Tags: Currency.
The European Currency Unit (₠ or ECU French pronunciation: [eky]) was a basket of the currencies of the European Community member states used as the unit of account of the European Community before being replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999 at parity. The ECU itself replaced the European Unit of Account also at parity on 13 March 1979. The European Exchange Rate Mechanism attempted to minimize fluctuations between member state currencies and the ECU.