COMMON POSITION (EC) No 1/98 adopted by the Council on 20 November 1997 with a view to adopting Council Regulation (EC) No . . ./98 of . . . on denominations and technical specifications of euro coins intended for circulation (98/C 23/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 105a(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Monetary Institute (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

(1) Whereas, at the meeting of the European Council in Madrid on 15 and 16 December 1995, the scenario for the changeover to the single currency was adopted which provides for introduction of euro coins by 1 January 2002 at the latest; whereas the precise date for the issue of euro coins will be decided when the Council adopts its Regulation on the introduction of the euro immediately after the decision of the Member States adopting the euro as the single currency has been taken as early as possible in 1998;

(2) Whereas, according to Article 105a(2) of the Treaty, Member States may issue coins subject to approval by the ECB of the volume of the issue and the Council may, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 189c and after consulting the ECB, adopt measures to harmonise the denominations and technical specifications of all coins intended for circulation to the extent necessary to permit their smooth circulation within the Community;

(3) Whereas the European Monetary Institute has indicated that euro banknotes will range from five euro to 500 euro; whereas the denominations of banknotes and coins will need to allow for cash payments of amounts expressed in euro and cent to be made easily;

(4) Whereas the Mint Directors of the Community received a mandate from the Council to study and elaborate a report for a European single coinage system; whereas they submitted a report in November 1996 followed by a revised report in February 1997 indicating the denominations and technical specifications (diameter, thickness, weight, colour, composition and edge) of the new euro coins);

(5) Whereas the new European single coinage system should induce public confidence and entail technological innovations that would establish it as a secure, reliable and efficient system;

(6) Whereas the acceptance of the new system by the public is one of the main objectives of the Community coinage system; whereas public confidence in the new system would depend on the physical characteristics of the euro coins, which should be as user-friendly as possible;

(7) Whereas consultations with consumer associations, the European Blind Union and representatives of the vending machines industry have been carried out to take into account the specific requirements of important categories of coin users; whereas, in order to ensure a smooth changeover to the euro and to facilitate acceptance of the new coinage systems by users, easy distinction between coins through visual and tactile characteristics will need to be guaranteed;

(8) Whereas the new euro coins will be more readily distinguishable and easier to become accustomed to if there is a link between their diameter and face value;

(9) Whereas certain special security features are needed in order to reduce the scope for fraud for the one and two euro given their high value; whereas the use of a technique whereby coins are made in three layers and the combination of two different colours in the coin are considered to be the most efficient security features available today;

(10) Whereas giving the coins one European and one national side is an appropriate expression of the idea of European monetary union between Member States and could significantly increase the degree of acceptance of the coins by European citizens;

(11) Whereas on 30 June 1994, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 94/27/EC (4), which limited the use of nickel in certain products in recognition that nickel could be a cause of allergies under certain conditions; whereas coins are not covered by that Directive; whereas, nevertheless, some Member States already use a nickel-free alloy called Nordic gold in their current coinage system for reasons of public health; whereas it seems desirable to reduce the nickel content of coins when moving to a new coinage system;

(12) Whereas it is therefore appropriate to follow in principle the proposal of the aforesaid Mint Directors and to adapt it only to the extent necessary to take into account in particular the specific requirements of important categories of coin users and the need to reduce the use of nickel in coins;

(13) Whereas of all prescribed technical specifications for euro coins, only the value for thickness is of an indicative nature, since actual thickness of a coin depends on prescribed diameter and weight,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The first series of euro coins will include eight denominations in the range from one cent to two euro with the following technical specifications:

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Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1999.

Done at . . .

For the Council

The President

(1) OJ C 208, 9.7.1997, p. 5.

(2) Opinion delivered on 25 June 1997 (OJ C 205, 5.7.1997, p.18).

(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 6 November 1997 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 20 November 1997 and Decision of the European Parliament of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(4) OJ L 188, 22.7.1994, p. 1.

STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

1. On 4 June 1997 the Commission forwarded to the Council the above proposal for a Regulation, based on Article 105a(2) of the EC Treaty.

2. The European Parliament, in its first reading, delivered an opinion on 6 November 1997.

On 17 November 1997 the Commission presented an amended proposal pursuant to Article 189a(2) of the Treaty. This amended proposal takes account of the opinion of the European Parliament and of the amendments suggested therein.

3. On 20 November 1997, the Council adopted its common position pursuant to Article 189c of the Treaty.

II. OBJECTIVE

The above proposal for a Regulation seeks to ensure a smooth circulation of the euro coins within the Community. It introduces eight denominations (1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 euro-cent, one and two euro) and facilitates recognition of different coins by variation of shape, weight, colour and thickness. Additional security features for the one and two euro coins are intended to reduce the scope for fraud.

In reply to public health concerns, the use of nickel is considerably reduced in comparison with the present situation in the majority of Member States.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

The common position of the Council includes several amendments suggested by the European Parliament in its opinion, which were also included in the amended Commission proposal:

- Recital 4 of the common position clarifies that EC Mint Directors elaborated a technical report on the issue whereas the formal proposal was made by the Commission in conformity with the Treaty procedures. (Amendment 1)

- Recital 5 of the common position underlines the necessity to include public confidence in the euro coinage system and to permit technological innovation. (Amendment 2)

- Recital 6 of the common position underlines the necessity to enhance public acceptance by user friendly physical characteristics of euro coins. (Amendment 3)

- Recital 8 underlines the importance of a link between diameter and face value of the coins in this respect. (First part of Amendment 8)

- Recital 10 recalls that giving the coins a European and a national side is appropriate in terms of symbolism ad public acceptance. (Amendment 21)

On the contrary, the Council has not accepted including in its common position other amendments suggested by the European Parliament:

- the suggestion to reduce the number of coins to six was not accepted since this was felt to make cash payments more complicated. (Amendments 7, 15 and 18)

- the suggestion to exclude nickel totally from the surface of all coins has not been followed since it is not necessary on grounds of public health, in particular in the light of the opinion of the Scientific Advisory Committee for Toxicity and Ecotoxicity of Chemical Compounds of 4 September 1997; this opinion concludes that the potential health risk from nickel release of coins is very low and that it is unlikely that nickel released from the new euro coins would cause greater risk for consumers or professionals than is presently the case.

In fact only 8 % of all euro coins will contain nickel and euro coins will thus be far more user friendly than is presently the case in Member States, where about 75 % of all coins contain nickel. Nickel is used in one and two euro coins as part of the security features against fraud. With present technology no viable alternative material is available in this respect (Amendments 10, 12, 13 and 14)

- the suggestion to use stainless steel for the 50 euro cent, and the one and two euro coins was not accepted because of higher production costs related to the use of stainless steel and because it was felt it created too close a similarity to the higher value coins. (Amendments 7, 12, 13 and 14)

- the suggestion to issue a gold coin with a face value of 100 euro has not been accepted on grounds of the probable discrepancy between market value and nominal value and the related risk of speculative hoarding and because the issue of a 100 euro banknote is planned by the European Monetary Institute. (Amendment 11)

- it was felt more consumer friendly in the light of recognition of coins to vary them by shape, weight, colour and thickness rather than to emphasise in this respect the diameter as the Parliament suggested. (Amendments 8 (partly), 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 19)

- the Council did not consider it appropriate to refer to European and national sides of euro coins in the Articles of the Regulation because this Regulation does not deal with graphical aspects. (Amendment 28) However, a reference, as suggested by the Parliament, has been accepted in the recitals (No 10).

IV. CONCLUSION

The Council considers that:

- the common position includes the necessary elements to permit a smooth circulation of the euro coins within the Community,

- the common position takes into account the opinion delivered by the European Parliament and includes several amendments suggested therein, in particular those related to public acceptance.