Letland en Malta willen eigen spelling van het woord 'euro' afdwingen voor EU-Hof (en)

Latvia has announced that it will stick to the national spelling of the single European currency, the "eiro", fuelling a year-long quarrel with the European Central Bank (ECB) over euro spelling mainstreaming.

At a cabinet meeting in Riga on Tuesday (3 January), Latvian ministers unanimously voted against EU linguistic conformity and for sticking to the "ei" spelling of the euro, set to replace the Latvian lat in 2008.

Ministers also said they would defend the decision before the European Court of Justice if necessary, according to press reports.

"This is not caprice on the part of Latvians. It is a very important issue which threatens the fundamental values of the EU, such as equality and identity", Latvia's education minister Ina Druviete was quoted as saying.

"Even if all other countries were to use euro, we will never give up and will continue to use eiro."

Latvians refer to the common European currency as the eiro in translations of EU documents into Latvian as well as in daily speech.

"Euro" is a non-existent word in Latvian, as Latvian grammar and phonetics do not allow for an "eu" diphthong.

The European Central Bank (ECB) president Jean-Claude Trichet i in September last year officially objected to the Latvian spelling, arguing that the common currency is the euro and that having a single currency with the same spelling is "frankly natural."

The ECB also claims that the Latvian spelling contravenes a 1997 decision by EU leaders that "euro" must be written "euro" in all official languages, with only Greece allowed to opt-out from the decision on the basis that it has a different alphabet.

David against Goliath

Latvia may get support from another small new member state if the matter goes all the way to the European courts, however.

Malta announced last month that it will spell the currency's name "ewro", with Latvian education ministers praising the decision, according to AFP.

"I praise small, brave Malta, which also staunchly defends its identity in the EU", Ms Druviete indicated.

But Lithuania and Hungary, which also have national spellings of "euro" that differ from the ECB standard have agreed to toe the bank's line.

The two countries will use their own spelling in daily life and the "euro" spelling in official texts.