The European Commission was to decide on the abolition of the red coins during the second quarter of 2022 but nothing came of it. According to our information, proposals will be made in December on the subject. In 2022, France minted 300 million coins of 1 to 2 euro cents.
December 2021, a YouGov poll for MoneyVox revealed that a narrow majority of French people (51%) said they were in favor of the elimination of red coins, these euro cents which clutter up their purses. In detail, these are mainly those of 1 and 2 cents which are targeted, unlike those of 5 cents which always allow rounding. This great debate did not happen like a hair in the soup: in May 2022, 72% of European citizens who responded to a consultation (17,000 voters out of more than 320 million inhabitants) on the subject, felt that the 1 and 2 euro cent coins were not useful.
The European Commission had promised to take up the subject by the end of the second quarter of 2022 at the latest and since… nothing. The European Commission will make proposals as it has promised to do, its press service told us. The subject of the abolition of 1 and 2 cent coins is still open. It would be a question of setting up common rounding rules for the whole of the euro zone, explains La Monnaie de Paris MoneyVox.
Brussels will decide before the end of 2022, Paris is patient
At the French level, we are still talking about 13 billion coins of 1 and 2 cents that have been put into circulation in France since the changeover to the euro in 2002 and the Paris Mint has still produced nearly 300 million in 2022. Yet five European countries have already taken the plunge by ending these pennies: the Netherlands, Italy, Finland, Belgium and Ireland and Italy. France could decide alone, guarantees La Monnaie de Paris. But, according to our information, the European Commission will decide before the end of the year, probably in December, and France does not wish to take a unilateral decision. A position that satisfies, by the way, Brussels, little softened by the solitary copes.
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The subject is not new in France. As early as 2018, experts recommended ending the circulation of 1 and 2 cent coins because of their production cost, which is higher than their face value. But the UFC-Que Choisir wondered in return about the dangers of such a decision on consumer finances. It is to be feared, in view of past experiences (switchover to the euro; reduction of VAT in catering) or foreigners, that traders round up prices to the higher unit… Under the guise of saving the taxpayer, consumers are made to drink …, she wrote then.
The current inflation in the euro zone around 10% is not unrelated to the delay taken by the European Commission. In effect, many leaders fear the mood swings that could be caused by the disappearance of the 1 and 2 cent coins if it is accompanied by a further price increase. In the meantime, the last support of the European currency to have disappeared is… a banknote. That of 500 euros in 2019.