Europe is uniting at a fast pace. On January 1, 2002, the EURO, the new currency became a tangible reality for more than 300 million consumers within 11 countries in Europe. More members will join the Union, as emerging markets in Eastern Europe lurk to be part of the single largest market in the world.
There is no doubt that, despite its current weakness, the EURO will establish itself as one of the worlds most important currencies, second probably only to the US dollar. This represents a huge business opportunity for non-EU companies, as a major step towards a united Europe is taken by the monetary union.
The EURO Zone: the 12 countries listed below joint together to form the Euro Zone. Noway and Switzerland are not part of the European Union, and therefore cannot join the EURO Zone.
Denmark, Sweden, and Great Britain are members of the EU, but those countries chose not to participate in the monetary union.
The introduction of the EURO followed a distinct schedule, which began with the contract of Mastricht in 1994, where 11 countries agreed to abandon their national currencies in favor of the Euro. Greece hesitated initially, but decided to join the currency union on January 1, 2001.
The actually, physical currency was introduced on January 1, 2002. In the meantime, consumers are trying to get used to the new currency. There is a grace period of 2 months until February 28, 2002, where both currencies, national and EURO can be used. Within this period, banks and businesses MUST accept both national currency and EURO. After February 28, 2002, the national currencies will be history, and the EURO will be the only valid currency within the 12 participating member states listed above.