Welcome to the Year of the Euro!

Euro Changeover News
editor: Patrick O'Beirne Systems Modelling Ltd.

Traduisez / Übersetzen / Tradurre / Traduza / Traduzca

NewsNow euro newsfeed updated every 5 minutes. (Opens a new browser window) Especially for euro news junkies!

EUbusiness - business news from the European Union EUbusiness news ticker

News |Free Newswire: |EMU |Any Answers: |Search

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/World/European_Monetary_Union/ Yahoo! Daily News on the euro

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&group=europa.union.euro Google archive of the euro newsgroup

http://lightningfield.com/eurotrash/ is a journalist's weblog with correspondents in many eurozone countries.

You want the bad news first? The following gaffes were reported to the Risks Digest by Paul van Keep. See the subject: "Peak time for Eurorisks" at http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/21.84.html

* A housing society in Eindhoven (The Netherlands) has sent out bills for next month's rent in Euro's. But the amount on it is the same as last month's rent, which was in guilders, a 2.2x increase. The society has declared that anyone who paid the incorrect amount will be fully refunded and will get a corrected bill later.

* A branch of ING bank in Blerick inadvertently inserted the wrong cassette into an ATM, which began to give out Euro bills instead of Guilders. This was illegal before January 1st, 2002. The bank has traced the bills and all but 10 euro have already been returned.

* Rabobank has made an error in its daily processing of 300,000 automatic transfers. Instead of transferring guilders, the transfers were made in Euro's, again 2.2x what should have been transferred. The bank hopes to have corrected the mistake before 6pm tonight (Due to the Euro changeover, no banking activity will take place in any of the Euro countries on monday).

* (Just somewhat related:) Two companies thought they were being really smart by putting Eurobills in Christmas gifts for their employees. They have been ordered by the Dutch central bank to recover all those bills or face charges.

ING bank debits wrong sum from accounts: About 51,000 customers who withdrew money from their ING Bank account on 1 & 2 Jan 2002 (through an ATM) have had the wrong amount debited from their account. The bank hasn't yet given an explanation for the error other than to suspect that it was related to the high stress their systems were under during the first few days of the new year. The amounts debited from customer accounts was a hundred times what they withdrew from the ATMs. This got some people into trouble when their balance went negative and they could no longer use their bank PIN card to pay with in shops. ING Bank corrected the error yesterday.

THE FIRST WEEK OF THE EURO

The following stories were collected thanks to the Euro Information Network

JAN 8

What does the euro mean for the working class http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10370762 WSWS

EU companies http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10364390 EU Business

JAN 7

UK:

Exchange rate is 6th key test for euro http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10338215 Guardian http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10338182 Guardian http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020107000993&query=euro FT

Italian minister resignation http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10340345 Irish I. http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10337734 Times http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020107000911&query=euro FT http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?p30059077 Financial R.

Euro launch hurts waiters tips http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10333375 News24

ECONOMICS & BUSINESS:

Global e-tailers adopting the euro http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10341807 ComputerUser

Euro joy set to fade http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3EPFK65WC FT

Price increases in Germany http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020107000874&query=euro FT

INTERNATIONAL:

What the euro means for US tourists http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10341283 Denver BJ

Americans are not anti-euro http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020107000913&query=euro FT

JAN 6

JAN 5

JAN 4

JAN 3

Eurocreep http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020102000794&query=euro FT http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020102000905&query=euro FT Letters http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/article.html?id=020103001218&query=euro FT Letters

UK firms warned over euro hype http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10255932 vnunet

Small businesses at risk over euro timetable http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10256806 EU Business

Euro could fail says Italy's Martino http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10252517 AFX

Shopkeepers need more low-value euro notes http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3R7TTKZVC FT

Arrival of euro could hit cashflow http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10254572 Accountancy A.

Euros can survive boiling http://www.newsnow.co.uk/cgi-bin/NGoto/10258174 FOX

JAN 2

For up-to-date answers to frequently asked questions on the impact of EMU and the euro currency on IT systems, visit http://www.sysmod.com/emu.htm

That page links to this comprehensive euro FAQ rated by Yahoo.com as #2 "Related Web Site" (#1 is the European Commission)
http://www.sysmod.com/eurofaq.htm

and a constantly expanding directory of euro-related web links worldwide is at
http://www.sysmod.com/euro-web.htm
and national official pages at
http://www.sysmod.com/euro-links.htm

I publish a free monthly newsletter "PraxIS" focusing on IT topics. Let me know if you'd like a sample issue. You can sign up free by sending a blank email to

mailto:eurois-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

- your email address is confidential and will not be disclosed to third parties.

My book "Managing the Euro in Information Systems: Strategies for Successful Changeover" was published by Addison Wesley in August 1999, ISBN 0-201-60482-5. The accompanying CD has software, fonts, web links, and europapers.

Reviews, the table of contents, and a link to buy the book online can be seen on the web at:

http://www.sysmod.com/maneuris.htm

The book is aimed at IT managers and business executives. It covers history, regulations, business strategy, IT strategy, project planning, conversion methods, and case studies. 11 chapters, appendices, 368 pages.

Thank you,

Patrick O'Beirne