The European Monetary Union was founded with the aim of creating a single European market, economic stability, and economic policies. Its goal, with the fulfillment of certain conditions, is the creation and implementation of a single monetary union as well as the introduction of a common currency - the euro. The economic and monetary union has its beginnings in the process of economic integration of European countries, the foundations of which can be found in the Schuman Declaration from 1950. The idea of monetary unification gradually grew during 1970. when the European Monetary System was developed and the European currency unit was introduced - ECU, the forerunner of today's euro. With the establishment of the single market in 1987, Europe increasingly began to think about the creation of a common currency that would be a means of insurance (price transparency, lower transaction costs, elimination of exchange rate risks, further integration). The establishment of EMU took place through three phases. The first was aimed at completing the creation of the internal market, reducing the differences between the policies of the member states, removing obstacles to financial integration and strengthening monetary cooperation. The second phase was essentially a transitional period to the third phase, within which was the establishment of the bodies and structures of the economic and monetary union, while the third phase was the irrevocable fixing of currency rates and the introduction of a single common currency and the allocation of monetary responsibilities. At the beginning of 2023, Croatia became the twentieth country out of twenty-seven member states of the European Union to introduce the euro as its national currency.