Euro-Pigs Brics

Euro Crisis, PIIGs & BRICs – A Study

By

Abhijeet Dhar

Amit Bansal

Aniket Menon

Ashutosh Parekh

Hamza Kazi

Pratik Manek

European Union

The European Union is a geo-political entity covering a large portion of the European continent. It is founded upon numerous treaties and has undergone expansions that have taken it from 6 member states to 27, a majority of states in Europe.
As distinct from ideas of federation, confederation or customs union the main development in Europe depends on a supranational foundation to make war unthinkable and materially impossible[1][2] and reinforce democracy[3] enunciated by Robert Schuman and other leaders in the Europe Declaration. The principle was at the heart of the European Coal and Steel Community in the Treaty of Paris (1951), following the "Schuman Declaration" and the later the Treaties of Rome establishing the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. Both these bodies are now part of the European Union, which was formed under that name in 1993.

Euro
The euro (sign: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of the Eurozone: 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU). It is also the currency used by the EU institutions. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.[2] Estonia is due to join the eurozone on 1 January 2011.[3] The currency is also used in a further five European countries, with and without formal agreements, and is consequently used daily by some 327 million Europeans.[4] Over 175 million people worldwide use currencies which are pegged to the euro, including more than 150 million people in Africa.
The euro is the second largest reserve currency (a status it inherited from the German mark) as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the U.S. dollar.[5] As of June 2010[update], with more than... [continues]

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