Shops across the euro area, including Malta, should be accepting high denomination euro notes, and should not be able to charge customers extra for using cash, the European Commission said.

In a recommendation issued to all 16 euro-using countries, the EU executive said that the acceptance of payments in cash should be the rule and a refusal is only possible if the retailer does not have enough change.

Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said that this recommendation brings practical benefits for European citizens in their everyday life.

“It is a matter of consumer rights that payments in cash should, as a rule, be always accepted in shops,” he underlined.

Despite efforts to lay down rules on legal tender – which has been done at EU level rather than in member states since 2002 – euro banknotes and coins continue to be used in different ways across the eurozone. For example, Finland and the Netherlands round all prices up to the nearest five cents to avoid the use of smaller coins, while shops in several member states refuse on principle to accept larger notes, especially the €200 and €500 denominations.

The recommendation, which is not legally binding, lays down 10 guidelines. They include the mandatory acceptance of banknotes and coins at full face value; a requirement to accept high denomination notes; no surcharges on the use of cash; no new rounding rules; collector coins should not be used to pay for goods; stained banknotes should be returned to national central banks; the total destruction of cash should be allowed in small amounts; mutilation of cash for artistic purposes should be “tolerated” and national banks should consult EU officials before destroying notes and coins fit for circulation.

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