Currency top of bill on the campaign trail

Date: 28/11/1996

By Simon Coss

SELLING money is a concept usually associated with the world's currency markets. However, in this case it is precisely the task the European Commission, Parliament and member states have to undertake in the run-up to the January 1999 euro deadline and the change-over period beyond.

The two EU institutions are coordinating a multi-billion-ecu publicity campaign aimed at convincing citizens that giving up their familiar national currencies for a single European model should be welcomed rather than feared.

The precise tone of campaigning varies from member state to member state, with national administrations focusing on the particular aspects of the single currency debate of most concern to their citizens.

“Our role is really to provide a set of basic information tools and data which can then be used by member states as they see fit. The idea is to use the principle of subsidiarity as much as possible for this campaign,” said a top Commission official.

In France and Germany - without which the single currency will not get off the ground - information campaigns are already well under way, with the French supermarket chain Leclerc recently launching a scheme to get customers used to the idea in all its stores.

The project was inaugurated by Economics Commissioner Yves-Thibault de Silguy and aims to familiarise customers with the concept of the euro through techniques such as double pricing, where the prices of goods are prominently displayed in both francs and euros.

The Paris metro is now adorned with posters bearing the slogan: 'How much is that in euros?' and similar campaigns are being adopted across the country.

In Germany, Bonn and the Bundesbank recently had a row over the best way to promote the single currency. Chancellor Helmut Kohl is said to have asked the bank to support the government's pro-euro campaign, but the bank declined - on the grounds that while it wholeheartedly backed EMU, working so closely with the government of the day would compromise its status as an independent institution.

The German campaign takes the form of television advertisements, debates, press information, posters and high-tech products such as CD-Roms. Opinion polls throughout the country have shown a consistent split between politicians and industrialists, nearly all of whom are broadly in favour of the euro, and the general public, who mistrust it and appear loath to give up their cherished deutschemarks.

Further south, the atmosphere appears much more relaxed. In Greece, which no one seriously expects to be in the first wave of single currency members, the euro nevertheless seems very popular.

“Given the instability of the drachma, most people here are very positive about the prospect of moving to the euro. Consequently, our information campaign will basically be concerned with giving people practical facts about the single currency rather than trying to convince them of its merits,” said an official at the Commission's Athens office.

“The big public campaign will coincide with the selection process for the first states to join the euro. Whether or not Greece is part of that initial group, it is important that people understand how things are progressing,” said a Greek official.

Perhaps the most difficult market-place for the 'euro-sellers' is the UK. Along with the Danes, the British have an 'opt-out' from the single currency, and the whole issue is a political minefield.

The Commission stresses it is in not trying to convert the UK into a nation of 'euro lovers'. “We are simply trying to inform people about the issues surrounding the single currency and let them know what is happening in other member states,” said one London-based official. “To run the sorts of campaigns currently under way in France or Germany would simply be counterproductive here. There you are talking about governments who are in favour of the euro, here things are still undecided; it is not our place to become involved in national politics.”