Councils begin to prepare for change to euro

Town councils throughout the island have been told that they must appoint a ‘co-ordinator' for the change to euros, who will be responsible for liaising between the council and the Council of Majorca, to make the change to the single currency go smoothly. The Council of Majorca has already contacted all the councils on the island, setting in motion the process to adapt to the change to the euro which will be the only currency from next year. Its first step has been to set up a committee formed by members of the council, its Computer Consortium and the town and village councils. This committee has sent a series of recommendations to the councils, one of which is the need to draw up a plan for adapting to the euro. Council of Majorca sources say that this plan should include a list of the tasks which must be carried out in order for the new currency to function, an inventory of regulations and procedures which should be modified, a list of the persons involved and their responsibilities, a calendar for introducing the euro, the cost of adaptation and a training plan for council staff. The sources said that this may be accompanied by an external communications plan if the council wants to carry out awareness campaigns. The Council of Majorca wants the councils to have their computers, regulations, documents and all pertinent changes ready by the end of October. In this way, they will have two months in which to carry out tests and correct omissions.