Euro: introduction and use, legal framework for the enlargement of the euro area

 The committee adopted the report by Dariusz ROSATI (PES, PL) amending the proposal under the consultation procedure:

- the transitional period should be one year;

- the period of parallel cash circulation should be limited to two months;

- banks should continue to exchange old national notes and coins free of charge for up to three months after the end of the dual circulation period;

- lastly, the committee wanted future entrants to the euro area to make thorough preparations for the cash changeover, including an active communication strategy providing for the dual display of prices in euros and the national currency well in advance of the changeover so that citizens have time to adapt to the new scale of values.