Na Nederland en Finland schrapt ook België munstukken van 1 en 2 eurocent (en)

Belgian authorities announced yesterday that they would cease production of one and two euro cent coins from January 2005, although the coins will remain legal tender.

Following a similar move in the Netherlands and Finland, Belgian finance minister Didier Reynders said in an interview with La Dernière Heure, "I am in favour of scrapping these coins".

However, Mr Reynders also sounded a note of caution in an attempt to counter arguments that a sudden withdrawal of the coins could lead to price inflation as retailers round up their prices.

The phasing-out would be done "in a progressive way so as not to revive the debate on price inflation and the claims by shop owners that they have been forced to put prices up", he said.

And he added, "For traders, it would be wiser to keep a psychologically favourable price, choosing, for example, 9.95 euros rather than 10 euros".

Germany is also considering phasing out its small change.