During this time, 12 of the 15 members of the EU became part of the Eurozone, a currency union launched in 1999, whereby each member uses a shared currency, the euro, which replaced their former national currencies.
在這段時期，15個成員國中有12個成為歐元區貨幣聯盟 在1999年推出，即每個成員使用共同的貨幣－歐元，以取代其前任國家的貨幣。