Belgium updated Albert II's effigy on its euro cents in 2008 following a European Union directive requiring all eurozone member states to redesign their national sides to include the country name — a standardization measure that produced subtle but catalogable distinctions across the entire Belgian cent series. The first portrait of Albert had circulated since 1999 without the "BE" country identifier, a now-corrected omission shared by several founding eurozone members.
Belgium updated Albert II's effigy on its euro cents in 2008 following a European Union directive requiring all eurozone member states to redesign their national sides to include the country name — a standardization measure that produced subtle but catalogable distinctions across the entire Belgian cent series. The first portrait of Albert had circulated since 1999 without the "BE" country identifier, a now-corrected omission shared by several founding eurozone members.