Editing European Union (section)

====Eurozone and banking union====
{{Main|Euro|Eurozone|European banking union}}
{{See also|Eurosystem|Eurogroup}}
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| caption1          = [[Euro banknotes]] from the Europa series (since 2013)
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| caption2          = [[European Central Bank]] in [[Frankfurt]], Germany
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In 1999, the currency union started to materialise through introducing a common accounting (virtual) currency in [[History of the euro|eleven of the member states]]. In 2002, it was turned into a fully-fledged conventible currency, when [[euro banknotes|euro notes]] and coins were issued, while the phaseout of national currencies in the eurozone (consisting by then of 12 member states) was initiated. The eurozone (constituted by the EU member states which have adopted the euro) has since grown to 20 countries.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kuchler |first=Teresa |date=25 October 2006 |title=Almunia says 'undesirable' to act on Sweden's euro refusal |publisher=EUobserver.com |url=http://euobserver.com/9/22733 |access-date=26 December 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=20 March 2009 |title=ERM II |url=http://uk.fm.dk/Portfolio/International%20cooperation/EU%20economic%20and%20political%20coordination/ERM2.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503183816/http://uk.fm.dk/Portfolio/International%20cooperation/EU%20economic%20and%20political%20coordination/ERM2.aspx |archive-date=3 May 2011 |access-date=26 December 2009 |publisher=Danish Finance Ministry}}</ref>

The 20 EU member states known collectively as the [[eurozone]] have fully implemented the currency union by superseding their national currencies with the [[euro]]. The currency union represents 345{{nbsp}}million EU citizens.<ref name="Europa Single Market" /> The euro is the second largest [[reserve currency]] as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the [[United States dollar]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 December 2007 |title=Triennial Central Bank Survey 2007 |url=http://www.bis.org/publ/rpfxf07t.pdf |access-date=25 July 2009 |publisher=BIS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Aristovnik |first1=Aleksander |last2=Čeč |first2=Tanja |date=30 March 2010 |title=Compositional Analysis of Foreign Currency Reserves in the 1999–2007 Period. The Euro vs. The Dollar As Leading Reserve Currency |url=http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/14350/1/MPRA_paper_14350.pdf |access-date=27 December 2010 |publisher=Munich Personal RePEc Archive, Paper No. 14350}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Boesler |first=Matthew |date=11 November 2013 |title=There Are Only Two Real Threats To The US Dollar's Status As The International Reserve Currency |work=Business Insider |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-as-international-reserve-currency-2013-11 |access-date=8 December 2013}}</ref>

The euro, and the monetary policies of those who have adopted it in agreement with the EU, are under the control of the ECB.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ECB, ESCB and the Eurosystem |url=http://www.ecb.int/ecb/orga/escb/html/index.en.html |access-date=15 September 2007 |publisher=European Central Bank}}</ref> The ECB is the central bank for the eurozone, and thus controls [[monetary policy]] in that area with an agenda to maintain [[price stability]]. It is at the centre of the [[Eurosystem]], which comprehends all the eurozone national central banks.<ref name="ECB org">{{Cite web |title=ECB, ESCB and the Eurosystem |url=http://www.ecb.int/ecb/orga/escb/html/index.en.html |access-date=7 July 2011 |publisher=European Central Bank}}</ref> The ECB is also the central institution of the [[Banking Union]] established within the eurozone, as the hub of [[European Banking Supervision]]. There is also a [[Single Resolution Mechanism]] in case of a bank default.