Changeover to the euro: Articles

The idea was to call the new currency the ECU, as it had been since 1979, until it was found out that the écu was actually the name of gold coins of France during the reign of Louis XI. As the word "euro" had no history in any European country, it was chosen as the name of the currency that would be introduced first in 1999 as a virtual currency, and then in 2002 as a hard currency.

L’euro a 20 ans depuis le 1er janvier 2022. Parti d’un consensus historique, il est devenu une nouvelle norme et compte aujourd’hui plus de 340 millions d’utilisateurs dans 19 pays.

Reviews the procedures and problems of the changeover to the European currencies. Psychological aspects and legal elements involved in the move; Practical problems and proposed solutions; Possible resistance from consumers in certain segments of the Member State populations; Period when coins and notes in euros and national monetary units can be circulated at the same time.

Irene Finel-Honigman analyses the reaction of the United States media and markets to the launch of the euro notes and coins.

The European currency features buildings that didn't exist, until Spijkenisse made them in concrete. The euro banknotes feature seven different bridges – all of them fictional. They represent periods instead of places, so as not to offend anyone. But one Dutch town has turned monetary fiction into monumental fact.

Indifferently strewn about in the crevices of our belongings, coins are seen only when needed to serve their economic purposes. However, when looked upon more closely and beyond their purchasing power, coins, with their visual motifs, can reveal much about a nation’s governance, culture, and its past. Before the euro was introduced, the continent featured a range of unique national currencies.

On 28 February (2002) the dual circulation period of national and euro currencies ended, leaving only the euro as legal tender in the 12 euro-zone member states.

The lack of euro notes and coins means the single currency remains a nebulous concept for most ordinary citizens, a year after it was launched. But preparations are gathering pace for the historic changeover to the new cash which will begin on 1 January 2002. Tim Jones reports.

Cet article présente les résultats de la première vague d’un Baromètre Euro mis en place début 2002 au sein d’un magasin U partenaire, pour mesurer au cours des dernières étapes du processus de basculement à la monnaie unique européenne, différents effets comportementaux et perceptuels potentiels du passage à l’euro

Despite the expectations of economists that the euro changeover would have no effect on prices, European consumers perceived the opposite. Using data on inflation (Eurostat) and price levels (Economist Intelligence Unit), this article finds that although the euro changeover did not significantly increase inflation, it nevertheless had a distortionary effect on prices.

Voici les grandes dates de l'euro, lancé il y a 20 ans, d'abord sous forme scripturale, en attendant les pièces et les billets en 2002.

European policy chiefs have proclaimed the historic changeover to euro notes and coins in a dozen eurozone countries a success. European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg said good planning and coordination as well as the warmth with which the eurozone's 300 million citizens had embraced the new money had ensured a smooth transition.

Cette infographie recense les résultats d'une enquête menée pour recueillir les avis de la population française sur le passage à l'euro.

This article documents the existence of large structural breaks in the unconditional correlations among the US dollar exchange rates of the British pound, Norwegian krone, Swedish krona, Swiss franc and euro during the period 1994 to 2003. Using the framework of Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) models, we find that such breaks occurred both at the time the formal decision to proceed with the euro was made in December 1996 and at the time of the actual introduction of the euro in January 1999.

Six months after the launch of the euro, on the day that legal tender on all the old currencies is drawn to a close, a lot of myth and reality associated with the launch of the euro is being re-written and after half a year of watching the single currency becoming an accepted reality in the shops and banks of the eurozone, the sceptics are turning their attention away from the euro’s notes and coins to the economic rules which underpin it.

At midnight on Sunday (28 January 2002) the Netherlands became the first eurozone country to complete the changeover to the euro. The Dutch guilder is now no longer legal tender, and anyone found conducting businesses in the old currency risks paying a fine. Despite the guilder being one of Europe's oldest currencies, dating from the 14th century, research suggests that the Dutch are the least sentimental about losing their national coinage, according to BBC News.

Because the euro is used in so many countries, how it performs in the open market not only affects those countries but also has a ripple effect across other economies as well. Learn the history of the euro, why so many countries use it, and the advantages and disadvantages of one form of currency being used by so many countries.

Avec l’euro, les citoyens européens ont le symbole concret de leur appartenance à une même communauté. Mais l’Europe appartient toujours à l’ordre des moyens, au service d’une fin qui, pour la plupart des autorités politiques, est encore l’intérêt national. Cet article apporte des éléments de réflexion et de réponse à la question suivante : l’euro peut-il contribuer, en tant que symbole, à la construction d’une « identité européenne » ? La réponse est loin d’être simple...

The changeover to cash transactions in euro was virtually complete within eight days of the introduction of the currency, according to the annual report.

On 1st January 2002, the euro will become a reality across Europe as euro banknotes and coins are introduced. This will be the largest monetary change over the world has ever seen. However, it should be recalled that for all economic, monetary and institutional purposes, Monetary Union was created on 1st January 1999. Then, a decisive event in the history of Europe occurred. The euro was born and the irreversible nature of this change has convinced an increasing number of economic players that the success of the euro is necessary for Europe.

This article describes and analyzes the Euro cash changeover process. It is found that the initial supply of Euro bank notes (so‐called frontloading), the size of the population of the country, the length of the period when the national currency and Euro bank notes were used side by side, and the number of bank branches (per capita) together can help to explain a large part of the variation in the pace of adoption of the new monetary standard across the countries.

Its history as a material for currency is just one of the reasons why the adopters of the euro chose to use copper in each of the coins introduced in twelve European countries in January 2002. Copper’s excellent resistance to corrosion made it appealing for the euro designers who required a non-tarnishable surface and an average lifetime for the coins of 30 years.

Resumé En janvier 2002, nous passerons à l’euro. Avec un taux de conversion difficilement représentable, des enjeux techniques relativement difficiles à maîtriser, ce passage, dont les conséquences psychologiques sont importantes notamment chez les personnes dépendantes, aura-t-il de véritables conséquences économiques ? De quelle nature ?