URO-11 Thanks to Economic and Monetary Union, the finance ministers of E.U. countries have come to overshadow foreign ministers in European affairs. Now at least some of them have invited themselves to one further turn on the international stage. At Luxembourg's Senningen Castle last week, the finance ministers of the 11 E.U. countries currently in the eurozone held the inaugural meeting of the so-called Euro-11. The group excludes representatives of the four E.U. countries--Denmark, Greece, Sweden and the United Kingdom--that will not adopt the euro next year.

The club's declared purpose is to help coordinate tax and budget policy within the eurozone. But some suspect that its true raison d'etre is to serve as a French-inspired political counterbalance to the European Central Bank's governing council, which this week begins setting monetary policy for the euro. The German government scotched initial French plans to set up a permanent secretariat for Euro-11, but acquiesced to French Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn's call for regular consultations between the group and E.C.B. president Wim Duisenberg. British Chancellor Gordon Brown played out the paradoxical role of the non-euro U.K. by opening the meeting with brief remarks--and then leaving.

FAKES Counterfeiters as well as entrepreneurs may find opportunities in the new single currency. The German Federal Criminal Office (B.K.A.) predicts a higher level of bogus money during the first six months of 2002, when the bulk of holdings in 11 currencies will be exchanged for euros. The lag before people become familiar with the look of the new currency is a window of opportunity for forgers. After June 30, 2002, fake national currency can no longer be palmed off on unsuspecting cashiers, but has to be exchanged at more exacting central banks. So police and banking experts expect forgers to try to unload their fake bill stocks before the bar is raised.

The long-range prognosis for European counterfeiters is poor, however: where there were once 11 currencies to mimic, there will soon be only the euro, which will feature the latest in anti-counterfeiting security measures. Other criminals will also come under increased scrutiny. Says B.K.A. president Ulrich Kersten: "The mandatory exchange of cash earned from illegal acts gives law enforcement officials the chance to spot not only money laundering, but also the underlying crimes."

MULCH The deutsche mark fueled the post-war economic miracle, survived recessions, and bankrolled the effort to unify Germany. Little wonder that the prospect of trading it in for the untested euro in 2002 unsettles many Germans. But the currency will have one last heroic task: fertilizing German gardens.

Umweltschutz Nord, a company based in Ganderkesee near Bremen, mixes shredded banknotes with organic waste like grass-clippings and potato peels to create a rich compost. Despite the mark's legendary hardness, it takes only about eight weeks for it to decompose into mulch.

Last month the company transformed about $17 billion worth of old bills to fertilizer. But the switch in 2002 will present the Herculean task of disposing of virtually the entire stock of deutsche marks--some 2.6 billion notes. Says company spokesman Gustav Henke: "We can't deal with that much."

Not yet, at least. The company is considering setting up compost operations at some of its 17 branches throughout Germany, allowing the deutsche mark to maintain its utility even in the dustbin of history.