The currency used by 12 Western European countries that agreed to give up their own currency and monetary policy. The countries using the euro are: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. The euro was introduced to bring the countries of Europe and their economies closer together and to reduce the cost of doing business among these countries. The European Central Bank was created to set monetary policy for the 12 member countries. The euro came into existence for financial transactions on January 1, 1999. Euro notes began circulating on January 1, 2002. The symbol is  .