Interview with the citizens.

We really wanted to know what the people in our town think about the introduction of the euro. That is why we asked the same questions to twenty people in the street. Often we got different opinions. What struck us was that many people did not know what the answer to a question was. They are not yet well enough informed by the government. Beneath you find the answers and the outcome. Some people gave more than one answer. That is why sometimes we have more than twenty answers. We presented some answers differently in order to make a clear survey.

Which consequences the introduction of the euro will have to you personally?

Which concequences the integration of the euro will have for The Netherlands?

Do you think that the euro encourages the intergration of Europe.?

Are you in favour of the introduction of the euro?

What kind of representation would you like to see on the euro?

Interview with the alderman of finance of the municipality of Haren; Mister M. Verbeek.

For our work on this page we did an interview with Mister Verbeek. We went to see him in order to learn from him what he as a citizen and a politician thinks about the introduction of the euro.

What will be the consequences of the introduction of the euro for the citizens?
In fact in this municipality of Haren we are not as yet working on the introduction of the euro. There are advantages for the citizens. For instance there is no longer need to convert money and so there is no trouble with varying exchange rates. Probably it will happen quite often that people get a loan from a bank abroad. There will be more foreign trade and this trading will go faster.

What political consequences will the introduction of the euro have? Everything will have to be converted to euros. That will be a lot of work and will cost a lot of money. I think the politician will have to get used to it just like the citizen. Of course the budget of the municipality will have to be made in euro's too. There will no longer be exchange rates and I think that will make the economy a lot stronger.

Is it correct that it will be more difficult to launder illegal money?
Illegal money will remain illegal money. The only difference would be that then it will be illegal euros. When large amounts of money are exchanged this will be noticed, but large amounts always have to be reported by the banks to the tax authorities. Real criminals though, will always find a way.

Will the euro be a strong currency?
It probably will, but that is not clear as yet. It will probably be a strong and\ stable currency. Of course that would be very good for the countries of southern Europe that want to get rid of the image their currency has of being weak and unstable.

Is it not unfavourable for the Dutch to participate because of the value of the guilder?
Maybe it is a little bit unfavourable when it comes to the value of the money, but as the trade with other countries of the European Union will be easier, it still is a good choice to participate. If we want to go on with the unification of Europe we have to broaden the Union in the first place, I think. Than there will probably be more trade and more competition and that is always good for the prizes.

As a politician and a citizen are you in favour or against the introduction of the euro?
I am in favour of the introduction in both situations

What representation of The Netherlands would you prefer to see on the euro?
Well, in fact I would not like to see any national representations on the euro. I think that people might not accept euros with foreign national representations in that case, because they are not sure it is real money. I think the best thing to do would be to have only a European representation on the euro. In fact I don't see at all why your nationality should be on your money.

Do you think the euro encourages the integration of Europe?
Of course there are to parties; people who are against the euro and people that are in favour of the euro. I think that in the long run, once the euro will be there, indirectly it will encourage integration. By the introduction of the euro there will be more trade and so more cooperation. But the currency itself does not really have to do with it. The consequences of the introduction of the currency have to take care of the integration.

Do you think Europe will be a sort of second USA?
No. the USA only have a short history of only 200 years. Europe has a history that is much longer. So that will never happen. There will only be more cooperation in Europe.

Do you think the euro will be introduced?
Yes, I am pretty sure about that. The only situation that might prevent this is when a big country does not want, or is no longer able to participate. That would change everything. Like what happened to Germany some time ago. If that would happen again, new negotiation will be necessary. I think, in fact that even in this situation the introduction of the euro would only be delayed not cancelled.