WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3494/97 by Carmen DÍEZ DE RIVERA ICAZA to the Commission. The Euro and commissions charged on currency exchanges
Date: 1997-10-29
Institutions: DIEZ DE RIVERA ICAZA, European Parliament
Subjects: EU Member State, Economic and Monetary Union, bank charges, consumer protection, currency convertibility, national currency, transitional period (EU)













EUR-Lex - 91997E3494 - EN






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91997E3494

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3494/97 by Carmen DÍEZ DE RIVERA ICAZA to the Commission. The Euro and commissions charged on currency exchanges  


Official Journal C 158 , 25/05/1998 P. 0130 





WRITTEN QUESTION P-3494/97 by Carmen Díez de Rivera Icaza (PSE) to the Commission (29 October 1997)Subject: The Euro and commissions charged on currency exchangesA high-level Spanish Government official responsible for economic matters stated that the possibility of financial institutions charging a commission when converting the current peseta into Euros as of 1 January 1999 had not been discounted.Since this exchange is to be obligatory for all Member States adopting the Euro from the start, can the Commission confirm whether or not this possible practice would be a matter at the discretion of each Member State, and if so, can it give a clear assurance that the obligatory exchange would not involve any additional cost to European citizens?Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission (4 December 1997)Although the draft Council Regulation on the introduction of the euro ((OJ C 236, 2.8.1997. The Council has reached unanimous agreement on this text. However, in view of its legal basis (Article 109l(4)), it cannot be formally adopted until the list of Member States participating in the euro is known. )) does not deal directly with the question of conversion charges, it provides material for an answer to the Honourable Member's question.Article 8(3) of the draft in fact obliges banks to convert into euros all amounts credited to their customers' accounts. It applies both to essential conversion operations during the transitional period between 1999 and 2001 (e.g. in cases where the debtor's account and the creditor's account are denominated in different currencies, one in euros and the other in national currency) and to the definitive changeover of bank accounts in 2002.As regards compulsory acts, there is every reason to believe that the conversions will be carried out free of charge for customers. This also applies to the definitive conversion in 2002 of notes and coins in national currency into euros.It should, however, be noted that Article 8(3) does not cover all the questions arising in connection with conversion charges. For example, the invoicing arrangements between 1999 and 2001 for services in euros requested by banks' customers remain an open question, as does the exchange of notes and coins between currencies participating in the euro area in the period from 1999 to 2001.In order to examine these matters, the Commission set up in the spring of 1997 a working group composed of representatives from all the interested parties: banking and professional associations, consumer groups and public authorities. The objective is to determine by the end of the year whether a common approach is required on the part of all the participating Member States and to spell out, also by the end of the year, what needs to be done, if anything, in terms of legislation or a code of conduct.