Original ERM

The original ERM ended in 1999 with the establishment of EMU, as set out in the Maastricht Treaty. Currency exchange rates for countries qualifying for EMU were irrevocably fixed, and on January 1, 1999, the euro became the common currency for 11 of the 15 EU member states, replacing the ECU on a one-to-one basis.

A revised ERM structure was drafted as part of the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty. This revised structure was designed to regulate relations between the euro and the national currencies of the non-EMU countries—the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, and Greece. (In 2001, however, Greece became the 12th member of the EU to adopt the euro.) The permissible range of fluctuation was set at 15 percent.