The euro is the currency of fifteen European Union countries, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Arctic Circle (namely Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Malta and Cyprus).

Slovenia was the first of the recently acceded new Member States to adopt the euro as its currency (1 January 2007), followed by Malta and Cyprus (1 January 2008).

The other countries are Member States with a derogation (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden) will join the euro area as soon as they fulfil the necessary conditions on the basis of the "Maastricht" convergence criteria following the established procedure. UK and Denmark have a special status allowing them to decide when (and if) they will join the euro area.

Adopting the euro

Euro banknotes and coins have been in circulation since 1 January 2002 and are now a part of daily life for 316.6 million Europeans living in the euro area.

The following information is designed to give a basic understanding of the euro and the practical implications of the introduction of the notes and coins. Should you require further information please also see the website of the European Commission at www.ec.europa.eu/euro or the European Central Bank at www.euro.ecb.int

Which countries have adopted the euro?

15 of the 27 European Union's member countries are participating in the common currency. They are:

• Belgium

• Germany

• Greece

• Spain

• France

• Ireland

• Italy

• Luxembourg

• The Netherlands

• Austria

• Portugal

• Finland

• Slovenia (since 1st January 2007)

• Cyprus (since 1st January 2008)

• Malta (since 1st January 2008)

Over a period of just a few days, more than 14 billion euro banknotes and 50 billion euro coins replaced almost as many national currency banknotes and coins. Over 300 million people were affected by this change. Never before had such an operation been undertaken on this scale.

What is the symbol for the euro?

The Euro symbol - € - , developed by the European Commission, was inspired by the Greek letter epsilon and also denotes the first letter of the word "Europe". The two parallel lines refer to the stability inside the Euro area.

The official international abbreviation for the euro is EUR.