Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-07-03-Speech-2-110"
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"en.20010703.6.2-110"2
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".
Mr President, following the speech by the President of the European Central Bank, Mr Duisenberg, I wish to comment briefly on a few points. I shall refer basically to Mr Maaten’s report, since I agree with Mr Duisenberg’s comments on the report by Mrs Randzio-Plath.
1 January 2002 will mark a milestone in the history of European integration. The whole world will be closely observing what happens in Europe. I am convinced that the institutions, the Member States, and the Central Banks will prove up to the task and I wish to thank Parliament once again for the cooperation it has given us in all aspects of preparing for the process of replacing national currencies with the euro.
First and foremost, I should like to point out that access to starter kits for coins is not limited to one per person. I agree with the decisions that have been taken by the various countries. It is possible to obtain more than one kit in all of these countries.
Mr Duisenberg referred to ‘frontloading’, which is the advance circulation of low denomination notes in automatic cash machines. I should simply like to make one comment, which is that the Commission report to which some of you have referred is a simple report for calculating how much time would be needed to fully replace a national currency with the European currency according to the quantities currently being made available through automatic cash machines. This is a statistical analysis, which therefore assumes that there will be no increase in the rate at which this money is used and nor does it take into consideration sources other than automatic cash machines. In any event, I wish to point out that the existence of transitional periods is justified precisely because the entire operation will not be able to be completed immediately.
With regard to sales, the Commission takes the view that these should be delayed for two weeks so that they do not coincide with the introduction of notes and coins. Nevertheless, this is a national decision, which must be taken by each Member State.
I must make one comment on the risk of price increases resulting from the changeover to the euro: the Commission has considered the matter and takes the view that the crucial factor for preventing the changeover to the euro being used as an opportunity to raise prices is the dual display of prices in both the national currency and in the Community currency. We have, of course, insisted on other measures, such as requiring public administrations to round down their charges or, in any event, maintaining the principle of neutrality. Some of the positions held by the Commission have been accepted by the Eurogroup, which issued a statement on 4 June adopting these points.
I should also like to recall, in response to some of the speeches I have heard today, that the period for the dual display of prices should in principle be limited to the first six months of next year and then dual pricing should disappear.
The practical messages for the public that you are proposing as regards the awareness-raising campaigns can be introduced by means of the cooperation that Parliament is pursuing with the consultative group on the practical aspects of the changeover to the euro, which is made up of the individuals in charge of the various national campaigns.
I should just like to make one comment on electronic payment: the Commission has tried to ensure that for the purposes of the changeover to the euro, European banking federations and associations move ahead with reducing charges for electronic payment. We have not, however, made any headway on this matter.
Both the Commission and the European Central Bank are committed to moving ahead with reducing charges for cross-border transactions. We are aware that this is not an easy task and that varying approaches between national and cross-border payments might give rise to some conflict with internal market legislation. The Commission is studying potential occurrences in order to facilitate and speed up as much as possible this process of reducing cross-border charges."@en1
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