Title: Euro: the common currency explained | CBC News
Headings: Euro: the common currency explained
Euro: the common currency explained
How Europe's currency came to be and how it's used today
Eurozone countries
How to join
Maastricht criteria
Eurozone enforcers
Advantages and disadvantages of a common currency
Common currency vs. common market

Content: Adhering to the strict deficit and inflation caps can force countries to deflate their economies. The spending cuts Estonia, which joined the eurozone in January 2011, had to make to meet the Maastricht criteria resulted in unemployment rising from 5.5 per cent in 2008 to 16.9 per cent in 2010. A single regional currency gives EU greater weight on world stage. Better protects against external economic shocks like oil price rises or upheaval in currency markets. Attracts foreign investment and trade to the eurozone. Common currency vs. common market
While not all countries in the European Union are part of the eurozone, they are all part of a common market, meaning they have abolished trade barriers, customs tariffs, border controls and other impediments to the free movement of goods, capital, labour and services across national borders. In some areas, such as product regulation and consumer protection, the EU has adopted a policy of mutual recognition of national rules, meaning products legally sold in one country can be sold in any other member state. The eyes of the world are on Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, the eurozone's strongest economy, as she struggles to solve the EU's debt crisis. While not all EU members are part of the eurozone, they are all part of a heavily integrated common market. ( Sebastien Pirlet/Reuters)
While European member states attempt to co-ordinate their broader economic policies, state governments retain control over taxes, government spending, labour, pensions and capital markets.