The ECB has shortlisted ten euro banknote designs and opened a public vote, but anonymizing the designers has not anonymized the fight over whose Europe gets printed on the money.
- Two themes: "European culture" (Callas, Beethoven, Curie, Cervantes, da Vinci, von Suttner) and "Rivers and birds," which swaps people for river birds and EU buildings.
- The ballot hides designer names behind letters A through J, echoing how the 1996 euro design contest was judged anonymously.
- Poland is already contesting how Marie Curie's name appears on the 20 euro note, pushing for her birth name Sklodowska to be more than a bracketed afterthought.
- The 2002 notes used fictional bridges precisely so no country or person could claim them; this redesign gives that neutrality up.
- The public survey runs through September 21, 2026; the ECB decides the final design around year's end.
