Nederland en België schrappen munten van 1 en 2 eurocent (en)

The Netherlands and Belgium have indicated they will soon scrap the one and two cents euro coins which apparently serve only to annoy both consumers and shop owners.

In the Netherlands, retail and consumer organisations, banks and the Dutch Central Bank have agreed upon an abolition of the coins from 1 September, according to Dutch media yesterday (1 July).

Prices will be rounded up or down to the nearest five cents.

It is a voluntary measure, but up to 90 percent of shops are expected to take up the possibility.

According to Belgian press agency Belga, the Belgian authorities and organisations concerned have also agreed to scrap the one and two cents coins.

A final agreement on the issue is expected next autumn.

Four fifths of consumers happy

The Dutch move follows a successful experiment in the Dutch town of Woerden, where more than four fifths of consumers welcomed a farewell to the tiny coins.

Also, shop owners and banks are expected to save millions of euros as they will need to have less cash in storage.

EU member states cannot formally decide to abolish the one and two cents coins, since this is a competence of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

This means that even if an EU member state decides to round off prices, the coins will remain official tender.

Finland already decided to round off prices in shops as soon as the euro was introduced on 1 January 2002.

In Italy, there have been strong voices pleading for the same measure.