Euro changeover master plan launched

About 170 senior officials in ministries and government departments have already been identified as euro changeover coordinators, according to the chairman of the National Euro Changeover Committee Joseph Zahra.

Mr Zahra expressed his satisfaction at the extent of preparations in hand in the public sector, especially with regard to the IT requirements of the changeover, scheduled for January 1, 2008. However, he warned that the private sector would require more encouragement and mentoring. "We know that they will get there in the end, but we want to stress to them that they need to start sooner rather than later," he said.

This would ensure that there was no shortage of technical expertise at the last minute, that there was enough time to test systems and that staff could be trained.

Mr Zahra was speaking yesterday at the public launch of the Preliminary Master Plan for the euro changeover in Malta, which encompasses the work done by the NECC and its sectoral committees since last summer, up to November 2005.

The Master Plan gives a timetable for the period up to and beyond E-day, although more detailed plans will be issued in due course.

A number of milestones have been established for the January to June 2006 period (some of which have already been reached), including the preparation of detailed plans, the issue of guidelines on historic data, conversion, rounding up/down and smoothing, the issue of guidelines on dual display and dual accounting, the selection of the national side of the euro coin and the preparation of the cash changeover plan.

With regard to the choice of the national side of the euro, voting closes on Sunday, with other options being suggested in addition to the 12 proposed. Among these is the Maltese cross, but Mr Zahra said it would have to be established whether this could be used as it was, strictly speaking, the symbol of the Knights.

Decisions are also needed on the conversion of taxes, licences, levies and grants, and on whether these will be smoothed out.

It is also to be decided whether financial reports such as annual accounts or tax returns should be reported in euro even if the year in question was prior to the changeover.

Primary legislative provisions would need to be presented to the Maltese Parliament in the coming months to provide the enabling power for the changes anticipated. Mr Zahra said that the relevant Enabling Act is being drawn up at present.

The document includes concerns identified by the sectoral committees of the NECC, which range from fears of inflation to sensitive timing of the budget for the changeover year, to avoid the costs of adopting the euro coinciding with other budget-induced ones, if any.

Inflation remains a major concern and the consumer sector called for the enforcement of existing price labelling and the monitoring of goods and services as soon as possible and until a year after changeover, with penalties for defaulters.

It also suggested that the obligation to issue receipts should be extended to those currently legally excluded.

The sectoral committees' reports raise a number of valuable points for businesses and individuals to consider, but the Master Plan also includes other useful sections, such as European Commission recommendations, a glossary of terms and 40 good practices identified by the European Commission from the 2002 changeover.

The NECC has also published a comprehensive checklist for businesses on the changeover in English, with the Maltese version available soon.

A good communications strategy is an important factor in the changeover's success. Although work is already underway on publications, seminars and other forms of support, negotiations will start in earnest next week on getting EU funds for this process.

However, it also must be kept in mind that the European Council might decide to postpone Malta's entry into the eurozone.

"In their preparations for the euro changeover, it is crucial that all stakeholders take into consideration one key risk - should the European Council decide that Malta postpones its entry into the euro area to a later date. Contingency planning that factors in such a risk is therefore crucial by all stakeholders," the Master Plan suggests.

Copies of the NECC Preliminary Master Plan will be available on internet.

www.euro.gov.mt