In 2009, the second eurozone-wide issue of a 2-euro commemorative coin was issued, celebrating ten years of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). By 2007, all states but France, Ireland and the Netherlands had minted a commemorative issue and the first eurozone-wide commemorative coin was issued to celebrate 50 years of the Treaty of Rome. In 2004, €2 commemorative coins were allowed to be minted in six states. In 2009 the Lisbon Treaty formalised its political authority, the Eurogroup, alongside the European Central Bank. It rapidly replaced the former national currencies and the eurozone has since expanded further to some newer EU states.
In 1999, the currency was born virtually and in 2002 notes and coins began to circulate. The Maastricht Treaty entered into force in 1993 with the goal of creating economic and monetary union by 1999 for all EU states except the United Kingdom and Denmark (even though Denmark has a fixed exchange rate policy with the euro). It had been a goal of the European Union (EU) and its predecessors since the 1960s. The euro came into existence on 1 January 1999.
