© Stephanie Pilick / picture-alliance / dpa
Young people holding giant euro banknotes to celebrate the launch of the new currency during New Year festivities at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, 1 January 2002.
From 1 January 2002, the euro becomes legal tender in 12 Member States of the European Union to start with. From this point onwards, people in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain use euro notes and coins to make payments.
In September 2001, the Bundesbank begins providing banks with euro cash in advance of the euro’s official launch. This frontloading is necessary to ensure that all banks have sufficient euro cash for the first few days of the currency changeover.
