European Currency Unit (ECU)
European Currency Unit: a historical unit of account.
- Dates in use
- Introduction uncertain; ended 1999
- Ancestry branch
- See family connections
Its place in the family
All ancestors and descendants ↗European Currency Unit
This currencyChildren 1
Trace its ancestry backward
European Currency Unit
Earlier ancestry is not established here.
1 later contribution joined this currency. See those connections →
The story
The 1994 ECU definition includes sterling and Danish-krone components; basket inclusion is distinct from later national euro adoption. [1]
Turning points
Ecu ems policy resolution
The December 1978 resolution specifies identical initial ECU and EUA value/composition and plans EMS establishment for 1 January 1979. [2]
Ems agreement signed
Inference: BIS dates signature of the EMS/ECU agreement in Basel to 13 March 1979, separately from the earlier planned January start. [3]
Defined ecu references replaced
Defined ECU references in legal instruments become euro references at 1:1 from 1 January 1999; an undefined ECU reference carries a rebuttable presumption. [4]
Sources and evidence
- Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 3320/94 — definition of the ECU C651 ↗
- European Council · European Council resolution of 5 December 1978 on the European Monetary System C654 ↗
- Bank for International Settlements · BIS Timelines — 1973–1993 C655 ↗
- Council of the European Union · Council Regulation (EC) 1103/97, 17 June 1997 C642 ↗
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Cite this page
“European Currency Unit (ECU).” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Reader edition 2026-10-13; research dataset v44. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/FTM000386.html