WRITTEN QUESTION No. 169/98 by Sérgio RIBEIRO to the Council. Map of the EU on the euro coins and failure to differentiate two Member States
Date: 1998-01-28
Institutions: European Parliament, RIBEIRO
Subjects: European Monetary Institute, European Monetary System, Portugal, Spain, dissemination of information, euro, information medium, monetary cooperation, money, public awareness campaign

C 196/120

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22. 6. 98

(98/C 196/167)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0169/98

by Se·rgio Ribeiro (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(28 January 1998)

Subject: Map of the EU on the euro coins and failure to differentiate two Member States

The information and publicity material produced by the European Monetary Institute concerning the euro (e.g.
the recently distributed 1998 calendar) has included designs of euro coins showing the EU map in such a way as
to distinguish all the Member States › with the exception of Portugal and Spain, which are lumped together as if
they were a single country. This error (for it can only be an error) has been reported in the Portuguese media (see
the  16  January  1998  issue  of  the  newspaper  (cid:145)O  Independente(cid:146)),  and  the  Council  is  no  doubt  aware  of  the
seriousness and sensitiveness of the matter.

The  cooperation  procedure  for  the  adoption  of  a  Council  regulation  on  the  denominations  and  technical
specifications of the euro coins is now under way; Parliament has adopted two resolutions (on 6 November and
17 December 1997), without, however, making any reference to this error.

Can the Council state what action it intends to take to correct this error and avert its consequences, and what
action or actions it intends to promote so as to alert public opinion to the matter and remedy or alleviate those
consequences which it is now too late to prevent?

Answer

(30 March 1998)

Under  the  Treaty,  the  Council,  not  the  EMI,l  is  competent  to  harmonize  the  denominations  and  technical
specifications of euro coins (Article 105a(2) of the Treaty).

In completing the cooperation procedure with the European Parliament, the Council confirmed, on 19 Janua-
ry 1998, its agreement on the  common  position  with a  view to  adopting a Regulation on denominations and
technical  specifications  of  euro  coins,  after  having  examined  the  European  Parliament(cid:146)s  second-reading
amendments.  The  Regulation  will  be  formally  adopted  after  confirmation  of  the  Member  States  which  are
adopting the euro.

On the other hand, the decision on the design of the common side of euro coins follows a different procedure: by
an intergovernmental agreement all Member States approved, first in the Amsterdam European Council and most
recently alongside the Ecofin Council meeting on 17 November 1997, the final design of that common side.

The design referred to above shows Spain and Portugal as two separate geographical entities.

(98/C 196/168)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0190/98

by Cristiana Muscardini (NI) to the Council

(6 February 1998)

Subject: Dual citizenship for Italians in Belgium

The Strasbourg Convention of 6 May 1963 regulates instances of dual citizenship and, in practice, provides for
the reacquisition of citizenship even when it has been given up voluntarily, since it establishes that the various
positions set out in international agreements remain unaffected.

Thus the Protocol to the Strasbourg Convention has, for example, made the agreements between Italy and France
and Italy and the Netherlands, which allow dual citizenship, operational.

In order to remove the obstacles to freedom of movement and ensure the free movement of citizens, can the
Council introduce the appropriate measures to extend the Strasbourg Protocol to cover the European countries in
which there are large numbers of Italians?

Can it also, in view of the sizeable Italian community in Belgium, extend the Strasbourg Protocol, as a matter of
urgency,  to  relations  between  Belgium  and  Italy,  so  as  to  allow  the  Italians  living  in  Belgium  who  want  to
complete  the  formalities  for  reacquisition  of  their  original  citizenship,  to  do  so,  whilst  keeping  the  Belgian
citizenship which they acquired by means of voluntary naturalization?