EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION EMU

The successor to the European Monetary System (EMS), the combination of European Union member states into a cohesive economic system, most notably represented with the adoption of the euro as the national currency of participating members.

The EMU's succession over the EMS occurred through a three phase process, with the third and final phase initiating the adoption of the euro currency in place of former national currencies. This has been completed by all initial EU members except for the United Kingdom and Denmark, who have opted out of adopting the euro.