FRANKFURT, GERMANY - The euro began to fill wallets and cash registers across much of the continent on Tuesday, with some Europeans simply using the pastel-colored bills for morning croissants and coffee while others spoke of a new and global economic clout.
``I think they're quite beautiful,'' said photographer Kris Kushulck in Brussels, after getting two orange 50s from a cash machine. The bills starting to circulate in 12 European nations are crisp, with shiny foil holograms.
``They're smaller and less bright,'' said William Dukelow, comparing them to Belgian francs. ``I thought they'd be garish."
Sandra Meier got her first euro in change for a mulled wine in Frankfurt, Germany, and at first held it up for a closer look, then shrugged. ``It's just how it is, nothing special,'' she said. ``Go and shop, money is all the same.''
Many lined up at cash machines just to have a look at the new money, as many shops and businesses were closed until Wednesday because of the New Year's holiday. Others who hunted for euros couldn't find them right away.
The flow of money was expected to pick up sharply Wednesday, when the holiday ends and business and work begin again. Few hitches were reported as Tuesday dawned, but many people were still shopping with their old national currencies.
European Union officials called the first day of the currency switch a success, saying there was widespread consumer interest in the euro and no major problems reported. ``No news is good news,'' said Gerassimos Thomas, spokesman for the EU's executive arm.
In many places, automatic teller machines - the key weapon in European officials' attempt to put up to 10 billion banknotes into circulation - began churning out euros on cue at midnight, the moment cash euros became legal tender. People lined up in Frankfurt at a Dresdner Bank cash machine after midnight, watched by security guards and filmed by TV journalists.
The money flowed into people's hands more slowly elsewhere. In Brussels, where automatic teller machines typically shut down after midnight, only a few people got euros.
In Paris, many teller machines didn't have euros. Stephane Desbonnets sipped a glass of champagne next to a euro-challenged ATM near the Champs-Elysees. ``We are very disappointed that we couldn't withdraw euros right away,'' he said.
The first Irish cash machines joined in around dawn. Travelers stocking up on cash at a Dublin Airport ATM were the first to get the new bills.
``Our pound was always insignificant, irrelevant, unrecognized in the world,'' said Gerry Duggan, 49, holding up his euro notes with their silhouette maps of western Europe before catching his flight for a shopping break in Paris. ``This right here puts us on the map.''
To get euros into people's wallets quickly, officials at the European Central Bank and the European Commission are using a two-part strategy: have most ATMs dispense euros in the first days of the New Year, and have merchants make change only in euros. That should remove most of the francs and marks, drachmas and guilders, all the old national currencies, from circulation within two weeks.
The idea is to cut the period when people have to fumble to pay with two currencies. The old money is still good for up to two months depending on country, and can be exchanged at central banks for years afterward. But officials want to get most of it on the way to be shredded or melted down as fast as they can.
Despite an 80-million euro public education campaign, some of the 303 million people in the euro countries were, maybe predictably, slow to get the message. Some cabdrivers wanted old currencies, while several cafe patrons in Rome used 50-euro notes, worth about $45, to buy a coffee - exactly the thing ECB officials have urged them not to do for fear they will exhaust merchants' stocks of change.
German cash machines obediently churned out euro notes, but nearly all customers were paying marks for their breakfast at businesses at Frankfurt's main station, and getting change in euros.
Another potential hitch was a threat by unions representing French bank workers to strike on Wednesday, the day some analysts have predicted will be crunch time. The five unions have called for the one-day strike to pressure banks into talks on salaries, hiring and security. Finance Minister Laurent Fabius said the new currency must not ``be held hostage.''
Italy's central bank also faced a strike Wednesday, called by two of its six unions, but Bank of Italy vice director Antonio Finocchiaro said commercial banks and post offices should have ample supplies of euros and no disruption was expected. The bank said branches in major cities would still open.
The euro was actually introduced in 1999, when national currencies were pegged to it at fixed rates and ceased to trade independently. That made them in essence local versions of the euro. But for many people, the psychologically important moment is when they can spend a cash euro.
European officials hope that using one common currency will spur economic growth by eliminating the risks of crossborder currency ups and downs, and bring Europeans closer together politically.
The nations adopting the euro are: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain. Those staying out are Britain, Sweden and Denmark.
Thursday
December 26th, 2024
6:56AM
