The EUA was introduced as the internal unit of account for the European Payments Union when that organisation was formed in 1950.
[1] After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the EUA was redefined as a basket of European currencies.
The EUA was used for Lomé Convention and European Investment Bank operations before being gradually introduced into other sectors of Community activity.
Different units of account had previously been used for different purposes, including the budget, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the Common Agriculture Policy[3] following the abandonment of the gold parity unit of account in the early 1970s in the wake of the collapse of the Bretton Woods system.
Various European currency baskets were used as units of account in international bond markets.