European currency unit
| currency | March 13, 1979 - September 16, 1984 |
Sept. 17, 1984 - Sept. 21, 1989 |
Sept. 21, 1989 - Dec. 31, 1998 |
|---|---|---|---|
| BEF | 9.64% | 8.57% | 8.183% |
| DEM | 32.98% | 32.08% | 31.955% |
| DKK | 3.06% | 2.69% | 2.653% |
| ESP | - | - | 4.138% |
| FRF | 19.83% | 19.06% | 20.316% |
| GBP | 13.34% | 14.98% | 12.452% |
| GRD | - | 1.31% | 0.437% |
| IEP | 1.15% | 1.20% | 1.086% |
| ITL | 9.49% | 9.98% | 7.840% |
| LUF | - | - | 0.322% |
| NLG | 10.51% | 10.13% | 9.980% |
| PTE | - | - | 0.695% |
The European currency unit (abbreviated EWE ; also ECU from English European currency unit ; pronunciation mostly / eˈkyː / ) was from 1979 to 1998 the unit of account of the European Communities (EC), later the European Union (EU), and the forerunner of the euro .
The ISO 4217 code for EWE was XEU. The designation ECU was not only an abbreviation of the English designation European Currency Unit , but also a reference to the Écu , an old French coin. The currency symbol ₠ ( Unicode : U + 20A0 EURO-CURRENCY SIGN) stylizes a C and an E , the initials of Communauté Européenne (French for "European Community"). The EWE was replaced by the euro on January 1, 1999 at a conversion ratio of 1: 1.
development
The value of the European currency unit was determined by a so-called currency basket, which was defined with the help of precisely specified amounts of the national currencies of the member states of the EU. The weights of the individual currencies in this basket are based on various macroeconomic criteria, such as the national share in the gross national product of the European Community, the share of the respective state in EC internal trade and the importance of the respective national currency as a reserve currency .
The weights were checked every five years and adjusted if necessary. The sum of the currencies in the basket was set equal to the previously existing European Unit of Account (EUA), which in turn was set at par with the dollar in the early 1970s.
The exchange rate of EWE against a currency resulted from the exchange rate for all currencies in the currency basket of currency, multiplied by the monetary amount of each currency in the basket.
There were no banknotes in ECU, coins only as special symbolic editions. However, some EC member states issued bonds in ECU which were traded on the stock exchanges and could also be bought by private individuals. Bank accounts in ECU were also possible for private individuals, as well as transfers in ECU; but not every commercial bank has offered this. Travelers checks in ECU were also sold.
Role model function
The Asian Currency Unit (ACU) is a proposed currency for the countries of the ASEAN Plus Three , whose system is to be based on that of the former ECU. Something similar is being discussed for South America in connection with the establishment of the Bank of the South .
