COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION of 23 April 1998 concerning dual display of prices and other monetary amounts (98/287/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 155 thereof,

1. Whereas according to the draft Council Regulation on the introduction of the euro (1), the euro will become the currency of the participating Member States as from 1 January 1999; whereas the euro will be substituted for the national currencies of the participating Member States at the conversion rates; whereas during a transitional period the euro will exist in different denominations; whereas the national currency units will be sub-units of the euro according to the conversion rates; whereas according to Article 4(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 (2) of 17 June 1997 on certain provisions relating to the introduction of the euro the conversion rates shall be used for conversions either way between the euro unit and the national currency units;

2. Whereas the issue of dual display of prices and other monetary amounts was discussed at the first Round Table of May 1997 on the practical aspects of the introduction of the euro; whereas as a follow-up to this Round Table, expert consultative groups were set up by the Commission to examine the issues of dual display and of adjustment to new prices and values in euro; whereas the reports of these expert consultative groups have been published (3), and the conclusions, together with the preliminary conclusions of the Commission presented in the Commission communication 'Update on the practical aspects of the introduction of the euro` adopted on 11 February 1998 (4); whereas this approach was discussed at the Round Table of 26 February 1998;

3. Whereas on the basis of those conclusions the Commission is of the view that the use of dual displays will greatly facilitate the transition to the euro for consumers, retailers and providers of services, and that in particular dual displays will be an important instrument of consumer education and protection; whereas dual displays are nevertheless one of the many communication instruments that could be used as part of an overall communications strategy to facilitate the switchover to the euro;

4. Whereas the Commission considers that legislation at Community level on the provision of dual displays would not be the best way of ensuring that dual displays respond to the needs of consumers and at the same time minimise the costs of the transition to the euro; whereas the Commission has concluded nevertheless that where dual displays are provided, adherence to a standard of good practice would improve certainty and clarity for all parties concerned; whereas this standard of good practice should cover the following: clear indication by retailers on whether they are prepared to accept payment in the euro unit during the transitional period; a clear distinction between, on the one hand, the unit in which the price is set and in which amounts to be paid are to be calculated and, on the other hand, the counter-value which is displayed for information purposes only; where appropriate, agreements on common formats or designs for dual displays; and the avoidance of excessive amounts of information, which may be confusing;

5. Whereas Articles 4 and 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 provide rules for the adoption and use of the conversion rates; whereas the conversion rates and rounding rules should be used when calculating the counter-values in dual displays; whereas a dual display should not place an obligation on a retailer to accept payments in euro during the transitional period;

6. Whereas there is a series of provisions concerning consumer protection and information to consumers; whereas Article 4 of Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers (5) states that price displays (sale price and price per unit) should be unambiguous, easily identifiable and clearly legible; whereas the aforesaid Article 4, in the light of recital 13 of the Directive, states that, in the interests of transparency, Member States can limit the number of prices which would have to be displayed in the national currency unit and in the euro unit; whereas recital 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 states that measures other than those contained in that Regulation and in the Regulation to be adopted under the third sentence of Article 109l(4) of the Treaty should be examined to ensure a balanced changeover, in particular for consumers;

7. Whereas for reasons of clarity and completeness the legal requirements as interpreted by the Commission as well as the standard of good practice proposed by the Commission are presented together in this Recommendation; whereas this standard of good practice could serve as a minimum basis for negotiations between professionals and consumers with the objective of agreeing on standards of transparency and information provision; whereas such negotiations have already begun at national and Community level;

8. Whereas it would be desirable for dual displays on 'benchmark indicators` such as bank statements and bills from utility companies to begin early in the transitional period; whereas the introduction of dual displays in the retail sector should be progressive depending on several factors: the pace at which customers wish to make the changeover, the need to educate consumers, on the nature of the retail outlet and on the types of product being sold, and on the technical implications and cost of modifying existing price and financial display systems;

9. Whereas Recommendation 98/286/EC on dialogue, monitoring and information to facilitate the transition to the euro (6) cover measures for the monitoring and evaluation of good practices relating to the introduction of the euro; whereas the Commission would consider legislation to ensure the respect of good practices in the case of dual display should these measures prove ineffective,

HEREBY RECOMMENDS:

Article 1

Definitions

For the purpose of this Recommendation, the following definitions apply:

(a) a 'dual display` of a price or other monetary amount is the simultaneous display of an amount in the national currency unit and in the euro unit;

(b) 'participating Member States` are those Member States which adopt the single currency in accordance with the Treaty;

(c) 'national currency unit` is the unit of the currency of a participating Member State, as that unit is defined on the day before the start of the third stage of economic and monetary union;

(d) 'euro unit` is the currency unit of the euro as referred to in the second sentence of Article 2 of the draft Council Regulation on the introduction of the euro;

(e) 'transitional period` is the period beginning on 1 January 1999 and ending on 31 December 2001;

(f) 'conversion rate` is the irrevocably fixed rate adopted for the currency of each participating Member State by the Council according to the first sentence of Article 109l(4) of the Treaty.

Article 2

Standard of good practice

1. Where a dual display of prices or of other monetary amounts is provided, the following provisions must be complied with pursuant to existing legislation:

(a) the conversion rates must be used for calculating the counter-values in dual displays;

(b) rounding to the nearest cent must be adhered to as a minimum standard of accuracy for prices or other monetary amounts which have been converted from a national currency unit into the euro unit;

(c) dual displays of prices and of other monetary amounts must be unambiguous, easily identifiable and clearly legible.

2. The following basic provisions should also be adhered to.

(a) With particular regard to the clarity of dual displays:

(i) it should be possible to distinguish between, on the one hand, the unit in which the price is set and in which amounts to be paid are to be calculated and, on the other hand, the counter-value which is displayed for information purposes only;

(ii) dual displays of prices and other monetary amounts should not be overloaded with excessive numbers of figures. As a general rule, dual displays of prices on individual products may be limited to the final price which consumers have to pay. As a general rule, dual displays on receipts from retail outlets and on other financial statements may be limited to the total amount.

(b) Retailers should indicate clearly whether they are prepared to accept payment in the euro unit during the transitional period.

Article 3

Implementation

1. Dual displays should form part of an overall communications strategy designed to facilitate the switchover of consumers and employees to the euro.

2. Dual displays on benchmark indicators such as bank statements and bills from utility companies should begin early in the transitional period.

3. The introduction of dual displays in the retail sector should be progressive, and will depend on the need to facilitate the changeover of clients and consumers and the pace at which they wish to make the changeover. It will also depend on the nature of the retail outlet, on the types of product being sold, and on the technical implications and cost of modifying existing price and financial display systems.

4. Professional associations should consider the possibility of establishing common formats or designs for dual displays. They are also invited to provide small retailers with assistance in developing dual display capabilities and other communication activities.

Article 4

Final provision

Member States are invited to support the implementation of this Recommendation.

Article 5

Addressees

This Recommendation is addressed to the Member States and to all economic agents who may provide a dual display of prices or other monetary amounts.

Done at Brussels, 23 April 1998.

For the Commission

Yves-Thibault DE SILGUY

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ C 236, 2. 8. 1997, p. 8.

(2) OJ L 162, 19. 6. 1997, p. 1.

(3) Report of the expert group on the technical and cost aspects of dual displays, Euro Paper No 13; report of the expert group on acceptance of new prices and scales of value in euro, Euro Paper No 18.

(4) COM(1998) 61 final.

(5) OJ L 80, 18. 3. 1998, p. 27.

(6) See page 22 of this Official Journal.