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The government is determined to ensure that the country will meet the Maastricht convergence criteria required in order for Malta to be in a position to adopt the euro on January 1, 2008, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Tonio Fenech said during the first Plenary Session of the National Euro Changeover Committee, held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre this week.
Fenech said the date for the euro changeover was now set and economic indicators suggest that Malta will be in a position to join the euro on the first day of 2008.
He told the members of the sectoral committees within the National Euro Changeover Committee (NECC) that they should see that their constituents will see the changeover not merely as a technical exercise to be euro compliant but to examine their practices to get the best out of the euro changeover.
“For instance I believe that this is an opportunity for businesses to carry out an analysis of the various aspects of their business to see how they can benefit from using the same currency as all those in the single market. Businesses should see whether their business practices can be made less cumbersome, which could lead to greater efficiency.”
Fenech also pledged that the government intended to tackle any inflationary practices which could emerge during the changeover: “For this reason we shall soon issue a legal notice which will regulate the manner in which the retail industry in Malta was already displaying prices both in our currency and in euro. We shall also be putting in place an umbrella law which would make it possible to put forward the necessary legislation during the changeover period through the Ministry of Finance.”
Fenech made an appeal for the Maltese to think about the tangible benefits which will arise as a result of adopting the euro before forming an opinion on the subject: “Over the coming months the NECC will launch a gradual information campaign which is primarily aimed at giving objective information on the euro and the changeover. For instance it is worth stressing that once the euro will be introduced customers in Malta will immediately be able to compare the prices of goods in Malta with the same goods priced in any part of the euro countries. The euro will also make life easy both for foreigners traveling to Malta and for Maltese traveling abroad. Exporting to different countries in Europe, or the offering of services to Europe, would also be facilitated. Cross border alliances, for instance, will have a very important barrier removed.”
Fenech also stressed that the government was doing its utmost to facilitate the changeover process for everyone: “This is also the primary reason behind setting up the National Euro Changeover Committee with an executive arm. However, the NECC is there to facilitate the changeover process and therefore every sector and business in Malta should start following their own individual changeover plans. The government, even through the NECC, will always be there to assist and facilitate the changeover process but ultimately everyone should plan their own changeover plan and they should not leave it to the last minute.”
Addressing the Plenary Session, the Chairman of the NECC Joseph FX Zahra said the NECC will next month unveil the Master Plan which will pave the way for the process leading to the adoption of the euro on January 1, 2008. The master plan, which has now been finalized, was discussed between the relevant stakeholders during the Plenary Session before it will be officially released next month.
Zahra said the Master Plan was set to instigate a coordinated and planned national approach to the euro changeover.
Zahra told the over 100 participants – mainly members and chairpersons of the various sectoral committees within the NECC – that the Master Plan “should set the overall direction for euro changeover”.
Zahra also announced that over the past three months the NECC had been working on its communication strategy, which has now been adopted by the Steering Committee and the NECC: “Our aim is to launch an effective communication strategy. There will be a gradual build-up and the peak will be reached in 2007. The feedback so far from the stakeholders, the government and the European Commission on our communication strategy is positive and encouraging. We have an ambitious plan which will kick off in 2006. Obviously the campaign will intensify in 2007 but next year is still a very important year. We are also recruiting a number of information officers to help us in this process.”
He explained that Malta, together with Cyprus and Ireland has just concluded a twinning project which primarily focused on communications: “Everyone is aware that Ireland had an excellent euro changeover campaign and therefore the twinning exercise was very important. The final part of the twinning programme was an evaluation by the former Irish chairperson of the euro changeover board of our communication strategy. Again, the feedback was very encouraging and we have taken on board the feedback received from the Irish officials.”
Zahra announced that the first part of the information and communication campaign will start with the public consultation process on the themes to be chosen for the design of the euro coins.
“The Central Bank of Malta along with the NECC in January shall be launching this process early next year.”
Zahra referred to a decision taken by the government to introduce the euro adopting the Big Bang with a 'phasing out' period.
He explained that Big Bang with a phasing out period refers to a process which will facilitate a smooth transition, while fully preserving the advantages associated with a "big bang" approach in particular the conversion of all Maltese Lira accounts into euro accounts on €-day and the swift withdrawal of the Maltese Lira cash during a short period of dual circulation. The advantage of this approach is that the European Council's legal framework may offer some "post-€-day" transitional options allowing for a more gradual phasing out of the Maltese Lira in cases of financial reporting and in some legal instruments and related acts and for a limited period after €-day.
Zahra emphasised that the government believed it was possible for Malta to adopt the euro on 1st January 2008, as has been reiterated by the Prime Minister recently.
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