Radio Caroline

# Radio Caroline

## Abstract

Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford, initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC 's radio broadcasting monopoly. Unlicensed by any government for most of its early life, it was a pirate radio station that never became illegal as such due to operating outside any national jurisdiction, although after the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 it became illegal for a British subject to associate with it.

The Radio Caroline name was used to broadcast from international waters, using five different ships with three different owners, from 1964 to 1990, and via satellite from 1998 to 2013. Since August 2000, Radio Caroline has also broadcast 24 hours a day via the internet and by the occasional restricted service licence. Currently they broadcast on 648 AM and DAB radio in certain areas of the UK: these services are part of the Ofcom small-scale DAB+ trials. Caroline can be heard on DAB+ in Aldershot, Birmingham, Cambridge, Brighton, Glasgow, Norwich, London, Portsmouth, Poulton-le-Fylde and Woking. Caroline can also be listened to over the internet including via music players such as Amazon echo (Alexa).

In May 2017, Ofcom awarded the station an AM band community licence to broadcast on 648kHz to Suffolk and north Essex; full-time broadcasting, via a previously redundant BBC World Service frequency and transmitter mast at Orford Ness, commenced on 22 December 2017.

Radio Caroline broadcasts music from the 1960s to contemporary, with an emphasis on album-oriented rock (AOR) and "new" music from "carefully selected albums". On 1 January 2016, a second channel was launched called Caroline Flashback, playing pop music from the late 1950s to the early 1980s.

## 1964–1968: MV Caroline

### Origins

Radio Caroline was the brainchild of the Irish musician manager and businessman Ronan O'Rahilly, the idea being formulated following O'Rahilly's failure to obtain airplay for the records of one of his contracted artistes, Georgie Fame, on Radio Luxembourg and the BBC Light Programme. At this time it was Radio Luxembourg policy to only promote sponsored programmes funded by major record labels: EMI, Decca, Pye and Philips.

Undeterred by this failure, and encouraged by Scandinavian and Dutch radio pirates, in February 1964 O'Rahilly obtained the former Danish passenger ferry Fredericia which was subsequently taken to the Irish port of Greenore, which was under the ownership of O'Rahilly's father, Aodogán, in order for the vessel to be fitted out as a radio ship.

This was a busy time at Greenore with the work to the Fredericia being carried out in tandem with Allan Crawford's "Project Atlanta", which saw a similar conversion undertaken on the Mi Amigo.

### Financing

Financial backing for the venture came from six investors, including John Sheffield (chairman of Norcross); Carl "Johnny" Ross (managing director of Ross Foods) and Jocelyn Stevens of Queen magazine, with which Radio Caroline shared its first office.

### Origin of name

There are a multiplicity of stories with regard to how the station became known as Radio Caroline.

One of these centres around O'Rahilly choosing the name on a trip to the United States, having seen a picture in Life of Caroline Kennedy, along with her brother, John F. Kennedy Jr., innocently playing in the Oval Office of the White House whilst their father, John F Kennedy, looks on. It is said that this activity was reportedly interpreted by O'Rahilly as a playful, jovial disruption of government. One particular image conveying unthreatening joy was the cheeky 4½-year-old Caroline hiding at President John F Kennedy's feet beneath the battered Resolute desk.

Another tenable theory is that the radio station was named after Caroline Maudling, who was known by O'Rahilly at the time, and was the daughter of the British government minister Reginald Maudling.

A further theory is that the name was the choice of Jocelyn Stevens, who had played a prominent role in the planning stages of the offshore station. His editor of Queen, Beatrix Miller, is understood to have defined the profile of the target reader, being: "a twenty something, non intellectual who had left school at 16, and was a ‘good time’ girl called Caroline." Stevens believed that the same profile should be the target audience for the new offshore radio station, so the name Caroline was chosen.

### First transmissions

Upon conclusion of her fitting out, the MV Fredericia was renamed MV Caroline with her port of registry changed to Panama.

The MV Caroline departed Greenore on March 23, 1964, to a supposed destination in Spain. She passed Land's End on March 25, at which time she altered course and made passage through the English Channel and entered the North Sea where she anchored off Felixstowe, Suffolk.

MV Caroline began test transmissions on 27 March 1964 at 6:00 pm GMT and 10:00 pm, and on 11:55 pm on 201 metres (1495 kHz). On 28 March, it began regular broadcasting at noon on 1520 kHz (announced as 199 metres) with the opening conducted by Simon Dee.

The first programme, which was pre-recorded, was hosted by Chris Moore. Radio Caroline's first musical theme was Jimmy McGriff 's "Round Midnight", a jazz standard co-composed by Thelonious Monk. In March 1964, The Fortunes recorded Caroline, which became the station's theme, and Round Midnight was confined to closedown on Radio Caroline North after The World Tomorrow. The station's slogan was Your all-day music station. The Dutch offshore station Radio Veronica was on 1562 kHz and Radio Atlanta broadcast on 1493 kHz.

Radio Caroline's transmission output, in the region of 20 kW, was achieved by linking two 10 kW Continental Electronics transmitters. Broadcasting hours were 6 am to 6 pm to avoid competition from Radio Luxembourg, which began transmissions at 6 pm. The station returned at 8 pm and continued until after midnight to avoid competition with popular television programmes. Most of Radio Caroline's pop music programmes were targeted at housewives, and some later programming was aimed at children. Without serious competition, Radio Caroline gained a regular daytime audience of some 7 million.

### Merger with Radio Atlanta

On 2 July 1964, Radio Atlanta and Radio Caroline's companies, Project Atlanta and Planet Productions, announced the stations were to merge, with Crawford and O'Rahilly as joint managing directors. Radio Atlanta closed at 8 p.m. BST that day. It was renamed Radio Caroline South and MV Mi Amigo remained off Frinton-on-Sea, while MV Caroline broadcast as Radio Caroline North.

Following the consolidation between the two companies, Caroline weighed anchor and sailed from Felixstowe en-route to the Isle of Man, broadcasting as she went. The only broadcast staff on board were Tom Lodge and Jerry Leighton. Caroline took up station at her new anchorage on the southern tip of the Bahama Bank, Ramsey Bay, on 6 July 1964, at a position formerly occupied by the Bahama Bank Lightship. The two Caroline stations were now able to cover most of the British Isles.

Whilst the two Caroline stations transmitted separately, some programmes were pre-recorded on land and broadcast simultaneously from both ships. In October 1965, O'Rahilly bought Crawford's interest in the Mi Amigo and engaged Tom Lodge from Radio Caroline North to make programme changes and regain the audience from Radio London. Lodge hired new DJs and introduced free-form programming.

When the US-backed Radio London arrived off the coast of England, there was an unsuccessful attempt to merge its sales operation with that of Caroline before Radio London started transmissions. The new station introduced British audiences to slick American-style top 40 radio with electronic jingles produced by Dallas-based PAMS, and was an immediate success.

### Broadcasting personnel

Radio Caroline's first programme, on 28 March 1964, was presented by Chris Moore. Presenters Tony Blackburn, Roger Gale, Ray Teret, Simon Dee, Tony Prince, Spangles Muldoon, Keith Skues, Johnnie Walker, Robbie Dale, Dave Lee Travis, Tommy Vance, Tom Edwards, Bob Stewart and Andy Archer became well known. Some DJs from the United States and Commonwealth countries, such as Graham Webb, Emperor Rosko and Keith Hampshire were also heard. DJ Jack Spector, of the WMCA "Good Guys" in New York, regularly recorded for Radio Caroline. Syndicated shows from the US and recorded religious programmes were also broadcast. BBC Radio 2 newsreader Colin Berry started his career reading the news on Radio Caroline South.

In May 1965 Rick Wild, lead vocalist with The Overlanders, spent a week on board presenting mainstream pop and country music, and mid-September 1965, the crew and DJs on Mi Amigo were joined for the weekend by 1960s pop singer Sylvan Whittingham, who visited the ship to promote her single "We Don't Belong". Whittingham was unable to leave on the tender when a storm arose, and so spent the time helping present programmes, make jingles, and close the station at night.

### Mi Amigo runs aground

On 20 January 1966, the Mi Amigo lost its anchor in a storm, drifted and ran aground on the beach at Frinton-on-Sea. The crew and broadcasting staff were rescued unharmed, but the ship's hull was damaged and repairs were carried out at Zaandam, Netherlands.

Between 31 January and 1 May, Radio Caroline South broadcast from the vessel Cheeta II, owned by Britt Wadner of Swedish offshore station Radio Syd, which was off the air because of pack ice in the Baltic Sea. The Cheeta II was equipped for FM broadcasting, so it was fitted with the 10 kW transmitter from the Mi Amigo, feeding a makeshift antenna. Whilst the resulting signal was low-powered, it did ensure that Caroline South's advertising revenue would continue.

On 18 April the Mi Amigo returned to its Frinton-on-Sea anchorage with a redesigned antenna and a new 50 kW transmitter and attempted to resume broadcasting, nominally on 259 metres to enable the same jingles as Radio Caroline North on 1169 kHz to be used, but actually 253 metres. Initially the transmitter was found to be too powerful for the antenna insulators, however by 27 April the Mi Amigo was fully operational.

Radio Caroline South's 259 metres signal was now near those of Radio London on 266 m (1133 kHz) and the BBC's Light Programme on 247 m (1214 kHz). Radio Caroline North subsequently moved to 257 m (1169 kHz) but also called it 259.

### Radio City affair

In October 1965 negotiations began for Radio Caroline to take over Radio City, which broadcast from Shivering Sands Army Fort, a Second World War marine fort off the Kent coast. One of Radio Caroline's directors, Major Oliver Smedley, formerly of Radio Atlanta, entered into a partnership with Radio City's owner, pop group manager Reginald Calvert and installed a more powerful transmitter on the fort. However, according to Gerry Bishop's book Offshore Radio this transmitter was antiquated and failed to work. Smedley later withdrew from the deal.

On 20 June 1966, Smedley boarded the Shivering Sands Fort with ten workmen to repossess a transmitter that he had supplied, but had not been paid for. The next day, Calvert visited Smedley's home in Saffron Walden, Essex, to demand the departure of the raiders and the return of vital transmitter parts. During a violent struggle, Calvert was shot dead. Smedley's men occupied the fort until 22 June.

Smedley was charged with Calvert's murder on 18 July, but this was reduced to a charge of manslaughter. Smedley's trial opened on 11 October at Chelmsford Assizes, where the jury acquitted him.

### Legislation

In 1967, the UK Government enacted the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967, outlawing advertising on or supplying an unlicensed offshore radio station from the UK. In an earlier House of Commons debate (in June 1966), the government had said that the pirate ships were a danger because of radio frequency interference to emergency shipping channels, and to overseas radio stations and the pirates were paying no royalties to artists, composers or record companies. Furthermore, it was stated that the pirates' use of wavelengths also broke international agreements.

The Manx parliament, the Tynwald, attempted to exclude the North ship from the legislation, appealing to the European Court on the legality of the act being applied to the Isle of Man. Two (Radio 270 and Radio London) of the remaining four UK-based offshore stations closed, but the two Caroline ships continued with their supply operation moved to Netherlands waters, where unlicensed ship-based broadcasting was not outlawed until 1974.

When the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 become law on 14 August 1967, Radio Caroline was renamed Radio Caroline International. Six weeks later, the BBC introduced its new national pop station Radio 1, modelled largely on the successful offshore station Radio London, and employed many of the ex-pirate DJs. The BBC Light, Third, and Home programmes became Radios 2, 3 and 4 respectively.

On 3 March 1968, the radio ships Mi Amigo and Caroline were boarded and seized before the day's broadcasting began. They were towed to Amsterdam by a salvage company to secure unpaid bills for servicing by the Dutch tender company Wijsmuller Transport. Caroline was broken up for scrap in 1972.

Because of the rise of land-based pirate stations after the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 became law (usually stations run from bedrooms or outdoor sheds with small wattage transmitters), at least two stations later broadcast using the Caroline name, one based in Dublin. Those broadcasts took place between 1970 and 1973.

## 1970: Radio North Sea International

On 24 March 1970, a radio ship named Mebo II anchored off the east coast of England during the UK general election campaign, broadcasting as Radio North Sea International (RNI). RNI operated on medium wave, short wave and FM. Its medium wave transmission was jammed by the UK authorities and on 13 June, RNI changed its name to Radio Caroline International with co-operation from Ronan O'Rahilly. Radio Caroline lobbied against the Labour Party, for the Conservative Party and for the introduction of licensed commercial radio in the United Kingdom. Following the election, RNI resumed its original name but jamming continued under the newly elected Conservative government. It was not until RNI returned to its original anchorage off the Netherlands that the jamming ceased.

## Caroline Television

News stories appeared in Europe announcing the start of Caroline Television from two Super Constellation aircraft using Stratovision technology. One would circle over the North Sea in international air space near the United Kingdom, while the other remained on standby. Presentations were made to US advertising agencies. These stories continued and included supposed co-operation by a former member of The Beatles and a sign-on date of 1 July; the station failed to appear. The TV operation was later found to be a publicity stunt.

## 1972–1980: Mi Amigo rescued

In 1972, MV Mi Amigo was bought for her scrap value at auction by enthusiast Gerard van Dam, who intended to use her as a free radio museum. O'Rahilly promised financial backing if van Dam could return the ship to broadcasting condition.

The ship anchored off the Dutch coastal resort of Scheveningen and was serviced and operated from the Netherlands. That autumn various tests, consisting of continuous music, were made on 259 metres. The station restarted just before Christmas as Radio 199 but soon became Radio Caroline, with a Top 40 format. DJs Chris Cary, broadcasting as Spangles Muldoon (who was also station manager), Andy Archer, Paul Alexander, Norman Barrington, Steve England, Johnny Jason and Peter Chicago (real name Peter Murtha) manned the station.

In late 1972, Radio Caroline had money problems. On 28 December, unpaid crew cut the Mi Amigo' s generator fuel line and departed. Later that day, the Dutch Royal Navy returned the crew and fighting broke out on board. Two days later, Mi Amigo was towed to IJmuiden and seized because of unpaid bills. Because of the Christmas holidays, no solicitors were available to issue a writ and the ship lay in Amsterdam harbour until O'Rahilly arranged for it to be towed back to sea. The ship was further delayed by hull damage, and repaired before writs could be issued.

Between 11 and 20 April 1973, the ship broadcast for Radio Veronica while its ship, the Norderney, was aground. Caroline DJ Norman Barrington acted as technician, whilst news readers Freek Simon and Arend Langenberg continued the live news service. Tom Collins and Freek did live programmes on occasions the taped shows were unavailable, whilst Norman played the music. Because of a law that allows pirates in distress to come ashore without arrest, the running aground had no consequences for the crew. During summer 1973, it broadcast separate stations in English and Dutch simultaneously, on 389 m/773 kHz and 253 m (announced as 259)/1187 kHz. Two aerials and twin transmitters were used for about six weeks until the aerial mast failed. To accommodate the second aerial, a second short mast, just in front of the bridge, was employed as the other end of the aerial fixed to the main mast.

### Radio Atlantis and Radio Seagull

Around this time, O'Rahilly decided Caroline should adopt an album format similar to FM progressive rock stations in the US, an audience not catered for in Europe. This service was Radio Seagull and broadcast live during the evening.

Since Radio Caroline could not find enough advertising, it shared its nominal 259-metre wavelength (actually 1187 kHz or 253 metres) with Dutch-language pop stations. The first was a Belgian station called Radio Atlantis, owned by Belgian businessman Adriaan van Landschoot. Programmes were recorded on land and broadcast between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Rough weather sometimes prevented tapes from arriving and old programmes had to be repeated. Later in 1973, when the contract with Radio Caroline ended, the crew of Radio Atlantis moved to their own ship, the MV Jeanine.

Radio Seagull became Radio Caroline on 23 February 1974, retaining the album format. Throughout most of the 1970s, Radio Caroline could be heard only at night, calling itself "Europe's first and only album station".

### Radio Mi Amigo

Another Belgian station, Radio Mi Amigo International, launched on 1 January 1974; it was run by Belgian businessman and Suzy Waffles owner Sylvain Tack. The station's offices and studios were in Brakel, Belgium, but moved to Castell-Platja d'Aro, Costa Brava, Spain in March 1975 after a raid by Belgian police. Here they produced programmes for Dutch-speaking holidaymakers, mostly Europop, Top 40, MOR and Dutch language popular music presented by Belgian, Dutch and occasionally English DJs with frequent commercials. Because commercial radio was prohibited in Belgium, Radio Mi Amigo had little competition from the former BRT State Radio and TV (today VRT Flemisch State radio and TV) and became very popular in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. For the first years, advertising on the station was in demand. When Radio Veronica closed in 1974, some presenters moved to Radio Mi Amigo.

### Loving Awareness

Caroline's album format meant that, although the station served a gap in the market, its audience was smaller than in the 1960s. Caroline also promoted O'Rahilly's concept of Loving Awareness (LA), a far-eastern philosophy of love and peace. Some DJs were embarrassed but some were fascinated by the challenge of an abstract concept.

In 1974, O'Rahilly set up a pop group called The Loving Awareness Band, comprising John Turnbull (guitar) and Mick Gallagher (keyboards) both formerly of Skip Bifferty and two session musicians, Norman Watt-Roy (bass) and Charlie Charles (drums). In 1976, The Loving Awareness Band released their only album, Loving Awareness on More Love Records (ML001), a label set up by O'Rahilly. The album was reissued on CD on Ross Records, c.1992, and in a "30th Anniversary Edition" with bonus material on SMC Records in 2005. The band broke up in 1977; Watt-Roy and Charles played on Ian Dury 's New Boots and Panties!! album, and Turnbull and Gallagher joined them on the Stiff 's tour, becoming The Blockheads.

### Dutch legislation

The Dutch government banned unlicensed offshore radio on 1 September 1974. Radio Caroline continued, moving its headquarters and servicing operation to Spain. On 30 August 1974 Mi Amigo moved from the Dutch coast to the Knock Deep Channel, approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the British coast. After 31 August, shows for Radio Mi Amigo were delivered on cassettes rather than reel-to-reel tapes. Beginning in 1975, the cassettes were transported from Playa d'Aro on the Europa Bus service, which carried people from Amsterdam to Madrid at low prices. The tapes were picked up in Belgium at a bus stop, taken to a small aircraft and dropped in the sea close to the radio ship. The "Top 50" tapes were flown over by helicopter to get them on board more quickly.

The Mi Amigo was tendered clandestinely from Britain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Tenders and boat owners were warned, and some were prosecuted for ferrying staff and provisions to the ship. Belgium had outlawed offshore radio in 1962 and prosecuted advertisers, cutting the station's revenue. Belgian courts sentenced Tack and some DJs to fines and jail in absentia, although the prison terms were later cancelled.

### Wavelength changes

The two stations experimented with different frequencies. After a short test on 773 kHz in late 1975, in May 1976, Radio Caroline began a daytime service on 1562 kHz (192 m) using a 10 kW transmitter, while its overnight service continued to share the 50 kW transmitter with Radio Mi Amigo's daytime programming on 1187 kHz (253 metres, announced as 259).

In December 1976, Radio Mi Amigo moved to 1562 kHz on the 50 kW transmitter, leaving Caroline on 1187 kHz 24 hours a day on the 10 kW. Radio Caroline had greater night-time interference, and it was decided to move Caroline to a new frequency. On 3 March 1977, Caroline closed, announcing that it would return six days later on 319 metres. To allow Radio Mi Amigo to continue broadcasting by day, the engineering work for Caroline's move had to be carried out over six nights, after the 50 kW transmitter was switched off.

Caroline returned on 9 March 1977 on 953 kHz, actually 315 metres but announced as 319. This gave reasonable reception by day but strong heterodyne interference at night because the transmitter crystal was off-channel. In July Caroline moved to the adjacent channel, 962 kHz (312 metres but still called 319) and reception in the UK improved. Meanwhile, Radio Mi Amigo had interference on 1562 kHz and changed to 1412 kHz (212 m).

Finally, Radio Mi Amigo moved to 962 kHz on 1 December. Due to generator trouble, the two services could no longer be broadcast simultaneously and Radio Caroline again broadcast at night with both stations using the 50 kW transmitter and Radio Caroline began to receive more mail from the continent. At times, a 10 kW transmitter was used to save fuel and relieve the generators. The 10 kW transmitters could run on the Henschel generator beside the two main MAN units and also a Cummins unit on the aft deck behind the wheelhouse.

In late 1977, Radio Caroline began sponsored evangelical programmes, and music programmes began at 9 p.m. On 20 October 1978, technical and financial problems put the Mi Amigo off the air. Unhappy at the loss of advertising, Radio Mi Amigo terminated its contract with Caroline in November 1978 and broadcast from its own ship, the MV Magdalena later that year, but this was short-lived. Broadcasting was in Dutch and English by day and in English at night, although for the first few months broadcasting finished at 10 p.m. On 19 January 1979, the ageing ship took in water and a lifeboat was called to rescue the crew members. Radio Caroline returned to the air on 15 April 1979. The first record played was Fool (If You Think It's Over), by Chris Rea, dedicated to the British Home Office. During this period each night transmission of Radio Caroline started with Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft by the progressive Rock Band Klaatu, issued in 1976 on their album 3:47 E.S.T.

### Mi Amigo sinks

Just after midnight GMT on 20 March 1980, the Mi Amigo foundered in a storm after losing its anchor and drifting. It began taking in water and the crew was rescued by lifeboat. The generator was left running but the pumps could not manage and the vessel sank 10 minutes later. Three British nationals, a Dutchman and their canary (named Wilson after the former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson) were rescued. The last broadcast from the Mi Amigo was by Stevie Gordon and Tom Anderson:

(Gordon): Well, we're sorry to tell you that due to the severe weather conditions and the fact that we are shipping quite a lot of water, we are closing down, and the crew are at this stage leaving the ship. Obviously, we hope to be back with you as soon as possible, but just for the moment we would like to say goodbye. (Anderson): It's not a very good occasion really, we have to hurry this because the lifeboat is standing by. We're not leaving and disappearing, we're going onto the lifeboat hoping that the pumps can take it; if they can, we'll be back, if not, well, we really don't like to say it. (Gordon): I think we'll be back in one way or another. (Anderson): Yeah. I think so. (Gordon): For the moment from all of us, goodbye and God bless.

The crew of the Sheerness lifeboat Helen Turnbull were commended for the rescue of broadcasters Tom Anderson, Stevie Gordon, Nick Richards and Hans Verlaan from Mi Amigo while it was sinking in the Black Deep near Long Sand Bank. Having to manoeuvre the lifeboat alongside the stricken vessel 13 times in high seas and a north-easterly gale earned Coxswain Charles Bowry an RNLI Silver Medal. Each of his crew was awarded The Thanks of the Institution on vellum.

The Mi Amigo ' s 160-foot (49 m) mast remained erect for six years.

## 1983–1991: MV Ross Revenge

Radio Caroline restarted in August 1983 from a new radio ship, the MV Ross Revenge, an ex- North Sea factory fishing trawler used during the Anglo-Icelandic Cod War by Ross Fisheries. It had an antenna system radiating from a 300-foot (91 m) high mast, the tallest on any ship in the world. It left Spain with an incomplete studio, to avoid legal entanglements. Radio Caroline began to broadcast from the ship on 19 August 1983, with unwanted mechanical sounds on speech. The station was opened by DJ Tom Anderson, who had said "goodbye" from the sinking Mi Amigo in 1980.

The Ross Revenge was larger than Mi Amigo and with more elaborate transmitting equipment: in 1983, two 5 kW RCA transmitters and a RCA 50 kW unit. One 5 kW transmitter was initially not serviceable. When Radio Monique hired the main transmitter, spare parts were taken from a fourth transmitter to convert the 5 kW into a 10 kW unit, the RCA 5 and 10 kW transmitters having similar designs. The remaining 5 kW transmitter was later converted for short wave use. The Ross Revenge also featured powerful generators.

O'Rahilly wanted Radio Caroline to become an oldies station. He was opposed by some DJs and crew who had worked on the Mi Amigo and the album format stayed along with presenters such as Andy Archer, Samantha Dubois, Grant Benson, Robin Ross and Simon Barrett. Officially, Radio Caroline was managed from offices in North America, with advertising from the US and Canada. In practice, day-to-day servicing was carried from France and the UK.

From the anchorage in the Knock Deep the Mi Amigo ' s mast could be seen on the horizon. Four studios were on board, enabling other broadcasting services. Radio Caroline tried several frequencies, among them 963, 576, 585 (only from 25 March 1985 till 28 March 1985), 558 (after Laser 558 closed) and later 819 kHz. European medium wave channels had been reallocated to multiples of nine. In the evenings on 963, some alternative music programmes were tried, including the reggae "Jamming 963", and in 1986 and early 1987, a progressive and indie rock programme called Caroline Overdrive.

On 9 August 1985, an official vessel anchored 150 yards from the Ross Revenge. The UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) put a permanent watch on movements around the Ross Revenge and the MV Communicator, Laser 558 ' s ship. On 3 September 1985 at 00:00 hours the Dioptric Surveyor departed in a storm.

### Radio Monique

From December 1984 the Ross Revenge broadcast Radio Monique, recorded and live Dutch-language programmes of a Dutch music radio production company using the 50 kW transmitter during daytime. They were pop and Europop aimed at the mainstream Dutch audience. Radio Monique was popular throughout Benelux.

In the evenings, Radio Caroline transmitted Dutch and American religious evangelist broadcasters such as Johan Maasbach and Roy Masters on medium wave, and later on short wave, under the name Viewpoint 963/819, or World Mission Radio (WMR) on short wave.

In November 1985, the competing offshore station, Laser 558, closed after electrical problems and Caroline moved from 576 kHz to Laser's 558 kHz frequency, with a Top 40 music format similar to Laser's under the name Caroline 558. When Laser returned as Laser Hot Hits, it used Caroline's former and inferior frequency of 576 kHz.

### Mast collapse

The Territorial Sea Act 1987 extended the UK maritime limit from 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) to 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi). To remain in international waters, the ship moved to a new, less-sheltered anchorage. Initially this was a minor inconvenience as the 300-foot (91 m) mast was thought sturdy enough. However, in October 1987 a massive storm hit southern England, causing deaths and severe damage. MV Ross Revenge weathered the storm in the North Sea.

The following day, Caroline was one of few stations in the South East still broadcasting. However, the storm had weakened the mast, which collapsed in another storm later. Caroline returned to the air using a makeshift aerial with a less powerful signal. This was replaced by a twin-mast T-antenna. For several months only one transmitter could be used, leading to the loss of the income-generating Radio Monique, although a substitute Dutch daytime service, Radio 558 (later Radio 819), was eventually established.

### 1989 Anglo-Dutch raid

During mid-August 1989, authorities in several European countries carried out coordinated raids on houses, recording studios and offices believed to be used by Caroline. On 18 August, a British government chartered ship pulled up alongside the Ross Revenge and asked to board to "discuss the future" of the Ross Revenge and the stations operating from it. This request, and one to stop transmissions on 819 kHz (Radio 819), was refused. A request to stop broadcasting on short wave 6214 kHz (World Mission Radio) which disturbs the emergency frequency 6215 kHz. was complied with, and then from 59:00. After several hours the government ship returned to port.

On 19 August 1989, James Murphy, an investigator for the UK Office of the Official Solicitor, acting for the Department of Trade and Industry, joined colleagues and counterparts from the Netherlands Radio Regulatory Authority to execute an armed raid on the Ross Revenge in which equipment was damaged or confiscated.

Part of the raid was broadcast live before officials disabled the transmitters. Dutch nationals were arrested and returned to the Netherlands, together with most of the broadcasting equipment. Non-Dutch staff were given the option of staying on the ship or returning to the Netherlands, and most chose to stay on board. Caroline claimed boarding the ship and removal or destruction of equipment was piracy. The Dutch claimed the ship's Panamanian registration had lapsed in 1987, was not under legal protection from any country and that its transmissions breached international regulations which since 1982 had prohibited broadcasting from outside national territories. Several years later some of the seized items were returned to the station.

In 1990 the UK government amended the 1967 anti-offshore law to allow the boarding and silencing of stations in international waters if their signals could be received in the UK, even if their vessels were foreign-registered and operated. Lord Annan, author of the 1977 Report of the Committee on the Future of Broadcasting, spoke in defence of Radio Caroline in the House of Lords at report stage on the Broadcasting Act 1990, saying "Why break a butterfly upon the wheel?" In a 1995 article for the pressure group Charter88, Steve McGann commented:

"Whether Caroline was right to maintain her defiance for so many years is irrelevant. Her story illustrates how uniquely dangerous government regards an independent voice transmitted over unrestricted airwaves and to what ends it will go to silence it."

This legislation remains in force.

### 1990–1991: After the raid

On 1 October 1989, Radio Caroline resumed broadcasting from the Ross Revenge using makeshift equipment and low power, to retain the 558 kHz frequency. Engineer Peter Chicago had hidden transmitter parts during the raid and retuned one 5 kW transmitter, previously used on short-wave, to 558 kHz. Over the following months, Caroline's signal quality improved as transmitting valves were donated and programming returned to normal.

In June 1990, Spectrum Radio, a new multi-ethnic community radio station in London, was officially allocated 558 kHz. Caroline caused more interference to Spectrum than vice versa. Caroline broadcast regular apologies to Spectrum listeners but refused to vacate the channel. Spectrum threatened to sue the Radio Authority, which then allowed Spectrum to temporarily broadcast on 990 kHz alongside 558 kHz. Eventually, Caroline left 558 kHz and moved to 819 kHz. On 5 November 1990, lack of fuel and supplies forced the station to stop transmitting. The final song was Pilot of the Airwaves by Charlie Dore.

Although most broadcasting staff left at that time, some remained for a year as caretakers while funding and equipment were sought. The station tried to obtain a licence from a developing country, hoping it might offer protection from the new provisions in the Broadcasting Act 1990 which came into force on 31 December that year.

In November 1991, the ship lost its anchor in a storm and drifted onto the Goodwin Sands in the Channel. The crew (Caroline Martin, Rico and one other) was rescued by an Royal Air Force helicopter. The Ross Revenge was salvaged and brought into harbour in Dover, ending 27 years of Radio Caroline's unlicensed offshore career.

## Since 1991: Licensed Support Group era

Since 1991, the Ross Revenge has been maintained by enthusiasts called the Radio Caroline Support Group, originally the Ross Revenge Support Group. From 2007, the ship was docked at Tilbury, where a volunteer crew repaired and maintained it. The ship has working radio studios, from which both Caroline and BBC Essex have broadcast. On 31 July 2014 the ship was moved to the Blackwater Estuary in Essex.

Former offshore broadcasters who continue on the station are: Roger Mathews, Nigel Harris, Martin Fisher, Marc Jacobs, Johnny Lewis, Doug Wood, Dave Foster, Cliff Osbourne, Chris Pearson, Bob Lawrence, Jeremy Chartham and Ad Roberts. Evangelical programmes and sponsored specialist music are broadcast. During Easter 2008, the station broadcast live for three days from the Ross Revenge, featuring presenters who had worked on the Mi Amigo in the late 1970s: Roger Mathews, Mike Stevens, Bob Lawrence, Brian Martin, Martin Fisher, Cliff Osbourne, Jeremy Chartham, Marc Jacobs, Ad Roberts, Dick Verheul and Kees Borrell.

### Restricted service licences

Radio Caroline was off the air for most of the 1990s, except for occasional low-power broadcasts of one month. Some of these 28-day Restricted Service Licence (RSL) broadcasts took place from the Ross Revenge during the 1990s, with the ship anchored in Dover after her recovery from the Goodwin Sands in 1992, and then off Clacton, in London's Canary Wharf, Southend Pier and off the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

At one minute past midnight on 1 October 2001, Caroline returned on 1503 kHz from the LV (Light Vessel) 18 in Harwich harbour. This two-day broadcast featured Phil Mitchell, Paul Dennis, Colin Lamb, John Patrick, Barry James, Steve Cisco and Clive Boutell. The LV 18 was later used by the BBC for Pirate BBC Essex broadcasts.

Another RSL broadcast ran from 7 August until 3 September 2004, with the ship moored at the cruise liner terminal jetty at Tilbury in Essex. It commemorated the 40th anniversary of Radio Caroline and promoted the station's legal internet and satellite programmes. The medium wave frequency was 235 metres (1278 kHz) and programmes were sent through ISDN landline to Maidstone and via the internet and broadcast on satellite. The supermarket chain Asda and English Heritage were among the backers.

The station has subsequently broadcast on 531 kHz AM from the Ross Revenge during some bank holiday weekends, beginning on 28–31 August 2009 and also within a few days of the 50th anniversary of the ship's first voyage.

### Satellite and Internet broadcasting

Using land-based studios leased in Kent in the late 1990s, the station began broadcasting via satellites Astra 19.2°E and Eutelsat 28A, covering western Europe. These analogue transmissions ended and a full digital service from Astra 28.2°E started in February 2003.

In 2002, Caroline began on WorldSpace satellite radio, continuing until Worldspace went bankrupt and re-organised its operations in 2008. On 12 June 2006, the station bought an EPG slot on Sky channel 0199. This ended on 1 July 2011 after a failure to renegotiate costs with Sky and deciding not to pursue a Freesat EPG slot. Surveys in 2008 and 2010 showed a small percentage listened via Sky, and that satellite listening had dropped by 9% since 2008, while online listening had increased by around 40%. Radio Caroline continued on satellite but required manual tuning.

During 2013, a survey showed a continued move from satellite reception and growth in internet listening. Following negotiations with the service provider, satellite transmissions ended at midnight on 30 September 2013. Programmes were still heard on satellite until the provider replaced the signal with a 1 kHz tone on the morning of 1 October 2013. Internet streaming of Radio Caroline programmes continued.

The Radio Caroline "album" station has been streamed on the internet for many years, accessible via the station's website, with more streams on various devices. Dedicated apps for listening via Apple IOS and Android devices are also available. In 2011 Radio Caroline joined Radioplayer UK, an internet service formed by the BBC, Global Radio and the Guardian Media Group that supplies a live feed of UK radio stations to across the world.

On 4 May 2015, Radio Caroline started a 24-hour "Flashback" webstream carrying "oldies" music and jingles.

### Via Manx Radio

Since September 2015, Radio Caroline has been broadcasting 'live' for one weekend each month as "Radio Caroline North" (with original DJs and a mixed 1960s, 1970s and 1980s music content and jingles) from its former home the MV Ross Revenge on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, via Manx Radio 's 1368 kHz 20 kW transmitter on the Isle of Man.

### Radio Caroline at 50 years (1964–2014)

From 31 March to 27 April 2014, a Caroline North tribute station, based on the Planet Lightship berthed in the Albert Dock complex on Liverpool's waterfront, broadcast locally on 87.7FM and on the internet. Programmes were presented by current and former DJs from the BBC, ILR, Ireland, Luxembourg, offshore and land-based pirate stations, and other international and freelance backgrounds, including Tony Prince and Emperor Rosko. Original 1960s Caroline North jingles were interspersed with generic Radio Caroline ones. The station played a wide selection of music from when Caroline started in the 1960s, but also included music from the 1970s and 1980s and early 1990s to widen the audience profile. The four-week event was funded through on-air local business commercials.

### Radio Caroline at 60 years (1964–2024)

A special weekend was organised on the Isle of Man to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the station which was held during August 2024. The events centered around Ramsey with several former (and present) Caroline disc jockeys in attendance. In addition, Radio Caroline presenter Chris Pearson made the journey to the pirate radio ship's former anchorage on the Bahama Bank, where he recorded a short video, declaring it was the first time that a transmission had been made from that spot since the cessation of Radio Caroline North broadcasts in 1968.

The commemorations included a two-part talk concerning the origins of Radio Caroline and the development of off-shore radio broadcasts which was held at Ramsey's Mitre Hotel, hosted by Chris Pearson, with guest speakers Andy Wint and Ray Clark.

### Medium wave campaign

In December 2010, Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch presented an Early Day Motion to the House of Commons calling for Ofcom to allow Radio Caroline to broadcast as a licensed medium wave station to its "traditional heartland of the south east".

The full text of the EDM is:

That this House expresses its disappointment that, having pioneered commercial radio in the UK and for the past decade being a fully licensed broadcaster, Radio Caroline, a cornerstone of British radio history, has been denied by OFCOM the opportunity to secure a medium wave frequency from which to broadcast; regrets that as a result its devoted listeners are confined to listening to Radio Caroline via the internet and unable to enjoy its musical offerings in transit; and calls on OFCOM to exhaust all avenues in making the provisions available for Radio Caroline to celebrate its 50th birthday in 2014 by broadcasting on a medium wave frequency which, it appears, is unwanted by both BBC and commercial operators as a broadcast platform."

In May 2017, Ofcom awarded the station a community licence to broadcast to Suffolk and north Essex on 648 kHz with a power of 1 kW.

On 11 November 2017, test transmissions commenced from an omni-directional mast (formerly used by the BBC World Service) at Orford Ness, Suffolk.

On 9 September 2017 a stone was unveiled in Felixstowe to commemorate Radio Caroline.

Commercial programming commenced at noon on Friday 22 December 2017, with a signal that could be heard as far afield as Southampton, Birmingham, Glasgow and in large parts of The Netherlands and Belgium.

On 3 August 2021, Ofcom announced that it had granted a power increase to combat man made noise and interference, and to extend the coverage area to include Suffolk, northern parts of Essex, and parts of Kent and East Sussex. On 24 November 2021 a new transmitter was installed with an effective radiated power of 4 kW. In March 2023 a solar PV array was installed at the Orford Ness transmitter site, providing all of the power required for the transmitter in sunny conditions. In April 2023 an application was submitted to Ofcom to increase the effective radiated power to 16 kW but this has apparently been rejected for now.

### Death of founder

Radio Caroline's founder, Ronan O'Rahilly, was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013; his death aged 79 on 20 April 2020 was announced by Radio Caroline.

## Caroline Community Radio / Caroline Coastal

In October 2020, a new station using the Caroline name and logo launched in Burnham-on-Crouch, broadcasting to the Maldon District of Essex on 94.7 MHz FM. The station, owned by St Peters Studio and Community Radio Limited, has not only licensed the name from Radio Caroline, but has also got technical support and programming from the station, who have their own community radio licences in the south, south east and in East Anglia on 648AM (with Radio Caroline also found on DAB in a number of British cities, plus DAB+ in Cambridge). Caroline Community Radio was relaunched as Caroline Coastal on 20 April 2024 with an additional FM frequency of 104.7 MHz.

## International operations

### The Netherlands

In January 2002, a Dutch Caroline fan called Sietse Brouwer launched a Netherlands-based Dutch Radio Caroline in Harlingen, broadcasting on the northern Netherlands cable networks and largely independent of UK Caroline. Brouwer intended to obtain an AM frequency from the Netherlands authorities in 2003 when its medium wave frequencies were reallocated. However, Dutch Caroline failed to secure a high power AM frequency and the cable network service was discontinued because of lack of funds. The Dutch Radio Caroline then changed its name to Radio Waddenzee (nl) for daytime Dutch and German language, and Radio Seagull for nighttime English language broadcasts, and now broadcasts on 1602 kHz every day and on the internet, presenting a progressive rock format. Since November 2009 Radio Seagull can be heard periodically on 558 kHz in London.

### Spain

In Spain, a station broadcast during the summer 2009 on 102.7 MHz in the Costa Blanca from studios in Benidorm. The station had some success but stopped broadcasting due to lack of funding.

### Ireland

Radio Caroline is broadcast in the Republic of Ireland on channel 927 on the UPC Ireland cable service in the main cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Cappoquin, and the County Waterford towns of Lismore and Tallow.

### New Zealand

In Timaru, an NZBC station, originally 3XC, later 3ZC, broadcast as Radio Caroline until 1995. The name was taken from Caroline Bay, a popular recreation area nearby.

In Palmerston, Radio Caroline International, based in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, acquired an AM commercial broadcasting licence in 2008, and was seeking wavelengths in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Daytime programming was leased to a community radio service called Puketapu Radio on 756 kHz.

## References in popular culture

- A "D" and an "I" from the phrase RADIO CAROLINE (painted as a hoarding in 1974) can still be read in lichen growth on the inside wall of one of the stone sarcens at Stonehenge.

- The Golden Age of Wireless album by Thomas Dolby, track: "Radio Silence" – reference to a woman named "Caroline" and lamenting a lost love like an empty radio frequency.

- Freeze Frame album by Godley & Creme, 1979, track: "Get Well Soon" – reference to Radio Caroline.

- " Rock 'n' Roll ", a song by Status Quo, has the lyrics "Waiting all the time to find radio plays on Caroline".

- The rock band Green paid tribute in the song "Radio Caroline" on their album Elaine MacKenzie.


# The Voice Kids (Philippine TV series) season 6

## Abstract

The sixth season of The Voice Kids, a reality competition show in the Philippines based on the Dutch TV series of the same title, is broadcast by GMA Network. Hosted by Dingdong Dantes, with Billy Crawford, Julie Anne San Jose, and Stell of SB19 returning as coaches from The Voice Generations; newcomer Pablo, also from SB19, joined as a new coach. It premiered on September 15, 2024, on the network's 7:00 pm Sunday prime time slot, replacing Running Man Philippines.

## Background

Auditions for the show's sixth season ran from March to June 2024, for singers aged 7 to 14 years old, at the GMA Network Center. In July 2024, Dingdong Dantes was announced as a presenter of the show, while Billy Crawford, Julie Anne San Jose, and Stell of SB19 were announced to return as coaches from The Voice Generations. Later that month, Pablo, also from SB19, was also announced as a coach.

## Teams

## Blind auditions

The season will begin with the blind auditions. In each audition, each artist performs their piece in front of the panel of coaches, whose chairs are facing the audience. If a coach is interested in working with the artist, they may opt to press the button to face the artist. An artist is defaulted to a coach when only one coach turns; if multiple coaches turn, the coaches compete for the artist, who will later choose their coach. The team sizes for the season are yet to be announced.

### Episode 1 (September 15)

The broadcast began with the coaches performing " Something Big " by Shawn Mendes.


Ed Allen (American football)

# Ed Allen (American football)

## Abstract

Joseph Edmund Allen (June 5, 1901 – August 1979) was an American football end who played one season in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Cardinals. He played college football for Creighton University.

Allen was born on June 5, 1901, in Dixon, Illinois. He attended Dixon High School there, graduating in c. 1922. He joined Creighton University in 1923, and spent three years with the college.

In 1928, Allen was signed to play professional football in the National Football League (NFL) by the Chicago Cardinals. He appeared in two total games, starting both at the end position. He wore number 30. Allen did not return to the team for their 1929 season.

Allen died in August 1979, at the age of 78.


Euro

# Euro

## Abstract

The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the 27 member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 100 euro cents.

The currency is also used officially by the institutions of the European Union, by four European microstates that are not EU members, the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, as well as unilaterally by Montenegro and Kosovo. Outside Europe, a number of special territories of EU members also use the euro as their currency. Additionally, over 200 million people worldwide use currencies pegged to the euro.

The euro is the second-largest reserve currency as well as the second-most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. As of December 2019, with more than €1.3 trillion in circulation, the euro has one of the highest combined values of banknotes and coins in circulation in the world.

The name euro was officially adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1 (US$1.1743 at the time). Physical euro coins and banknotes entered into circulation on 1 January 2002, making it the day-to-day operating currency of its original members, and by March 2002 it had completely replaced the former currencies.

Between December 1999 and December 2002, the euro traded below the US dollar, but has since traded near parity with or above the US dollar, peaking at US$1.60 on 18 July 2008 and since then returning near to its original issue rate. On 13 July 2022, the two currencies hit parity for the first time in nearly two decades due in part to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Then, in September 2022, the US dollar again had a face value higher than the Euro, at around US dollar 0.95 per euro.

## Characteristics

### Administration

The euro is managed and administered by the European Central Bank (ECB, Frankfurt am Main) and the Eurosystem, composed of the central banks of the eurozone countries. As an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of euro banknotes and coins in all member states, and the operation of the eurozone payment systems.

The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, although not all participating states have done so. Denmark has negotiated exemptions, while Sweden (which joined the EU in 1995, after the Maastricht Treaty was signed) turned down the euro in a 2003 non-binding referendum, and has circumvented the obligation to adopt the euro by not meeting the monetary and budgetary requirements. All nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. The Maastricht Treaty was amended by the 2001 Treaty of Nice, which closed the gaps and loopholes in the Maastricht and Rome Treaties.

## Countries that use the euro

### Eurozone members

The 20 participating members are

- Austria

- Belgium

- Croatia

- Cyprus

- Estonia

- Finland

- France

- Germany

- Greece

- Ireland

- Italy

- Latvia

- Lithuania

- Luxembourg

- Malta

- Netherlands

- Portugal

- Slovakia

- Slovenia

- Spain

### Special territories of members of the European Economic Area

EU Outermost Regions:

- France French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Saint Martin Mayotte Réunion

- French Guiana

- Guadeloupe

- Martinique

- Saint Martin

- Mayotte

- Réunion

- Portugal Azores Madeira

- Azores

- Madeira

- Spain Canary Islands

- Canary Islands

Overseas Territories:

- France French Southern and Antarctic Lands Saint Barthélemy Saint Pierre and Miquelon

- French Southern and Antarctic Lands

- Saint Barthélemy

- Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Special Autonomous Territories:

- Finland Åland

- Åland

- Greece Mount Athos

- Mount Athos

- Spain Ceuta Melilla

- Ceuta

- Melilla

### Other users

Microstates with a monetary agreement:

- Andorra

- Monaco

- San Marino

- Vatican City

British Overseas Territory:

- Akrotiri and Dhekelia

Unilateral adopters:

- Kosovo

- Montenegro

## EU members not using the euro

### Obliged to adopt the euro

The following EU member states committed themselves in their respective Treaty of Accession to adopt the euro. However they do not have a deadline to do so and can delay the process by deliberately not complying with the convergence criteria (such as by not meeting the convergence criteria to join ERM II). Bulgaria and Romania are actively working to adopt the euro, while the remaining states do not have a migration plan in progress.

- Bulgaria: The Bulgarian government aims to replace the Bulgarian lev with the euro by 2026. In November 2023, Bulgarian euro coin design has been revealed and approved by the Bulgarian National Bank.

- Czech Republic

- Hungary

- Poland

- Romania: Romania’s government is looking to adopt the euro by 2029.

- Sweden

### Opt-out

The government of Denmark negotiated an opt-out to retain its currency.

- Denmark

## Coins and banknotes

### Coins

The euro is divided into 100 cents (also referred to as euro cents, especially when distinguishing them from other currencies, and referred to as such on the common side of all cent coins). In Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France.

All circulating coins have a common side showing the denomination or value, and a map in the background. Due to the linguistic plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used (as opposed to the less common Greek or Cyrillic) and Arabic numerals (other text is used on national sides in national languages, but other text on the common side is avoided). For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, the map only showed the 15 member states of the union as of 2002. Beginning in 2007 or 2008 (depending on the country), the old map was replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the EU. The 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, however, keep their old design, showing a geographical map of Europe with the EU member states as of 2002, raised somewhat above the rest of the map. All common sides were designed by Luc Luycx. The coins also have a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued the coin. Euro coins from any member state may be freely used in any nation that has adopted the euro.

The coins are issued in denominations of €2, €1, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c, and 1c. To avoid the use of the two smallest coins, some cash transactions are rounded to the nearest five cents in the Netherlands and Ireland (by voluntary agreement) and in Finland and Italy (by law). This practice is discouraged by the commission, as is the practice of certain shops of refusing to accept high-value euro notes.

Commemorative coins with €2 face value have been issued with changes to the design of the national side of the coin. These include both commonly issued coins, such as the €2 commemorative coin for the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, and nationally issued coins, such as the coin to commemorate the 2004 Summer Olympics issued by Greece. These coins are legal tender throughout the eurozone. Collector coins with various other denominations have been issued as well, but these are not intended for general circulation, and they are legal tender only in the member state that issued them.

#### Coin minting

A number of institutions are authorised to mint euro coins:

- Bayerisches Hauptmünzamt (Mint mark: D)

- Currency Centre

- Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre-Real Casa de la Moneda

- Hamburgische Münze (J)

- Hrvatska kovnica novca

- Ίδρυμα Εκτύπωσης Τραπεζογραμματίων και Αξιών

- Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda

- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato

- Koninklijke Munt van België/Monnaie Royale de Belgique

- Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt

- Lietuvos monetų kalykla

- Mincovňa Kremnica

- Monnaie de Paris

- Münze Österreich

- Suomen Rahapaja/Myntverket i Finland

- Staatliche Münze Berlin (A)

- Staatliche Münzen Baden-Württemberg (F): Stuttgart, (G): Karlsruhe

### Banknotes

The design for the euro banknotes has common designs on both sides. The design was created by the Austrian designer Robert Kalina. Notes are issued in €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, and €5. Each banknote has its own colour and is dedicated to an artistic period of European architecture. The front of the note features windows or gateways while the back has bridges, symbolising links between states in the union and with the future. While the designs are supposed to be devoid of any identifiable characteristics, the initial designs by Robert Kalina were of specific bridges, including the Rialto and the Pont de Neuilly, and were subsequently rendered more generic; the final designs still bear very close similarities to their specific prototypes; thus they are not truly generic. The monuments looked similar enough to different national monuments to please everyone.

The Europa series, or second series, consists of six denominations and no longer includes the €500 with issuance discontinued as of 27 April 2019. However, both the first and the second series of euro banknotes, including the €500, remain legal tender throughout the euro area.

In December 2021, the ECB announced its plans to redesign euro banknotes by 2024. A theme advisory group, made up of one member from each euro area country, was selected to submit theme proposals to the ECB. The proposals will be voted on by the public; a design competition will also be held.

#### Issuing modalities for banknotes

Since 1 January 2002, the national central banks (NCBs) and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the total value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECB's banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs, thereby incurring matching liabilities vis-à-vis the ECB. These liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The other 92% of euro banknotes are issued by the NCBs in proportion to their respective shares of the ECB capital key, calculated using national share of European Union (EU) population and national share of EU GDP, equally weighted.

#### Banknote printing

Member states are authorised to print or to commission bank note printing. As of November 2022, these are the printers:

- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato

- Banco de Portugal

- Bank of Greece

- Banque de France

- Bundesdruckerei

- Central Bank of Ireland

- De La Rue

- Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre

- François-Charles Oberthur

- Giesecke & Devrient

- Royal Joh. Enschedé

- National Bank of Belgium

- Oesterreichische Nationalbank

- Setec Oy

### Payments clearing, electronic funds transfer

Capital within the EU may be transferred in any amount from one state to another. All intra-Union transfers in euro are treated as domestic transactions and bear the corresponding domestic transfer costs. This includes all member states of the EU, even those outside the eurozone providing the transactions are carried out in euro. Credit/debit card charging and ATM withdrawals within the eurozone are also treated as domestic transactions; however paper-based payment orders, like cheques, have not been standardised so these are still domestic-based. The ECB has also set up a clearing system, TARGET, for large euro transactions.

## History

### Introduction

The euro was established by the provisions in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. To participate in the currency, member states are meant to meet strict criteria, such as a budget deficit of less than 3% of their GDP, a debt ratio of less than 60% of GDP (both of which were ultimately widely flouted after introduction), low inflation, and interest rates close to the EU average. In the Maastricht Treaty, the United Kingdom and Denmark were granted exemptions per their request from moving to the stage of monetary union which resulted in the introduction of the euro (see also United Kingdom and the euro).

The name "euro" was officially adopted in Madrid on 16 December 1995. Belgian Esperantist Germain Pirlot, a former teacher of French and history, is credited with naming the new currency by sending a letter to then President of the European Commission, Jacques Santer, suggesting the name "euro" on 4 August 1995.

Due to differences in national conventions for rounding and significant digits, all conversion between the national currencies had to be carried out using the process of triangulation via the euro. The definitive values of one euro in terms of the exchange rates at which the currency entered the euro are shown in the table.

The rates were determined by the Council of the European Union, based on a recommendation from the European Commission based on the market rates on 31 December 1998. They were set so that one European Currency Unit (ECU) would equal one euro. The European Currency Unit was an accounting unit used by the EU, based on the currencies of the member states; it was not a currency in its own right. They could not be set earlier, because the ECU depended on the closing exchange rate of the non-euro currencies (principally pound sterling) that day.

The procedure used to fix the conversion rate between the Greek drachma and the euro was different since the euro by then was already two years old. While the conversion rates for the initial eleven currencies were determined only hours before the euro was introduced, the conversion rate for the Greek drachma was fixed several months beforehand.

The currency was introduced in non-physical form (traveller's cheques, electronic transfers, banking, etc.) at midnight on 1 January 1999, when the national currencies of participating countries (the eurozone) ceased to exist independently. Their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other. The euro thus became the successor to the European Currency Unit (ECU). The notes and coins for the old currencies, however, continued to be used as legal tender until new euro notes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002.

The changeover period during which the former currencies' notes and coins were exchanged for those of the euro lasted about two months, until 28 February 2002. The official date on which the national currencies ceased to be legal tender varied from member state to member state. The earliest date was in Germany, where the mark officially ceased to be legal tender on 31 December 2001, though the exchange period lasted for two months more. Even after the old currencies ceased to be legal tender, they continued to be accepted by national central banks for periods ranging from several years to indefinitely (the latter for Austria, Germany, Ireland, Estonia and Latvia in banknotes and coins, and for Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Slovakia in banknotes only). The earliest coins to become non-convertible were the Portuguese escudos, which ceased to have monetary value after 31 December 2002, although banknotes remained exchangeable until 2022.

### Currency sign

A special euro currency sign (€) was designed after a public survey had narrowed ten of the original thirty proposals down to two. The President of the European Commission at the time (Jacques Santer) and the European Commissioner with responsibility for the euro (Yves-Thibault de Silguy) then chose the winning design.

Regarding the symbol, the European Commission stated on behalf of the European Union:

The symbol € is based on the Greek letter epsilon (Є), with the first letter in the word "Europe" and with 2 parallel lines signifying stability.

The European Commission also specified a euro logo with exact proportions. Placement of the currency sign relative to the numeric amount varies from state to state, but for texts in English published by EU institutions, the symbol (or the ISO -standard "EUR") should precede the amount.

### Eurozone crisis

Following the U.S. financial crisis in 2008, fears of a sovereign debt crisis developed in 2009 among investors concerning some European states, with the situation becoming particularly tense in early 2010. Greece was most acutely affected, but fellow Eurozone members Cyprus, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain were also significantly affected. All these countries used EU funds except Italy, which is a major donor to the EFSF. To be included in the eurozone, countries had to fulfil certain convergence criteria, but the meaningfulness of such criteria was diminished by the fact it was not enforced with the same level of strictness among countries.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2011, "f the is treated as a single entity, its position looks no worse and in some respects, rather better than that of the US or the UK" and the budget deficit for the euro area as a whole is much lower and the euro area's government debt/GDP ratio of 86% in 2010 was about the same level as that of the United States. "Moreover", they write, "private-sector indebtedness across the euro area as a whole is markedly lower than in the highly leveraged Anglo-Saxon economies". The authors conclude that the crisis "is as much political as economic" and the result of the fact that the euro area lacks the support of "institutional paraphernalia (and mutual bonds of solidarity) of a state".

The crisis continued with S&P downgrading the credit rating of nine euro-area countries, including France, then downgrading the entire European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) fund.

A historical parallel – to 1931 when Germany was burdened with debt, unemployment and austerity while France and the United States were relatively strong creditors – gained attention in summer 2012 even as Germany received a debt-rating warning of its own.

## Direct and indirect usage

### Agreed direct usage with minting rights

The euro is the sole currency of 20 EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. These countries constitute the " eurozone ", some 347 million people in total as of 2023. According to bilateral agreements with the EU, the euro has also been designated as the sole and official currency in a further four European microstates awarded minting rights (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City). All but one (Denmark) current, and any potential future EU members, are obliged to adopt the euro when economic conditions permit.

### Agreed direct usage without minting rights

The euro is also the sole currency in three overseas territories of France that are not themselves part of the EU, namely Saint Barthélemy, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, as well as in the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

### Unilateral direct usage

The euro has been adopted unilaterally as the sole currency of Montenegro and Kosovo. It has also been used as a foreign trading currency in Cuba since 1998, Syria since 2006, and Venezuela since 2018. In 2009, Zimbabwe abandoned its local currency and introduced major global convertible currencies instead, including the euro and the United States dollar. The direct usage of the euro outside of the official framework of the EU affects nearly 3 million people.

### Currencies pegged to the euro

Outside the eurozone, two EU member states have currencies that are pegged to the euro, which is a precondition to joining the eurozone. The Danish krone and Bulgarian lev are pegged due to their participation in the ERM II.

Additionally, a total of 21 countries and territories that do not belong to the EU have currencies that are directly pegged to the euro including 14 countries in mainland Africa (CFA franc), two African island countries (Comorian franc and Cape Verdean escudo), three French Pacific territories (CFP franc) and two Balkan countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark) and North Macedonia (Macedonian denar). On 1 January 2010, the dobra of São Tomé and Príncipe was officially linked with the euro. Additionally, the Moroccan dirham is tied to a basket of currencies, including the euro and the US dollar, with the euro given the highest weighting.

These countries generally had previously implemented a currency peg to one of the major European currencies (e.g. the French franc, Deutsche Mark or Portuguese escudo), and when these currencies were replaced by the euro their currencies became pegged to the euro. Pegging a country's currency to a major currency is regarded as a safety measure, especially for currencies of areas with weak economies, as the euro is seen as a stable currency, prevents runaway inflation, and encourages foreign investment due to its stability.

In total, as of 2013, 182 million people in Africa use a currency pegged to the euro, 27 million people outside the eurozone in Europe, and another 545,000 people on Pacific islands.

Since 2005, stamps issued by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta have been denominated in euros, although the Order's official currency remains the Maltese scudo. The Maltese scudo itself is pegged to the euro and is only recognised as legal tender within the Order.

The currency of a number of states is pegged to the euro. These states are:

North America

- Haiti (Haitian gourde, HTG)

Europe

- Albania (Albanian lek, ALL)

- Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, BAM)

- Bulgaria (Bulgarian lev, BGN)

- Denmark (Danish krone, DKK)

- North Macedonia (Macedonian denar, MKD)

- Sovereign Military Order of Malta (Maltese scudo)

- Moldova (Moldovan leu, MDL)

- Romania (Romanian leu, RON)

- Serbia (Serbian dinar, RSD)

Oceania

- French Polynesia (CFP franc, XPF)

- New Caledonia (CFP franc)

- Wallis and Futuna (CFP franc)

Africa

- Burundi (Burundi franc, BIF)

- Cape Verde (Cape Verdean escudo, CVE)

- Cameroon (Central African CFA franc, XAF)

- Central African Republic (Central African CFA franc)

- Chad (Central African CFA franc)

- Equatorial Guinea (Central African CFA franc)

- Gabon (Central African CFA franc)

- Congo (Central African CFA franc)

- Comoros (Comorian franc, KMF)

- DR Congo (Congolese franc, CDF)

- Djibouti (Djibouti franc, DJF)

- Eritrea (Eritrean nakfa, ERN)

- Ethiopia (Ethiopian birr, ETB)

- Gambia (Gambian dalasi, GMD)

- Guinea (Guinean franc, GNF)

- Madagascar (Malagasy ariary, MGA)

- Mozambique (Mozambique metical, MZN)

- Rwanda (Rwanda franc, RWF)

- Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Sahrawi peseta)

- São Tomé and Príncipe (São Tomé and Príncipe dobra, STN)

- Sierra Leone (Sierra Leonean leone, SLE)

- Benin (West African CFA franc, XOF)

- Burkina Faso (West African CFA franc)

- Ivory Coast (West African CFA franc)

- Guinea-Bissau (West African CFA franc)

- Mali (West African CFA franc)

- Niger (West African CFA franc)

- Senegal (West African CFA franc)

- Togo (West African CFA franc)

### Use as reserve currency

Since its introduction in 1999, the euro has been the second most widely held international reserve currency after the U.S. dollar. The share of the euro as a reserve currency increased from 18% in 1999 to 27% in 2008. Over this period, the share held in U.S. dollar fell from 71% to 64% and that held in RMB fell from 6.4% to 3.3%. The euro inherited and built on the status of the Deutsche Mark as the second most important reserve currency. The euro remains underweight as a reserve currency in advanced economies while overweight in emerging and developing economies: according to the International Monetary Fund the total of euro held as a reserve in the world at the end of 2008 was equal to $1.1 trillion or €850 billion, with a share of 22% of all currency reserves in advanced economies, but a total of 31% of all currency reserves in emerging and developing economies.

The possibility of the euro becoming the first international reserve currency has been debated among economists. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan gave his opinion in September 2007 that it was "absolutely conceivable that the euro will replace the US dollar as reserve currency, or will be traded as an equally important reserve currency". In contrast to Greenspan's 2007 assessment, the euro's increase in the share of the worldwide currency reserve basket has slowed considerably since 2007 and since the beginning of the worldwide credit crunch related recession and European sovereign-debt crisis.

## Economics

### Optimal currency area

In economics, an optimum currency area, or region (OCA or OCR), is a geographical region in which it would maximise economic efficiency to have the entire region share a single currency. There are two models, both proposed by Robert Mundell: the stationary expectations model and the international risk sharing model. Mundell himself advocates the international risk sharing model and thus concludes in favour of the euro. However, even before the creation of the single currency, there were concerns over diverging economies. Before the late-2000s recession it was considered unlikely that a state would leave the euro or the whole zone would collapse. However the Greek government-debt crisis led to former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw claiming the eurozone could not last in its current form. Part of the problem seems to be the rules that were created when the euro was set up. John Lanchester, writing for The New Yorker, explains it:

The guiding principle of the currency, which opened for business in 1999, were supposed to be a set of rules to limit a country's annual deficit to three per cent of gross domestic product, and the total accumulated debt to sixty per cent of G.D.P. It was a nice idea, but by 2004 the two biggest economies in the euro zone, Germany and France, had broken the rules for three years in a row.

Increasing business cycle divergence across the Eurozone over the last decades implies a decreasing Optimum Currency Area.

### Transaction costs and risks

The most obvious benefit of adopting a single currency is to remove the cost of exchanging currency, theoretically allowing businesses and individuals to consummate previously unprofitable trades. For consumers, banks in the eurozone must charge the same for intra-member cross-border transactions as purely domestic transactions for electronic payments (e.g., credit cards, debit cards and cash machine withdrawals).

Financial markets on the continent are expected to be far more liquid and flexible than they were in the past. The reduction in cross-border transaction costs will allow larger banking firms to provide a wider array of banking services that can compete across and beyond the eurozone. However, although transaction costs were reduced, some studies have shown that risk aversion has increased during the last 40 years in the Eurozone.

### Price parity

Another effect of the common European currency is that differences in prices—in particular in price levels—should decrease because of the law of one price. Differences in prices can trigger arbitrage, i.e., speculative trade in a commodity across borders purely to exploit the price differential. Therefore, prices on commonly traded goods are likely to converge, causing inflation in some regions and deflation in others during the transition. Some evidence of this has been observed in specific eurozone markets.

### Macroeconomic stability

Before the introduction of the euro, some countries had successfully contained inflation, which was then seen as a major economic problem, by establishing largely independent central banks. One such bank was the Bundesbank in Germany; the European Central Bank was modelled on the Bundesbank.

The euro has come under criticism due to its regulation, lack of flexibility and rigidity towards sharing member states on issues such as nominal interest rates. Many national and corporate bonds denominated in euro are significantly more liquid and have lower interest rates than was historically the case when denominated in national currencies. While increased liquidity may lower the nominal interest rate on the bond, denominating the bond in a currency with low levels of inflation arguably plays a much larger role. A credible commitment to low levels of inflation and a stable debt reduces the risk that the value of the debt will be eroded by higher levels of inflation or default in the future, allowing debt to be issued at a lower nominal interest rate.

There is also a cost in structurally keeping inflation lower than in the United States, United Kingdom, and China. The result is that seen from those countries, the euro has become expensive, making European products increasingly expensive for its largest importers; hence export from the eurozone becomes more difficult.

In general, those in Europe who own large amounts of euro are served by high stability and low inflation.

A monetary union means states in that union lose the main mechanism of recovery of their international competitiveness by weakening (depreciating) their currency. When wages become too high compared to productivity in the exports sector, then these exports become more expensive and they are crowded out from the market within a country and abroad. This drives the fall of employment and output in the exports sector and fall of trade and current account balances. Fall of output and employment in the tradable goods sector may be offset by the growth of non-exports sectors, especially in construction and services. Increased purchases abroad and negative current account balances can be financed without a problem as long as credit is cheap. The need to finance trade deficit weakens currency, making exports automatically more attractive in a country and abroad. A state in a monetary union cannot use weakening of currency to recover its international competitiveness. To achieve this a state has to reduce prices, including wages (deflation). This could result in high unemployment and lower incomes as it was during the European sovereign-debt crisis.

#### Trade

The euro increased price transparency and stimulated cross-border trade. A 2009 consensus from the studies of the introduction of the euro concluded that it has increased trade within the eurozone by 5% to 10%, and a meta-analysis of all available studies on the effect of introduction of the euro on increased trade suggests that the prevalence of positive estimates is caused by publication bias and that the underlying effect may be negligible. Although a more recent meta-analysis shows that publication bias decreases over time and that there are positive trade effects from the introduction of the euro, as long as results from before 2010 are taken into account. This may be because of the inclusion of the Financial crisis of 2007–2008 and ongoing integration within the EU. Furthermore, older studies based on certain methods of analysis of main trends reflecting general cohesion policies in Europe that started before, and continue after implementing the common currency find no effect on trade. These results suggest that other policies aimed at European integration might be the source of observed increase in trade. According to Barry Eichengreen, studies disagree on the magnitude of the effect of the euro on trade, but they agree that it did have an effect.

#### Investment

Physical investment seems to have increased by 5% in the eurozone due to the introduction. Regarding foreign direct investment, a study found that the intra-eurozone FDI stocks have increased by about 20% during the first four years of the EMU. Concerning the effect on corporate investment, there is evidence that the introduction of the euro has resulted in an increase in investment rates and that it has made it easier for firms to access financing in Europe. The euro has most specifically stimulated investment in companies that come from countries that previously had weak currencies. A study found that the introduction of the euro accounts for 22% of the investment rate after 1998 in countries that previously had a weak currency.

#### Inflation

The introduction of the euro has led to extensive discussion about its possible effect on inflation. In the short term, there was a widespread impression in the population of the eurozone that the introduction of the euro had led to an increase in prices, but this impression was not confirmed by general indices of inflation and other studies. A study of this paradox found that this was due to an asymmetric effect of the introduction of the euro on prices: while it had no effect on most goods, it had an effect on cheap goods which have seen their price round up after the introduction of the euro. The study found that consumers based their beliefs on inflation of those cheap goods which are frequently purchased. It has also been suggested that the jump in small prices may be because prior to the introduction, retailers made fewer upward adjustments and waited for the introduction of the euro to do so. Based on the introduction of the euro as the official currency in Croatia in 2023, the ECB argues that inflation due to a change of currency is a one-time effect of limited impact.

#### Exchange rate risk

One of the advantages of the adoption of a common currency is the reduction of the risk associated with changes in currency exchange rates. It has been found that the introduction of the euro created "significant reductions in market risk exposures for nonfinancial firms both in and outside Europe". These reductions in market risk "were concentrated in firms domiciled in the eurozone and in non-euro firms with a high fraction of foreign sales or assets in Europe".

#### Financial integration

The introduction of the euro increased European financial integration, which helped stimulate growth of a European securities market (bond markets are characterized by economies of scale dynamics). According to a study on this question, it has "significantly reshaped the European financial system, especially with respect to the securities markets However, the real and policy barriers to integration in the retail and corporate banking sectors remain significant, even if the wholesale end of banking has been largely integrated." Specifically, the euro has significantly decreased the cost of trade in bonds, equity, and banking assets within the eurozone. On a global level, there is evidence that the introduction of the euro has led to an integration in terms of investment in bond portfolios, with eurozone countries lending and borrowing more between each other than with other countries. Financial integration made it cheaper for European companies to borrow. Banks, firms and households could also invest more easily outside of their own country, thus creating greater international risk-sharing.

#### Effect on interest rates

As of January 2014, and since the introduction of the euro, interest rates of most member countries (particularly those with a weak currency) have decreased. Some of these countries had the most serious sovereign financing problems.

The effect of declining interest rates, combined with excess liquidity continually provided by the ECB, made it easier for banks within the countries in which interest rates fell the most, and their linked sovereigns, to borrow significant amounts (above the 3% of GDP budget deficit imposed on the eurozone initially) and significantly inflate their public and private debt levels. Following the financial crisis of 2007–2008, governments in these countries found it necessary to bail out or nationalise their privately held banks to prevent systemic failure of the banking system when underlying hard or financial asset values were found to be grossly inflated and sometimes so nearly worthless there was no liquid market for them. This further increased the already high levels of public debt to a level the markets began to consider unsustainable, via increasing government bond interest rates, producing the ongoing European sovereign-debt crisis.

#### Price convergence

The evidence on the convergence of prices in the eurozone with the introduction of the euro is mixed. Several studies failed to find any evidence of convergence following the introduction of the euro after a phase of convergence in the early 1990s. Other studies have found evidence of price convergence, in particular for cars. A possible reason for the divergence between the different studies is that the processes of convergence may not have been linear, slowing down substantially between 2000 and 2003, and resurfacing after 2003 as suggested by a recent study (2009).

#### Tourism

A study suggests that the introduction of the euro has had a positive effect on the amount of tourist travel within the EMU, with an increase of 6.5%.

## Exchange rates

### Flexible exchange rates

The ECB targets interest rates rather than exchange rates and in general, does not intervene on the foreign exchange rate markets. This is because of the implications of the Mundell–Fleming model, which implies a central bank cannot (without capital controls) maintain interest rate and exchange rate targets simultaneously, because increasing the money supply results in a depreciation of the currency. In the years following the Single European Act, the EU has liberalised its capital markets and, as the ECB has inflation targeting as its monetary policy, the exchange-rate regime of the euro is floating.

### Against other major currencies

The euro is the second-most widely held reserve currency after the U.S. dollar. After its introduction on 4 January 1999 its exchange rate against the other major currencies fell reaching its lowest exchange rates in 2000 (3 May vs sterling, 25 October vs the U.S. dollar, 26 October vs Japanese yen). Afterwards it regained and its exchange rate reached its historical highest point in 2008 (15 July vs US dollar, 23 July vs Japanese yen, 29 December vs sterling). With the advent of the global financial crisis the euro initially fell, to regain later. Despite pressure due to the European sovereign-debt crisis, the euro remained stable. In November 2011 the euro's exchange rate index – measured against currencies of the bloc's major trading partners – was trading almost two percent higher on the year, approximately at the same level as it was before the crisis began in 2007. In mid July 2022, the euro and the US dollar traded at par for a short period of time during an episode of dollar appreciation. On 11 July 2024, it recorded a new high against the Japanese yen during a long period of depreciation of the latter.

- Current and historical exchange rates against 32 other currencies (European Central Bank): link

## Political considerations

Besides the economic motivations to the introduction of the euro, its creation was also partly justified as a way to foster a closer sense of joint identity between European citizens. Statements about this goal were for instance made by Wim Duisenberg, European Central Bank Governor, in 1998, Laurent Fabius, French Finance Minister, in 2000, and Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, in 2002. However, 15 years after the introduction of the euro, a study found no evidence that it has had any effect on a shared sense of European identity.

## Euro in various official EU languages

The formal titles of the currency are euro for the major unit and cent for the minor (one-hundredth) unit and for official use in most eurozone languages; according to the ECB, all languages should use the same spelling for the nominative singular. This may contradict normal rules for word formation in some languages.

Bulgaria has negotiated an exception; euro in the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet is spelled eвро (evro) and not eуро (euro) in all official documents. In the Greek script the term ευρώ (evró) is used; the Greek "cent" coins are denominated in λεπτό/ά (leptó/á). Official practice for English-language EU legislation is to use the words euro and cent as both singular and plural, although the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation states that the plural forms euros and cents should be used in English. The word 'euro' is pronounced differently according to pronunciation rules in the individual languages applied; in German, in English / ˈ j ʊər oʊ /, in French, etc.

In summary:

For local phonetics, cent, use of plural and amount formatting (€6,00 or 6.00 €), see Language and the euro.