Emu Country Analysis: Ecu

A SUPPLEMENT TO EUROMONEY

Ecu
Paribas

From Basket to Core Currency

The Ecu has played a central role in the history of European integration and the drive towards a single currency. The Ecu was initially defined in 1978 as an open (revisable) basket. Its external value was determined by the EEC currencies, weighted on the basis of the relative importance of each national economy. The composition of the basket was revised twice: in 1984 when the Greek drachma was included and in September 1989 with the inclusion of the Spanish peseta and the Portuguese escudo.