The euro became the official currency for 300 million people in Europe the 1st of January, 1999. It replaced the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1. But it was not until 2002 that the banknotes were launched in the Euro zone. Many were concerned about the merger, giving the same interest rates to the entire Euro zone, while the ability to self-manage the national fiscal policy was minimized. The first nine years with the Euro went better then most analysts expected in the beginning, while the financial crisis in Greece during 2009-10 have given the single currency a lot of stress.

The following exchange rates prevailed at the transition:

40.3399 of BEF (Belgian francs) per Euro 1.95583 DEM (German Mark) per Euro 0.787564 IEP (Irish pounds) per Euro 340,750 GRD (Greek drachmas) per Euro 166,386 ESP (Spanish peseta) per Euro 6.55957 FRF (French franc) per Euro 1936.27 ITL (Italian lira) per Euro 0.585274 CYP (Cyprus Pound) per Euro 40.3399 LUF (Luxembourg franc) per Euro 0.429300 MTL (Maltese lira) per Euro 2.20371 NLG (Dutch guilders) per Euro 13.7603 ATS (Austrian schilling) per Euro 200,482 PTE (Portuguese escudo) per Euro 239,640 SIT (SIT Slovenia) per Euro 30.1260 SKK (Slovak Koruna) per Euro 5.94573 FIM (Finnish markka) per Euro