European Central Bank to unveil euro banknotes

The European Central Bank is to reveal the final design of euro banknotes today.

It's the opening shot in a publicity campaign to prepare the euro-zone's 300 million citizens for January's switch to the new currency.

The Euro-bank will display for the first time the seven different denominations of banknote, complete with their security features.

The changeover to euros will mark an historic step forward in the process of closer European integration, which began with France, West Germany, Italy and the three Benelux countries signing the Treaty of Rome in 1957.

The Euro-bank has argued that the most effective way of increasing awareness of the euro is to mount a saturation campaign in the final four months of this year.

National governments and the Euro-bank say they do not expect businesses and shops to cheat unsuspecting consumers by unfairly raising prices when converting them from national currencies to euros.

But some concern has been expressed over the Euro-bank's decision to leave the launch of the publicity drive until now.

In all 12 countries, governments, banks, retailers and other institutions have launched information campaigns, but surveys suggest that much remains to be done.

Whereas the display of prices in euros has been a common sight for months in regions such as the south of France and Catalonia, it is less noticeable in parts of Germany and Italy.