Depicts the Cologne Cathedral and a comet passing by above it. The inscription XX World Youth Day is written in the upper part of the centre, separated by the tail of the comet and two of the cathedral's spires, one of which extends into the outer ring. The outer ring contains the inscription Vatican City in the lower half and the twelve stars of the European Union in the upper half, with the year mark and the mint mark (R) separating them in the top centre.

Designer: Daniela Longo
Engraver: Ettore Lorenzo Frapiccini (ELF, INC is the Italian abbreviation for 'engraver')

A geographical map of Western Europe spans the outer ring and inner core on the right side of the coin. The inscription 2 EURO is superimposed over the map of Europe, with the numeral “2” located in an open field representing the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

12 stars are located on the right side of the outer ring, with six stars atop the map of Europe and six stars below it; six vertical stripes cut across the inner core of the coin, visually connecting the upper and lower star segments.

Luc Luycx, a designer at the Royal Belgian Mint, designed the Euro’s common reverse; his initials, LL, are seen on the right side of the design, just under the “O” in “EURO.”

The sequence "2 ★" repeated six times alternately upright and inverted