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Here’s a look at the Eurozone. nineteen countries In European Union Use the Euro as your currency, and this includes the Eurozone.
The countries in the Eurozone as of 2020 are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
1 January 1999 – Euro is introduced.
European Union’s Maastricht Treaty “Convergence criteria,” or requirements for a member country To use the euro as currency:
The annual budget deficit should not exceed 3% of GDP.
Public debt must be less than 60% of GDP.
There should be exchange rate stability in the country.
Inflation should be within 1.5%, the lowest of the three EU countries.
Long-term interest rates must be within 2% of the three lowest interest rates in the European Union.
Denmark does not use the euro, and is not required to be part of the eurozone.
Sweden does not belong to the eurozone, but should join it in the future under the terms of the treaty.
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Croatia and Romania belong to the European Union but do not currently meet the criteria for joining the Eurozone.
February 1992 – The Maastricht Treaty (officially – the Treaty on the European Union) is signed by 12 member states of the European Community. It includes provisions for an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).
May 1998 – It is confirmed that Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain meet the necessary conditions for the adoption of the euro.
June 1998 – The European Central Bank has been established in Frankfurt, Germany, to manage the new common currency.
1 January 1999 – The euro has been launched in a non-physical form. It can be traded electronically and used in travellers’ cheques.
September 2000 – Denmark has refused to adopt the euro in a referendum.
January 2001 – Greece joined the Eurozone after being initially rejected.
1 January 2002 – Currency notes and coins are introduced in Eurozone countries.
February 2002 – The euro becomes the sole currency of the eurozone member states.
2007 – Slovenia became the first former communist country to use the euro.
2008 – Malta and Greek-controlled Cyprus joined the Eurozone.
2009 – Slovakia has joined the Eurozone.
2011 – Estonia joined the Eurozone.
12 August 2011 – The European Securities and Markets Authority bans short selling stocks in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium in response to extreme stock market volatility.
September 15, 2011 – The European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank announced a coordinated plan to pump dollars into Europe’s financial system in an effort to boost liquidity in the eurozone., the bank will conduct three auctions for US dollars with a maturity of three months with the goal of making US dollars available to struggling European banks, which will need the currency to fund loans and repay loans, by the end of the year.
November 30, 2011 – The US Federal Reserve, along with the central banks of the eurozone, England, Japan, Switzerland and Canada, announced a coordinated plan to reduce prices on dollar liquidity swaps beginning December 5.and to extend these swap arrangements up to February 1, 2013.
December 9, 2011 – Most European leaders agree on a new deal to try to solve continent’s debt crisisBut Britain refuses to support comprehensive treaty changes. The agreement includes: handing over the EU bailout fund to the European Central Bank and adding 200 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund’s resources.
29 June 2012 – European leaders reach an agreement to create a single supervisory body Overseeing eurozone banks that may use a single currency area hedge fund, the European Financial Stability Facility or the European Stability Mechanism, to assist the banks without adding directly to government debt.
12 September 2012 – The German Constitutional Court rules against a group of conservative politicians who requested an injunction that would prevent Germany from ratifying the treaty governing the European Stability Mechanism.
15 November 2012 – Eurozone officially in recessionThis is the second recession since 2009, causing it to double down.
13 December 2012 – The European Union reaches a banking supervision agreement with the European Central Bank,
1 January 2014 – Latvia joined the Eurozone as the 18th member country.
1 January 2015 – Lithuania joined the Eurozone as the 19th member country.
7 January 2015 – Eurostat released a report showing that the eurozone fell into deflation in December 2014 for the first time since the 2009 crisis.
22 January 2015 – European Central Bank President Mario Draghi announced new incentive program involves the purchase of bonds known as “quantitative easing, “is to boost economies in the eurozone.
8 December 2016 – European Central Bank says it will continue your asset-buying program, or quantitative easing, by the end of December 2017, “or beyond, if necessary.”
January 17, 2017 – Otmar Ising, the first chief economist of the European Central Bank, writes article for cnn The euro “may be a mess for some time to come. But it cannot survive indefinitely” unless fundamental problems are addressed, citing unemployment, debt and slowing growth.
November 23, 2017 – Bloomberg News report The euro area is on track for its best economic performance since the financial crisis, with the fastest growth in hiring in 17 years.
December 6, 2017 – European Commission issues a package of offers With the aim of deepening Europe’s economic and monetary union as a safeguard against future financial crises. “The overall objective is to enhance the unity, efficiency and democratic accountability of the Economic and Monetary Union of Europe by 2025,” the commission said in a statement.
14 June 2018 – The European Central Bank announced that it would halt its bond buying program at the end of December. At that point, it would have created about 2.7 trillion euros ($3.1 trillion) in new funding for the program over three years. The end of currency printing means the central bank thinks the economy no longer needs emergency aid.
December 2021 – Eurozone inflation hit a record high, with consumer prices rising 5% from a year earlier.