Monitor: All the News of the World European press verdicts on the launch of the euro

TODAY, 11 currencies disappear from screens as trading in euros begins. Gone are the powerful Deutschmark, the solid Dutch guilder, the often shaky Italian lira. And gone is the Irish pound. Should we regret it? Anti-euro campaigners see a separate Irish currency as a badge of independence. History says otherwise. Our currency could never be truly independent. It had to be tied to one of the giants. When anti-euro campaigners call Irish entry "undemocratic", they are talking nonsense. We voted for it when we endorsed the Maastricht Treaty. We chose the fate of our currency, and staked the future of our economy, by democratic decision.

The Irish Independent

THE EURO'S dream start must not lull us into a false sense of security. In contrast to the old D-Mark, the new currency has yet to establish the necessary trust, particularly in the awareness of the public. The majority of German citizens remain sceptical. The euro is the project of political elites, and not of the corner groceries, the craftsmen or the pensioners. There is barely another area of European policy in which the gulf between politicians and voters appears so wide.

Suddeutsche Zeitung, Germany

THE INTRODUCTION of the euro is a revolution, an unprecedented voluntary surrender of national sovereignty. We owe monetary union to the vision and the determination of our leaders and central bankers. They have given us back some faith in politics.

De Standaard, Belgium

THE COMMON currency will not solve the problems of the international financial crisis or the misery of the third world. It's not even going to solve the problems of the European Union's social coherence. Furthermore, it will not constitute a panacea for the Greek economy's problems.

Let's leave the other Europeans to celebrate joining the euro and let us take care in the two years to come to reinforce our economy, to make our businesses more competitive and to emphasise social cohesion.

Eleftherotipaa, Greece