The European Currency Unit (₠; ECU) (the word ECU, pronounced either /eky/, /ɛkʊ/, or /iː'siː'juː/) was a basket of the currencies of the European Community member states, used as the unit of account of the European Community before being replaced by the euro on January 1, 1999, at parity. The ECU itself replaced the European Unit of Account, also at parity, on March 13, 1979. The European Exchange Rate Mechanism attempted to minimize fluctuations between member s… (More on Xeu)