Stage II
The European Monetary System was no longer a functional arrangement in May 1998 as the member countries fixed their mutual exchange rates when participating in the euro. Its successor however, the ERM-II, was launched on 1 January 1999. In ERM-II the ECU basket was discarded and the new single currency euro has become an anchor for the other currencies participating in the ERM 2. Participation in the ERM 2 is voluntary and the fluctuation bands remain the same as in the original ERM, i.e. +15 percent, once again with the possibility of individually setting a narrower band with respect to the euro. Denmark and Greece became new members.
Read more about this topic: European Monetary System
Famous quotes containing the word stage:
“These have been wonderful years. How many happy, happy times we have traveled about together! Day and night, in stage coaches, on freight trains, over the mountains and across the prairies, hungry and tired, we have wandered. The work was sometimes hard and discouraging but those were happy and useful years.”
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)