now all price goods ad services in euro and accept the currency without conversion. If the experiment works, then the rest of the country will move towards accepting the euro as a domestic currency. However, the local official currency, the Cuban Peso, is still pegged to the US dollar and although the euro is accepted, the price of goods in euro still varies with the exchange rate between the US dollar and the euro. | ||
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II. Fixed To The Euro
27 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. |
| Four European Union countries | ||
| Country | currency | Exchange rate |
| Cyprus | Cypriot pound | Pegged to the euro. Trades around €1 = CYP0.58 |
| Denmark | Danish Krone | Pegged through the original European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Trades around €1=DKK7.4265 |
| Estonia | Kroon (EEK) | €1=EEK15.6466 |
| Hungary | Forint (HUF) | Pegged since January 2000 but since May 2001 has a +/-15% band around €1=HUF276.1. |
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III.
New European Union members
10 countries joined the EU on 1
May 2004 and will adopt the euro eventually. Five more may join the EU in
the next few years. But three existing members of the EU may not adopt the euro
at all.
| Ten countries joined the EU on 1 May 2004. Adoption of the euro will inevitably follow but may take up to four years - or more. See adoption. | |||
| Country | Currency | May join euro | Notes |
| Cyprus (South) | Pound (Cypriot) | 2007 | Only the southern Greek part of Cyprus joined the EU on 1 May 2004. Currency is already pegged to the euro. |
| Czech Republic | Koruna (Czech) | 2009/10 | |
| Estonia | Kroon | 2006/07 | Currency already pegged to euro. |
| Hungary | Forint | 2008 | Subject to reassessment, possibly delayed to 2010. |
| Latvia | Lat | 2007 | |
| Lithuania | Litas | 2006/07 | |
| Malta | Lira (Maltese) | 2007/2008 | |
| Poland | New Zloty | 2008 | |
| Slovakia | Koruna (Slovak) | 2008/09 | |
| Slovenia | Tolar | 2007 | |
| Five more states are on course to join the EU in the next few years. However, progress on enlargement may be delayed following the EU's failure to introduce the new Constitutional Treaty after it was rejected in referendums in Netherlands on 29 May 2005 and France on 1 June 2005. | ||
| Acceding Country | Estimated date of Joining EU | Notes |
| Bulgaria | 1 January 2007 | Treaty signed and will join on 1 January 2007. Currency already pegged to euro |
| Romania | 1 January 2007 | Treaty signed and will join on 1 January 2007. |
| Candidate Country | Applied to join | Notes |
| Turkey | 2007-2012 | Accession negotiations may begin in October 2005. Reunification of Cyprus and human rights issues continue to delay matters. |
| Croatia | 2003 | Croatia presented its formal application to join the EU on 21 February 2003. The Council has recommended it as a candidate country and a decision may be made in 2004. Accession negotiations began on 17 March 2005. Croatia hopes to join at the same time as Bulgaria and Romania |
| Applicant Country | Applied to join | Notes |
| Republic of Macedonia | 2004 | Applied to be a candidate in January 2004. Its application is currently being considered. If accepted, it may join between 2010 and 2015. |
| Three European Union countries look less likely to join the euro after Sweden voted strongly against joining in September 2003 | |
| 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. The new Danish Government indicated in early January 2002 that there would be another referendum in 2003 on a range of European Union issues including the single currency. But in January 2003 the Prime Minister announced that it would not now take place until 2004 or 2005. 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 Government in the UK set down five economic tests to see if the country should join the euro. On 9 June 2003 the Chancellor Gordon Brown announced that four of the tests had not been met but he set out the Government's plans to try to move the UK economy in the direction of meeting them - and set out reforms he wanted in the European Central Bank. However, the rejection in 2005 of the European Constitutional Treaty by Netherlands and then France has led to a major re-think of Europe's plans for growing integration. The UK Government has abandoned plans for a referendum on the Treaty and it is now unlikely that there will be a referendum on joining the euro in the foreseeable future. Opinion polls in the UK consistently show a clear majority against joining the euro. Many business leaders who were in favour are now cooler. |
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IV. Old Currencies
The currencies of the 12 countries in the
eurozone disappeared into museums by the end of February 2002
| Country | Currency | Date first used in modern form |
| Austria | schilling | 1924 |
| Belgium | franc | 1833 |
| Finland | markka | 1860 |
| France | franc | 1795 |
| Germany | mark | 1948 |
| Greece | drachma | 1832 |
| Ireland | punt | 1928 |
| Italy | lire | 1861 |
| Luxembourg | franc | 1848 |
| Netherlands | guilder | 1816 |
| Portugal | escudo | 1910 |
| Spain | peseta | 1869 |
Source: British Museum Department of Coins and Medals.
Interview
with the curator of an exhibition on the disappearing currencies at the
British Museum.
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Eurocountries
version 3.1 - updating Summer 2005
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