Europe Is Changing The Design Of The Euro

• 4.10.2026, 13:14

The range of possible topics has narrowed to two: “Birds and Rivers” and “European Culture.”

Voting recently concluded, during which European Union residents had the opportunity to decide what future euro banknotes will look like. The portal explains when the EU currency will get a new design and how long the old banknotes will remain valid: ujszo.com.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has long been working on replacing the EU’s official paper currency; following extensive consultations and design development, the range of possible themes has narrowed to two: “Birds and Rivers” and “European Culture.” During the vote, EU residents could choose one of five design options for each of these two themes.

The ECB reported that approximately 9.96 million EU citizens—or 2.6 percent of the eurozone’s population—participated in the vote for the new design. Participation was high across all age groups, including young people: two-thirds of the responses came from people under 35.

The vote took place from July 23 to September 21, but interim results have not yet been published.

A decision will be made only after the results have been compiled and recommendations have been received from the independent jury of the design contest—this is expected by the end of this year. At that time, detailed reports on the surveys will be published, including data on the distribution of votes by individual member states.

The ECB emphasizes that the new banknotes will feature state-of-the-art security features and will also offer improved characteristics in terms of accessibility and environmental sustainability.
However, they will not enter circulation anytime soon. According to the ECB’s estimates, this is unlikely to happen before the early 2030s.

However, this does not mean that the current banknotes will disappear overnight: as the new banknotes are gradually introduced, the existing ones will remain in circulation.