The current Eurozone includes Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Greece, Malta, and Cyprus** *19 countries

The euro not only completes the European single market and makes free trade among Eurozone countries more convenient, but is also an important part of the EU integration process.

The 1957 Treaty of Rome proposed a plan to establish a European Economic and Monetary Union in December 1969. In March 1969, the Hague Conference of the European Union proposed the idea of ??establishing a European Monetary Union and entrusted Pierre Werner, then Prime Minister of Luxembourg, to make specific proposals on this matter. In March 1971, the "Werner Plan" was adopted, taking the first step in the construction of a European single currency. The "Plan" advocates building a European Economic and Monetary Union in three stages within 10 years. However, the subsequent oil crisis and financial crisis caused the "Werner Plan" to be shelved. In March 1979, with the initiative and efforts of France and Germany, the European Monetary System was established, and the European Monetary Unit "Ecu" was born. The European Monetary System EMS (European Monetary System) begins operation. In February 1986, the European Union signed the "Single European Document", proposing to establish a unified market by early 1993 at the latest. In June 1989, the "Delors Report" was adopted. The report advocated the creation of a European Economic and Monetary Union in three stages: the first step is to fully realize the free circulation of capital; the second step is to establish the European Monetary Board (the predecessor of the European Central Bank). ); The third step is to establish and implement an economic and monetary union and replace the currencies of member countries with a single currency. After the first phase was officially launched in 1990, relevant monetary policies needed to be coordinated and unified, and the Central Bank Governors Committee began to play an increasingly important role. Subsequently, the status of the European Central Bank was finally established in the Treaty of Maastricht. The European Monetary Board was established on January 1, 1994 at the beginning of the second phase of the Economic and Monetary Union. Its mission is to coordinate monetary policy, strengthen cooperation among the central banks of member countries and prepare for the establishment of the European Central Bank System. The power to formulate and implement monetary policy remains with the member governments. On December 10, 1991, the European Union Summit adopted the Treaty of European Union (commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty) and decided to rename the European Union to the European Union. The May Treaty stipulates that no later than January 1, 1999, if more than seven member states meet the "convergence criteria" and are confirmed by the European Council, the single currency can be implemented. In November 1993, the Treaty on European Union entered into force. On December 15, 1994, the Madrid Summit decided to name the European single currency the euro, replacing the Euro. In December 1995, the unified currency was determined to be the euro. In 1998, the European Central Bank was established. In May of the same year, the Brussels Summit officially scheduled the list of 11 founding countries of the euro. On January 1, 1999, the euro was officially issued within the member states of the European Union. It is a supranational currency with independence and legal tender status. According to the provisions of the Maastricht Treaty of the European Union, the euro was It has been officially in circulation since January 1, 2002. On January 4 of the same year, the euro officially made its debut in the international financial market. It is recognized as the official currency by 11 European countries. On January 1, 2002, after a three-year transition, the European single currency, the euro, officially entered circulation. In July of the same year, the original currency ceased circulation. Euro banknotes and currencies officially entered the market and became currency in circulation. On February 28 of the same year, the national currencies of member states were completely withdrawn from circulation, and the period of coexistence of the euro and the currencies of member states ended. After many "baptisms" such as the 2008 financial crisis and the 2009 European debt crisis, the Eurozone has expanded to 19 member states, covering a population of 340 million. The euro's share of international payments is approximately 36%, and it accounts for 20% of the total foreign exchange reserves of all central banks. , becoming the second largest circulating currency and the second largest reserve currency in the world.

Since 2009, the proportion of the euro in foreign reserves has dropped significantly. Since 2018, as the relationship between the United States and Europe has changed, European politicians have increasingly expressed calls to enhance the international status of the euro and use the euro to promote European integration. In December 2018, the European Union issued an action initiative aimed at improving the international status of the euro. It agreed to strengthen the role of the European Stability Mechanism, strengthen the supervision of national budgets in the euro area, and recommended greater use of the euro in international energy contracts and transactions. European Commission President Juncker also said in a statement: The euro has become a symbol of unity, sovereignty and stability. On January 1, 2019, the euro celebrated its 20th birthday. From a virtual currency originally used only for accounting and financial transactions to a real currency now used by 340 million people in 19 EU countries, the euro has been questioned and experienced crises in the past 20 years. Folding

Officially used in 11 countries (euro area countries): Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Finland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain since January 1, 1999 , and replaced the currencies of the above 11 countries on January 1, 2002. Greece joined the Eurozone in 2000 and became the 12th member of the Eurozone. Slovenia joined the Eurozone on January 1, 2007, becoming the 13th member of the Eurozone. Cyprus joined the Eurozone together with Malta on January 1, 2008. Slovakia joined the Eurozone on January 1, 2009, bringing the number of Eurozone members to 16. Estonia will officially adopt the euro on January 1, 2011, becoming the 17th member of the Eurozone.