Euro Zone

The eurozone is an economic and monetary union (EMU) of 19 European Union (EU) member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency. Introduced in 1999, it is one of the largest economic regions in the world and currently consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are EU members but do not use the euro. The global financial crisis of the late-2000s forced the eurozone to grant emergency loans to its member states on the condition they established economic reforms.