E-day is almost upon us. In just four days, euro notes and coins will replace national currencies in 12 of the 15 EU member-states marking the realisation of one of the greatest political dreams in history.

Champagne corks will pop across Europe as some 300 million people prepare to surrender their national currencies. The more sceptical will watch for inevitable hiccups.

The euro will become the single currency of Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal, with expectations that Britain, Denmark and Sweden will join some time in the future. The unflattering acronym Baffling Pigs has been suggested as the best way to remember which states are participating in the euro club.

Euro notes and coins will become legal tender on January 1st, 2002, and will replace the 12 national currencies by the end of February. In the Republic, the pound will be taken out of circulation by February 9th and the last of the existing euro-zone currencies will vanish by February 28th.

Coordinating the switch to the euro has been a monumental logistical exercise. In the biggest movement of cash in peacetime, some 50 billion coins and 14.5 billion banknotes are entering circulation.

One billion bank accounts will automatically be converted into euros on January 1st. Around seven million vending machines, 140,000 cash machines and four million tills, will be filled with the new currency.

Businesses and the international money markets are well versed in the new currency having switched to the euro on January 1st, 1999, when it was first introduced on the world currency markets.

But for most Europeans the euro will only become a reality on E-Day when they begin to pay for groceries and services in euro notes and coins. An intensive media awareness campaign should ease this transition, although it will inevitably take days and even months for some to feel confident about the new currency.

Euro bank notes in each of the 12 member-states will be indistinguishable but the coins will be unique. Irish euro coins will have a Celtic harp and ╔ire on one side, German euros will have eagles, oak twigs and the Brandenburg Gate on various denominations and the Spanish coins will carry the image of King Carlos 1.

The most unusual coin and the one most likely to be sought by collectors is the Vatican coin. The Vatican has designed its own set of 670,000 coins featuring the Pope's profile. All coins will be accepted throughout the euro zone.

In the words of EU Commissioner for monetary affairs Mr Pedro Solbes: "Citizens will hold a piece of Europe in their hands every day."

But worries persist about the practicalities involved. Transporting such quantities of cash has been a huge exercise and there are concerns that central banks may have underestimated the quantities of coins required and could have to mint more before all the national currencies are withdrawn from circulation.

European Central Bank (ECB) president Mr Wim Duisenberg believes the circulation of the euro will truly mark European integration. "It will, I believe, help to change the way in which we think about one another as Europeans. The euro is more than just a currency. It is a symbol of European integration in every sense of the word," he said.

In the past two years the 12 member-states have surrendered the two most important controls over their economies - the right to devalue money and set interest rates - to facilitate the introduction of the single currency.

For all the planning, the central bankers could not have foreseen a looming recession and doubts about the euro's stability as an international currency have been further threatened by economic problems in Germany.

The chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Mr Alan Greenspan, recently expressed "tremendous respect" for the euro - a view many commentators believe he did not have five years ago.

A key challenge will be for the ECB to reassure the international markets that its management of the euro-zone economies will be effective. The greatest reservation centres on whether a uniform economic policy will be appropriate for each of the 12 member-states that are facing different economic problems.

The single currency by itself will not break down the barriers that are still impeding the completion of a single EU market. There are still huge price differentials between goods and services in the various states and it will take many years before these are dissolved.

The introduction of the new currency has also triggered a massive spending boom across Europe as billions of francs, deustchmarks, pesetas, pounds and schillings have been emptied out of jam jars and from under mattresses. The so-called black economy is estimated to be worth up to €1 trillion, with the amount of cash held believed to be anywhere from €100 billion to €300 billion.

A lot of this money has never been declared for income tax and many people have decided the best way to regularise it is to spend it. Most of this money has gone into luxury goods and property.

Those travelling to any of the participating EU member-states will immediately see the benefits of a single currency, in terms of convenience and price transparency.

Within the euro zone, consumers will be able to compare the price of a cup of coffee, a car or a house, from Galway to Andalusia.

A major concern for consumers is that the euro's introduction will trigger a surge in prices as retailers round up prices. It is up to consumers to be vigilant and the Director of Consumer Affairs will also be maintaining a watching brief. But sadly there are no sanctions that can be applied other than the naming and shaming of those taking advantage of the transition.

Just a few days ahead of E-Day, there is a high level of confidence that this final and most crucial phase of the euro project will go relatively smoothly. Many political and logistical hurdles have been overcome already but a few hitches are inevitable.