Following agreement on the design of the new Euro coins, Spain joins Ireland, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Italy and Portugal in revealing the images for the national side of the coin. Some 6 billion coins will be struck by Spain's national mint before 2002. The one and two Euro coins will bear an outline of King Juan Carlos, while the 10, 20 and 50 Euro coins will feature the image of the famous writer Miguel Cervantes. A facsimile of Santiago cathedral will appear on the one, two and five Euro coins.
Meanwhile MEPs from the Monetary Policy Committee are preparing for the confirmation hearings for the six key executive appointments to the European Central Bank, including the post of Governor. The hearings are scheduled to take place in Brussels on May 7th and 8th, a few days after the EU's special Summit, which will decide on which countries are to participate in the single currency.
In the interests of transparency, MEPs from the Committee are pushing for the minutes of the European Central Bank council meetings to be published immediately. The Bank should also provide MEPs with key financial data, such as inflation targets. Support is also growing for setting up, within the European Parliament, a US-style banking committee to oversee policy. In addition, a senior group of economists from the Centre for Economic Policy Research has announced that it will be briefing MEPs regularly, with a view to ensuring that the ECB is made properly accountable. It should not be allowed to furnish merely obscure, technical, financial details to Parliament.