The European Monetary Institute yesterday (2 April) gave the first details of what the single currency will look like…

Date: 04/04/1996

...but left open the key question of whether the notes will be the same for all participating countries. They will, however, include the initials of the European Central Bank in five variations (ECB, BCE, EZB, EKT and EKP) to match all 11 EU official languages and bear the EU symbol of 12 stars. The EMI warned in its annual report that progress towards economic and monetary union would be “a bumpy road”, but said there was a “reasonably high probability” that it could start on time in January 1998.