The Advent Of The Euro

In the seventies of the last century, the idea of the European currency emerged to be used as a tool for integration, facilitating commercial transactions and competing with the dollar.

On this day, twenty years ago, ATMs distributed the first euro banknotes, and with the passage of 20 years, the European currency has succeeded in betting and is being used by 340 million Europeans.

Actual commercial circulation began on January 1, 2002, and 12 European countries adopted it after abandoning their national currencies.

The images of the familiar figures that adorned the German mark, the French franc or the Spanish peseta are gone, to be replaced on the seven denominations of the euro, Roman or Gothic columns or modern architectural structures representing different eras of European history.

Since 2002, seven other countries have joined the euro: Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Malta. It is expected that Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, members of the European Union, will join the club in the coming years.

The adoption of the euro is not unanimous among citizens who fear rising prices. This fear is fueled by the firm impression in the nineteen eurozone countries that the purchasing power of citizens has declined, although statistics show, on the contrary, that the single currency has allowed to curb inflation.20 Years After The Advent Of The Euro.