ECB wants the notes to look new

by time news

Et was an unusual compromise. When euro cash was introduced on January 1, 2002, no real buildings or personalities could be found on the notes. The governments of the still young monetary union were unable to agree on this. Instead, abstract, almost allegorical bridges, gates and windows were depicted, each supposed to represent a different architectural style from the history of Europe – from classical to 20th century architecture.

Euro cash is now 20 years old. On this occasion, the European Central Bank (ECB) now wants to completely redesign the notes. Unlike in 2013, when there was only a small refreshment of the design with new colors, this time the representations themselves should also be changed. There should be new, different topics that are dealt with on the banknotes. This is now to be discussed – with the participation of the citizens, as the ECB announced on Monday. The decision is supposed to be made by the ECB Council, the highest monetary policy body of the central bank. But the citizens should be able to have a say.

Make cash more modern

ECB President Christine Lagarde indicated that this is one of the reasons why it is important to make banknotes more modern so that cash can keep up with the times in times of digitization and the planned digital euro: “The euro banknotes will remain”, highlighted Lagarde. They are “a tangible and visible symbol” that Europe stands together, especially in times of crisis. In addition, there is still strong demand for them. “After 20 years, it is time to take a close look at the appearance of our banknotes and design them in such a way that Europeans, regardless of age or background, can better identify with them,” said Lagarde. ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta emphasized: “We want to develop euro banknotes with which the citizens of Europe can identify and which they use with pride.”

If the top of the ECB emphasizes so much that citizens should identify with the notes in the future, then they seem to see deficits in this question at the moment. It is true that support for the euro is significantly higher today than it was at the time of the euro crisis. But the ECB would like a little more emotional excitement. The abstract representations on the euro bills were probably good for avoiding disputes between the euro states before the euro was introduced, because otherwise every country would have liked to see its buildings on the bills. However, there seems to be room for improvement in terms of citizens’ ability to identify.

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