(Euro history in forex trading) The euro started with a treaty called the Maastricht Treaty in 1991. This treaty was made by 12 countries in Europe, like the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and more. They wanted to create a group called the European Union and have a common currency called the euro. To join this group, countries had to follow some rules. They couldn't have a yearly spending deficit that was more than 3% of their total money, and their public debt couldn't be more than 60% of their total money. They also had to keep their exchange rates stable and have low inflation rates. Even if some countries had a lot of debt, they were still allowed to join the group if they were making progress in paying off their debt.
People who supported the euro believed that having one currency for all of Europe would make trading easier because there wouldn't be any changes in the value of money from different countries. It would also make things cheaper. However, some people were worried about having just one currency. They were concerned that it might lead to copying and losing control over their own country's decisions. Despite these concerns, 11 countries decided to join the EMU in 1998. England and Sweden didn't join, but some businesses in England still accepted euros as payment. In Denmark, the citizens voted against the euro in 2000. Greece didn't meet the financial requirements at first, but they were allowed to join in 2001 after improving their economy.
In 2007, Slovenia became the first country that used to be socialist to start using the euro as their money. They had been doing well with their economy since they joined the EU in 2004. Then in 2008, both Malta and the Greek Cypriot area of Cyprus also started using the euro. Other countries that started using the euro include Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014, and Lithuania in 2015. (The euro is also used as the official money in some places outside the EU, like Andorra, Montenegro, Kosovo, and San Marino.) The 19 countries in the EU that use the euro are called the euro area, euroland, or the euro zone.
Back in 1998, something called the European Central Bank (ECB) was created to handle a new kind of money. It's located in Frankfurt, Germany, and it's like a boss that everyone agrees on. This boss, called the president, gets to be in charge for eight years and is chosen by all the countries involved. On January 1, 1999, the euro was introduced and it replaced the old ecu money at the same value. But it wasn't until 2002 that people started using actual euro bills and coins. Before that, only banks and certain businesses used it. Some experts thought that the euro could become as popular as the U.S. dollar around the world.
Unlike most other currencies, the euro bills don't have pictures of famous people on them. There are seven colorful bills, designed by an artist named Robert Kalina from Austria. They range from €5 to €500 and they show things that represent Europe, like a map of Europe, the flag of the European Union, and cool architectural stuff like arches, bridges, doors, and windows. There are also eight different coins, from one penny to two euros. One side of the coins looks the same for all the countries, but the other side is different for each country that uses the euro.