What is the euro area?
The euro area consists of all the countries of the European Union that have adopted the euro as their single currency.
Since 1 January 2023, 20 European countries have belonged to the euro area:
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Germany |
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Austria |
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Belgium |
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Croatia |
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Cyprus |
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Spain |
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Estonia |
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Finland |
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France |
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Greece |
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Ireland |
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Italy |
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Latvia |
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Lithuania |
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Luxembourg |
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Malta |
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Netherlands |
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Portugal |
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Slovakia |
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Slovenia |
In order to be able to join the euro area, certain economic criteria (also called convergence criteria) must be complied with, such as a high level of price stability, a balanced situation of public finances, stable exchange rates as well as long-term converging interest rates.
Seven countries of the European Union, which currently consists of 27 countries, have not adopted the euro yet, namely: Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the Czech Republic. While Denmark has a special status which allows it to keep its national currency, for all other countries, the euro is part of the EU acquis. Therefore, as soon as they have fulfilled the convergence criteria, they will adopt the euro.
