ECU
n. countablen. Stands for European Currency Unit. A type of money used by European countries to measure value before they started using the Euro in 1999.
n. Abbreviation for European Currency Unit. A basket of European Community member state currencies that served as the unit of account for the European Monetary System before being replaced by the Euro.
The ECU was used for accounting before the Euro existed.
Before the physical adoption of the Euro, international contracts often specified payments in ECU to maintain stability across different European borders.
The transition from the ECU to the Euro at a one-to-one ratio marked the final phase of the economic and monetary union, effectively ending the era of the basket-currency system.
Primarily used in historical or financial contexts regarding the European Union's economic history.