Euro faces its first big test

New Year's Day tourists at the Eiffel Tower pay for entry in euros

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Europe's new single currency is facing its first real test as stores reopen after the New Year holiday and people return to work with the new bills in their pockets.

On a mostly problem-free holiday debut, some of the 300 million Europeans who will be using the euro flocked to automated teller machines throughout New Year's Day -- their first chance to get their hands on the multicoloured euro notes.

Italy's Banca di Roma reported record ATM action -- 21,000 withdrawals by late afternoon on Tuesday, totaling 3.5 million euros ($3.1 million). In Belgium, more withdrawals were logged by 8 a.m. than in the entire day a year ago.

The European Union's executive Commission called the first day of the currency switch in 12 European countries a success, saying no major glitches were reported from any of the new euro-using nations.

VIDEO CNN's Richard Quest reports people in Frankfurt, Germany, are slowly but surely adapting to using the new Euro currency (January 1) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   PHOTO GALLERY Euro launch: Images across Europe    MORE STORIES • Europe's leaders hail new currency  • U.S. execs sceptical     IN-DEPTH • Ready or not How the single currency will affect you • On the Scene  Reports from correspondents around Europe   ON AIR Join CNN International for coverage of the euro launch  including a special Business International Jan 2, 1400 GMT    QUICKVOTE Now it's here, do you feel happy with the euro? Yes No View Results

"No news is good news," spokesman Gerassimos Thomas said.

But CNN's Al Goodman in Madrid reported long queues at banks with teething troubles for cash machines.

"Some cash machines in Spain quickly ran out of small euro notes and were dispensing only a 50 euro note. And some machines gave only pesetas, with no euros at all," he said.

EU officials conceded the real test would come on Wednesday, the first day of business following the New Year's holiday.

Complicating matters, bank workers in Italy and France are expected to go on strike, putting pressure on management at a crunch time.

French banking workers unions said a planned one-day strike would go ahead despite appeals from the country's finance minister not to spoil the historic moment.

The bank staff are complaining that they have not had a pay rise despite the extra workload linked to the euro's debut.

The two Bank of Italy unions planning a walkout are trying to force mediation of a contract dispute.

Nearly 300 million Europeans started 2002 with the new currency, with the president of the European Central Bank saying it marked a "symbolic bridge" towards economic unity.

Fifty billion coins and 14.5 billion bank notes -- totaling $568 billion -- became legal tender amid a fanfare of celebrations across Europe at midnight on New Year's Eve.

So far concerns about crime proved largely unfounded with police reporting few problems except for a theft from a bank of 90,000 euros ($79,720) near the Spanish city of Zamora.

CNN's European political correspondent Robin Oakley said the conversion to the euro did see prices being rounded up rather than down -- it now costing more, for example, to light a candle in a French cathedral.

But Oakley said the political significance of the move was shown by the politicians who turned out to celebrate the euro's launch.

WHAT THEY SAID I think they're quite beautiful. photographer Kris Kushulck in Brussels They're smaller and less bright. I thought they'd be garish. William Dukelow, comparing euro notes to Belgian francs It's just how it is, nothing special. Go and shop, money is all the same. Sandra Meier in Frankfurt It doesn't look real. It's small, isn't it? It's a funny colour. It doesn't smell like money. Irish tourist Kieran O'Brien in Amsterdam God how ugly! They look so cold metallic, boring and soulless. Michela Moccia in Rome Now that I have the money in my hand, I have the feeling of connection -- as if we share the same language. Thekla Bauer in Frankfurt Our pound was always insignificant, irrelevant, unrecognized in the world. This right here puts us on the map. Gerry Duggan in Dublin Sources: AP, Reuters

"It is undoubtedly the biggest integratory move in the history of the European Union," he said.

The euro is now legal tender in Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

Former currencies, such as the drachma, peseta, franc and lire, will continue to be legal tender in the eurozone countries until the end of February, when the euro becomes the sole currency.

Three European Union countries -- the UK, Sweden and Denmark -- have yet to sign on to the euro and are retaining their own currencies.

The euro was introduced in 1999 when national currencies were pegged to it at fixed rates and ceased to be traded independently on currency markets. Since then, marks, francs, guilders and lire have essentially been local versions of the euro.

Bank balances, stock prices and companies earnings reports, among many other things, were already spelled out in euros. But the psychologically important moment for most people was being able to hold a euro in their hand.

Most of the eurozone's 170,000 cash machines should now dispense only euros. Major shops will be giving change only in euros, under agreements between governments and major retail groups.

If everything goes according to plan, these measures will remove most of the old cash from the economy within two weeks, although it can still be used for up to two months depending on the country.

National central banks will exchange the old money for years but the ECB predicts most transactions will be all in euros by January 15.