Numbers

The Euro Eleven

• Austria
• Belgium
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• The Netherlands
• Portugal
• Spain

"The Euro Eleven" is an expression that referred to the original eleven European countries that adopted the euro as their currency.  It is no longer in use now that the euro is the currency for sixteen countries [as of 2009].

How It's Used

"A major step has been the decision of the euro 11 to go ahead with the adoption in three months' time of a single currency. Without that, Portugal and Italy might already be in difficulty. But important further decisions have to be made.

"The first relates to the external role of the euro. Its influence in the world will be massive. Euroland (the euro 11) accounts for a larger proportion of world trade than the United States and is running a surplus, not a big deficit like America's."

"In public, at least, the City is shrugging off its euro-exclusion. The Bank of England modestly asserts that its quarterly handbook is ``the most authoritative and comprehensive guide'' to the euro. Similarly, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) claims to be ahead of the euro-11 in the euro game, seeing it as just another currency-its advent has reduced the number of currencies in use there from 36 to 25."

"But there are still country issues. For example, how do you deal with the U.K. and our home market of Switzerland? Neither is in the Euro 11. This is an enormous mistake."

"Fleet scored 25 nations and the euro bloc on demographics, taxes, trade and monetary policy, and Internet penetration to see how fully they participate in the New Economy. The U.S. leads, with 39 points. The Euro 11 came in 13th, with a score of 29. They were hurt by an aging populace, high taxes, static job turnover, and poor monetary policy. And the zone only did as well as it did thanks to Germany's recent tax-cut package and the bloc's improved Net penetration, which pushed the group up one spot in this year's rankings. More creative economies, such as Mexico, Korea, and Brazil, ranked higher."

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