11. EURO NOTES AND COINS
(24155)
5039/03
COM(02)747
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Commission Communication on introduction of euro banknotes and coins — one year on.
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| Legal base: | —
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| Document originated: | 19 December 2002
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| Deposited in Parliament: | 10 January 2003
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| Department: | HM Treasury
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| Basis of consideration: | EM of 21 January 2003
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| Previous Committee Report: | None
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| To be discussed in Council: | No date fixed
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| Committee's assessment: | Politically important
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| Committee's decision: | Cleared
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Background
11.1 From time to time the Commission has reported on
practical aspects of the changeover to euro notes and coins. The
last in the series reviewed their introduction and we reported
on that document in May 2002.[35]
The document
11.2 Apart from an executive summary, a fact-sheet and
an introductory paragraph claiming "the changeover to the
euro: a great success" the Commission's report is in five
sections.
11.3 In the first of these sections — on banknotes
and coins in circulation in the euro area — the document
covers the numbers and denominations of notes and coins in circulation,
cross-border flows of notes and coins, collector and commemorative
coins, nickel in coins and counterfeiting.
11.4 The second section — on the citizen and the
euro — presents the results of a Eurobarometer poll based
on 1,200 interviews in November 2002. According to the poll 51.5%
of euro area citizens have no difficulties with the use of the
euro. This ranges from 71.7 % in Ireland to 36.5% in France. Only
9.5% of the interviewees claimed to have experienced a lot of
difficulty. This section also reports views on thinking in euros,
dual displays of prices, satisfaction with the euro and the effect
of euro cash on cross-border trade and price transparency.
11.5 The document has a section on the impact of the
changeover on inflation, discussing the development of consumer
prices and the discrepancy between perceived and actual inflation.
The Commission concludes that price increases have occurred in
some sectors, with significant price jumps in the service sector.
But the overall effect on consumer price inflation is rather limited
— Eurostat's latest estimate of the likely inflationary
effect of the changeover is between 0.0% and 0.2%.
11.6 The fourth section of the Communication gives an
overview of the effect of the introduction of euros notes and
coins on the banking sector (with an increase in non-cash transactions
and in the size of automated teller machine withdrawals), and
on the retail, cash in transit and vending machine sectors.
11.7 The final section of the document deals with the
use and acceptability of euro notes and coins outside the euro
area. It notes that acceptance is relatively commonplace in Denmark,
both among tourists and citizens, less so in Sweden and only occasional
in the UK. This section also:
- considers the situation in the accession countries;
- notes that in Andorra, the Vatican City, Monaco, San Marino
and Montenegro the euro is legal tender and that it is used widely
in Kosovo;
- examines the situation in Africa, America, Asia and Oceania.
The Government's view
11.8 The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Ruth Kelly)
tells us there are no policy implications in this document.
Conclusion
11.9 The document has some interesting information
about the year since the introduction of euro notes and coins.
We clear the document.
35
(23334) 7020/02; see HC 152-xxvii (2001-02), paragraph 22 (1 May
2002). Back
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