European Currency Unit

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"XEU" redirects here. For the radio station branded as XEU, see XHU-FM.
Not to be confused with the euro.

₠
European Currency Unit

In Unicode U+20A0 ₠ EURO-CURRENCY

SIGN (HTML ₠ )

Related

See also U+20AC € EURO

SIGN (HTML € · € ) (Euro)

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The European Currency Unit (₠ or ECU) was a basket of the currencies of

the European Community member states, used as the unit of account of the
European Community before being replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999, at
parity.[1] The ECU itself replaced the European Unit of Account, also at parity, on 13
March 1979. The European Exchange Rate Mechanism attempted to minimize
fluctuations between member state currencies and the ECU. The ECU was also used
in some international financial transactions, where its advantage was that securities
denominated in ECUs provided investors with the opportunity for foreign
diversification without reliance on the currency of a single country.[2]
The ECU was conceived on 13 March 1979 as an internal accounting unit. [1] It had
the ISO 4217 currency code XEU.

Contents

• 1British proposal for a 'hard' ECU

• 2Euro replaces ECU
o 2.1Legal implications
• 3Etymology
• 4Symbol
• 5Coins and notes
• 6Value determined by basket of currencies
• 7See also
• 8References
• 9External links

British proposal for a 'hard' ECU[edit]

In 1990 the British Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed the creation of a 'hard'
ECU, which different national currencies could compete against and, if the ECU was
successful, could lead to a single currency.[3] The move was seen by France and
Germany as a wrecking tactic, especially when the increasingly Euro-sceptic
Thatcher announced her outright opposition to European Economic and Monetary
Union (EMU), and the idea was abandoned.[3]

Euro replaces ECU