The euro

The euro was established in 1992 The big idea behind the EU (and the Euro) is a simple one. If you get nations to trade then they are less likely to go to war.There are 27 members of the European Union which covers most of Europe, from Ireland in the west to the Russian border in the East. Only 17 EU member states are part of the Eurozone. These states have adopted the Euro as their  currency. Some have not been allowed to join because their economies are weak  like Romania and Bulgaria. the euro was introduced in Germany in January 2002, after a period of three years when the euro was the official currency but only existed as "book money"




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro

http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/euro/countries/germany_en.htm