Sixteen countries are members of the European Union and use the euro. These are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
Several countries that used the currency of one of the European Union member nations that have adopted the euro now also use the euro. Under a special monetary agreement, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican, while not European Union members, are allowed to issue a limited number of their own euro coins and are allowed to use the euro. Andorra has also requested a monetary agreement of this type.
Denmark and the United Kingdom have chosen not to use the euro for reasons of economic sovereignty. All new EU members that meet the requirements are now required to use the euro.
There are five economic criteria that a nation has to meet to be allowed to adopt the euro. These are price stability, sound public finances, sustainable public finances, durability of convergence and exchange-rate stability. This is reviewed at least once every two years. Then a detailed process of switching the currency begins. As part of this process, the laws and regulations of the countries adopting the euro have to be changed.
Sweden has met all the requirements to adopt the euro, but it still needs to change some of its Central Bank legislation. Estonia is slated to adopt the euro Jan. 1, 2011; Poland on Jan. 1, 2012; and Romania on Jan. 1, 2015. Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania do not have a target date for adoption.
