The countries joining Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) have formally approved the conversion rates for moving their old national currencies Into the single currency, the euro.'

It was one of the last steps towards monetary union, which is now only hours away. At midnight local time, just when the Xew Year parties get really going. 11 European countries will embark on their biggest economic venture this century and merge their currencies into one. creating the euro.

The rates were announced at a meeting of central bankers and EU finance ministers In Brussels. Jacques Santer, the president of the European Commission, said the launch of the single currency was a historic event, which would bring stability and growth to Europe.

After the finance ministers . had signed the EU regulation for the single currency’s introduction. the chairman of the special televised session. Austria's Finance'Minister Rudolf Edlinger. said: "The euro is born".

There are eleven countries Joining monetary union, but only ten currencies, because Luxembourg and Belgium already have a currency union.

After jubilant but sombre speeches from EU finance ministers, school children released 3,000 blue balloons bearing the euro symbol - which cannot be displayed on the Internet because most computers in the world do not yet have the sign in their font sets.

Europe's single currency will

soon be a veritable force on the financial markets, although nobody will be able to predict how strong it will perform. As one euro will replace the artificial European Currency Unit (Ecu) on a 1:1 basis, the last Ecu rates are an indication to the euro's external value.

The rates fixed by Europe's monetary officials are slightly lower than expected, a move that will help export industries in the eurozone.

The final countdown to Europe's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) followed a care-

fully laid out script:

1130 Central European Time (CET) - 1030 GMT: European central bankers conducted their regular “concertation

procedure” to establish the market value of the European Currency Unit (Ecu). The single currency will replace this basket of European currencies on a 1:1 basis.

1230 CET - 1130 GMT Based on the value of the Ecu the European Commission calculated the euro-value of each currency Joining EMU. The Commission then formally proposed the conversion rates to the Council of EU Finance Ministers for approval. and published its suggestions on the Internet.

1330 CET - 1230 GMT: The ministers then adopted the new rates during a televised session.

1500 CET - 1400 GMT: The conversion rates will be formally published in the Official Journal of the European Communities in Luxembourg and on the Web.

On 1 January 1999, at midnight local time of countries joining EMU , the conversion rates - and monetary union -will come into force.

Currency speculators were unable to force any last-minute changes in EMU conversion rates, because the relative values of all participating currencies were already fixed at a EU summit in May this year.

What next?

At first monetary union will hot appear to bring much change. Consumers and shops will continue to use the old national currencies for another three years, and nobody can be forced to use the euro if they don’t want to,

Nonetheless, monetary union is already a reality. The exchange rates of all EMU currencies will be “irrevocably" fixed. Old currencies like the guilder, the franc or the escudo will be denominations of the euro. Just like the cent to the dollar or the penny to the pound.

—BBC Internet