Communication from the Commission - The use of the Euro symbol
•b -it COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Brussels, 23. 07. 1997 COM(97) 418 final COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION The use of the TC-uro t symbol T he use of the ^. u ro symbol T3,ui Since the meeting of the European Council in Dublin on 13/14 December 1996, the Commission is using the symbol € in its own publications to designate the single currency, the euro. Since then this symbol has been widely used by national administrations, central banks and by the private sector. The European Monetary Institute on 15 July 1997 acknowledged the need for a distinctive codified symbol for the single currency and announced that it will support the logo. Given the broad support the euro symbol has received, the European Commission invites all currency users to use the symbol, as described in the annex, whenever a distinctive symbol is needed for the description of monetary amounts in euro, e. g. in price lists and invoices, on cheques and in any other legal instruments. The F. uropean Commission will undertake all the necessary steps for the registration of the euro symbol with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), which is responsible for the standardisation of glyphs/fonts, keyboards, character transmission codes, etc. , with a view to enabling the insertion of the symbol in computer systems. First contacts have shown that the providers of information technology would support such an approach. A prominent position of the euro symbol, in particular on keyboards, will help economic agents in their preparatory work for the introduction of the single currency and will promote the widespread use of the new symbol. The euro symbol was designed by the Commission services. The final choice from among several designs was made following a qualitative assessment by the general public conducted by a specialised organisation. The € is inspired by the Greek epsilon pointing back to the cradle of European civilisation and the first letter of Europe, crossed by two parallel lines to indicate the stability of the euro. The early definition of a distinctive symbol for the euro also reflects the vocation of the euro to become one of the world's major currencies. EURO SYMBOL Information on the Commission's communications plan "Euro: one currency for Europe", can be obtained from D. G. X (Informa tion, Communication, Culture and Audio-Visual Media), J. P. Malivoir, Tel: (+32-2) 29537. 87. Pour obtenir des informations sur le programme de communicaton de la commission intitulé "Euro: une monnaie pour l'Europe", s'adresser à la D. G. X (Infor mation, Communication, Culture et Moyens audio-visuels), J. P. Malivoir, Tel: (+32-2) 29537. 87. Informationen ùber den Kommu- nikationsplan der Kommission "Euro: eine Wâhrung fur Europa", kônnen bezogen werden bci der GD X (Information, Kommunika- tion, Kul&ir und Audiovisuelle Medien), J. P. Malivoir, Tel: (+32-2) 295. 37. 87. ISSN 0254-1475 COM(97) 418 final DOCUMENTS EN 09 01 10 15 Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-429-EN-C ISBN 92-78-23799-X Office for Official Publications of the European Communities L-2985 Luxembourg h