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Vulpix
01-04-2009, 09:37 PM
Swedish town adopts euro (http://www.thelocal.se/16692/20090102/)
Published: 2 Jan 09 15:21 CET

The Local: Tired of government inactivity, the town of Höganäs, a popular tourist destination on the south-west coast of Sweden, has decided to adopt the euro.

The residents of Höganäs were predominantly in favour joining the European single currency when the Swedish people voted to reject the euro in a referendum on the issue in 2003.

In declaring Höganäs a "Eurocity", county councillor Péter Kovács (a very Swedish name :rolleyes2: /sarc) has renewed calls for the government to work harder to introduce the euro countrywide.

"We have developed a Eurocity logo, which we think will become a standard across Sweden and we believe that almost all the counties in Skåne will follow suit within a couple of years," Kovács said to local newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet.

From January 1st Höganäs residents will be able to pay rent, bills and conduct their shopping in either Swedish kronor or euros. ATM machines will dispense either currency without additional charge.

Around 60 percent of stores in the town are reported to have signed up to the scheme and local banks have developed guidelines to accept euro deposits.

Höganäs is located at the northern tip of the west coast of Skåne and is known for its porcelain and beautiful seaside location. The town and surrounding area is a popular destination for tourists from eurozone countries in the summer who will now be able to use their euros almost as if they had never left home.

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS
01-04-2009, 10:23 PM
Well, I might be wrong but I believe all shops, restaurants, etc are required by law to accept Euro if the client only has Euros.

Vulpix
01-04-2009, 11:05 PM
This is hardly the same thing. When prices are in Swedish kronor, someone who chooses to pay in euro implicitly accepts the shop's exchange rate EUR to SEK. Quoting prices in euro would change that. The EUR/SEK exchange rate would not fluctuate everyday (what shops would change all of their price tags daily?).

In any case, the reasons driving them to adopt the euro are political rather than practical. As stated in the article, this quite clearly is an attempt
... to work harder to introduce the euro countrywide.


Well, I might be wrong but I believe all shops, restaurants, etc are required by law to accept Euro if the client only has Euros.

Hilding
02-13-2009, 03:08 PM
Well, I might be wrong but I believe all shops, restaurants, etc are required by law to accept Euro if the client only has Euros.

That's wrong, we don't have euro in Sweden so no shop have to accept euro if they don't want to and most don't. 99.99% of the stores/restaurants etc do accept Mastercard/Visa etc though.
Personally I'd rather keep the krona instead of changing to euro.:coffee: