The European Currency Unit (ECU) is the official currency unit used in Europe. It is also referred to as the Euro or Eurozone. The European Currency Unit is a basket of the currencies of 12 countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Slovakia. The ECU was introduced by the European Communities as an alternative to the Deutsche Euro as a means of exchange on 01 December 1999.The European currency unit, or ECU, is a used unit of currency. The euro is divided into 100 cents. (Any change in currency is denoted in ECU.) It is a paper currency, printed on paper money, banknotes, or coins. When it comes to calculating EURO-denominated amounts, the euro is usually used in place of the ECU.