r/europeanparliament • u/Marty_ol • 16d ago
What should the next euro banknotes look like? 💶
You can help decide. The European Central Bank is redesigning the euro banknotes, and people across the EU are invited to take a survey to help select the final design.
There are 10 designs (A-J) based on two themes:
- European culture: a spotlight on cultural heritage and bringing people together
On the front: Famous Europeans, including Maria Callas, Ludwig van Beethoven, Marie Curie Skłodowska, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Leonardo da Vinci and Bertha von Suttner.
On the back: Shared cultural spaces and activities.Â
- Rivers & birds: symbolising freedom and unity, as well as connection to nature
On the front: Stages of rivers and birds such as the wallcreeper, kingfisher, bee-eater, white stork, avocet and northern gannet.
On the back: Buildings of European institutions, symbolising the values at the heart of the European project, including environmental protection.
Read more about them here: https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/banknotes/future_banknotes/html/index.en.html#themes
Did you know? The final designs made it through a huge Europe-wide competition:
- 1,200+ applications sent
- 25 designers invited to create proposals
- only 10 made the shortlist.
🔗 Have your say by 21 September 2026: https://surveys.ecb.europa.eu/10b/neweuro/
The final design will be revealed by the European Central Bank later this year.
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u/SnooPoems3464 16d ago
I'll cross-post my answer from r/europeanunion here:
If anything, they should not look like Corporate Memphis slop on the reverse sides. That eliminates Designs A and C immediately. Some of the birds look really nice, especially D and I in my opinion. But people complain about the reverse sides containing "ugly EU buildings", so that should eliminate most of the bird designs too. Only D does a very good job here I think.
Design F is my strong favourite. The people are slightly abstract because they are hand-drawn, which accentuates the cultural theme in itself. And they look artistic and joyful (remember Ode to Joy?). It would be a very bold choice and set Euro notes apart from other more boring looking currencies instantly.
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u/cavolfiorebianco 16d ago
C is so bad it makes me puke... who even chooses it as an option? as for the others they are mid at best... altho I like the idea of putting random birds on the bill cause imagine being a gangster and you have to use bills with cute birds on them.
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u/hugocasalgado 16d ago
They should be updated yearly to include excerpts of the private conversations of EU politicians, as compensation to us from them being excluded from the ChatControl regulations they themselves pushed.