Euroland gets its new currency
The birth of the euro tomorrow marks the completion of the most ambitious project in the history of the European Union.
The single currency is now the most potent symbol of pooled sovereignty in Europe, representing the greatest political as well as economic leap forward since the creation of the Common Market in the fifties.
It is also the most elaborate, complicated EU operation ever, involving the minting of 50 billion euro coins and the printing of more than 14 billion banknotes for distribution in twelve EU countries which are ditching their national currencies.
In the past few weeks, 14,000 ‘‘high-risk’’ security journeys have delivered supplies to hundreds of thousands of bank vaults and businesses and tomorrow 300 million citizens of euroland will begin transactions in seven new notes and eight new coins.
In Brussels, the spiritual heartland of the euro, the New Year and the new currency will be marked by Belgian finance minister Didier Reynders strolling to a cash point in the city to take out the first notes.
And customers are expected to flock to the few shops open in Belgium on January 1 to experience the novelty of dealing in a new currency. The idea in all 12 euroland countries is that national currencies will gradually be withdrawn from circulation over a period of two months.
During that time, customers paying in Belgian francs, Dutch guilders, Italian lira and so on, will receive change in euro.
In Belgium alone the gigantic task of introducing the euro has involved the production of two billion coins, weighing 9,000 tons, and 530 million notes.
The Belgian franc as legal tender will be abolished on February 28 at midnight banks will exchange ‘‘hoarded’’ francs until the end of the year.
The practical arrangements for switching currencies in a dozen countries has gone more smoothly than anyone had dared hope.
But there is still the risk of problems during the switchover phase and the advice to the public is to continue its shopping and spending habits as before to avoid any sudden surges in supply and demand for the euro.
They are also being urged to be patient in dealings with shopkeepers and till workers tackling dual-currency trading - not every trader has been able to afford to buy sophisticated conversion machines and counterfeit-checkers.
In Belgium the change-over, so long in the planning, has caused little fuss among small shopkeepers. And the general public has been positively excited, snapping up ‘‘starter’’ kits of euro from banks within hours of their availability a fortnight ago.
‘‘Sold out’’ signs have been put up outside dozens of banks, warning customers to wait until January 1 or later to get their hands on a piece of living history.
Xavier Lencnzer, who runs a computer shop in La Hulpe, 20 minutes from Brussels city centre, is typical of how small businesses are handling the switch.
He has ordered £350-worth of euro coins and 25 of each denomination of euro note which he agreed to pick up from an specific bank branch on the eve of the launch. He expects the supply will see him through three months of change-giving to customers and well beyond the phase-in period.
‘‘I will give change in euro, but if customers come in for small things and offer large denomination notes just to get more euro, I will have to refuse: I can give change in either currency during the phase-in period’’ he said.
Jack O’Shea, an Irish butcher with a shop close to EU Commission headquarters, said: ‘‘It’ll be great. We’re ready for it. I don’t know what all the fuss is about really. People use foreign money when they go to America or wherever, so this is just like that. Gradually everyone will get used to it’’.
Eurosceptics in Britain are not convinced, even if the single currency launch seems to be going smoothly.
Theresa Villiers, deputy Tory leader in the European Parliament, said: ‘‘Whether the launch of notes and coins runs with perfect efficiency or whether there are widespread practical problems, it doesn’t change the fundamental questions for ordinary people in the UK: do we want to retain democratic control over the UK economy or not?; do we want the people we elect at a general election to run the UK economy or do we want a one-size-fits-all euro-economic policy set in Frankfurt?’’
She added: ‘‘Anyone answering these questions should vote to keep our currency, regardless of how well or badly the euro launch goes.’’
