Communication from the Commission - The use of the Euro symbol
Date: 1997-07-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Monetary Institute, European symbol, ISO, euro, international standard

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COMMISSION  OF THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  23.07.1997 
COM(97) 418  final 

COMMUNICATION  FROM THE COMMISSION 

The  use  of  the  TC-uro t symbol 

T he  use  of  the  ^ . u ro  symbol 

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Since  the  meeting  of  the  European  Council  in  Dublin  on  13/14  December  1996,  the 
Commission  is  using  the  symbol  € 
in  its  own  publications  to  designate  the  single 
currency,  the  euro.  Since  then  this  symbol  has  been  widely  used  by  national 
administrations, central banks and by the private sector. 

The  European  Monetary  Institute  on  15  July  1997  acknowledged  the  need  for  a 
distinctive codified  symbol  for  the single currency  and announced  that it will support the 
logo. 

Given the broad  support the euro symbol  has received, the  European Commission  invites 
all  currency  users  to  use  the  symbol,  as  described  in  the  annex,  whenever  a  distinctive 
symbol  is needed  for the description  of monetary  amounts  in euro, e.g.  in price  lists and 
invoices, on cheques and in any other legal instruments. 

The  F.uropean  Commission  will  undertake  all  the  necessary  steps  for  the  registration  of 
the  euro  symbol  with  the  International  Organisation  for  Standardisation  (ISO),  which  is 
responsible  for  the  standardisation  of  glyphs/fonts,  keyboards,  character  transmission 
codes, etc., with a view to enabling the insertion of the symbol  in computer systems. First 
contacts have shown that the providers of information  technology  would support  such an 
approach. A prominent position  of the euro symbol, in particular  on keyboards, will help 
economic agents in their preparatory  work for the introduction  of the single currency  and 
will promote the widespread use of the new symbol. 

The  euro  symbol  was  designed  by  the  Commission  services.  The  final  choice  from 
among several designs was made following  a qualitative assessment by the general public 
conducted  by a specialised  organisation. The €  is inspired  by the Greek epsilon pointing 
back to the cradle of European  civilisation  and  the first  letter of  Europe, crossed  by two 
parallel  lines  to  indicate  the  stability  of  the  euro.  The  early  definition  of  a  distinctive 
symbol  for  the euro  also  reflects  the vocation  of  the euro  to  become  one  of the  world's 
major  currencies. 

EURO  SYMBOL 

Information on the Commission's 
communications  plan  "Euro: one 
currency  for  Europe",  can  be 
obtained  from  D.G.X  (Informa 
tion,  Communication,  Culture 
and Audio-Visual Media), 
J.P. Malivoir, 
Tel: (+32-2) 29537.87. 

Pour obtenir des informations  sur 
le  programme  de  communicaton 
de  la  commission  intitulé  "Euro: 
une  monnaie  pour  l'Europe", 
s'adresser  à  la  D.G.X  (Infor 
mation,  Communication,  Culture 
et Moyens audio-visuels), 
J.P. Malivoir, 
Tel: (+32-2) 29537.87. 

Informationen  ùber  den  Kommu-
nikationsplan  der  Kommission 
"Euro: eine Wâhrung fur Europa", 
kônnen  bezogen  werden  bci  der 
GD X (Information, Kommunika-
tion,  Kul&ir  und  Audiovisuelle 
Medien), 
J.P. Malivoir, 
Tel: (+32-2) 295.37.87. 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(97) 418 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

09  01  10  15 

Catalogue  number  : CB-CO-97-429-EN-C 

ISBN 92-78-23799-X 

Office  for Official  Publications of the European Communities 

L-2985 Luxembourg 

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