Eurozone or
euro-area is the set of countries of the
European Union which have adopted the
euro (€) currency.
There are 12 members in the eurozone: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain.
The other three countries of the European Union are not in the Eurozone: Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom.
The European Central Bank is responsible for the monetary policy within the eurozone.
Outside the EU (and thus outside the Eurozone) there are in addition:
- Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City, countries that mint their own euro coins by virtue of agreements concluded with EU member states and approved by the Council of the European Union;
- Andorra, that uses the euro by similar agreements, without their own coins;
- Montenegro and Kosovo, that have unilaterally decided to use the euro; thus this does not involve any commitment on the part of the Eurosystem.
- countries that have another currency, but fixed to the euro; these are also unilateral decisions; these countries include:
- June 2002 : 1.8%
- November 2002 : 2.2%
- December 2002 : 2.2%
Members of the Eurozone have to respect the stability pact and have to keep fiscal deficit below 3%. If they do not do so, they will have to pay fines.
See also: economy.