BRUSSELS FEARS EURO TROUBLE

Lionel Barber, Brussels

The European Commission may propose legislation to protect consumer interests linked to the introduction of the euro, Mrs Emma Bonino, EU commissioner, said yesterday. Mrs Bonino said problems could arise between the planned launch date of the single currency on January 1, 1999 And the phasing out: of national coins and notes in the first six months of 2002. Difficulties include the need to display prices in euro and national currencies, handling two parallel currencies in the shops, and future "rounding up" of prices for certain fixed items such as stamps. Consumer pressure groups and some MEPs are pressing for legislation at a national or EU level, but retailers are warning that they could face extraordinary costs of more than Ecu27bn ($33.6bn) in adapting their operations to a single currency, especially if they are required to introduce extensive dual labelling for prices.