BRUSSELS, Jan 1: Europe's historic New Year switchover to the euro was heralded with fireworks and millions of enthusiastic citizens rushing to obtain their new single currency.

"All reports are positive," EU monetary affairs spokesman Gerassimos Thomas told reporters on Tuesday after the midnight launch of euro cash across the 12 nation currency zone.

From Lisbon to Athens, Rome to Helsinki, automatic cash dispensers had been spewing out crisp new euro banknotes to millions of New Year revellers eager to get their hands on the new money, Thomas said.

Banks in Spain, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Finland were open exceptionally for a few hours on Jan 1 to give excited eurozone citizens a chance to get their euro banknotes.

"People have been able to obtain euros in all member states," Thomas told reporters. Thirteen hours after the launch of euro cash in the 12 member currency zone, "the mood is good...people are enthusiastic. They want to touch and feel the euro," he added.

Banks and retailers are bracing for a more difficult Jan 2 as Europe gets back to business. But Thomas said there were enough euro bank notes and coins in circulation to prevent any mishaps. "We expect things to go well," he insisted.

Euro celebrations were especially spectacular in Brussels.

Over 18,000 people assembled at Brussels' historic Cinquantenaire Park for a massive firework display heralding the historic midnight launch of Europe's first-ever single currency.

Despite freezing temperatures, euro-enthusiasts eager to get their hands on crisp euro banknotes, also queued up at automatic teller machines across Brussels. Cash withdrawals reached an "absolute record" of 600 per minute throughout Belgium, said Banksys, the company managing Belgium's wide network of cash machines.

"This money is for 300 million people, not just for financial markets," said Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders.

Despite upbeat EU assessments, reports from Paris and other EU cities said many ATMs in the city were either not working or were giving out national currencies, not euros, to disappointed customers.

Shopkeepers said eurozone's elderly citizens were especially wary of the new currency and wistful at the loss of their national money while young people "even in Germany where the public has been especially euro-sceptical - had no such qualms".

Europe's new currency is a dream come true, said European Commission President Romano Prodi. "Now we have made this dream a reality," Prodi said.

EU officials said they were confident that the arrival of euro cash would give a much-needed boost to the euro's faltering performance on foreign exchange markets and also strengthen Europe's global status.