Factbox-Euro zone expansion timeline

Reuters
·1 min read
FILE PHOTO: Representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the European Union meet for the gas talks, at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Wednesday that Croatia was ready to join the euro zone from 2023.

Below is a timeline of the euro zone's expansion.

1999 - 11 countries set up the euro zone, still only in electronic form: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

2001 - Greece joins the still electronic euro zone

2002 - Euro notes and coins come into circulation

2007 - Slovenia joins

2008 - Cyprus and Malta join

2009 - Slovakia joins

2011 - Estonia joins

2014 - Latvia joins

2015 - Lithuania joins

2023 - Croatia set to join

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)