ECB: New Euro Banknotes Go into Production in 2026
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank has chosen key themes for the new euro banknotes
The European Central Bank is preparing to change Euro banknotes and has organized a large-scale survey of EU citizens about what they would like to see depicted on Eurozone money. As the ECB Governing Council announced on November 30, out of seven initial topics, the 365,000 European citizens who took part in the survey from July to August 2023 chose three: “European culture,” “European rivers,” and “birds of Europe.”
The ECB press release clarified that the most popular theme was “Birds: free, resilient, stimulating” (34%), followed by “European culture” (23%) and “Rivers: the waters of life in Europe” (16%).
The next stage of the multi-year journey is scheduled for the 2024-2025 two-year period, when the ECB will organize a visual motif and design competition on three selected themes. After this, in 2026, the Governing Council will finally decide what the design of the new euro banknotes will be and whether it will represent “only one theme of European culture” or “only the theme of rivers and birds or both.” This time, Eurozone citizens will again be asked about visual motifs and designs.
The new banknotes will have to be put into circulation after 2026, and the entire process will be completed by 2030.
As Italian economic and financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore explained, “there are three reasons that prompted the ECB to begin the long and tedious process of replacing banknotes in circulation, which will end in 2026 with the start of production.”
Firstly, it is the “need to keep up with technology to combat counterfeiting,” which is becoming increasingly technologically aggressive and sophisticated. ECB technical experts will present to the Council a range of measures to improve the reliability of euro banknotes.
Secondly, “it responds to the need to make banknotes stronger, more sustainable, and therefore more environmentally friendly. Future banknotes should last longer and be recycled at a lower cost.”
“Finally,” writes Il Sole 24 Ore, “thirdly, the ECB intends to use themes and designs that will make the banknotes more inclusive, which could emotionally involve Eurozone citizens in their unification. The current theme of bridges serves precisely to represent a more united Eurozone, without representing individual countries.”