The Origin of Euro Banknotes

The Heads of State and Government at the European Council in Dublin (13-14 December) emphasize the need to make the EURO a tangible reality for citizens and approve the EURO banknote specimens presented by the European Monetary Institute (EMI).
Specifically, in early 1996, the EMI launched a banknote design competition around two themes (“Ages and styles of Europe” was the first and “Abstract/modern design” the second), which it had chosen. Out of 44 anonymous proposals from designers and design teams appointed by the EU Central Banks (except Denmark, which did not want to influence its potential future accession to the eurozone in this way), the design chosen on December 3 by the EMI and later presented/announced at the Dublin Summit, belonged to a professional banknote designer at the Austrian Central Bank, Robert Kalina (from the theme “Ages and styles of Europe”) and emphasized windows, gates, and bridges as architectural elements. The EMI’s design selection was based on the decision of an independent jury consisting of distinguished professionals in the fields of marketing, design, and art history who selected the ten best designs (five per theme), on a public opinion survey in the then 14 member states involving about 2000 people who had to choose among ten banknote designs following the pre-selection made by the jury, and on the opinion of the Banknote Working Group which dealt with technical observations on these ten designs.
This selection was essentially the first step towards creating the euro banknotes. The final designs of the banknotes were approved in 1998 by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.
On the same day in Dublin, these designs were also presented to the Press by Alexandre Lamfalussy and Willem Frederik Duisenberg. The Heads of State and Government decided at the European Council in Dublin to reappoint Baron Alexandre Lamfalussy as President of the EMI from January 1, 1997 to June 30, 1997. They also decided to appoint the President of the Central Bank of the Netherlands, Dr. Willem Frederik Duisenberg, as President of the EMI from July 1, 1997 until the establishment of the European Central Bank.