Almost half of all euro coins in circulation are one and two cent coins. However, some of them cost more than they are worth. Now the EU is also announcing that it will at least play through an abolition scenario. That sounded different at the beginning of the year.
One and two cent coins will probably remain in regular circulation in the EU for at least a few years. The EU Commission in Brussels announced that it would present a legislative proposal for an EU-wide abolition of micro-money at the end of 2021 at the earliest. Until then, the authority wants to first evaluate the use and assess the consequences of abolition.
The Commission first raised the issue earlier this year. In January, she called for common rules on rounding in trade and announced consultations with Member States. At the time, it was said that they did not aim to abolish the smallest coin, even if this would save costs for transport and production of the coins and the effort involved in counting.
In Germany, representatives of the CDU, SPD and Greens spoke out in favor of abolition. AfD, Left and FDP opposed it. In some EU countries – such as Finland, Holland and Italy – the amount has been rounded to the nearest five-cent amount in retail for a long time.
According to the European Central Bank (ECB), around 36.7 billion one-cent coins and around 28.2 billion two-cent coins had been put into circulation in the euro area by the end of last year. They make up almost half of all euro coins in circulation. According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, a one-cent coin is more expensive to produce than its face value.
. (tagsToTranslate) Economy (t) Cash (t) EU (t) EU Commission (t) ECB