1945 : End of the war in Europe.

1950 : Schuman declaration, proposing in France and Germany the pooling of the resources of coal and steel.

1951 :Treaty of Paris creating the Community of Coal and Steel (6 countries).

Part commemorative of 100 francs dedicated to Jean Monnet, to precursor of the creation of Europe

1957 : The Treaty of Rome. Creation of the European Economic Community (E.E.C., 6 countries).

Part commemorative of 100 francs 1991 dedicated to the creation of Europe

1969 : Customs union.

The 15 Member States of the European Union are in 2001

depuis 1957 : Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands. depuis 1973 : Denemark, Irland, United Kingdom depuis 1981 : Greece. depuis 1986 : Spain, Portugal. depuis 1995 : Austria, Finland, Sweden. Euro :12 participating countries since 2002. 3 countries do not take part in the first phase of the euro in 2002.

1972 : European currency snake, limiting the fluctuations to 2,25%.

1979 : European Monetary System, defining a common monetary unit (ECU), renamed EURO in 1995.

1992 : Treated of Maastricht, creating the European Union (UE) which replaces the EEC.

2002, 1er janvier : Appearance of the coins and bills in Euro in 12 countries.

Common reverse of the coin of 1 euro

Flag with 12 stars of the European Union

1er janvier 1999 :Final fixing of the value of the euro in the currency of the 11 participating countries. For France, 1 euro = 6.55957 franc.

Double posting of the retail prices in euro and national currency in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

1er janvier 2002 : Circulation of the coins and bills in euro.

17 février 2002 : End of the legal tender of the franc.

28 février 2002 : Disappearance of all the national currencies.