As twelve European countries replace their national currencies with a new legal tender, the world will have to adjust itself with new monetary and exchange practices.

The Euro Zone: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, and Finland are the euro-zone states. However, the euro will reach a much wider area than the EU member states – with the exception of Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The introduction of the new banknotes and coins will affect the non-European territories of EU member states such as Guadeloupe (France), the Azores (Portugal) and the Canary Islands (Spain). These territories are joined by the city states of Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican. The euro will also become legal tender in territories that have decided to make an EU currency belonging to the euro zone, their official medium of exchange. Montenegro and Kosovo are such examples. At the same time, euro currencies are unofficially used as tender on a substantial scale in eastern Europe, the Balkans and Turkey.

No Borderlines: It took two world wars for Europe to get over geographical and monetary borderlines. Some 2,000 years have passed since a common currency was recognized from the Mediterranean to the northern Europe. The same coins could be used to pay for goods and services throughout much of Europe under the Roman Empire. After the fall of Rome, the idea of a united Europe was renewed in the ninth century under Charlemagne in France. That development resulted in the emergence of Charlemagne pound which remained the currency of almost the entire Europe for 400 years. Today, as a meaningful symbolism, the euro is decorated with nameless fragments of bridges and buildings, not by portraits of familiar figures that come from just one country.

Countdown: The euro was officially launched – more as an accounting unit – on January 4, 1999. As a result, the old exchange rates between the participating currencies were replaced by fixed conversion rates and the European Central Bank (ECB) became responsible for all monetary and currency policy decisions within the community. Although that marked the beginning of European monetary union, but it didn’t make significant changes in everyday life since old exchange rates were not changed and national currencies were still in circulation. But December 31, 2001, will be the day to say goodbye to national currencies. Replacement of old currencies is expected to be completed in about two months. By the end of February 2002, euro will have become an established currency for everyone in the euro-zone. The deutsche mark, lira and franc banknotes will not lose their value, and people will still be able to exchange them for euros in banks at any time, but they can no longer be accepted in shops.