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| Customers and shop
assistants are getting used to new notes and
coins |
| 2002: Celebrations as euro hits the
streets |
England have
Twelve of the European Union's 15 countries have woken to life with a
new currency today, as the euro reached the purses of ordinary citizens
across the continent.
In the biggest monetary changeover in history, more than six billion
notes and nearly 40 billion coins have been distributed to shops, banks
and cash machines.
The French President, Jacques Chirac, described the development as a
"new way of being in Europe."
Just three EU countries have refused to part with their currencies:
Britain, Sweden and Denmark.
However, European Commission President Romano Prodi said the arrival of
the single currency inevitably meant "greater convergence of economic
rules" within the eurozone - and any countries outside the zone risked
being left out.
Traditional New Year parties became welcome parties for the new common
currency in many European capitals.
A million revellers turned out in the German capital, Berlin, and other
capitals including Paris, Helsinki and Athens staged special celebrations.
The new currency is unlikely to have its full effect on day-to-day
transactions until tomorrow as many businesses are closed for New Year's
Day.
National currencies will continue to circulate alongside the new euro
for another two months in most member countries.
One notable exception is Germany, where a loophole in the law means the
Deutschmark ceased to exist at midnight.
The euro has been used as an electronic currency for financial trading
since 1999, but this is the first time it has appeared in the purses of
the 300 million ordinary citizens of the eurozone.
The development has intensified the fierce debate in Britain, where the
government is committed to a referendum on the issue once certain
economic tests set by Chancellor Gordon Brown are met.
Europe Minister Peter Hain defended the government's position, saying,
"We want to join but we will only join when it is economically right for
Britain to do so."
But, he added, "The increasingly urgent question for British citizens
is whether we want to get left behind yet again as we have been
consistently in Europe."
