Europe Money - EURO

Europe Money - The euro

The euro is the legal tender for around 330 million people in 17 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. EU countries not using the euro are Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Estonia adopted the euro in January 2011 and the seven other countries that have entered the EU since 2004 are committed to adopting the euro when they are ready.

The symbol for the euro is €. The euro notes are identical in all countries but each country issues its own coins with one common side and one side displaying a distinctive national emblem. All the notes and coins can be used in all EU countries that have adopted the euro, including many of their overseas entities, such as the Azores, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Madeira, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City have adopted the euro as their national currency, which also gives them the right to issue a certain number of euro coins with their own national sides. A number of countries and territories use the euro as their de facto currency such as Andorra, Kosovo and Montenegro.

In European countries outside the euro area, many hotels, shops and restaurants, particularly in tourist areas, accept payment in euro as well as the national currency, although they are not legally obliged to do so.

Cash and cards

Thanks to EU rules, withdrawing euro from a cash machine costs you the same anywhere in the EU as it does in your own country from a cash machine that does not belong to your bank. The transaction fee for making a debit or credit card payment in the EU in euro is the same as in your own country. Charges may of course differ between banks.

Source :   European Commission