EU and MC/SM/VA: New Monetary Agreements?

[chrisild]

The European Commission has just published a new proposal regarding the Monetary Agreements that the EU has with Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican. If the Council agrees, the "new rules" could mean more coins particularly from Monaco.

Here is a media release about the proposal, with a link to the full text:
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/thematic_articles/article15560_en.htm
English version of the full text:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2009:0359:FIN:EN:PDF

Let me just quote a few interesting parts:

(...)  the Commission suggests that the ceilings of issuance for the three countries which have signed a Monetary Agreement be increased. The new ceilings would be calculated according to a new uniform method granting equal treatment to all three countries. The original Monetary Agreements granted de facto much less favourable treatment to Monaco than to San Marino and Vatican (...)

(...) A new ceiling for a year (n) would be composed of a fixed and a variable part (...)

(...) The new method would increase significantly the ceiling for the issuance of coins of Monaco: from approximately €220 000 to almost €2 220 000. The ceiling of Vatican would almost double from €1 074 000 to more than €2 100 000. (...)

(...) The euro-area Mints should be given the opportunity to make an offer to the three countries concerned for the production of their euro coins, and Monaco, Vatican and San Marino should be allowed to freely select the contractor of their choice from among them (...)

Could be good news for Monaco collectors. The proposal also mentions that the EU is currently in negotiations with Andorra about a Monetary Agreement. While that is, by itself, not exactly news, we can expect the new rules - if they are approved by the Council - to apply to possible future Andorra issues as well.

Christian

[chrisild]

These are the new "ceilings" (see attachment). But keep in mind that this is only a Commission proposal - the Council may simply nod, or may want some changes.

Christian

[BC Numismatics]

It would be cool if Monegasque,San Marinese,& Vatican City Euro coins were put into circulation as currency,as opposed to the current practice of issuing only medal-coins.

It would be interesting if Andorran Euro coins were also struck & put into circulation at face value,considering that the Euro is Andorra's currency by default.Would this mean that the Centims & Diners medal-coin issues will cease?

Aidan.

[chrisild]

San Marino regularly issues coins for circulation. Whether you call them coins, medals, or whatever, oh well. The main "culprit" in this regard is the Vatican which has not released coins into circulation so far. Monaco is, theoretically, a little better as they do not sell their coins the way SM and VA do. But due to the extremely low mintages so far, pretty much all pieces end up in "mysterious" distribution channels.   I hope that the Council agrees to these new "ceilings", and also to the idea that the three can pick any mint in the EU for the production of their coins.

As for Andorra, now that the hype from the early euro years is over, having Andorran euro coins made is probably not a terribly high priority, neither for the country nor for the European Union. On the other hand, the negotiations about taxation issues have apparently made good progress, so there aren't any "fundamental" objections in the way any more. Andorra does not really have "its own" currency - they simply use what their neighbors use, and in addition to that, the Servei d'Emissions issues those diner and centim pieces for collectors. Don't think it would make much sense to continue that once/if Andorra can issue euro and cent coins. We'll have to wait for the outcome of those negotiations though ...

Christian

[chrisild]

More "opinions" regarding San Marino and the Vatican. Monaco is apparently a more difficult case, and thus not covered here.

* European Commission Recommendation - VA (16 Oct 2009)
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2009:0570:FIN:EN:PDF
* European Commission Recommendation - SM (16 Oct 2009)
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2009:0572:FIN:EN:PDF
* Opinion of the European Central Bank - SM/VA (5 Nov 2009)
http://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/legal/pdf/en_con_2009_91_f_sign.pdf

Christian

[chrisild]

Apparently the Council of the European Union made, well, some decision yesterday.

"The Council adopted two decisions on the position to be taken by the EU regarding the renegotiation of the monetary agreement with San Marino and the Vatican. The aim of the renegotiation is to ensure a level playing field for the obligations of these countries, create followup mechanisms, introduce a common method for calculating the ceilings of euro coins issuance and allow recourse to mints other than the Italian mint for the production of coins of the Vatican and San Marino." http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/111498.pdf (page 10)

Some more info (in German) from a Catholic news agency in Austria which focuses on the Vatican coins:
Part 1: http://www.kathweb.at/content/site/nachrichten/database/29534.html
Part 2: http://www.kathweb.at/content/site/nachrichten/database/29539.html

Christian

[Figleaf]

Yes, something is moving. Very slowly. Here's an article from a Dutch protestant publication:

Vatican euro no longer just for collectors

ROME – The Vatican euro will be circulated. Until now it was mostly a collector's item.

The European Council of Ministers has agreed in new rules for next year. They say that in the future, the Vatican must put at least 51 per cent of its coins in normal circulation, KerkNet announced Thursday. Rome wants to stick to the new rules and has announced that the mintage of Vatican coins will be increased from 1 million to 2.1 million euro.

The measure means that in the future, the Vatican will have less income. Sets of Vatican euros with a value of €3.88 were sold in the past for €30. Rare coins even attained price levels up to €1400.

Source: Reformatorisch Dagblad

[chrisild]

The Council link in my previous post seems to be dead now. But the full texts of the decisions regarding San Marino and Vatican can now be read/downloaded here:
(SM) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:322:0012:0013:EN:PDF
(VA) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:321:0036:0037:EN:PDF

San Marino - Article 2 (c)
"The method for determining the ceiling of issuance of San Marino euro coins shall be revised. The new ceiling shall be calculated using a method which will combine a fixed part aimed at avoiding excessive numismatic speculation on San Marino coins by satisfying the demand of the collector coin market and a variable part, calculated as the average per capita coin issuance of the Republic of Italy in the year n-1 multiplied by the number of inhabitants of the Republic of San Marino."

Vatican - Article 2 (c)
"The method for determining the ceiling of issuance of Vatican euro coins shall be revised. The new ceiling shall be calculated using a method which will combine a fixed part aimed at avoiding excessive numismatic speculation on Vatican coins by satisfying the demand of the collector coin market and a variable part, calculated as the average per capita coin issuance of the Italian Republic in the year n-1 multiplied by the number of inhabitants of the Vatican City State. Without prejudice to the issuance of collector coins, the Agreement shall set the minimum proportion of Vatican euro coins to be introduced at face value at 51 %."

Christian

[Figleaf]

I just received these great offers from the Dutch mint:

• Monaco bu set 2009: €799.95
• Vatican €2 astronomy 2009: €65.95
• Vatican €5 and €10 2009: €174.95

Any change will be an improvement...

Peter

[Bimat]

I just received these great offers from the Dutch mint:

• Monaco bu set 2009: €799.95
• Vatican €2 astronomy 2009: €65.95
• Vatican €5 and €10 2009: €174.95

Any change will be an improvement...

Peter

How much did they ask for Monaco 2007 CC?(Grace Kelly)? €2000?

Aditya

[chrisild]

The negotiations with the Vatican apparently went pretty fast in this last stage. Ta-daa ...

18/12/2009 16.51.39
Vatican Signs Monetary Convention with EU
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=343293

The English version I found is precise when it comes to when the monetary convention was signed (morning of 17 Dec) and when it will come into effect (1 January 2010) but for some reason does not really say what the new convention is about. The German version http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/ted/Articolo.asp?c=343229 says that the Vatican will indeed be allowed to issue coins with a total volume of €2.3 million, instead of currently €1.1 million. However, 51 percent need to be brought into circulation at face.

Guess it will take a while until we can pick papal euros up at a newsstand or cafe. Also, I don't know how detailed the convention is - the Vatican may still issue only selected denominations at face. We'll see.

Christian

[chrisild]

the Vatican will indeed be allowed to issue coins with a total volume of €2.3 million, instead of currently €1.1 million. However, 51 percent need to be brought into circulation at face

Indeed. Here is the official word, so to say. This is the English version of the new agreement:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:028:0013:0018:en:PDF

Quote: "(...) a fixed part, whose initial amount for 2010 is set at EUR 2 300 000. (...) a variable part, corresponding to the average per capita coin issuance of the Italian Republic in the year n- 1 multiplied by the number of inhabitants of the Vatican City State. (...) Without prejudice to the issuance of collector coins, the Vatican City State shall put in circulation at face value at least 51 % of the euro coins issued each year."

Hmm, I wonder what Figleaf is doing in Rome.

Christian

[Figleaf]

I was in the Vatican today and asked around. Nobody knew anything (or cared about it). Italy is so good at taking chaos and confusion in stride, especially after a small cup of superb coffee.

Peter

[Bimat]

A new agreement with Monaco:

Link

It clearly mentions that:

In particular, the ECB welcomes the new revised method for calculating the ceiling of issuance of Monaco
euro coins and setting the minimum proportion of Monegasque euro coins to be put into circulation at face
value at 80 %

Aditya

[chrisild]

Right, but keep in mind that this is not the new agreement (which is expected in March/April) but the European Central Bank's opinion regarding the Commission's proposal.

Christian