5) THE STRUCTURE OF THE ECB AND ESCB

7) HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE UNITED STATES?

8) THE CURRENT SITUATION AND FUTURE OF THE EURO

On January 1, 1999 the eleven countries that make up the European

Monetary Union (EMU) officially adopted the Euro as the single currency for the

economic region. Currently the participating countries of the EMU are Germany,

France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, Austria, Spain,

Portugal, Italy and Ireland. The United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, and Greece

have not yet joined the EMU, but they are still part of the European Union (EU).

Greece did no meet the requirements to become a member of the EMU and the

UK, Denmark and Sweden chose not to join, yet.

January 4, 1999 marked the actual first working day and thus the eleven

countries were permanently linked to the Euro and each other. The Euro, whose

symbol is E, entered the market on that first day at the value of $1.186 U.S.

5 percent of the world reserves. German and British economies were both

countries in Eastern and Southern Europe. With the introduction of the Euro, this

made easier when European companies will be forced to cut costs and driving

for Y2K, they were struck with a double whammy. Euros may also some day be a

business-to-business transactions. To help people become accustomed to the

Some common words found in the essay are:
Claude Trichet, Japan Euro, Maastricht Treaty, Euro United, Federal Reserve, FUTURE EURO, Criterion Concerning, European Union, EMU Eurozone, International Settlements, single currency, federal reserve, central bank, maastricht treaty, monetary union, january 1, executive board, european monetary, central banks, january 1 1999, eleven countries, european monetary union, european central bank, treaty european union, treaty establishing european,
Approximate Word count = 3784
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page double spaced)