|
 The
Council of Europe = The Heads of Government or State of the
EU Member States
The
Council of Ministers = The Ministers of the EU Member States
responsible for a particular issue area (e.g. when economic and monetary
union is discussed, the Ministers of Economy and Finance comprise the
Council of Ministers; when law and order issues are discussed, the Ministers
of the Interior comprise the Council of Ministers)
The
euro = The official name of the single currency (operational
from 1/1/99)
The
ECB = The European Central Bank (based in Frankfurt am Main,
Germany; operational from 1/1/99)
The
ESCB = The European System of Central Banks (comprised of the
ECB and each national central bank of the 15 Member States of the European
Union; operational from 5/1/98)
The
'Eurosystem' = A term of reference for the ECB and the 11 national
central banks of the Member States participating in the EMU (in contrast
to the ESCB, which includes all the central banks of the EU)
'Euroland'
= The area within the EU covered by the single currency (as at 6/1/99:
Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain)
The
EMI = The European Monetary Institute (the forerunner of the
ECB, operated between 1/1/94-12/31/98)
The
EMS = The European Monetary System (precursor to the EMU, operational
from 1979)
The
ERM = The Exchange Rate Mechanism of the EMS
The
ECU = The European Currency Unit - a basket of national currencies,
used for inter-governmental accounting within the EC, and as the basis
for linking the national currencies together under the ERM (forerunner
of the euro; operational between 1979-1998)
The
'Snake' = The first framework for linking the exchange rates
of the Member States (forerunner of the EMS; operational from 1972-1978)
The
Maastricht Criteria (aka convergence criteria)
= The criteria established under the Maastricht Treaty (1992) for membership
in the single currency - prospective members must meet a set of conditions
relating to their inflation rate, public debt and budget deficit, the
stability of their exchange rate, and the level of their long-term interest
rates
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Part
II. EMU [1] [2] [3]
[4] [5] [6]
[7] [8] [9] [10]
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