Single currency: Member states fulfilling criteria (art. 109 J, para. 2 and 4, EC treaty)

The European Parliament adopted by a large majority - by 468 votes to 64, with 24 abstentions - the recommendation by the Council of Ministers of Finance that Monetary Union be launched in 1999 with eleven of the fifteen Member States of the Union: Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland. �