Eurozone

The European Economic and Monetary Union

The decision to form an Economic and Monetary Union was taken by the European Council in December 1991, and was given legislative effect by the Maastricht Treaty of 1992.
Its principal features are:

- the adoption of the euro as its members' the single currency;

- the coordination of its members' fiscal policies, by the adoption of agreed limits on the magnitudes of their public debt and their budget deficits; and,

- the operation of a common monetary policy under the management of a single Central Bank.

Its principal institutions are:

- the European Council, which sets its main policy directions;

- the Council of the European Union which coordinates its policy and decides whether to admit new members;

- the European Commission, which monitors compliance with its membership rules; and,

- the European Central Bank, which determines its monetary policy.

Membership

Entry criteria

The criteria for eurozone membership set out in the Maastricht Treaty were:

- an inflation rate not exceeding by more than 1.5% that of the three best-performing Member States;

- a general government budget deficit not exceeding 3% of GDP and a public debt of less than 60% of GDP;

- a long-term interest rate not exceeding by more than 2% that of the three best-performing Member States; and,

- a stable exchange rate.

Membership rules

The original version of the membership rules in the Mastricht Treaty (The Stability and Growth Pact , ) set the same limits upon member countries' budget deficits and levels of national debt. Following multiple breaches of those limits, however, the pact was been renegotiated.

. A clarification of the concepts and methods of calculation involved was issued by the European Union's Economic and Financial Affairs Council in November 2009 which includes an explanation of its excessive deficit procedure.