It has been 25 years since the euro became legal currency, in France and in the 10 other countries which adopted it in 1999. Habits, however, die hard. According to our exclusive survey, 51% of French people sometimes continue to convert the price of their purchases into francs.
The birthday went almost completely unnoticed. And yet, since January 1, 2024, it has been 25 years, a quarter of a century, since the euro became the legal and unique currency of eleven countries, including France. Since then, the euro zone has grown to now include 20 countries.
It must be remembered, in fact: when the coins and notes of the new currency were put into circulation, on January 1, 2002, it had already been 3 years, since January 1, 1999, that the euro was in fact our currency, the only value on the exchange market, instead of the French franc, the German mark, the Italian lira or even the Spanish peseta. Three years, also, since the parity between the franc and the euro had been fixed, precisely, 6.55957 francs for one euro.
In 2022, MoneyVox dedicated a file to the 20th anniversary of the arrival of euro coins and notes in our wallets. On the occasion of these 25 years, and a few months of the European elections (scheduled for Sunday June 9), we asked our partner, YouGov Franceto question you again about the impacts of this change for you (1). Here’s what comes out of it.
Forget the franc? Impossible for many
Some of us will probably never arrive forget the franc. In 2024, half of the people questioned (51% precisely) continue (always, often or sometimes) convert the price of their purchases into francs when paying. A figure which has not changed one iota since the previous wave of our survey, in December 2021. Unsurprisingly, this figure tends to increase with age, but not in a linear way: it is higher among those aged 35 -44 years (60%) than among those over 45 (57%).
Practice, obviously, is reflex. Because more than 20 years later, doing the conversion no longer makes much sense, as prices have since increased, and so have wages. Thus, taking into account the monetary erosion due to inflation, today one would need to have 1495 francs (or 228 euros) in one’s pocket to obtain the equivalent of the purchasing power of 1000 francs in 1999. (2).
Also relatively stable is the balance of power between the defenders and detractors of the red coins. You are 39% (compared to 41% a little over 2 years ago) reject the idea of eliminating 1, 2 or 5 euro cent coins, compared to 52% (51% in 2022) in the opposite case. Clearly, the subject continues to divide.
The idea emerged in France in 2019, but for the moment remains without a future. This is not the case in countries like Ireland, the Netherlands or Belgium, where 1 and 2 euro cent coins almost no longer circulate, rounding to the nearest 5 centimes as much as possible. the rule. The objective is to save public money. The manufacture and circulation of these coins, in fact, is expensive, more expensive than their face value: 1.2 euro cents, for example, for a coin worth one euro cent. Defenders of red spices fear that their disappearance will drive up prices, through upward rounding.
Payment: when will 1 and 2 euro cent coins be abolished?
Future posts: Simone Veil, the Curies and de Gaulle in full swing
The euro is today one of the rare currencies not to feature the faces of personalities on its banknotes. 2 years ago, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the euro, the European Central Bank (ECB) opened the door to such a possibility, announcing that it would consider develop their graphics. The project is still current, but there is little chance that they will come to fruition through the display of personalities. In November 2023, following a public consultation, two new representation themes were chosen: European culture and rivers and birds.
If, despite everything, the choice was made to pay homage to personalities on the tickets, who, in France, would deserve to be included? This is the question asked by our partner YouGov France.
As in 2021, Simone Veil comes in first position, cited by 38% of those questioned, a short head ahead of Pierre and Marie Curie (35%) and Charles de Gaulle (32%). Jacques Delors, a father of united Europe, recently deceased, comes in 4th position (9%), tied with another socialist personality, Franois Mitterrand.
Stars of sport, song and cinema, on the other hand, are not successful. Favorite personality of the French, Jean-Jacques Goldman receives a relatively low score (3%). The same goes for football star Kilian Mbapp (3%), undoubtedly considered a little young for such an honor and still surpassed, almost 20 years after his sporting retirement, by Zinedine Zidane (4%).
(1) Survey by YouGov France for MoneyVox, among 1011 people representative of the French national population aged 18 and over. The survey was carried out online, on the YouGov France proprietary panel, from January 11 to 12, 2024. (2) Source: INSEE.