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Are leaving euro and leaving EU the same thing? Can a country leave EU but keep the euro? UK was lucky to retain its currency independence.

by ww520 10y ago

MistahKoala 10y ago
No, they are separate things. There are non-EU states that use the Euro as a currency, which demonstrates that EU membership is not a necessity. The practicalities of a seceding member state retaining the Euro would probably be fraught with difficulties, though.
microtherion 10y ago
As far as I can tell, "keeping the Euro" would simply involve for the country to declare the Euro legal tender. Even if the EU wanted to prevent that, it's not clear to me how it would. That does not mean that the country would have a say in Euro governance (controlling the mount of Euro "printed"), but the ECB is fairly independent anyway. According to this list, several smaller non-EU countries are using the Euro already (and several countries worldwide are using the Dollar, including Zimbabwe—pretty sure they don't get invites to FOMC meetings): https://qz.com/260980/meet-the-countries-that-dont-use-their-own-currency/ https://qz.com/260980/meet-the-countries-that-dont-use-their...
- cm2187 10y ago
  But I think it is unlikely to go that way. Countries would either leave the euro and remain in the EU, or leave both. Monetary independance is high on the agenda of pretty much every populist party in Europe.
Lazare 10y ago
> Can a country leave EU but keep the euro? Technically, yes, although you'd probably lose your seat on ECB. It's not like you can be stopped from using whatever currency you want; Kosovo and Montenegro have unilaterally adopted the euro, much as some countries (eg, Zimbabwe) use the US dollar. Of course, you have zero control over monetary policy, but then, just ask Greece how much control they have as an official member. :) As a practical matter, however, it's hard to imagine. Most of the reasons why a country would leave the EU would involve wanting more control, and a big part of that is likely to be wanting your own currency.
blibble 10y ago
> UK was lucky to retain its currency independence. it wasn't luck, it was years of politicians and the population ignoring EU Commission funded pressure groups saying "all your financial services will move, all your business will move, Britain will be poorer" sound familiar? our politicians may be incompetent, but they weren't incompetent enough to join the Euro

Are leaving euro and leaving EU the same thing? Can a country leave EU but keep the euro? UK was lucky to retain its currency independence.

by ww520 10y ago

Are leaving euro and leaving EU the same thing? Can a country leave EU but keep the euro? UK was lucky to retain its currency independence.

MistahKoala 10y ago

No, they are separate things. There are non-EU states that use the Euro as a currency, which demonstrates that EU membership is not a necessity. The practicalities of a seceding member state retaining the Euro would probably be fraught with difficulties, though.

microtherion 10y ago

As far as I can tell, "keeping the Euro" would simply involve for the country to declare the Euro legal tender. Even if the EU wanted to prevent that, it's not clear to me how it would. That does not mean that the country would have a say in Euro governance (controlling the mount of Euro "printed"), but the ECB is fairly independent anyway. According to this list, several smaller non-EU countries are using the Euro already (and several countries worldwide are using the Dollar, including Zimbabwe—pretty sure they don't get invites to FOMC meetings): https://qz.com/260980/meet-the-countries-that-dont-use-their-own-currency/ https://qz.com/260980/meet-the-countries-that-dont-use-their...

cm2187 10y ago
But I think it is unlikely to go that way. Countries would either leave the euro and remain in the EU, or leave both. Monetary independance is high on the agenda of pretty much every populist party in Europe.

Lazare 10y ago

> Can a country leave EU but keep the euro? Technically, yes, although you'd probably lose your seat on ECB. It's not like you can be stopped from using whatever currency you want; Kosovo and Montenegro have unilaterally adopted the euro, much as some countries (eg, Zimbabwe) use the US dollar. Of course, you have zero control over monetary policy, but then, just ask Greece how much control they have as an official member. :) As a practical matter, however, it's hard to imagine. Most of the reasons why a country would leave the EU would involve wanting more control, and a big part of that is likely to be wanting your own currency.

blibble 10y ago

> UK was lucky to retain its currency independence. it wasn't luck, it was years of politicians and the population ignoring EU Commission funded pressure groups saying "all your financial services will move, all your business will move, Britain will be poorer" sound familiar? our politicians may be incompetent, but they weren't incompetent enough to join the Euro