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| | CNN - Europe wakes up to new year and new currency - December 31, 1998 |
 | | The euro will be used immediately for electronic financial and business transactions, but euro coins and notes won't be issued to the general public until January 2002. |
 | | The introduction of the euro will change the fields of finance, industry, commerce and international relations for the participating nations: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. |
 | | Creation of the euro is seen as one of the most extraordinary steps in Europe's long history, forging a common future as an integrated economic power when, just over 50 years ago, many were enemies on the battlefield. |
| www.cnn.com /WORLD/europe/9812/31/euro.01 (620 words) |
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