The European Commission proposed this Wednesday that countries can force the acceptance of cash payments in essential establishments, such as pharmacies, supermarkets, post offices and health centers, if they detect problems with the acceptance of coins and bills in all or part of their territory.
The Community Executive, specifically, presented a legislative draft to define the concept of “legal tender” of cash, which is contemplated in Community Law but until now has not been included in any law, which has forced the Court of Justice of the EU to delimit its meaning.
In this context, Brussels took advantage of the presentation of the legal architecture of the digital euro (a project that is still being evaluated by the ECB) to regulate the definition of the legal tender of euro banknotes and coins in order to “guarantee coherence between the two forms of public money”.
“We want to guarantee to those who may be concerned that the digital euro could replace cash that cash is here to stay,” stressed the Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, at a press conference in which he presented both proposals together with the Vice President economic, Valdis Dombrovskis,
The community authorities have also decided to act after detecting a “significant reduction” in the acceptance of cash in some Member States (for example, in Belgium, Ireland, Estonia and Malta) and greater difficulties in obtaining tickets from ATMs.
For this reason, the Commission establishes the principle of “compulsory acceptance” of euro notes and coins, as well as that exceptions to this general rule must be based on “legitimate and temporary” reasons. For example, it will be possible to refuse the purchase with a 200 euro note of a product worth 1 euro.
Beyond this, Member States will have to guarantee “sufficient and effective” access to cash throughout their territory and take corrective measures if there are problems obtaining or paying with coins or notes throughout their territory or in certain areas.
The legislative draft gives a series of examples of action, ranging from ensuring a sufficient “density” of ATMs for the withdrawal of money to prohibiting “unilateral” practices of non-acceptance, for example, in post offices, pharmacies, health centers or supermarkets, as well as for “certain types of payments that are considered essential”.
The evaluation of the level of acceptance of cash will be carried out by designated competent authorities in each Member State and its analysis will have to be based on common indicators that will be adopted by the European Commission.
Each country will have to report annually to both Brussels and the ECB of its conclusions and of the measures it adopts if necessary to guarantee the acceptance of cash. If these actions are “insufficient” to solve the detected problem, the Community Executive will have the power to impose “adequate and proportionate” measures.
