Brussels, 07/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - Despite some "minor" problems involving a shortage of small -denomination banknotes and some Euro coins (especially in the Netherlands and Spain and to a lesser extent in Germany and France), the European Commission declared on Monday that Saturday had been an important test for the currency and had passed without a hitch in the whole Euro-area. The Commission pointed out that the number of cash withdrawals had returned to normal, as had the length of queues in shops and banks.
The Commission was keen to point out that this success was due to the major efforts made by shopkeepers for getting ready for the transition and the fact that people in most participating countries switched back to electronic payments, which helped to largely simplify payment operations at payout desks. The Commission also claimed that the majority of consumers had changed from their former national currencies to the single currency. On average, almost two thirds of cash payments were in Euro. The highest number of cash payments (above 50%) in Euro is in the Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, Finland and Greece. More than 100% of cash dispensing machines in the Euro-zone - more than 200,000 machines switched to the Euro on Saturday. This figure accounts for 100% of machines in every country except Italy (96% and Spain (98%).
Numerous cases of price increases have been reported by consumer associations and in the press. However, according to reports from the national ministries, the agreements on price stability have been respected. The Commission, nonetheless, has called on consumers to remain on their guard and pay attention to converted prices until they become fully familiar with the new money. In Finland, Italy, Spain, France and Belgium, people have reported excessive price hikes for certain products and services. The Belgian consumer association, Test Achats, declared that taxi drivers, petrol stations and cafés increased their prices by an average of 7% in the months leading up to the introduction of the Euro and called for the public to remain vigilant in January. The French monthly, 60 million de consommateurs, announced that it had received a great deal of correspondence from its readers since the introduction of the single currency about excessive price increases in restaurants, drinks dispensers and toll stations but the commission believes that there has not been any seriously generalised price distortion and that in general, a systematic rounding down of prices had been experienced in Germany, Belgium, Italy, France and Greece.
The Commission has also made the following observations: the increasing use of the Euro by consumers has helped to reduce the problem of shopkeepers when giving change back in Euro; a down or so attempts at circulating very poor copies of Euro notes (photocopies, reproductions) have been detected but no "serious" forgery has come to light; opinion polls in a number of participating countries show that the vast majority of people are satisfied with how the changeover to the Euro has gone.
With a view to facilitating trading in the days ahead, the Commission has urged consumers to pay for their purchases using Euro notes of a value as close as possible to the price payable. The Commission considers that the long queues in banks on Friday were due to people in the Euro-area wanting to change their national currencies into Euro. The Commission also claimed that contrary to expectations, large national bank notes were being used in the shops and small denominations were being changed in the banks. The Commission explained that: in some extreme cases, supermarkets had been obliged to use former national currencies when giving back change and some banks were only changing national notes to Euro, for their customers; on average, 54% of vending machines (drinks dispensers, parking meters, etc.), have been adapted to the Euro (this rate is higher than 80% in three countries - Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The Commission was pleased with the declarations made by the Chines Minister for Finance, Xiang Huaicheng, who last weekend called on the central bank of his country to increase the proportion of Euros in its foreign currency reserves in an effort to be less dependent on the dollar. Pedro Solbes the Commission Spokesman stated that the Chinese Finance Minister's declaration demonstrated the level of confidence in the private sector, which will carry out these transactions in Europe.
Whilst welcoming the operation of the introduction of the Euro coins and notes, Romano Prodi pointed out that beyond the historical task of enlargement, the challenges of the international situation and the debate on the future of Europe, they also had to make some important decisions regarding reform and the follow-up of the European economy in order to make use of the fullest potential for growth. Mr Prodi explained that the progress that has been achieved in the area of economic reforms would be examined at the European Council in Barcelona in March. He also made clear his commitment to continuing the liberalisation of the markets and the modernisation of the social security systems.