Introduction

Edmund L . Andrew 's January 2 , 2002 New York Times article , ``Europeans
Resolve to Embrace the Euro ' is about the events that happened when the
European Union changed from12 national currencies to one currency -the
euro . After midnight on January 1 , 2002 , Austria , Belgium , Finland ,
France , Germany , Greece , Ireland , Italy , Luxembourg , the Netherlands ,
Portugal and Spain all changed from their old money to the euro . Over
the first few weeks of January , 650 ,000 ,000 euros were expected to enter
circulation in the twelve countries . It was the biggest currency switch
in history and while it happened pretty easily , there were a number of
minor complications including businesses refusing the new currency and
some cafes and shops running out of the new money .
Andrews reported that the old currencies would still be accepted in all
of the countries until the end of February . Store clerks and cashiers
had to manage two currencies (the old one and the euro ) which caused
stress and confusions . Converting old prices to the new euro prices
caused a fair amount of anxiety in the first day and some bank machines
and other services were not yet equipped . In France and Italy some
workers were threatening to strike .
Even with all these problems , the changeover happened fairly easily . In
the new money already on the first day and police worries about
counterfeiting did not happen . Most people were positive about the euro
and rushed to get some of the new money as soon as it was available
after midnight .
Works Cited
Andrews , Edmund L . ``Europeans Resolve to Embrace the Euro (as Soon as
They
Spend Their Old Bills ' New York Times 2 Jan . 2002 , Late ed :
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