WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2897/97 by Phillip WHITEHEAD to the Commission. Proposal for a Council regulation on denominations and technical specifications of Euro coins
Date: 1997-09-17
Institutions: European Parliament, WHITEHEAD
Subjects: EU financing, euro, industrial manufacturing, money, product design, product safety, public health, scientific research, technical specification

C 158/18

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

25. 5. 98

If  the  new  research  and  the  scientific  opinion  echoes  the  concerns  already  expressed  about  the  health
consequences of using a nickel alloy in the 1 and 2 euro coins, does the Commission intend to modify the existing
proposal?

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

(98/C 158/23)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2897/97

by Phillip Whitehead (PSE) to the Commission

(17 September 1997)

Subject: Proposal for a Council regulation on denominations and technical specifications of euro coins

After  having  formally  transmitted  the  above  proposal  (COM(97)  0247) (1)  to  both  the  Parliament  and  the
Council,  it  appears  that  the  Commission  have  decided  to  consult  the  Scientific  Committee  for  Toxicity  and
Eco-toxicity of Chemical Compounds regarding the health implications of the proposal to use a nickel allow in
the 1 and 2 euro coins. It also appears that the Commission is financing further research in this area.

Given this:

1.  Can the Commission give details of the additional research being carried out?

2.  When does the Commission expect the results of the research to become available?

3.  Will the Scientific Committee on Toxicity and Eco-toxicity of Chemical Compounds await the results of this

research before reaching an agreement?

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

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2896/97 and E-2897/97
given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission

(11 November 1997)

When  adopting  the  proposal,  the  Commission  announced  it  would  be  revised  in  the  light  of  the  work  of  the
scientific  committee  for  the  toxicity  and  ecotoxicity  of  chemical  compounds  on  the  risk  arising  from
manipulating coins containing nickel.

The committee has now released its preliminary report which states that there is no evidence to suggest that
current coinage is associated with the onset of sensitivity to nickel. On the basis of the very limited information
available, the committee has concluded that a very few cases of allergies to nickel affecting either the general
public or workers handling coins in a professional capacity, may have been caused by the release of nickel from
coins  in  circulation.  In  the  committee(cid:146)s  opinion,  it  is  unlikely  that  the  new  coins,  even  with  a  similar  nickel
release rate, would cause a greater risk.

The committee is now carrying out scientific tests to assess the nickel release rate of the new coins. The results of
these tests should be available in the next few weeks.

However, regardless the results of these investigations, the Commission, decided, in its proposal, to minimise the
nickel content of the new coins by using, when available, nickel-free alloys satisfying technical and security
requirements, thereby reducing the overall nickel content in coins from the current 75% to 8%.