European Commission poster publicising the change-over to the euro.

Poster published by the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland showing a table of conversion rates between the Irish pound and the euro.

French information campaign on the change-over to the euro.

‘Portugal was the only country to ask the Church to help … … promote the euro. Hmm … does that mean that the other countries will have a material relationship with the currency, whilst ours will be more spiritual …? The Portuguese cartoonist Luís Afonso, depicting the pro-euro campaign to promote the launch of the single currency, takes an ironic look at the Portuguese people's ‘spiritual' relationship with the euro.

On 14 May 2001, Jim Murray, Director of the European Consumers’ Organisation (BEUC) in Brussels, submits to the European Union’s Economic and Social Committee (ESC) the position and recommendations of his organisation, with particular regard to the extent to which consumers are being informed and prepared in the 12 countries in which the euro will enter into circulation on 1 January 2002.

Map showing the development of the euro zone and the increase in the number of Member States participating since its establishment on 1 January 1999.

In late 2001, the Luxembourg Government launches a televised information campaign in order to prepare its citizens for the introduction of the euro on 1 January 2002.

In an article for the monthly publication Louvain published in December 2001, a few days before the entry into circulation of the euro, Baron Alexandre Lamfalussy, former President of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) and Emeritus Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), outlines the successive stages and the difficulties involved in the implementation of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), laying particular emphasis on the role played by the EMI.

On 11 December 2001, the Austrian Chancellor, Wolfgang Schüssel (left), and Klaus Liebscher (right), Governor of the Austrian National Bank, hold a press conference in Vienna in which they present Austria’s ‘Euro Cash-Box’.

On 31 December 2001, in Vienna, Franz Fischler, Member of the European Commission responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, and Wolfgang Schüssel, Austrian Federal Chancellor, celebrate the entry into circulation, the following day, of the euro in 12 of the 15 Member States of the European Union.

On 31 December 2001, the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, and the Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Pedro Solbes, take part in the 'inauguration' of the tarpaulin bearing euro colours which covers the Commission's Charlemagne building in Brussels.

On 31 December 2001, in Brussels, a sound and light show marks the entry into circulation of the euro, due to take place the following day in 12 of the 15 Member States of the European Union.

Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain are the twelve European Union countries that make up the euro zone.

On 1 January 2002, the first day of entry into circulation of the single currency, Portuguese citizens queue outside the seat of the Bank of Portugal in Lisbon to exchange their escudos for euros.

On 1 January 2002, in an interview for the French daily newspaper Le Monde, Jean-Claude Trichet, Governor of the Bank of France and a candidate for the Presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB), gives an account of the successive stages of the introduction and subsequent entry into circulation of the euro in 12 Member States of the European Union, describing the transition to the single currency as an historic event.

On 15 January 2002, Ferdinando Riccardi, Editor-in-Chief of Agence Europe in Brussels, comments on the entry into circulation of the euro coins and banknotes on 1 January and outlines with satisfaction the economic impact of the single currency, emphasising the importance for the European Union of restoring the balance of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

On 16 June 2005, the French weekly news magazine Le Point gives an account of the crisis of confidence surrounding the euro and the monetary policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) in the light of the critical situation with which the European Union is faced following, in particular, the defeats in the referenda held on 29 May in France and on 1 June in the Netherlands on the ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.

In 2002, the Charlemagne Prize of the City of Aachen is awarded to the euro. In his address, the President of the Italian Republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, sees the single European currency and the European Central Bank as a step taken by a group of forward-looking states towards the pooling of national sovereignties.

‘Minimum 1 euro, thank you.' Spanish cartoonist Mena takes an ironic look at the increase in the cost of living and at the financial difficulties experienced by citizens since the introduction of the single currency.