[SamAdams76]

This year will be the third in succession that the economies of the EU 15 have in aggregate outperformed the Euro 12.

Can somebody explain to me the difference between the EU 15 and the EU 12?

[CharacterCounts]

I think the author uses EU for eastern Europe and Euro to designate the European Union.

[wideawake]

Three EU countries do not use the euro as their currency: the UK, Denmark and Sweden.

[wideawake]

Sorry - to clarify:

EU countries: Ireland, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the UK.

The last three do not use the euro as their currency, but participate in the union. So the 12 who do use the euro are called the euro 12 as opposed to the EU 15.