Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Central Bank Third report on the practical preparations for the future enlargement of the euro area COM(2006) 322 final
Date: 2006-10-26
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: accession to the European Union, convergence criteria, enlargement of the Union, euro, euro area, report

30.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 324/57

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Communication from the
Commission to the Council,
the European Economic and Social
Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Central Bank ‘Third report on the
practical preparations for the future enlargement of the euro area’

the European Parliament,

COM(2006) 322 final

(2006/C 324/22)

On 13 July 2006, the European Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social
Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned
proposal.

On 4 July 2006 the Committee Bureau instructed the Section for Economic and Monetary Union and
Economic and Social Cohesion to prepare the Committee's work on the subject.

Given the urgent nature of
the European Economic and Social Committee appointed
Ms Roksandić as rapporteur-general at its 430th plenary session, held on 26 October 2006 and adopted the
following opinion by 102 votes to 1 with 4 abstentions.

the work,

1. Summary

consolidate the majority of the national plans for the adoption
of the Euro.

The EESC believes that the Commission Communication
1.1
accurately and exhaustively sets out
the current process of
preparing for the Euro in Slovenia, as well as the progress made
by the ten other Member States that are due to adopt the Euro
once they meet the necessary conditions. It therefore endorses
the Commission Communication.

1.2
The EESC recommends that the Commission think care-
fully about the matter and, where possible, takes account of the
Committee's recommendations in its future reports and recom-
mendations.

2. Commission Communication

2.1
The Commission document is the regular annual report
on progress made by the eleven Member States (1) that are due
to adopt the Euro and become members of the Euro area once
they have met the necessary conditions. It is already the third of
its kind since 2004. The present report was drawn up ahead of
the normal November deadline because of the anticipated enlar-
gement of the Euro area with the entry of Slovenia on 1 January
2007 (2); it provides a detailed review of current preparations in
that Member State. Ongoing practical preparations at national
level
in the other ten Member States are also set out in the
report.

2.2 With regard to the process of enlarging the Euro area,
which is the political and economic responsibility of Member
States, the Commission emphasizes the importance of careful
forward planning and in-depth, comprehensive preparation
which should involve both the public and private sector, as well
as the wider public. In its conclusions, the report lists further
steps that need to be taken in Slovenia. It also stresses the need
to step up preparations in the other Member States and to

(1) All the new Member States which joined on 1 May 2004 are Member
States with a derogation by virtue of Article 4 of theAccession Treaty.
Sweden became a Member State with a derogation in May 1998.

(2) Council Decision 2006/495/EC and Council Regulation (EC) No.

1086/2006, both dated 11 July 2006.

3. General Conclusions

3.1
This is the first Commission report to be examined by
the EESC on the practical preparations for the future enlarge-
ment of the Euro area, although it is already the third in a row
to be issued since the Euro area was established in 2002. None-
theless,
it should be emphasised that the introduction of the
Euro must not be considered and dealt with merely as a tech-
nical project, but rather as a major change with significant
economic, monetary and social consequences.

individual

they represent

3.2 Member States are, without a doubt, the ones responsible
for making sure that the adoption process is a success. However,
it should be emphasized that all civil society organisations need
to be involved, given that
interest
groups and ensure the active involvement of such groups in that
process throughout the Member States due to adopt the Euro.
The current enlargement will take place in individual Member
States and not in twelve all at once, as was the case in 2002
when the Euro was introduced. In 2001, the EESC noted that
not only had a significant amount of resources been mobilised
for that process, but that also all the interested parties had been
active in the changeover, and that the public had been well
prepared and fully involved (3). It is particularly important, and,
indeed, urgent, to ensure that the same conditions prevail
in
Slovenia, given that the country is less than three months away
from adopting the Euro.

Opinion polls (4) show that the Slovenian public is the
3.3
best informed about the Euro, out of all the Member States due
to enter the Euro area. The information campaign carried out
with national and European funding contributed significantly to
the Slovenian public,
this.

is nevertheless worrying that

It

(3) OJ C 155 of 29.05.2001.
(4) Annex to the third Commission report, working document, SEC(2006)

785, 25.

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according to the latest Eurobarometer opinion poll carried out
in April 2006, is also the most sceptical about the effects on
inflation of the Euro's introduction, even more so than in those
Member States deemed to be the most sceptical about
the
Euro (5).

3.4 Monitoring the prices of both goods and services, espe-
cially public sector services, in the run up to the introduction
and for a specified period afterwards, can significantly help
reduce public scepticism about the negative effects of adopting
the Euro. It also reduces the possibility of unjustified price hikes
and ‘rounding up’ in currency conversion. The European Parlia-
ment resolution on the enlargement of the Euro zone (6) draws
attention to similar problems.

Voluntary cooperation between consumer organisations
3.5
and traders is appropriate, but not sufficient. Publishing a moni-
toring review on the price of goods every three months in the
final run up to the Euro does not seem enough to minimise the
negative public perceptions about the effects of introducing the
Euro.

4. Specific recommendations

4.1
The Committee proposes that the Commission recom-
mend that in their preparations for adopting the Euro and in
addition to the necessary information campaigns, Member
States pay special attention to ensuring that all interest groups
are involved in the process, with the support of civil society
organisations. To this end, Member States and the EU should
provide financial resources to train and prepare the various
interest groups for work and life with the new Euro currency.

4.2
Serious consideration should be given to the introduction
of arrangements for monitoring the prices of public sector
services, as well as monthly price changes for goods and services
generally, during the six month period prior to the Euro's intro-
duction and for at least one year afterwards. Member States
could thus in future avoid the shortcomings detected during the
2002 introduction of the Euro and again during subsequent
enlargements of the Euro area.

Brussels, 26 October 2006.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

(5) Ibid, 31.
(6) European Parliament resolution on the enlargement of the Euro zone

of 1 June 2006, pt. 12.