Growing consumer concerns over a Euro rip off

It's only 132 days until the Euro officially hits the streets, but are people really content about the prospect of the single currency? Throughout the whole of Spain, the Balearics are the worst prepared to deal with the new currency, socially, economically and technically. There are ongoing fears that the timing of the currency introduction will have devastating effects on the Spanish winter sales, where there may not be enough currency to go around. This could result in disastrous sales figures and seriously dent the economy. The winter sales issue is such a worry that Brussels is still contemplating whether to delay the introduction of the euro in countries which might be affected. Some countries seem to be having a last minute rethink about their inclusion in the euro circle. Germany is moving towards the no faction if the latest survey is to be believed. 54% of Germans are now said to be unhappy to be giving up deutschmarks for Euros. Germany is moving towards a recession, perhaps a factor which has changed their opinion from 1999, when 60% of people in the country supported the change. People are slowly believing that they may be “ripped off” by the euro. For example if a product costs the equivalent of 27 euros when translated from local currency, it will be rounded up to 30, so the consumer loses out. Whether this speculation contains any truth will be proved when the new currency becomes legal tender on Jan 1 2002. Britain's public opinion of the euro is still confused, although Tony Blair has stated that Britain will approach the change with gusto, even if they are late to join. The majority of voters in Britain still say they don't know know enough to make a decision about whether Britain should join the single currency. When Europe has a single currency, everything will carry a price tag in the same money. The huge differences in prices that exist between European countries will become instantly visible. For example, many medicines cost Spanish hospitals just two thirds of the price charged to Germans and British motorists can make big savings by buying their cars in Holland. Big European companies are now waking up to the fact that their policies of having different price structures for different markets - making things cheaper for the Spanish and Portugese for example, must change. For consumers, the results should be great prices everywhere falling to the lowest levels in Europe. For many businesses, it could be a competition nightmare.