DOCSLIB.ORG

Eesti Pank Annual Report 2013

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Eesti Pank Annual Report 2013 EESTI PANK ANNUAL REPORT 2013 2014 CONTENTS FOREWORD BY THE GOVERNOR OF EESTI PANK...................................................................................4 EESTI PANK’S KEY DUTIES ......................................................................................................................7 THE GLOBAL, EURO AREA AND ESTONIAN ECONOMIES ....................................................................10 The external environment .....................................................................................................................10 The Estonian economy and financial sector ..........................................................................................11 ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF EESTI PANK IN 2013 ....................................................................15 Participation in monetary policy decision-making in the eurosystem and implementation of decisions .......................................................................................15 Monetary policy decisions of the Eurosystem ...................................................................................15 Implementing monetary policy decisions in the euro area and Estonia ..............................................16 Managing currency circulation ..............................................................................................................20 Payment systems ............................................................................................................................20 Cash ...............................................................................................................................................24 Safeguarding financial stability .............................................................................................................29 Macro-financial supervision .............................................................................................................29 Financial sector policy .....................................................................................................................31 Consultation and cooperation on issues of economic policy .................................................................34 Monitoring and economic analysis at Eesti Pank ..............................................................................34 Advisory functions ...........................................................................................................................37 International partnerships and public communications .....................................................................38 Compiling statistics for the Estonian financial and external sectors .......................................................45 Investment of financial assets ..............................................................................................................48 REPORTING, GOVERNANCE AND ORGANISATION, AND HUMAN RESOURCES POLICY .....................50 Reporting, governance and organisation, and human resources policy .................................................50 Central bank accountability .............................................................................................................50 Governance and organisation ..........................................................................................................51 2013 Human resources at Eesti Pank .......................................................................................................55 ANNUAL ACCOUNTS OF EESTI PANK FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2013 .......................................................................58 APPENDICES ..........................................................................................................................................91 Decrees of the Governor of Eesti Pank in 2013 ....................................................................................91 Annual Report Decisions of the Supervisory Board of Eesti Pank in 2013 ....................................................................94 Publications of Eesti Pank in 2013 .......................................................................................................95 Strategic focus of Eesti Pank for 2014–2018 ........................................................................................98 Eesti Pank 2 EESTI PANK'S MISSION: As the central bank of the Republic of Estonia and a member of the Eurosystem, we contribute to the sustainable development of the Estonian economy and to increased prosperity for Esto- nia. We keep price growth moderate, setting a common monetary policy together with the other central banks of the euro area and implementing it in Estonia. We maintain the stability of the Estonian financial system by helping to set policy for the financial sector. We ensure that cash is of good quality and promote a safe and efficient payment environment. We give an independent assessment of the state and outlook of the economy, we advise the government on important matters of economic policy, and we produce high-quality statistics. 2013 Annual Report Eesti Pank 3 FOREWORD BY THE GOVERNOR OF EESTI PANK The global economy grew at a moderate rate in 2013 and the euro area economy showed clearer signs of stabilising. Having declined for almost a year and a half, the euro area economy grew by a modest 0.3% in the second quarter, though for the year as a whole it still shrank by 0.4%. Growth was uneven across countries, but generally confidence in the outlook for the euro area has increased and domestic demand has risen. The monetary policy environment in 2013 was quite complicated as euro area credit markets were quite fragmented but inflationary pressures remained low. For this reason the European Central Bank, like the central banks in many other advanced countries, continued with an accommodative monetary policy. Key interest rates have remained at record low levels, and modest price growth and low interest rates have aided a recovery in investment. It is important for the central banks of the euro area that low interest rates be passed on to the real economy and that good business projects be able to get funding from banks on reasonable terms. This will help stimulate the economy, and ultimately facilitate the maintenance of price stability. In 2013 the central banks started to use even clearer forward guidance about monetary policy measures in order to increase the stability of the economy and of financial markets. Greater transparency in decision making mechanisms will help increase the impact of monetary policy. The Estonian economy in 2013 reflected the weakness and volatility in the external environment, with eco- nomic growth unevenly spread across the quarters and totalling 0.8% for the year. External demand was much smaller than had been expected even only a year earlier, and so growth was driven by domestic de- mand, which was primarily based on rising household incomes, and through this by consumption. Growth of this sort is not sustainable however. If wages continue to rise rapidly and external demand to remain low, it will start to hold back the capacity of the economy for growth, as Estonia will lose competitiveness in export markets. Maintaining export capacity is the key challenge for the Estonian economy in the coming years and investment in production capital and human capital are crucial if productivity is to be improved. The second key factor for economic growth in Estonia is the labour market. Imbalances in the labour market, signs of which were mainly seen in 2013 in the excessively fast growth in labour costs given the slowing of economic growth, may also have an effect on public finances. Given the situation in the labour market and the difficulty of assessing the cyclical position, Eesti Pank advised the government in 2013 to observe both the structural balance, without cyclical effects and one-off income or expenditure events, and the nominal balance in planning its short-term fiscal policy. The bank also advised that the general government budget should be brought into nominal surplus as soon as possible and reserves built up, as they could be used to balance the economy in the event of risks being realised. 2013 Eesti Pank must ensure it has sufficient analytical capacity and operational stability in monitoring the economy, economic policy and the banking sector. The decisions, advice and assessments of the bank must be based on thorough analysis and must be presented clearly, and to do this the bank must bring together the best available knowledge in each field. Eesti Pank takes an active and effective role in the Eurosystem, where the European Central Bank and the central banks of the euro area work together, and we contribute to setting the single monetary policy of the euro area and provide top quality advice to Annual Report advance the domestic economy. Eesti Pank 4 The recent financial crisis has given central banks around the globe a more important role in financial supervision. The European Central Bank is preparing to take over responsibility for supervising banks in the euro area, which means that all the central banks of the euro area will have new duties that will help to ensure financial stability. Eesti Pank’s responsibilities in macro-financial supervision are also widening. Eesti Pank’s responsibilities for financial stability have increased, but our role in payments and settlements was reduced somewhat when the Single Euro Payment Area
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Essays on Three Operational and Strategic Problems of Central Banks in a World of Low Interest Rates Or with Interbank Market Frictions
    Essays on Three Operational and Strategic Problems of Central Banks in a World of Low Interest Rates or with Interbank Market Frictions by Thomas Link Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics Heinrich Heine University D¨usseldorf on December 5, 2019, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of doctor rerum politicarum (Dr. rer. pol.) Supervisor and Referee: Prof. Dr. Ulrike Neyer Referee: Prof. Dr. Hans-Theo Normann To Ela, my great love Acknowledgments I am grateful for the privilege that has been granted to me having been allowed to expe- rience the intellectually and personally enriching time I have had as a doctoral student in D¨usseldorf. Ulrike Neyer has substantially shaped this time. She has been an inspiring teacher, a deeply committed and exceptional supervisor, and a tireless discussion partner. I have learned a lot from her in countless hours of intense discussions and from a vast number of valuable remarks she made on my work. I am deeply indebted to Ulrike Neyer for her encouragement, support, guidance as well as for the extraordinary amount of trust and freedom she gave me. I also would like to thank Hans-Theo Normann for his helpful comments and for his readiness to review this dissertation. At the faculty, and in particular at the chair of Monetary Economics, I benefited from having colleagues who contributed to a productive and to an uncomplicated environment and I am thankful for their steady cooperation and support. I gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Heinrich Heine University D¨usseldorf and from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia which funded my position as Ulrike Neyer’s research and teaching assistant.
    [Show full text]
  • Report 2002 Part 2 Activities and Annual Accounts FOREWORD
    Report 2002 Part 2 Activities and Annual Accounts FOREWORD Foreword By Guy Quaden, Governor The most signifi cant event in 2002 was the completion of the changeover to the new European currency. The introduction of euro banknotes and coins and the withdrawal of Belgian franc currency was a massive operation involving practically every sector of the economy. For the central banks concerned, including the National Bank of Belgium, it represented an unprecedented logistical and operational challenge. Everyone agrees that this operation was a great success. The new banknotes and coins were very well received by the people of the twelve euro area countries. The changeover to the new currency marks the completion of monetary unifi cation, and for the central banks concerned, it heralds the start of a new era. The Bank continues to carry out the tasks which it has performed for Belgium for the past 153 years, but in a new context, that of the Eurosystem composed of the European Central Bank and the national central banks of the twelve States which now have a common currency and a common monetary policy. The decisions are taken by the Governing Council of the ECB, while each of the national central banks in the Eurosystem prepares and implements the decisions. Under the Maastricht Treaty, the central banks of the Eurosystem also share the right to issue euro banknotes, hold and manage the foreign exchange reserves and participate in the other tasks of the Eurosystem, in particular promoting the smooth operation of payment systems and the smooth conduct of the policy relating to the stability of the fi nancial sector.
    [Show full text]
  • A Rejtett Gazdaság És a Készpénzállomány Összefüggései
    KAPOSVÁR UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ECONOMIC SCIENCE Head of Doctors’ School: DR. GÁBOR UDOVECZ Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Supervisor: DR. CSABA SARUDI CSc in Economic Sciences Co-supervisor: DR. JÁNOS SZÁZ CSc in Economic Sciences CURRENCY DEMAND AND SHADOW ECONOMY IN HUNGARY Author: BALÁZS SISAK KAPOSVÁR 2010 1. AIMS, AND ANTECEDENT OF THE RESEARCH The euro changeover is late. In the begining of the century it was considered to be quite realistic that we are going to use euro by the end of the decade, but it did not happen until now. The reasons are referred back to the problems of the state’s interference. The reason, which is mostly claimed, that the public redistribution is not effective enough: wasting and abscence of sources is present at the same time. This became more serious when the budget deficit got very high because of short-term economic political decisions. This enlarged our indebtedness and according to this, the interest rate got higher because of the growing risk. This course became accelerating, and the credit crunch was making the situation all worse. The most significant problems are brought by the expansion of the shadow economy. On the one hand the underground economy is deforming the nominal economic indicators and because of this, the Maastricht criterias are not showing the concrete status of the economy, on the other hand the great level of the underground economy is leading to tax evasion and this also causes the delay of euro introduction. In the first part of my dissertation I am reviewing the convergence.
    [Show full text]
  • Counterfeit Currency Report
    CASH DEPARTMENT COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY REPORT January – March 2021 May 2021 Counterfeit Currency Report – January–March 2021 National Bank of Serbia Contents: 1 Expert analysis of banknotes and coins .................................................................. 2 2 Expert analysis of foreign currency banknotes ....................................................... 4 3 Ratio of counterfeit dinar to foreign currency banknotes ....................................... 6 1 Counterfeit Currency Report – January–March 2021 National Bank of Serbia 1 Expert analysis of banknotes and coins In the first three months of 2021, expert analysis of suspected counterfeit banknotes showed that 610 (dinar) notes were indeed counterfeits. Table 1 shows the denomination structure of detected dinar counterfeits. Table 1 Overview of detected banknote counterfeits January–March 2021 (in pieces) Denomination 5000 2000 1000 500 200 100 50 20 Total Pieces 7 202 272 116 0 10 1 2 610 Share in % 1.15 33.11 44.59 19.02 0.00 1.64 0.16 0.33 100.00 Source: National Bank of Serbia In terms of the denomination structure of detected dinar counterfeits, the 1000-, 2000- and 500-dinar banknotes accounted for the dominant share (Chart 1). Percentage wise, these three denominations made up 96.72% of the total number of dinar counterfeits. Chart 1 Denominationstructure of dinar banknote counterfeits, January−March 2021 (in pieces) 33.11% 1.15% 0.33% 0.16% 1.64% 19.02% 44.59% 20 50 100 500 1000 2000 5000 Source: National Bank of Serbia. Chart 2 illustrates the trends observed
    [Show full text]
  • Newcomers' Guide
    Newcomers’ Guide HQ JFCBS – 2014JFC 1 JFC www.jfcbs.nato.int We provide: furniture, appliances, kitchenware lighting, linnen, garden furniture > For more info contact Marc Hul [email protected] • tel.+31 (0)35 542 66 95 IL-advert-2013-A4-nl.indd 1 09/04/14 18:38 Joint JFCB / GK Newcomers’ Guide We provide: Foreword by General furniture, appliances, kitchenware lighting, linnen, garden furniture Hans-Lothar Domröse Welcome to Headquarters Allied Joint Force Command 3 Brunssum. This is the first joint Newcomers’ Guide produced in concert with our neighbors at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen. Within its pages you will find a host of information about the local area and facilities that are available to you at each site. I endorse the guide and hope you find it useful. Having just arrived you will be acclimatizing to your new surroundings but, hopefully, will quickly settle in and start to enjoy the beautiful region of South Limburg. We have always enjoyed excellent relations with the regional community, and I am sure you will find it a pleasure to work and live here for the next couple of years. South Limburg is a region that features many interesting sites and an abundance of varied cultural and sporting activities. Maastricht, the capital of the Province of Limburg, is particularly attractive, with a history that dates back to the time of the Romans. But there are many other cities nearby in Germany, Belgium, and France that You have joined Brunssum at a challenging time. you should try to visit and enjoy. These include Aachen, Our three main tasks are: the International Security Cologne, Düsseldorf, Liège, Gent and Hasselt; even Paris is Assistance Force (ISAF) mission to assist the Government not too far away.
    [Show full text]
  • A Multimodal Study in Presence
    THE EURO: A MULTIMODAL STUDY IN PRESENCE A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Kenneth R. Marunowski August 2006 Dissertation written by Kenneth R. Marunowski B.A., Kent State University, 1995 B.F.A., Kent State University, 1995 M.A., Kent State University, 2000 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2006 Approved by Christina Haas, Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Raymond A. Craig, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Patricia L. Dunmire, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Sara Newman, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Mark Rubin, Member, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Accepted by Ronald Corthell, Chair, Department of English John R. Stalvey, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………... iv, v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………... vi INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………. 1 THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL BACKGROUND………………...8 THE EMERGING CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION………………. 30 THE EURO 2002 INFORMATION CAMPAIGN………………………………... 44 EURO BANKNOTES AND COINS………………………………………………. 105 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………….. 138 APPENDIX A: TIMELINE OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION………………….. 143 APPENDIX B: PRINT CAMPAIGN IMAGES…………………………………… 146 APPENDIX C: DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF EURO BANKNOTES……….. 155 APPENDIX D: DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF THE NATIONAL SIDE OF EURO COINS…………………………………………………167 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………….. 179 iii LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1. Hill’s “comprehensive continuum of vividness”…………………………… 27 Fig. 2. Soccer Stadium……………………………………………………………... 82 Fig. 3. Front of a sample ten euro banknote……………………………………….. 110 Fig. 4. Back of sample ten euro banknote………………………………………….. 115 Fig. 5. Common side: 1, 2, and 5 euro cent coins………………………………….. 121 Fig. 6. Common side: 10, 20, and 50 euro cent coins……………………………… 123 Fig. 7. Common side: 1 and 2 euro coins………………………………………….. 123 Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Optimal Timing of Calling in Large-Denomination Banknotes Under Natural Rate Uncertainty
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Link, Thomas Working Paper Optimal timing of calling in large-denomination banknotes under natural rate uncertainty DICE Discussion Paper, No. 327 Provided in Cooperation with: Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) Suggested Citation: Link, Thomas (2019) : Optimal timing of calling in large-denomination banknotes under natural rate uncertainty, DICE Discussion Paper, No. 327, ISBN 978-3-86304-326-1, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE), Düsseldorf This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/206540 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten
    [Show full text]
  • 1 FINANCIALISATION in the EUROPEAN UNION – the Basic
    FINANCIALISATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION – the Basic Systemic Problems, and Possible Policy Solutions 1. THE KEY FEATURES OF FINANCIALISATION The Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) Economy Financialisation is a process in which the FIRE economy (Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) takes up an ever larger share of transactions, and FIRE beneficiaries take an ever larger share of aggregate claims on the money supply. Prof. Michael Hudson goes into considerable detail of how financialisation works in his new book, ‘The Bubble and Beyond’. A useful shorter summary is an article by Dirk Bezemer and Michael Hudson, ‘The Bubble Economy and Debt Deflation’. A key feature of financialisation is that FIRE sector professionals are successfully diverting an increasing share of total global (and European) income and wealth to their own accounts, by putting in place ‘toll booths’ that allow them to take economic rent from real-economy activities to which they contributed no productive impulse. The principal mechanism by which this occurs is through loading the household sector of the economy down with ubiquitous debt, generated by banks and quasi-bank financial companies in ever larger quantity: credit card debt for every-day purchases; consumer debt for larger purchases such as automobiles; ever higher levels of mortgage debt in self-reinforcing housing price bubbles; and student loan debt, so that students training for a professional career are encumbered by a heavy debt load even before they begin their careers, enabling the banking system to garnish their wages from their first day of work. In essence, the banking system, through its power to create credit and debt, has figured out how to levy privatised financial taxes on nearly every human activity.
    [Show full text]
  • Monetary Policy & the Economy Q1-12
    D:HI:GG:>8=>H8=:C6I>DC6A76C@ :JGDHNHI:B MONETARY POLICY & THE ECONOMY Quarterly Review of Economic Policy &%NZVghd[:jgd8Vh] Stability and Security. Q1/12 Monetary Policy & the Economy provides analyses and studies on central banking and economic policy topics and is published at quarterly intervals. Publisher and editor Oesterreichische Nationalbank Otto-Wagner-Platz 3, 1090 Vienna, Austria PO Box 61, 1011 Vienna, Austria www.oenb.at [email protected] Phone (+43-1) 40420-6666 Fax (+43-1) 40420-6698 Editorial board Peter Mooslechner, Ernest Gnan, Franz Nauschnigg, Doris Ritzberger-Grünwald, Martin Summer Managing editor Claudia Kwapil Editing Karin Fischer Translations Jennifer Gredler, Rena Mühldorf, Ingeborg Schuch Design Communications Division Layout and typesetting Walter Grosser, Susanne Neubauer, Birgit Vogt Printing and production Web and Printing Services DVR 0031577 © Oesterreichische Nationalbank, 2012. All rights reserved. May be reproduced for noncommercial, educational and scientific purposes, on condition that the source is named. REG.NO. AT- 000311 Printed according to the Austrian Ecolabel guideline for printed matter. Contents Call for Applications Visiting Research Program 4 The Economy has Bottomed Out 5 Martin Schneider, Josef Schreiner, Maria Silgoner In Focus: 10 Years of Euro Cash Editorial 24 Claudia Kwapil Euro Cash in Austria, Ten Years On 28 Alexandra Koch, Doris Schneeberger Euro Cash in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe 41 Doris Ritzberger-Grünwald, Thomas Scheiber The Euro – Public Opinion in the Ten
    [Show full text]
  • Euro Cash in Austria, Ten Years On
    Euro Cash in Austria, Ten Years On Alexandra Koch, In the run-up to the euro launch, a number of key steps were taken to ensure the uninter- Doris Schneeberger1 rupted supply of notes and coins to the economy and the general public. After all, nearly 15 billion notes and 52 billion coins had to be delivered in due time in order to ensure their availability from January 1, 2002, onward in the participating countries. In Austria, the Oester- reichische Nationalbank shares the responsibility of supplying commercial banks with cash and of processing returned banknotes in accordance with ECB regulations – and thus of ensuring the quality of the euro and its counterfeit security – with an affiliated cash logistics company, GELDSERVICE AUSTRIA. When the financial crisis boosted the demand for cash, logistical reserve stocks enabled the Eurosystem to respond quickly. As a result, the volume of euro cash in circulation rose, as did U.S. dollar circulation. However, the overall value of euro notes and coins in circulation has consistently remained above that of the U.S. dollar since the end of 2006. The euro’s established role as an international transaction currency has resulted in approximately one-quarter more banknotes being processed in Austria than the volume required for the national market. JEL classification: M41 Keywords: currency in circulation, adjustment of banknotes in circulation, intra-Eurosystem balances, capital key Box 1 Euro Cash Chronology1 July 1, 1987 The aim of monetary union is laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Community. December 1995 The official names “euro” and “cent” are defined as the units of the new currency.
    [Show full text]
  • JANUARY 2012 EDITORIAL IMCZ a New Start Introducing…New Members for Most Us the New Year Starts with a Long ‘To Do List’
    Published twelve times a year by the International Men’s Club of Zug I IIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIII Editors • John Hosking / Muthana Kubba • e-mail: [email protected] IMCZ NEWS JANUARY 2012 EDITORIAL IMCZ A New Start Introducing…new members For most us the NeW Year starts With a long ‘to do list’. For manY, THE IMCZ WELCOMES: there are a feW NeW Year resolutions as Well: giVing up smoking, losing Weight or finding a fulfilling job. For all of You, I Wish good In contrast to last month, where the luck in achieVing What You aspire to. Most important, of course, club welcomes 10 new members, is the required WillpoWer, determination and aboVe all this month we have only one: perseVerance. Such qualities, not onlY help to achieVe What You aspire to, but also help You throughout Your life. Magnus Omnell Magnus hails from Sweden and is On all fronts, the NeW Year looks bleak. The Euro crisis is still interested in art, photography, running, hanging like a black cloud oVer not onlY the Whole of Europe, but hiking and skiing. He is married and oVer the Whole Western World. On the climate Warming front, not has two sons. onlY is there no progress, but We seem to be moVing backWards With possible catastrophic increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Regarding Whaling, the Japanese seem to be back at it. Also the The Club would love to know more much hailed Arab Spring threatens to degenerate into deep about new members and any IN THIS ISSUE Winter theocracies. elaboration shall be welcome.
    [Show full text]
  • Technical Features
    TASK FORCE on Economic and Monetary Union Briefing 36 Technical Features Briefing prepared by the Directorate-General for Research Division for Economic Affairs The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the European Parliament's position. Although the changeover to the Euro is scheduled for 1 January 1999, the euro banknotes and coins will not be introduced until three years later. PE 167.006 NOTES AND COINS CONTENTS Introduction 3 Timetable for the production and issue of euro banknotes 4 The symbol 4 The euro banknotes 5 The process of selecting designs 5 Description of the future Euro banknotes 6 The security features of the euro banknotes 7 Production and issue of euro banknotes in the euro area Member States 8 Alternative materials 9 Changes to the designs 9 Some interesting statistics 10 The euro coins 11 The process of selecting the euro coins 11 The common face of the euro coins 12 The technical specifications 12 The euro and electronic money 14 Various aspects of electronic money 14 The 'electronic purse' 15 Internet and 'digital money' 16 The single currency and electronic money 17 Conclusions 19 Annexes 1 - 5 20 Author: Olivier STINTZY Editor: Mr Ben PATTERSON - 2 - PE 167.006 NOTES AND COINS INTRODUCTION Article 3a of the Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, provides for 'the irrevocable fixing of exchange rates leading to the introduction of a single currency, the ecu, and the definition and conduct of a single monetary policy and exchange-rate policy'. The European Council meeting in Madrid on 15 and 16 December 1995 decided on a new name for the single currency: the euro.
    [Show full text]