Euro - our money

The euro was introduced on 1 January 1999 for money, foreign exchange and financial market operations, involving the vast majority of retail operations.

However, the euro changeover was only concluded when physical euro coins and banknotes were introduced. The euro was physically introduced on 1 January 2002, when over 300 million European citizens started to use euro banknotes  and coins,  which was an important step in the European integration process. At the end of February 2002, euro banknotes and coins became the sole legal tender currency in the euro area.

After a decade of preparations, the euro cash changeover  was, for the Europeans, an actual example of the political and economic integration that had started 50 years earlier.