The Euro

  • 1.1.2002 : Euro notes and coins issued

  • 28.2.2002 (at latest): End of dual circulation period.

  • On January 1, 1999, eleven of the countries in the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) gave up their own currencies and adopted the new Euro (EUR) currency.

  • The 11 countries are: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.

  • Greece will take part in the Euro from 1 January 2001, which will increase to 12 the number of Member States of the Euro zone.

  • Since Euro bank notes and coins will not likely be printed and circulated until 2002 -- except for small commemorative issues -- participating countries will retain their existing currency tokens until that time.

  • However, the values of participating currency units have been irrevocably fixed against the new Euro currency by the EMU.

  • The Euro is not the same thing as the former European Currency Unit.

  • The ECU was a theoretical "basket" of currencies rather than a currency in and of itself, and no "ECU" bank notes or coins ever existed.

  • The ECU no longer exists. It has been replaced by the Euro, which is a bona fide currency.

    • Official Fixed Euro Rates for Participating Countries
    These are the exact official rates used in conversion.
    Old "Legacy" Currency Conversion to Euro Conversion from Euro
    ATS Austria, Schilling ATS / 13.7603 = EUR EUR × 13.7603 = ATS
    BEF Belgium, Franc BEF / 40.3399 = EUR EUR × 40.3399 = BEF
    FIM Finland, Markka FIM / 5.94573 = EUR EUR × 5.94573 = FIM
    DEM Germany, Deutsche Mark DEM / 1.95583 = EUR EUR × 1.95583 = DEM
    FRF France, Franc FRF / 6.55957 = EUR EUR × 6.55957 = FRF
    IEP Ireland, Punt IEP / 0.787564 = EUR EUR × 0.787564 = IEP
    ITL Italy, Lira ITL / 1936.27 = EUR EUR × 1936.27 = ITL
    LUF Luxembourg, Franc LUF / 40.3399 = EUR EUR × 40.3399 = LUF
    NLG The Netherlands, Dutch Guilder NLG / 2.20371 = EUR EUR × 2.20371 = NLG
    PTE Portugal, Escudo PTE / 200.482 = EUR EUR × 200.482 = PTE
    ESP Spain, Peseta ESP / 166.386 = EUR EUR × 166.386 = ESP