WRITTEN QUESTION E-1194/02 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Consequences of introduction of the euro: failure to exchange national coins and notes which are no longer valid.
Date: 2002-04-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Union membership, devaluation, euro, foreign currency, participating country (euro area), purchasing power, single monetary policy, third stage of EMU

12.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 309 E/95

(2002/C 309 E/109)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1191/02

by Jacques Poos (PSE) to the Council

(26 April 2002)

Subject: Destruction of EU-funded Palestinian infrastructures

Following the large-scale attacks and numerous instances of violence perpetrated by the Israeli army during
their recent campaign to reoccupy autonomous Palestinian territories, can the Council reassess the damage
caused to infrastructures funded by the EU and its Member States?

Given that elementary legal principles demand that damages be made good, how does the Council intend
to claim compensation from Mr Sharon’s government?

Will the Council undertake to assist the Palestinian Authority in its efforts to secure just compensation
through all available legal means?

Reply

(30 September 2002)

The damage caused to infrastructures financed in whole or in part by the EU is being reassessed and may
be followed, if a decision is taken in this respect, by reparation claims in the appropriate fora. The Council
has not considered whether to support the Palestinian Authority in its own efforts to secure compensation.

(2002/C 309 E/110)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1194/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(26 April 2002)

Subject: Consequences of introduction of the euro: failure to exchange national coins and notes which are

no longer valid

1.
Is the Commission aware that, in a number of Member States belonging to the euro zone, it has been
reported that a substantial proportion of national coins and notes, valid only until 28 February 2002, have
not been exchanged against the euro, which has been legal tender since 1 January 2002?

2.
Does the Commission agree that this clearly is not accounted for merely by coins or notes that have
been mislaid or kept for collection purposes, as the total amount of former national currencies not
exchanged is far higher than could reasonably have been anticipated?

3.
How does the behaviour of citizens in relation to the exchange of currencies differ between the
twelve Member States concerned? Could the Commission indicate for each Member State what amount and
percentage of coins in circulation up to 31 December 2001 have not been exchanged as of a reference
date (cid:1) the same date for all the countries concerned (cid:1) between 1 March 2002 and 1 May 2002? Could it
also give the corresponding amounts and percentages for bank notes?

4.
Does people’s failure to exchange currency point to a lack of confidence in a euro which, within the
space of three years, has lost a quarter of its value against the dollar, and/or reflect the hope of a possible
return to the old currencies, which it is believed would have given them greater purchasing power against
the dollar had the currencies been retained?

5. What steps are being taken to determine the reasons for the failure to exchange currency? Could the
Commission present a report to Parliament within a year on those causes?

6. What possibilities does the Commission envisage for compensating in some way the citizens of the
countries concerned for the loss of purchasing power arising as a result of the disappearance of part of the
money supply?

C 309 E/96

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

12.12.2002

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(13 June 2002)

It is quite normal for a proportion of notes and coins not to be returned when there is a
1. and 2.
change of currency (some have been lost, kept by tourists abroad or kept by the public as ‘souvenirs’). In
the Commission’s view it is too early to tell whether there is anything unusual about the volume of notes
and coins returned, since the public can still take them to the bank for several months more in most
participating Member States and will be able to return them to the Central Bank and/or Treasury for years,
if not indefinitely.

3.
By 3 May 2002 almost 93 % of national bank notes (in terms of value) had been returned to the
Central Banks and counted. The return rate varied on that date from 86.9 % (Luxembourg) to 95.8 %
(Greece). Because of delays in counting the coins, there are no recent reliable figures available for them.

4. and 5.
The failure to return a proportion of the former national notes and coins can be attributed to
the reasons given at 1 above and in no case reflects a lack of trust in the new currency; on the contrary,
the public rushed in large numbers to obtain it in the first few hours of 1 January 2002.

6.
There is no need for compensation, as the public will continue to be able to exchange without
charge any old national coins and notes they may still have for a very long time, if not indefinitely, with
the appropriate authorities.

(2002/C 309 E/111)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1195/02

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(26 April 2002)

Subject: Consequences of

introduction of the euro:

increase in consumption and in individual bank

accounts showing a deficit

Is the Commission aware that, since the introduction of

1.
the euro, many consumers in the
Netherlands have been spending substantially more money, thereby running the risk of exceeding their
income and seeing their bank accounts go into the red, and that this is due not only to the intervening
price rises but also to the fact that the higher value of the euro makes prices appear lower than in the
recent past?

2.
Is this phenomenon reflected to the same extent in consumer behaviour in all of the twelve countries
in the euro zone, or are there noticeable differences, particularly, for instance, between the group of
countries where the old currency was worth less than ten euro cents or even less than one euro cent
(Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy), the group of countries where the euro is
worth between two and seven times the value of the old currency (France, Finland, the Netherlands and
Germany) and the Republic of Ireland, where the old unit of currency had a significantly higher value than
today’s euro?

3. What steps have been taken to date to advise consumers concerning the new threat of overspending
faced by them? Are these measures being prepared and implemented only at Member State level, or have
the Commission or the European Central Bank also prepared such measures?

4. What additional measures does the Commission believe need to be taken during the remaining
months of 2002 in order to ensure that people have a realistic picture of their purchasing power following
the introduction of the euro?

5.
Is the Commission holding discussions on this matter with Member States whose governments are
considering introducing the euro in future and, where appropriate, with applicant countries undertaking to
do the same? What lessons are being drawn from the problems that have occurred in connection with the
introduction of the euro in the twelve countries?