European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg said today a smooth introduction of euro notes and coins next year would be of paramount importance for the bank's image.
Speaking at the National Bank of Belgium in the first of a series of ECB roadshows to raise awareness about the changeover, Mr Duisenberg underscored the psychological impact the euro's physical launch would have.
"Euro bank notes will be seen as the face of the ECB ... Therefore next year is also of paramount importance for the public image of the ECB as an organisation," he said.
"If we succeed we will make an important contribution to convincing people that Europe is not an abstract and remote idea but something real and something dynamic," he said.
Mr Duisenberg said the fact notes and coins were being introduced three years after the launch of the euro on January 1, 1999, was mainly a psychological drawback but added, To my mind, it is one of the greatest handicaps that we the euro system of central banks have been facing.
He noted that use of the euro has so far been limited despite the fact it has been possible to make payments in the currency for two years.