The economic history of the Eurozone goes back to 1991 with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, an agreement between 12 countries of the-then European Community (now EU) to initiate a monetary and economic union.
The European Central Bank (ECB) was established in 1998 as the central bank of the 19 EU countries that have the euro as their official currency. The ECB’s duty is to oversee monetary policy and maintain financial stability across the region.
Following the ECB’s introduction, January 1999 saw the euro introduced as a non-cash (electronic) monetary unit with the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam. In 2002 banknotes and coins went into circulation, marking the point at which the euro became the sole currency of 12 EU member states.
Over the years, other countries joined the euro, to arrive at the aforementioned figure of 19 member states out of a total of 27 EU member countries. The most recent additions to the list are the Baltic states Estonia (2011), Latvia (2014) and Lithuania (2015).