Glossary:Euro area
From Statistics Explained
The euro area consists of those European Union (EU) Member States which have adopted the euro as their single currency.
At present, the euro area comprises 17 Member States (in protocol order, first column down, then second column down, etc.):
| Belgium | (BE) | Spain | (ES) | Austria | (AT) | ||
| Cyprus | (CY) | France | (FR) | Portugal | (PT) | ||
| Germany | (DE) | Italy | (IT) | Slovenia | (SI) | ||
| Estonia | (EE) | Luxembourg | (LU) | Slovakia | (SK) | ||
| Ireland | (IE) | Malta | (MT) | Finland | (FI) | ||
| Greece | (EL) | Netherlands | (NL) |
On 1 January 1999, as stage III of economic and monetary union began, the euro was introduced in the 11 founding euro-area Member States: Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland. On 1 January 2001, Greece joined the euro area.
Until the end of 2001 the euro existed as book money only (cheque, transfer, payment by card) and its use was voluntary (no compulsion – no prohibition). Euro coins and notes were introduced on 1 January 2002, when use of the euro became compulsory and national currencies were progressively withdrawn.
On 1 January 2007, Slovenia joined the euro area. As of 1 January 2008, Cyprus and Malta became members, on 1 January 2009 Slovakia joined and on 1 January 2011 Estonia became the 17th Member State.
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