Ten years of the euro [antikvár]

The euro: celebrating thefirst decade t is now ten years since a pioneering group of EU Member States took a momentous step and launched the single currency, the euro. After many years of careful preparations, on 1 January 1999 the euro became the official currency for over 300 millión citizens in the newly created euro area. And three years later, on New Year's Day 2002, shiny new euro coins and crisp new euro banknotes began to appear, replacing 12 national currencies in people's purses and pockets. A decade into its existence, we are celebrating economic and monetary unión and the euro, and looking at how it has fulfilled its promise. There have been welcome changes since the euro was launched: today, the euro area has grown to 15 countries with the arrival of Slovenia in 2007 and Cyprus and Malta in 2008. And employment and growth are rising as economic performance improves. Furthermore, the euro is progressively becoming a truly international currency and giving the euro area a bigger voice in international economic affairs. Yet the benefits that the euro has brought are not only found in numbers and statistics. It has alsó introduced more choice, more certainty, more security and more opportunities in citizens'everyday lives. In this brochure, we present somé examples of how the euro has achieved, and continues to achieve, real improvements on the ground for people across Europe*