Economics, 3rd Edition

European Economic and Monetary Union

 the European currency union that has adopted the euro as its 

common currency

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CHAPTER 36  COMMON CURRENCY AREAS AND EUROPEAN MONETARY UNION  761

development of the European Economic Community (EEC) – now referred to as the 

European Union

, or 

EU. Initially the EU consisted of just six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the 

Netherlands. In 1973, Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined. Greece joined in 1981, Spain 

and  Portugal in 1986, and Austria, Finland and Sweden in 1995. In 2004 the biggest ever enlargement 

took place with ten new countries joining. Croatia became a member state in July 2013 and at the time 

of writing there are five ‘candidate countries’ seeking membership. These are Turkey, the Former Yugoslav 

Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Serbia and Montenegro. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are 

potential candidates. The official website of the European Union defines the EU as ‘a family of democratic 

European countries, committed to working together for peace and prosperity’.

European Union

 a family of democratic European countries committed to working together for peace and prosperity