Monday 13 June 2011

Michele Bachmann

Michele Marie Bachmann, /ˈbɑːxmən/; née Amble; born April 6, 1956 is a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's 6th congressional district, and a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. She previously served in the Minnesota State Senate and is the first Republican woman to represent the state in Congress.
Bachmann is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, a supporter of the Tea Party movement and a founder of the House Tea Party Caucus.
Bachmann earned a Master of Laws degree, worked as a tax attorney, and was a foster mother for 23 teenagers.

Early life, education, and early career
Bachmann was born Michele Marie Amble in Waterloo, Iowa, "into a family of Norwegian Lutheran Democrats" who moved from Iowa to Minnesota when she was young. After her parents divorced, Bachmann's father, David John Amble, moved to California, and Bachmann was raised by her mother, Jean (née Johnson), who worked at the First National Bank in Anoka, Minnesota. Bachmann grew up in Anoka, graduating from Anoka High School in 1974.
After graduating from high school, Bachmann spent time working on a kibbutz in Israel. In 1978 she graduated from Winona State University with a B.A.. In 1986 she received a J.D. degree from Oral Roberts University, followed by an LL.M. degree in tax law from the William & Mary Law School in 1988. She was a member of the final graduating class of the Oral Roberts University law school, and was part of a group of faculty, staff, and students who moved the ORU law school library to what is now Regent University.
From 1988 to 1993, Bachmann was an attorney representing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). She left her position with the IRS to become a full-time mother.

Family life
She married Marcus Bachmann in 1978. They have five children (Lucas, Harrison, Elisa, Caroline, and Sophia), and have also provided foster care for 23 other children.
Bachmann and her husband own a Christian counseling practice in Stillwater, Minnesota.
Bachmann also has an ownership stake in a family farm located in Waumandee, Wisconsin. Since the death of her father-in-law in 2009, the farm and its buildings have been rented out to a neighboring farmer who maintains a dairy herd on the farm.

2012 presidential campaign
In early 2011, the media speculated about a Bachmann bid for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2012. The New Republic called her "a serious contender for 2012." Her visit planned for January 21 to the state of Iowa, which holds the first caucuses of the season, raised suspicions after several aides let slip her intentions to make a bid for the White House.
During the first New Hampshire Republican presidential debate on June 13, 2011, Bachmann announced she had filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) earlier that day to become a candidate for the GOP nomination.

Speech to Iowans for Tax Relief
In the midst of much speculation that she would make a run for the presidency in 2012, Bachmann visited Iowa on Friday January 21, 2011 to address the conservative group Iowans for Tax Relief. Bachmann declared "There's been no decision about candidacy, but I want to be a part of the conversation. She stated that one of the questions she wants candidates to address is "Will we remain a nation of sovereign citizens where we make our own decisions or will we be ruled by self-appointed, bureaucratic elites? Bachmann, born in Iowa and close friend to Rep Steve King, declared her happiness that Iowans would be the first to weigh in on the candidates "I'm so excited. Because I feel like I know you. Because I was born here. I was raised here. These are my values. I feel like we understand each other and I trust you to make that decision. But I also charge you with that decision today. Gov. Terry Branstad stated he was impressed by Bachmann's speech and stated that even if she didn't run he felt "she'll certainly have an influence on the debate. Steve Scheffler an RNC member and head of the Iowa "Faith and Freedom Coalition" said of a possible Bachmann run that "she could take a serious look at it. She certainly would bring a lot of enthusiasm to the base. Dave Funk, a tea-party sponsored candidate in the 2010 election, liked Bachmann's talk of American exceptionalism, "It was almost like 'a new day in America' speech, like Reagan. Everybody else is talking policy, issues, ideas - she's talking about motivating the people to get out and do something.
Bachmann had a strong turnout for her speech which led the Des Moines Register to declare that if she "is considering a run, this first trip to Iowa has to be considered a success", but they went on to note that "She'd still have work to do to turn favorable interest and curiosity into support. In addition to the speech, Bachmann visited the governor, Iowa's legislative leaders, and the state's GOP headquarters. Reflecting on the trip Bachmann stated "I am very encouraged by what I heard and the level of support that I saw today. Bachmann is set to return to the state "to participate in a series of lectures for presidential candidate prospects held in Iowa in April.
Also in her Iowa speech, Bachmann said "...our ancestors had different cultures, different backgrounds, different traditions. How unique in all of the world, that one nation that was the resting point from people groups all across the world ... it didn't matter the color of their skin, it didn't matter their language, it didn't matter their economic status ... once you got here, we were all the same. Isn't that remarkable?

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE,  born Catherine Zeta Jones; 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of Zorro and the 1999 crime thriller film Entrapment. Her breakthrough role was in the 2000 film Traffic, for which she earned her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.
Zeta-Jones subsequently starred as Velma Kelly in the 2002 film adaptation of the musical Chicago, a critical and commercial success, and received an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Later, she appeared in the 2003 romantic comedy film Intolerable Cruelty and 2004 crime comedy film Ocean's Twelve. Zeta-Jones landed the lead female role in the 2005 sequel of the 1998 film, The Legend of Zorro. She also starred in the 2008 biopic romantic thriller Death Defying Acts. In 2010, she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Desiree in A Little Night Music.

Early life
Zeta-Jones was born Catherine Zeta Jones in Swansea, Wales, to Patricia (née Fair), a seamstress of Irish descent, and David James Jones, a Welsh sweet factory owner. She was named after her grandmothers, Catherine Fair and Zeta Jones. She now hyphenates her name as "Catherine Zeta-Jones", accepting the mistake by the American press early in her career.

Education
Jones was educated at Dumbarton House School, a co-educational independent school in Swansea, but left early to further her acting ambitions without obtaining O levels. While at Dumbarton, she once had her lunch money stolen by fellow pupil Rob Brydon. She then attended the independent The Arts Educational Schools in Chiswick, West London, for a full time three year course in musical theatre.

Personal life
Zeta-Jones met actor Michael Douglas, who shares the same birthday as she, and is exactly 25 years her senior, at the Deauville Film Festival in France in August 1998, after being introduced by Danny DeVito. They began dating in March 1999, even though Douglas was still married. Zeta-Jones claims that when they met, he used the line "I'd like to father your children. They became engaged on 31 December 1999, and were married at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on 18 November 2000, just weeks after Douglas' divorce was finalised. A traditional Welsh choir (Côr Cymraeg Rehoboth) sang at their wedding. Her Welsh gold wedding ring includes a Celtic motif and was purchased in the Welsh town of Aberystwyth. They have two children. Their son, Dylan Michael Douglas (named after Dylan Thomas), was born on 8 August 2000, with Zeta Jones' pregnancy incorporated into her role in Traffic. Their daughter, Carys Zeta Douglas, was born on 20 April 2003. The family currently lives in New York City.
Zeta-Jones has two brothers, David and Lyndon. Her father's cousin is married to singer Bonnie Tyler, from nearby Neath, Wales. Her younger brother, Lyndon Jones, is her personal manager and producer for Milkwood Films. Zeta-Jones' parents recently moved from their Mayals property to a £2 million home two miles (3 km) further west along the Swansea coast, paid for by their daughter.
In 2004, Douglas and Zeta-Jones took legal action against stalker Dawnette Knight, who was accused of sending violent letters to the couple that contained graphic threats on Zeta-Jones' life. Testifying, Zeta-Jones said the threats left her so shaken she feared a nervous breakdown. Knight claimed she had been in love with Douglas and admitted to the offences, which took place between October 2003 and May 2004. She was sentenced to three years in prison.

Career
Early work, 1986–1995
Zeta-Jones' stage career began in childhood. She often performed at friends and family functions and was part of local dance troupe the Hazel Johnson School of Dance which rehearsed at St Alban's Church, Treboeth. Zeta-Jones made her professional acting debut when she played the lead in Annie, a production at Swansea Grand Theatre. When she was 14, Mickey Dolenz cast her as Tallulah in Bugsy Malone.[citation needed] In 1986, at age 17 she had a part in the chorus of The Pajama Game at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester starring Paul Jones and Fiona Hendley. The show subsequently toured the UK and in 1987, she starred in 42nd Street as Peggy Sawyer at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. She was cast in the leading role after both the actress playing Peggy Sawyer and her understudy fell ill. She also played Mae Jones in the Kurt Weill opera Street Scene with the English National Opera at the London Coliseum Theatre in 1989. After the show closed, she travelled to France where she played the lead role in French director Philippe de Broca's Les 1001 Nuits, her feature film debut.
Her singing and dancing ability suggested a promising future but it was in a straight acting role as Mariette in the successful British television adaptation of H. E. Bates' The Darling Buds of May that brought her to public attention and made her a British tabloid darling.[citation needed] She briefly flirted with a musical career, beginning with a part in the 1992 album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of Spartacus, from which the single "For All Time" was released in 1992. It reached #36 in the UK charts. She went on to release the singles "In the Arms of Love", "I Can't Help Myself", and a duet with David Essex "True Love Ways", reaching #38 in the UK singles chart in 1994. She also starred in an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles as well as in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery.
In 1990, Zeta-Jones participated in a television commercial for the German Deutsche Bahn at the age of 21, playing the part of a young woman eloping with her lover from a joyless marriage, a role which apparently helped in promoting her acting career. She continued to find moderate success with a number of television projects, including The Return of the Native (1994) based on the novel of the same name and the mini-series Catherine the Great (1995). She also appeared in Splitting Heirs (1993), a comedy starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis and John Cleese. In 1996, she was cast as the evil aviatrix Sala in the action film, The Phantom, based on the comic by Lee Falk. The following year, she co starred in the CBS mini-series Titanic, which also starred Peter Gallagher, Tim Curry and George C. Scott.

Career success, 1998–2003
Steven Spielberg, who noted her performance in the mini-series Titanic, recommended her to Martin Campbell, the director of The Mask of Zorro.[7] Zeta-Jones subsequently landed a lead role in the film, alongside compatriot Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas. She learned dancing, riding, sword-fighting and took part in dialect classes to play her role as Elena. Commenting on her performance, Variety noted, "Zeta-Jones is bewitchingly lovely as the center of everyone's attention, and she throws herself into the often physical demands of her role with impressive grace. She won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Female Newcomer and received an Empire Award nomination for Best British Actress and a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress.


Zeta-Jones at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.
In 1999, she co-starred with Sean Connery in the film Entrapment, and alongside Liam Neeson and Lili Taylor in The Haunting. The following year, she starred in the critically acclaimed Traffic with future husband Michael Douglas. Traffic earned praise from the press, with the critic for the Dallas Observer calling the movie "a remarkable achievement in filmmaking, a beautiful and brutal work. Zeta-Jones' performance earned her her first Golden Globe nomination, as Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture as well as many other nominations and acclaim.
She took the lead role of America's Sweethearts, a 2001 romantic comedy film which also starred Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal and John Cusack. The film received unfavorable reviews, with Los Angeles Weekly stating that the film "isn't just banal, it's aggressively, arrogantly banal. However, it was a hit at the box office grossing over $138 million worldwide. Her character in the film was Gwen Harrison who is a film star.
In 2002, Zeta-Jones continued her momentum and played murderous vaudevillian Velma Kelly in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Chicago. Her performance was well received by critics; Seattle Post-Intelligencer stated, "Zeta-Jones makes a wonderfully statuesque and bitchy saloon goddess. Slate magazine also praised her performance, saying that she "has a smoldering confidence that takes your mind off her not – always – fluid dancing – although she's a perfectly fine hoofer, with majestic limbs and a commanding cleavage.
Chicago was a commercial success, grossing more than $306 million worldwide, and received universal acclaim. In 2003, Zeta-Jones garnered an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role and as a member of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for her performance. Also that year, she voiced Marina in the animated film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas opposite Brad Pitt, as well as starring as serial divorcee Marilyn Rexroth in the black comedy Intolerable Cruelty with George Clooney.

2004–present
In 2004, she played air hostess Amelia Warren in The Terminal as well as Europol agent Isabel Lahiri in Ocean's Twelve, the sequel to Ocean's Eleven. She and the cast members were nominated for the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast. In 2005, she reprised her role as Elena in The Legend of Zorro, the sequel to The Mask of Zorro. The film received negative-mixed reviews;however, the critics acclaimed the individual performances of the actors, Banderas and Zeta-Jones. The Legend of Zorro grossed over $142 million worldwide.
In 2007, she starred opposite Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin in the American romantic comedy drama No Reservations, a remake of the German film Mostly Martha, for which she received a People's Choice Award nomination. The film garnered mixed or average reviews but was successful commercially, grossing $92 million worldwide. Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote that Zeta-Jones "shines as a character that finely balances off-putting reserve with sympathetic appeal.
In 2008, starred alongside Guy Pearce and Saoirse Ronan in Death Defying Acts, a biopic about legendary escapologist Harry Houdini at the height of his career in the 1920s. The film was well received by many critics; View London noted that "Zeta Jones also pulls off an extremely impressive Edinburgh accent and it's great to see her in a decent role for once. In 2009, Zeta-Jones starred in romantic comedy The Rebound, in which she played a 40-year old mother of two who falls in love with a younger man, played by Justin Bartha. The film was released in cinemas in several countries throughout 2009. The film is set to be released in the United States on 25 December 2010.
In August 2009, it was announced she would return to her musical roots and make her Broadway debut in the revival of A Little Night Music with Angela Lansbury, beginning December 2009. For her performance, Zeta-Jones received an Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, as well as a Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
Apart from her acting career, Zeta-Jones is also an advertising spokeswoman, currently the global spokeswoman for cosmetics giant Elizabeth Arden. She has appeared in numerous TV commercials for the phone company T-Mobile, and one for Alfa Romeo. She is also the spokeswoman for Di Modolo jewellery. Zeta-Jones was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.

In the media
Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders parodied Zeta-Jones as a vacuous über-celebrity named Catherine Spartacus-Zeta-Douglas-Jones on their show French & Saunders in the series Back With a Vengeance. (Spartacus is a movie role memorably played by Zeta-Jones' father-in-law). Catherine Spartacus-Zeta-Douglas-Jones alternates between a strong Welsh accent and a strong American accent and uses Welsh-language phrases when she speaks.
Zeta-Jones is also parodied in the BBC's The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson by Debra Stephenson reading Beauty and the Beast also alternating between strong Welsh and American accents. Zeta is also mentioned in the song Hollywood by Marina and the Diamonds in the line "Oh my God, you look just like Shakira no, no, you're Catherine Zeta, actually my name's Marina".
Zeta-Jones has appeared on several magazine covers, including Allure, Harper's Bazaar, W, Vanity Fair, and Vogue. She was chosen one of "1998's Most Beautiful People" by People magazine, she also was ranked number 68 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement, and was named number 82 in 2006. She was ranked number 50 on VH1's "100 Hottest Hotties". In 2010, Peoplestar.co.uk Celebrity Magazine, featured her as number 5 in "The World's Most Beautiful Women.

Flag Day (United States)

In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day; in August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress.
Flag Day is not an official federal holiday, though on June 14, 1937, Pennsylvania became the first (and only) U.S. state to celebrate Flag Day as a state holiday, beginning in the town of Rennerdale. Title 36 of the United States Code, Subtitle I, Part A, CHAPTER 1, § 110 is the official statute on Flag Day; however, it is at the President's discretion to proclaim officially the observance.
One of the longest-running Flag Day parades is held annually in Quincy, Massachusetts, which began in 1952, celebrating its 59th year in 2010. The 59th Annual Appleton Wisconsin 2009 Flag Day Parade featured the U.S. Navy. The largest Flag Day parade is held annually in Troy, New York, which bases its parade on the Quincy parade and typically draws 50,000 spectators.
Perhaps the oldest continuing Flag Day parade is at Fairfield, Washington. Beginning in 1909 or 1910, Fairfield has held a parade every year since, with the possible exception of 1918, and celebrated the "Centennial" parade in 2010, along with some other commemorative events.

History
Several people and/or organizations played instrumental roles in the establishment of a national Flag Day celebration. They are identified here in chronological order.

1861, George Morris
The earliest reference to the suggestion of a "Flag Day" is cited in Kansas: a Cyclopedia of State History, published by Standard Publishing Company of Chicago in 1912. It credits George Morris of Hartford, Connecticut:
To George Morris of Hartford, Conn., is popularly given the credit of suggesting "Flag Day," the occasion being in honor of the adoption of the American flag on June 14, 1777. The city of Hartford observed the day in 1861, carrying out a program of a patriotic order, praying for the success of the Federal arms and the preservation of the Union.
The observance apparently did not become a tradition. 

1885, Bernard J. Cigrand
Stony Hill School, in Waubeka, Wisconsin, the site of the first formal observance of Flag Day
Working as a grade school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin, in 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand held the first recognized formal observance of Flag Day at the Stony Hill School. The school has been restored, and a bust of Cigrand also honors him at the National Flag Day Americanism Center in Waubeka.
From the late 1880s on, Cigrand spoke around the country promoting patriotism, respect for the flag, and the need for the annual observance of a flag day on June 14, the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes.
He moved to Chicago to attend dental school and, in June 1886, first publicly proposed an annual observance of the birth of the United States flag in an article titled "The Fourteenth of June," published in the Chicago Argus newspaper. In June 1888, Cigrand advocated establishing the holiday in a speech before the "Sons of America," a Chicago group. The organization founded a magazine, American Standard, in order to promote reverence for American emblems. Cigrand was appointed editor-in-chief and wrote articles in the magazine as well as in other magazines and newspapers to promote the holiday.

1888, William T. Kerr
William T. Kerr, a resident of Collier Township, Pennsylvania, for a number of years, founded the American Flag Day Association of Western Pennsylvania in 1888, and became that organization's national chairman one year later, serving as such for fifty years. He attended President Harry S. Truman's 1949 signing of the Act of Congress that formally established the observance.

1889, George Bolch
In 1889, the principal of a free kindergarten, George Bolch, celebrated the Revolution and celebrated Flag Day, as well.

1893, Elizabeth Duane Gillespie
In 1893, Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, a descendant of Benjamin Franklin and the president of the Colonial Dames of Pennsylvania, attempted to have a resolution passed requiring the American flag to be displayed on all Philadelphia's public buildings. This is why some credit Philadelphia as Flag Day's original home. In 1937, Pennsylvania became the first state to make Flag Day a legal holiday.

1907, BPOE
American fraternal order and social club the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks has celebrated the holiday since the early days of the organization and allegiance to the flag is a requirement of every member. In 1907, the BPOE Grand Lodge designated by resolution June 14 as Flag Day. The Grand Lodge of the Order adopted
The Elks prompted President Woodrow Wilson to recognize the Order's observance of Flag Day for its patriotic expression.

1908, Theodore Roosevelt
On June 14, Theodore Roosevelt was dining outside Philadelphia, when he noticed a man wiping his nose with what he thought was the American Flag. In outrage, Roosevelt picked up a small wooden rod and began to whip the man for "defacing the symbol of America." After about five or six strong whacks, he noticed that the man was not wiping his nose with a flag, but with a blue handkerchief with white stars. Upon realization of this, he apologized to the man, but hit him once more for making him "riled up with national pride."

1913, City of Paterson, New Jersey
During the 1913 Paterson silk strike, IWW leader “Big” Bill Haywood asserted that someday all of the world's flags would be red, “the color of the working man's blood.” In response, the city's leaders (who opposed the strike) declared March 17th to be “Flag Day,” and saw to it that each of the city's textile mills flew an American flag. This attempt by Paterson's leaders to portray the strikers as un-American backfired when the strikers marched through the city with American flags of their own, along with a banner that stated

Observance of Flag Day
The week of June 14 is designated as "National Flag Week." During National Flag Week, the president will issue a proclamation urging U.S. citizens to fly the American flag for the duration of that week. The flag should also be displayed on all Government buildings. Some organizations hold parades and events in celebration of America's national flag and everything it represents. Other organizations and tribal groups hold counter-celebrations and protests.
The National Flag Day Foundation holds an annual observance for Flag Day on the second Sunday in June. The program includes a ceremonial raising of the flag, recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, singing of the National Anthem (The Star-spangled Banner), a parade and more. 
The Betsy Ross House has long been the site of Philadelphia's observance of Flag Day.
TRIBUTE TO THE FLAG by the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
Star power: 200 years of change (USA TODAY)
National Flag Day Foundation
Flag: An American Biography, by Marc Leepson (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2005)
History of Flag day and the Star Spangled Banner
A cartoon and reminiscence about Flag Day by noted political and social commentator Tim Kreider, entitled Flag Boy.


European Central Bank

European Central Bank (ECB) is the institution of the European Union (EU) tasked with administrating the monetary policy of the 16 EU member states taking part in the Eurozone. It is thus one of the world's most important central banks. The bank was established by the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998, and is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. The current President of the ECB is Jean-Claude Trichet, former president of the Banque de France.

History
The European Central Bank is the de facto successor of the European Monetary Institute (EMI). The EMI was established at the start of the second stage of the EU's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) to handle the transitional issues of states adopting the euro and prepare for the creation of the ECB and European System of Central Banks (ESCB). The EMI itself took over from the earlier European Monetary Co-operation Fund (EMCF).

Wim Duisenberg, first President of the ECB.
The ECB formally replaced the EMI on 1 June 1998 by virtue of the Treaty on European Union (TEU, Treaty of Maastricht), however it did not exercise its full powers until the introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999, signalling the third stage of EMU. The bank was the final institution needed for EMU, as outlined by the EMU reports of Pierre Werner and President Jacques Delors. It was established on 1 June 1998.
The first President of the Bank was Wim Duisenberg, the former president of the Dutch central bank and the European Monetary Institute. While Duisenberg had been the head of the EMI (taking over from Alexandre Lamfalussy of Belgium) just before the ECB came into existence, the French government wanted Jean-Claude Trichet, former head of French central bank, to be the ECB's first president. The French argued that since the ECB was to be located in Germany, its President should be French. This was opposed by the German, Dutch and Belgian governments who saw Duisenberg as a guarantor of a strong euro. Tensions were abated by a gentleman's agreement in which Duisenberg would stand down before the end of his mandate, to be replaced by Trichet, an event which occurred in November 2003.
There had also been tension over the ECB's Executive Board, with the United Kingdom demanding a seat even though it had not joined the Single Currency. Under pressure from France three seats were assigned to the largest members, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Despite such a system of appointment the board asserted its independence early on in resisting calls for interest rates and future candidates to it.
When the ECB was created, it covered a Eurozone of eleven members. Since then, Greece joined in January 2001, Slovenia in January 2007, Cyprus and Malta in January 2008, and Slovakia in January 2009, enlarging the bank's scope and the membership of its Governing Council.
On December 1, 2009 Treaty of Lisbon entered into force, ECB according to the article 13 of TEU, gained official status of an EU institution.

Powers and objectives
The primary objective of the ECB is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone, or in other words to keep inflation low. The Governing Council defined price stability as inflation (Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices) of below, but close to, 2%. Unlike for example the United States Federal Reserve Bank, the ECB has only one primary objective with other objectives subordinate to it.
The key tasks of the ECB are to define and implement the monetary policy for the Eurozone, to conduct foreign exchange operations, to take care of the foreign reserves of the European System of Central Banks and promote smooth operation of the financial market infrastructure under the Target payments system and being currently developed technical platform for settlement of securities in Europe (TARGET2 Securities). Furthermore, it has the exclusive right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes. Member states can issue euro coins but the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand (upon the introduction of the euro, the ECB also had exclusive right to issue coins).
The bank must also co-operate within the EU and internationally with third bodies and entities. Finally it contributes to maintaining a stable financial system and monitoring the banking sector. The latter can be seen, for example, in the bank's intervention during the 2007 credit crisis when it loaned billions of euros to banks to stabilise the financial system. In December 2007 the ECB decided in conjunction with the Federal Reserve under a program called Term auction facility to improve dollar liquidity in the eurozone and to stabilise the money market.

Organisation

Although the ECB is governed by European law directly and thus not by corporate law applying to private law companies, its set-up resembles that of a corporation in the sense that the ECB has shareholders and stock capital. Its capital is five billion euros which is held by the national central banks of the Member States as shareholders. The initial capital allocation key was determined in 1998 on the basis of the states' population and GDP, but the key is adjustable. Shares in the ECB are not transferable and cannot be used as collateral.


European Union
Politics and government of
the European Union
Parliament
Council of Ministers
European Council
Commission
Court of Justice
Other institutions
Policies and issues
Foreign relations
Elections
Law

The Executive Board is responsible for the implementation of monetary policy defined by the Governing Council and the day-to-day running of the bank. In this it can issue decisions to national central banks and may also exercise powers delegated to it by the Governing Council. It is composed of the President of the Bank (currently Jean-Claude Trichet), a vice president and four other members. They are all appointed by common accord of the Eurozone member states for non-renewable terms of eight years.


Jean-Claude Trichet, the current President.
The General Council is a body dealing with transitional issues of euro adoption, for example fixing the exchange rates of currencies being replaced by the euro (continuing the tasks of the former EMI). It will continue to exist until all EU Member States adopt the euro, at which point it will be dissolved. It is composed of the President and Vice President together with the governors of all of the EU's national central banks.

Independence and future
Furthermore, not only must the bank not seek influence, but EU institutions and national governments are bound by the treaties to respect the ECB's independence. For example, the minimum term of office for an national central bank governor is five years and members of the executive board have a non-renewable eight-year term. To offer some accountability, the ECB is bound to publish reports on its activities and has to address its annual report to the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Council. The European Parliament also gets to question and then issue its opinion on candidates to the executive board.
The bank's independence has notably come under intense criticism since the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as French President. Sarkozy has sought to make the ECB more susceptible to political influence, to extend its mandate to focus on growth and job creation, and has frequently criticised the bank's policies on interest rates.

Location
The bank is based in Frankfurt, the largest financial centre in the Eurozone. Its location in the city is fixed by the Amsterdam Treaty along with other major institutions. In the city, the bank currently occupies Frankfurt's Eurotower until its purpose-built headquarters are built.
In 1999 an international architectural competition was launched by the bank to design a new building. It was won by a Vienna-based architectural office named Coop Himmelbau. The building will be approximately 180 metres (591 ft) tall (the present building is 148 m/486 ft) and will be accompanied with other secondary buildings on a landscaped site on the site of the former wholesale market (Großmarkthalle) in the eastern part of Frankfurt am Main. The main construction began in October 2008, with completion scheduled during 2014. It is expected that the building will become an architectural symbol for Europe and is designed to cope with double the number of staff who operate in the Eurotower.

Euro

Euro,  €; code: EUR is the official currency of the eurozone: 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU). It is also the currency used by the EU institutions. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Estonia is due to join the eurozone on 1 January 2011. The currency is also used in a further five European countries, with and without formal agreements, and is consequently used daily by some 327 million Europeans. Over 175 million people worldwide use currencies which are pegged to the euro, including more than 150 million people in Africa.
The euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the U.S. dollar. As of June 2010, with more than €800 billion in circulation, the euro is the currency with the highest combined value of banknotes and coins in circulation in the world, having surpassed the U.S. dollar. Based on IMF estimates of 2008 GDP and purchasing power parity among the various currencies, the eurozone is the second largest economy in the world.
The name euro was officially adopted on 16 December 1995. The euro was introduced to world financial markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999, replacing the former European Currency Unit (ECU) at a ratio of 1:1. Euro coins and banknotes entered circulation on 1 January 2002.

Administration
The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurosystem (composed of the central banks of the eurozone countries). As an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all Member States, and the operation of the eurozone payment systems.
The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU Member States to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary requirements, although not all states have done so. The United Kingdom and Denmark negotiated exemptions, while Sweden turned down the euro in a 2003 referendum, and has circumvented the obligation to adopt the euro by not meeting the monetary and budgetary requirements. All nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course.

Characteristics
The euro is divided into 100 cents (sometimes referred to as euro cents, especially when distinguishing them from other currencies, and referred to as such on the common side of all cent coins). In Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage. Otherwise, normal English plurals are recommended and used; with many local variations such as 'centime' in France.
All circulating coins have a common side showing the denomination or value, and a map in the background. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins that map only showed the 15 Member States which were members when the euro was introduced. Beginning in 2007 or 2008 (depending on the country) the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway. The 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, however, keep their old design, showing a geographical map of Europe with the 15 Member States of 2002 raised somewhat above the rest of the map. All common sides were designed by Luc Luycx. The coins also have a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued the coin. Euro coins from any Member State may be freely used in any nation which has adopted the euro.

The common (top) and national sides of the €2 coin
The coins are issued in €2, €1, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c, and 1c denominations. In order to avoid the use of the two smallest coins, some cash transactions are rounded to the nearest five cents in the Netherlands (by voluntary agreement) and in Finland (by law). This practice is discouraged by the Commission, as is the habit of certain shops to refuse to accept high value euro notes.
Commemorative coins with €2 face value have been issued with changes to the design of the national side of the coin. These include both commonly issued coins, such as the €2 commemorative coin for the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, and nationally issued coins, such as the coin to commemorate the 2004 Summer Olympics issued by Greece. These coins are legal tender throughout the eurozone. Collector's coins with various other denominations have been issued as well, but these are not intended for general circulation, and they are legal tender only in the Member State that issued them.
The design for the euro banknotes have common designs on both sides. The design was created by the Austrian designer Robert Kalina. Notes are issued in €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, €5. Each banknote has its own colour and is dedicated to an artistic period of European architecture. The front of the note features windows or gateways while the back has bridges. While the designs are supposed to be devoid of any identifiable characteristics, the initial designs by Robert Kalina were of specific bridges, including the Rialto and the Pont de Neuilly, and were subsequently rendered more generic; the final designs still bear very close similarities to their specific prototypes; thus they are not truly generic.Some of the highest denominations such as the €500 are not issued in all countries, though they remain legal tender throughout the eurozone.

Payments clearing, electronic funds transfer
Single Euro Payments Area
Capital within the EU may be transferred in any amount from one country to another. All intra-EU transfers in euro are considered as domestic payments and bear the corresponding domestic transfer costs. This includes all Member States of the EU, even those outside the eurozone providing the transactions are carried out in euro. Credit/debit card charging and ATM withdrawals within the eurozone are also charged as domestic, however paper-based payment orders, like cheques, have not been standardised so these are still domestic-based. The ECB has also set up a clearing system, TARGET, for large euro transactions.

Currency sign
A special euro currency sign (€) was designed after a public survey had narrowed the original ten proposals down to two. The European Commission then chose the design created by the Belgian Alain Billiet. The official story of the design history of the euro sign is disputed by Arthur Eisenmenger, a former chief graphic designer for the EEC, who claims to have created it as a generic symbol of Europe.
Inspiration for the € symbol itself came from the Greek epsilon (Є) – a reference to the cradle of European civilisation – and the first letter of the word Europe, crossed by two parallel lines to ‘certify’ the stability of the euro.
—European Commission
The European Commission also specified a euro logo with exact proportions and foreground/background colour tones. While the Commission intended the logo to be a prescribed glyph shape, font designers made it clear that they intended to design their own variants instead. Typewriters lacking the euro sign can create it by typing a capital 'C', backspacing and overstriking it with the equal ('=') sign. Placement of the currency sign relative to the numeric amount varies from nation to nation, but for texts in English the symbol (and the ISO-standard "EUR") should precede the amount.

Introduction of the euro
Preceding national currencies of the Eurozone v • d • e
Currency Code Rate Fixed on Yielded
Austrian schilling ATS 13.7603 31 December 1998 2002
Belgian franc BEF 40.3399 31 December 1998 2002
Dutch guilder NLG 2.20371 31 December 1998 2002
Finnish markka FIM 5.94573 31 December 1998 2002
French franc FRF 6.55957 31 December 1998 2002
German mark DEM 1.95583 31 December 1998 2002
Irish pound IEP 0.787564 31 December 1998 2002
Italian lira ITL 1,936.27 31 December 1998 2002
Luxembourgian franc LUF 40.3399 31 December 1998 2002
Monegasque franc MCF 6.55957 31 December 1998 2002
Portuguese escudo PTE 200.482 31 December 1998 2002
Sammarinese lira SML 1,936.27 31 December 1998 2002
Spanish peseta ESP 166.386 31 December 1998 2002
Vatican lira VAL 1,936.27 31 December 1998 2002
Greek drachma GRD 340.75 19 June 2000 2002
Slovenian tolar SIT 239.64 11 July 2006 2007
Cypriot pound CYP 0.585274 10 July 2007 2008
Maltese lira MTL 0.4293 10 July 2007 2008
Slovak koruna SKK 30.126 8 July 2008 2009
Estonian kroon EEK 15.6466 13 July 2010 2011
The euro was established by the provisions in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. To participate in the currency, Member States are meant to meet strict criteria, such as a budget deficit of less than three per cent of their GDP, a debt ratio of less than sixty per cent of GDP, low inflation, and interest rates close to the EU average. In the Maastricht Treaty, the United Kingdom and Denmark were granted exemptions per their request from moving to the stage of monetary union which would result in the introduction of the euro.
Economists who helped create or contributed to the euro include Fred Arditti, Neil Dowling, Wim Duisenberg, Robert Mundell, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa and Robert Tollison. (For macro-economic theory, see below.) The name euro was devised on 4 August 1995 by Germain Pirlot, a Belgian Esperantist and ex-teacher of French and history, and officially adopted in Madrid on 16 December 1995.
Due to differences in national conventions for rounding and significant digits, all conversion between the national currencies had to be carried out using the process of triangulation via the euro. The definitive values in euro of these subdivisions (which represent the exchange rates at which the currency entered the euro) are shown at right.
The rates were determined by the Council of the European Union, based on a recommendation from the European Commission based on the market rates on 31 December 1998. They were set so that one European Currency Unit (ECU) would equal one euro. The European Currency Unit was an accounting unit used by the EU, based on the currencies of the Member States; it was not a currency in its own right. They could not be set earlier, because the ECU depended on the closing exchange rate of the non-euro currencies (principally the pound sterling) that day.
The procedure used to fix the irrevocable conversion rate between the drachma and the euro was different, since the euro by then was already two years old. While the conversion rates for the initial eleven currencies were determined only hours before the euro was introduced, the conversion rate for the Greek drachma was fixed several months beforehand.
The currency was introduced in non-physical form (traveller's cheques, electronic transfers, banking, etc.) at midnight on 1 January 1999, when the national currencies of participating countries (the eurozone) ceased to exist independently. Their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other, effectively making them mere non-decimal subdivisions of the euro. The euro thus became the successor to the European Currency Unit (ECU). The notes and coins for the old currencies, however, continued to be used as legal tender until new euro notes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002.
The changeover period during which the former currencies' notes and coins were exchanged for those of the euro lasted about two months, until 28 February 2002. The official date on which the national currencies ceased to be legal tender varied from Member State to Member State. The earliest date was in Germany, where the mark officially ceased to be legal tender on 31 December 2001, though the exchange period lasted for two months more. Even after the old currencies ceased to be legal tender, they continued to be accepted by national central banks for periods ranging from several years to forever (the latter in Austria, Germany, Ireland and Spain). The earliest coins to become non-convertible were the Portuguese escudos, which ceased to have monetary value after 31 December 2002, although banknotes remain exchangeable until 2022.
US Economists on the Euro, 1989-2002
A survey of US economists and their views on the EMU and euro from 1989-2002 finds that the euro has gone much better than many expected. Academic economists, overall, were more skeptical than Federal Reserve economists who adopted a more pragmatic approach. The skepticism appears to have resulted from the strong influence of the optimum currency area theory; failure to see monetary unification as an evolutionary process; failure to identify pegged exchange rates, rather than floating rates, as the practical alternative to a single European currency; and the belief that the single currency for Europe was primarily a political project that ignored economic fundamentals.
Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC was one of a few American economists optimistic about the euro. His analysis focused on European political economy rather than technical considerations like the theory of optimum currency area seeing its implications as ambiguous enough to permit a basically political decision.
Jeffry Frieden, Political Scientist at Harvard, points out that most US economists failed to systematically include political factors in their analysis. By focusing only on the pure economics of the matter, they led themselves to unrealistic predictions. Charles Goodhart of the London School of Economics echoes a similar sentiment.
Some believed that a strong central state, which a sound euro seemingly required, would impede European economic liberalization. Currency unification via currency boards has been suggested as an alternative solution that would create less political and bureaucratic layers.
On the other hand, some credit the euro's success to the European Central Bank's (ECB) ability to follow a stability-oriented monetary policy without undue influence from national interests. This would not be possible without a certain amount of centralized power and decent incentives. George Selgin suggests that the ECB had an incentive to keep inflation low out of a desire to secure for the euro a prominent position in the international monetary market.

Direct and indirect usage
Andorra,
Bulgaria,
Czech Rep,
Denmark,
Estonia,
Hungary,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Monaco Monten.
Poland,
Romania,
San Marino,
Sweden,
United
Kingdom,
Vatican,
A&D
Eurozone
ERM II members
unilaterally adopted
other EU members
special adoption agreement
via treaty

Direct usage
The euro is the sole currency of 16 EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. These countries comprise the "eurozone", some 326 million people in total. Estonia will join in 2011.
With all but two of the remaining EU members obliged to join, together with future members of the EU, the enlargement of the eurozone is set to continue further. Outside the EU, the euro is also the sole currency of Montenegro and Kosovo and several European micro states (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City) as well as in three overseas territories of EU states that are not themselves part of the EU (Mayotte, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Akrotiri and Dhekelia). Together this direct usage of the euro outside the EU affects over 3 million people.
It is also gaining increasing international usage as a trading currency, in Cuba, North Korea and Syria. There are also various currencies pegged to the euro (see below). In 2009 Zimbabwe abandoned its local currency and used major currencies instead, including the euro and the United States dollar.

Use as reserve currency
Since its introduction, the euro has been the second most widely held international reserve currency after the U.S. dollar. The share of the euro as a reserve currency has increased from 17.9% in 1999 to 26.5% in 2008, at the expense of the U.S. dollar (its share fell from 70.9% to 64.0% in the same timeframe) and the Yen (it fell from 6.4% to 3.3%). The euro inherited and built on the status of the second most important reserve currency from the German mark. The euro remains underweight as a reserve currency in advanced economies while overweight in emerging and developing economies: according to the IMF the total of euros held as a reserve in the world at the end of 2008 was equal to USD 1.1 trillion, with a share of 22% of all currency reserves in advanced economies, but a total of 31% of all currency reserves in emerging and developing economies.
The possibility of euro becoming the first international reserve currency is now widely debated among economists. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan gave his opinion in September 2007 that it is "absolutely conceivable that the euro will replace the dollar as reserve currency, or will be traded as an equally important reserve currency." In contrast to Greenspan's 2007 assessment the euro's increase in the share of the worldwide currency reserve basket has slowed considerably since the year 2007 and since the beginning of the worldwide credit crunch related recession and sovereign debt crisis.

History of the euro

Euro came into existence on 1 January 1999, although it has been a goal of the European Union (EU) and its predecessors since the 1960s. After tough negotiations, particularly due to opposition from the United Kingdom, the Maastricht Treaty entered into force in 1993 with the goal of creating economic and monetary union by 1999 for all EU states except the UK.
In 1999 the currency was born virtually and in 2002 notes and coins began to circulate. It rapidly took over from the former national currencies and slowly expanded behind the rest of the EU. In 2009 its latest member joined, Slovakia, and the Lisbon Treaty formalised its political authority, the Euro Group alongside the European Central Bank.

Development
Early ideas
First ideas of an economic and monetary union in Europe were raised well before establishing the European Communities. For example, already in the League of Nations, Gustav Stresemann asked in 1929 for a European currency against the background of an increased economic division due to a number of new nation states in Europe after WWI. At this time memories of the Latin Monetary Union involving principally France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland and which, for practical purposes, had disintegrated following the First World War, will have figured prominently in the minds of policy makers.
A first attempt to create an economic and monetary union between the members of the European Economic Community goes back to an initiative by the European Commission in 1969, which set out the need for "greater co-ordination of economic policies and monetary cooperation." This was followed up at a meeting of the European Council at The Hague in December 1969. The European Council tasked Pierre Werner, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, with finding a way to reduce currency exchange rate volatility. His report was published in October 1970 and recommended centralisation of the national macroeconomic policies entailing "the total and irreversible fixing of parity rates and the complete liberation of movements of capital." But he did not propose a single currency or central bank.An attempt to limit the fluctuations of European currencies, using a snake in the tunnel, failed.
In 1971, US President Richard Nixon removed the gold backing from the US dollar, causing a collapse in the Bretton Woods system that managed the world's currencies. The widespread currency floats and devaluations set back aspirations for European monetary union.However in March 1979 the European Monetary System (EMS) was created, fixing exchange rates onto the European Currency Unit (ECU), an accounting currency, in order to stabilise exchange rates and counter inflation. It also created the European Monetary Cooperation Fund (EMCF).
In February 1986 the Single European Act formalised political co-operation within the Community including competency in monetary policy. European Council summit in Hannover on 14 June 1988 began to outline monetary co-operation. France, Italy and European Commission backed a fully monetary union with a central bank, which British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opposed.

Relaunch
The Hannover European Council asked Commission President Jacques Delors to chair an ad hoc committee of central bank governors to propose a new timetable with clear, practical and realistic steps for creating an economic and monetary union. This way of working was derived from the Spaak method.
France and the UK were opposed to German reunification, and attempted to influence the Soviet Union to stop it. However, in late 1989 France extracted German commitment to the Monetary Union in return for support for German reunification.
The Delors report of 1989 set out a plan to introduce the EMU in three stages and it included the creation of institutions such as the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), which would become responsible for formulating and implementing monetary policy. It laid out monetary union being accomplished in three steps. Beginning the first of these steps, on 1 July 1990, exchange controls were abolished, thus capital movements were completely liberalised in the European Economic Community. Leaders reached agreement on currency union with the Maastricht Treaty, signed on 7 February 1992. It agreed to create a single currency, although without the participation of the United Kingdom, by January 1999.
Gaining approval for the treaty was a challenge. Germany was cautious about giving up its stable currency, i.e. the German Mark, France approved the treaty by a narrow margin and Denmark refused to ratify until they got an opt out from monetary union as the United Kingdom, an opt-out which they maintain as of 2010. On 16 September 1992, known in the UK as Black Wednesday, the British pound sterling was forced to withdraw from the fixed exchange rate system due to a rapid fall in the value of the pound.

Second stage
Delors' second stage began in 1994 with creation of the European Monetary Institute, succeeding the EMCF, under Maastricht. It was created as the forerunner to the European Central Bank. It met for the first time on 12 January under its first President, Alexandre Lamfalussy. After much disagreement, in December 1995 the name euro was adopted for the new currency (replacing the name Ecu used for the previous accounting currency), on the suggestion of then-German finance minister Theo Waigel. They also agreed on the date 1 January 1999 for its launch.
On 17 June 1997 the European Council decided in Amsterdam to adopt the Stability and Growth Pact, designed to ensure budgetary discipline after creation of the euro, and a new exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) was set up to provide stability above the euro and the national currencies of countries that hadn't yet entered the eurozone. Then, on 3 May 1998, at the European Council in Brussels, the 11 initial countries that would participate in the third stage from 1 January 1999 were selected. In order to participate in the new currency, member states had to meet strict criteria such as a budget deficit of less than 3% of their GDP, a debt ratio of less than 60% of GDP, low inflation, and interest rates close to the EU average. Greece failed to meet the criteria and was excluded from participating on 1 January 1999.
On 1 June 1998 the European Central Bank succeeded the European Monetary Institute. However it wouldn't take on its full powers until the euro was created on 1 January 1999. The bank's first President was Wim Duisenberg, former head of the EMI and the Dutch central bank.The conversion rates between the 11 participating national currencies and the euro were then established. The rates were determined by the Council of the European Union, based on a recommendation from the European Commission based on the market rates on 31 December 1998, so that one ECU would equal one euro. These rates were set by Council Regulation 2866/98 (EC), of 31 December 1998. They could not be set earlier, because the ECU depended on the closing exchange rate of the non-euro currencies (principally the pound sterling) that day. Due to differences in national conventions for rounding and significant digits, all conversion between the national currencies had to be carried out using the process of triangulation via the euro.

Creation
Launch
Eurozone (1999/2002)
The currency was introduced in non-physical form (traveller's cheques, electronic transfers, banking, etc.) at midnight on 1 January 1999, when the national currencies of participating countries (the Eurozone) ceased to exist independently in that their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other, effectively making them mere non-decimal subdivisions of the euro. The euro thus became the successor to the European Currency Unit (ECU). The notes and coins for the old currencies, however, continued to be used as legal tender until new notes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002. Beginning on 1 January 1999, all bonds and other forms of government debt by Eurozone nations were denominated in euros.
On the first day of trading, 5 January, since its launch, the euro climbed to 1.19 USD. It was rapidly taken up and dealers were surprised by the speed at which it replaced the national currencies. Trading in the Deutsche Mark was expected to continue in parallel but vanished as soon as the markets opened. However, by the end of 1999 the euro had dropped to parity with the dollar leading to emergency action from the G7 to support the euro in 2001.
Later in 2000, Denmark held a referendum on whether to abandon their opt-out from the euro. The referendum failed and also set back plans for a referendum in the UK as a result. However, Greece succeeded in getting clearance to join the euro on 1 January 2001, in time for the physical launch in 2002, by faking its deficit figures. The procedure used to fix the irrevocable conversion rate of 340.750 between the Greek drachma and the euro was different, since the euro by then was already two years old. While the conversion rates for the initial eleven currencies were determined only hours before the euro was introduced as a virtual currency, the conversion rate for the Greek drachma was fixed several months beforehand, in Council Regulation 1478/2000 (EC), of 19 June 2000.

Minting
The designs for the new coins and notes were announced between 1996 and 1998, and production began at the various mints and printers early in 1999. The task was large, and would require the full three years. In all, 7.4 billion notes and 38.2 billion coins would be available for issuance to consumers and businesses on 1 January 2002. In 7 nations, the new coins, struck in the run-up to 1 January 2002, would bear a 2002 date. In Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands, and Spain, the new coins would bear the date of striking, so those 5 countries would be the only ones to strike euro coins dated 1999, 2000, and 2001. Small numbers of coins from Monaco, Vatican City, and San Marino were also struck. These immediately became popular collector's items, commanding premiums well above face value. New issues continue to do so to this day.
Meanwhile, a parallel task was to educate the European public about the new coins. Posters were issued showing the designs, which were used on items ranging from playing cards to T shirts. As a final step, on 15 December 2001, banks began exchanging "euro starter kits", plastic pouches with a selection of the new coins in each country (generally, between 10 and 20 euros worth—though Finland's contained one of each coin, totalling €3.88). They would not be usable in commerce until 1 January, when notes would be made available as well. Larger starter kits, containing a roll of each denomination, were available as well in some nations.
Retailers and government agencies had a considerable task as well. For items to be sold to the public, dual pricing was commonly utilised. Postage stamps for governments (as well as stamps issued by the United Nations Postal Administration for the UN offices in Vienna) often bore denominations both in the legacy currency and euros, assuring continued utility beyond 2001. Banks bore a huge task, not only in preparation for the change of the notes and coins, but also in the back office. Beginning in 1999, all deposits and loans were technically in euros, but deposits and withdrawals continued in the legacy currency. Statements would bear balances in both currencies beginning no later than 1 July 2001, and earlier if required by the customer's needs.
Beginning on 1 December 2001, coins and notes were distributed from secure storage, first to large retailers, and then to smaller ones. It was widely expected that there would be massive problems on and after 1 January. Such a changeover, across twelve populous countries, had never been attempted before.


Change of currency
As midnight struck to usher in 2002, a celebration took place outside European Central Bank offices in Frankfurt. A huge illuminated mock-up of a euro coin was displayed in front of the building.
When the celebration began, the new coins and notes had already been valid for one hour in Greece and Finland. In fact, they had been valid for three hours on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The first official purchase using euro coins and notes took place there, for one kilogram of lychees. The coming of midnight in Frankfurt at the ECB offices, though, symbolised the transition.
In Finland, the Central Bank had opened for an hour at midnight to allow citizens to exchange currency, while a huge euro pyramid had decorated Syntagma Square in Athens, as the euro was welcomed to continental Europe. Other countries noted the coming of the euro as well—Paris's Pont Neuf was decorated in EU colours, while in the northern German town of Gifhorn a sombre, symbolic funeral for the Deutsche Mark took place.
Except for Germany, the plan for introduction of the new currency was basically the same. Banks would accept the exchange of legacy currencies, begin to dispense euros from ATMs, and only euros would be available as withdrawals were made, beginning on 1 January. Merchants would accept legacy currency, but give change only in euros. In Germany, the Deutsche Mark would no longer be a legal tender on 1 January, but would have to be exchanged at the banks.
Despite the massive amounts of euros available, chaos was feared. In France, these fears were accentuated by a threatened postal workers' strike. The strike, however, was settled. Similarly, workers at the French bank BNP Paribas threatened to disrupt the introduction of euro currency with a strike. That was also settled.
Preceding national currencies of the Eurozone v • d • e
Currency Code Rate Fixed on Yielded
Austrian schilling ATS 13.7603 31 December 1998 2002
Belgian franc BEF 40.3399 31 December 1998 2002
Dutch guilder NLG 2.20371 31 December 1998 2002
Finnish markka FIM 5.94573 31 December 1998 2002
French franc FRF 6.55957 31 December 1998 2002
German mark DEM 1.95583 31 December 1998 2002
Irish pound IEP 0.787564 31 December 1998 2002
Italian lira ITL 1,936.27 31 December 1998 2002
Luxembourgian franc LUF 40.3399 31 December 1998 2002
Monegasque franc MCF 6.55957 31 December 1998 2002
Portuguese escudo PTE 200.482 31 December 1998 2002
Sammarinese lira SML 1,936.27 31 December 1998 2002
Spanish peseta ESP 166.386 31 December 1998 2002
Vatican lira VAL 1,936.27 31 December 1998 2002
Greek drachma GRD 340.75 19 June 2000 2002
Slovenian tolar SIT 239.64 11 July 2006 2007
Cypriot pound CYP 0.585274 10 July 2007 2008
Maltese lira MTL 0.4293 10 July 2007 2008
Slovak koruna SKK 30.126 8 July 2008 2009
Estonian kroon EEK 15.6466 13 July 2010 2011
In practice, the roll-out was smooth, with few problems. By 2 January, all ATMs in 7 countries and at least 90 percent in 4 others were issuing euros rather than legacy currency, with Italy, the worst offender, having 85% of ATMs dispensing euros. The unexpected tendency of consumers to spend their legacy currency, rather than exchange it at banks, led to temporary shortages of euro small change, with some consumers being given change in legacy currency.
Some businesses did take advantage of the currency exchange to raise prices. According to a study by the Deutsche Bundesbank, there was a price rise, but consumers refused to buy as much. A coffee bar in Italy that took advantage of the transition to raise coffee prices by a third was ordered to pay compensation to customers.