ECB selects ‘European culture’ and ‘Rivers and birds’ as possible themes for future euro banknotes

• European culture and Rivers and birds chosen as possible themes • Advisory group to propose motifs by the end of 2024 • Governing Council expected to choose final designs and decide when to produce and issue new banknotes in 2026

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) selected European culture and Rivers and birds as the possible themes to choose from for future euro banknotes. The decision takes into account the results of surveys conducted during this summer, published in a report last week, for the European public to express their preferences from seven shortlisted themes.

In the survey commissioned by the ECB, European culture was most popular (21%) among euro area citizens, followed by Rivers: the waters of life in Europe (18%) and Birds: free, resilient, inspiring (17%). The survey comprised a representative sample of 23,377 Europeans.

The ECB also conducted the same survey online throughout July and August, attracting a record number of more than 365,000 responses from Europeans. The results complement the findings of the representative survey. The same three themes were preferred, albeit in a different order. In both surveys, the other four shortlisted themes were ranked substantially lower.

To reflect the public’s preferences as broadly as possible, the Governing Council gave its approval to combine

Rivers: the waters of life in Europe and Birds: free, resilient, inspiring into a single nature-related theme.

“We are very happy with the strong participation in our online survey,” said ECB President Christine Lagarde. “Both of the chosen themes share a common thread of connecting Europe and Europeans, and this is very much in keeping with our goal of making banknotes more relatable to people of all ages and backgrounds.”

The Governing Council decided to establish an advisory group to propose motifs for the selected themes by the end of 2024. After that, a competition to design the new banknotes will be held and European citizens will again have the chance to express their preferences on the design options.

“Banknotes are a symbol of our European unity, now and in the future. We are committed to ensure that everyone can choose how they pay, be it using cash or digital payments,” said Executive Board member Piero Cipollone.

The ECB is expected to decide on the final designs and when to produce and issue the new banknotes in 2026. Once a decision to produce new banknotes has been taken, it will still be several years before the first banknotes are issued.