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The eurozone was born with its first 11 member states on 1 January 1999. The first enlargement of the eurozone , to Greece, took place on 1 January 2001, one year before the euro physically entered into circulation.
The enlargement of the eurozone is an ongoing process within the European Union (EU).All member states of the European Union, except Denmark which negotiated an opt-out from the provisions, are obliged to adopt the euro as their sole currency once they meet the criteria, which include: complying with the debt and deficit criteria outlined by the Stability and Growth Pact, keeping inflation and ...
The key macroeconomic data in the eurozone countries are: General government net debt / Percent of GDP; General government net lending/borrowing / Percent of GDP;
[58] [59] All these countries used EU funds except Italy, which is a major donor to the EFSF. [60] To be included in the eurozone, countries had to fulfil certain convergence criteria, but the meaningfulness of such criteria was diminished by the fact it was not enforced with the same level of strictness among countries. [61]
In Europe, the most commonly used currency is the euro (used by 25 countries); any country entering the European Union (EU) is expected to join the eurozone [1] when they meet the five convergence criteria. [2] Denmark is the only EU member state which has been granted an exemption from using the euro. [1]
The Eurozone or euro area (dark blue) represents around 350 million people. The euro is the second-largest reserve currency in the world. Beginning in the year 1999 with some EU member states, now 20 out of 27 EU states use the euro as official currency in a currency union.
The relationship between euro and non-euro states has been on debate both during the United Kingdom's membership (as a large opt-out state) and in light of withdrawal from the EU and how that impacts the balance of power between the countries inside and those outside the eurozone, avoiding a eurozone caucus out-voting non-euro states. Former ...
The idea is to establish it as a built-in incentives-based system, so that eurozone Member States eligible for participation in this centralized asymmetrically working "economic shock-absorption function" are encouraged to continue implementing sound fiscal policy and structural reforms in accordance with their "contractual obligations", making ...