Press Release: Commission adopts a recommendation on the scope and effects of legal tender of euro banknotes and coins

The Commission on 22 March 2010 adopted a recommendation on the legal tender of the euro banknotes and coins, a legal concept which has concrete implications for the daily life of European citizens. Although euro-area Member States share a single currency, interpretations of what its legal tender status means may still differ across countries, depending on Member States' pre-euro legal traditions. This recommendation clarifies the scope and effects of the legal tender of euro cash in the euro area. The recommendation gives useful guiding on many practical questions related to payments with euro banknotes and coins, for example that payments in cash, including high denomination banknotes, should, in principle, not be refused by retailers or that payments with banknotes and coins should not be surcharged.

European Commission: Memo: MEMO/10/92: Legal tender of the euro: Q&A on the new Commission recommendation http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/92&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

---