16 December 1995: Was the naming of the euro Article Published: 05:54 09/01/2006 Article Classification: Borgo di Colleoli
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EU leaders meeting at the Madrid European Council decided to name the single currency the euro and set a date of 1st January 1999 for the final stage of EMU.

They also agreed the following key elements for the changeover scenario:

 Decision on which Member States would participate in the euro as early as possible in 1998, based on economic data for 1997;
 

Early creation of ECB and appointment of executive board to enable operational status on 1 January 1999;
 

Three year transition period between creation of the euro and introduction of notes and coins;
 

Principle of ‘no compulsion, no prohibition,’ meaning freedom to carry out transactions in euro during the transitional period, but no obligation to do so;
 

Maximum six month period for the dual circulation of euro and national notes and coins before final withdrawal of national currencies (later reduced to a maximum of two months).

3 May 1998: Decision on first euro area members
The Heads of State and Government meeting in Brussels decided that eleven Member States fulfilled the convergence criteria and would take part in the euro from 1 January 1999, on the basis of convergence reports prepared by the Commission and the ECB.

The countries were Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland.