Belgium, Germany, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Spain – eleven of the then 15 member states of the European Union were there when the euro book money was launched on January 1, 1999. The introduction initially took place in parallel with the schilling, lire, franc, guilder, D-mark and Co. Now the monetary union and euro are celebrating their 25th anniversary at the beginning of 2024.
It has never completely shaken off its reputation as a “expensive” that the euro acquired right from the start: after the introduction of euro cash at the turn of the year 2001/2002, euphoria was soon followed by disillusionment. No matter how much economists could argue, when shopping, in a pub or at the hairdresser, customers couldn’t shake the feeling that shilling prices were converted back then as if a euro was only worth ten shillings, not just under 14 shillings. Even 25 years after its introduction, skepticism has not completely disappeared. Some people are longing for the “good old days” when they look at the recent rapid rise in prices. For example, there was an increase in inflation in Croatia, the youngest euro country, after the introduction of the euro at the beginning of 2023.
Image: OÖN Gafik
In many countries, right-wing populists are stirring up sentiment against the euro and calling for a return to national currencies. One problem: Although monetary policy was pooled at the ECB, economic and budgetary policy remained largely the responsibility of the nation states. In the EU Commission’s latest “Eurobarometer”, 79 percent of people aged 15 and over surveyed in October 2023 said that, in their view, the euro was a good thing for the EU. In all 20 euro states, euro supporters are by far the majority.
“25 years of the euro stand for an unprecedented success story in monetary policy and a strong Europe,” said the governor of the National Bank, Robert Holzmann, to the APA. “With this in mind and also on behalf of my predecessors, I can only say: Happy Birthday, Euro!”
In order to further strengthen people’s ties to the common currency, the European Central Bank (ECB) is letting citizens have a say in the ongoing design of the latest series of banknotes. Rivers, birds and European culture were their favorites in a central bank survey about possible motifs for the banknotes.
Schilling supplies in Austria
After a quarter of a century, billions of schillings in coins and notes are still lying around in Austrian households. According to the Austrian National Bank, 6.8 billion schillings worth 497 million euros had not been exchanged as of November 30th. Of this, three billion schillings are banknotes and 3.8 billion schillings are coins. Most shillings are found in books between the pages, in laundry boxes and generally when clearing out houses.
