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Today, the 1st of January, the euro became the official currency of 11 countries of the

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European Union.

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This event, unprecedented in the history of Europe, has been celebrated with bottles of

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champagne bearing the symbol of the euro and euro balloons being released.

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After a flood of cameras and historic pronouncements, the euro finally makes its public appearance.

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Europeans, however, are already asking questions.

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In Germany, people are worried.

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Are pensions going to decrease?

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Will salaries fall into line with those in neighboring countries?

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In Ireland, people don't seem to know anything about the transition to euro and fear that

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their banks are profiting at their expense.

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Despite the fact that they are overwhelmingly euro enthusiasts, 50% of Italians don't know

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the value of the euro in lira.

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As for the Spanish and Portuguese, they hope their salaries will increase.

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The attitude of Europeans varies from one country to the next.

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And within each country, older people and those on low incomes, for example, tend to

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get a bit more worried than others.

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As a result, it is these groups who have already begun to take the euro by the horns.

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In France, Belgium and Luxembourg, we will see how the arrival of the European currency

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is being received with a mixture of euphoria, ignorance and suspicion.

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Madeleine with her mobile grocery is getting ready to do her round in the villages of Lorraine

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in northeast France.

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All the Ghiarrizzo family is there.

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Final polishing of the brand new van.

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People ask Madeleine about how to manage with the euro, the new European currency.

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Do you think your customers are going to get to grips with the new currency for working

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at the price of a croissant?

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It will be a bit difficult at the beginning.

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When both currencies are in use, I think people will panic a bit then, but after that

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they'll get used to it.

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They'll have to.

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You're going to have to help them at the beginning.

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I'll have to teach them a little bit.

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You'll have to master the euro perfectly yourself.

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Well, that's going to be difficult.

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But like with everything, we'll get used to it.

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We'll have to.

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So, I'm starting up.

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I'm getting into first.

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That's it.

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I'm off.

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Ah, there's a woman with her purse.

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They trust Madeleine, but the older people are worried about their pensions.

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They want to know if they're going to have less money with the euro.

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Well, the pensions are already in euros on the statements we get.

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But the final figure's always in French francs.

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Yes, but it's already in euros.

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And what about when the francs disappear and it's only in euros?

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Well, we'll know what it's all about by then.

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But aren't you going to say to yourself, oh, but that's less?

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Oh, yes, but well, that's how it is.

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With her van, Madeleine reaches people who can no longer get out and about.

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The elderly, the disabled and those in remote places.

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It is Madeleine who will be their main contact when it comes to paying with coins they don't know

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and when they can't see very well anymore.

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Yes, I'm coming on Tuesday as usual.

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Doesn't it scare you, this euro business?

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No, no, we'll get by.

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And won't you miss the francs?

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Of course, to be honest, it does worry me a bit.

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But, well, the euro, it's not here just yet.

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Accepting the euro as one's currency and accepting that things are not as they were,

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the people in the villages are not totally convinced.

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Jules, these people are following Madeleine around to find out what we think about the euro.

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So what do you think about the euro then?

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I really couldn't care less. Old francs, new francs, the euro.

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There's nothing extra in it for me.

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Anyway, it's just a way of trying to do us out of a few quid.

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Is that what you really think?

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You see, that's an old-timer speaking.

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They're going to round things up in the shops.

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We know that already.

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But they're not going to do me out of anything.

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What counts for me is the full figure.

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6.55957.

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The full figure.

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No need for a calculator.

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Anyway, you've got the right to see the receipt.

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If you look at the receipt, it's got the date and everything.

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See if something's not right.

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But in general, it'll probably be okay.

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So how much does a baguette cost in euros?

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I've known for a long time how much a baguette costs in euros.

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How much do you think it costs then?

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Ah, not difficult.

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You can do 0 euro times 7.

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About 0.78 euros.

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So you don't need a calculator?

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No calculator. There's no point.

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They gave us calculators at the bank.

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Anyway, don't think that with the euros you'll have in France

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it'll be the same price with the German euro

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when you go to Germany.

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Of course it will be, Jules.

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There wouldn't be any point otherwise.

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There wouldn't be any point, Jules.

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So how many euros are we going to get less than the Germans?

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It's the same as the difference between the mark and your francs.

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It's the same, Jules.

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Whether you're for or against the euro,

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a lot of people will have some very practical problems.

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For example, how are blind and visually impaired people

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going to be able to get used to different colour notes and coins

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with strange sizes?

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Corinne is a social worker.

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She attended a training course financed by the European Union

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on how to explain the euro to people with disabilities

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so that they'll be able to manage when the day comes.

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Hello.

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Are you feeling better then?

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There you are. Can I introduce David to you?

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Hello, Mark.

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Can you see yourself in the supermarket paying in euros?

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No.

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No, I can't really see myself paying in euros.

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Well, it's already bad enough with the Belgian notes.

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The coins are all right, but not the notes.

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So I tell you, it scares me.

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For able-bodied people, there are leaflets in the banks,

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but for blind and visually impaired people, there's nothing.

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I've got some euro coins here.

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Oh, great!

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Look, that's a 20-cent piece.

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There's a little dent almost every centimetre.

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We'll need to have courses on that at the beginning.

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The differences between the 1, 2 and 5-cent pieces,

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they're all different sizes.

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There you go. There's a one-euro piece.

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Oh, that's the big coin, is it?

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Thanks. It's very nice of you. Thanks.

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Come on, you can't do much with it.

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Bernadette, come and see the euro.

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Here, look at the euro. Come over here.

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Look, I'll show you the biggest one.

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These are little cents.

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Oh, they're even smaller than I thought.

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My goodness, that's small.

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So how much is two euros worth?

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No idea.

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Well, it's 80.

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It scares me just thinking about it.

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Well, we'll have to manage when we're up against it.

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Didn't you?

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Do you think you're well-informed

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and well-equipped for the change of currency?

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No.

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Well, for sighted people, the prices are displayed

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in Belgian francs and euros in a lot of shops.

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But for us it's impossible, we can't read.

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So we can't memorise any prices.

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Otherwise we'd know.

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A tin of tomatoes is so much, a box of eggs is so much,

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we could register certain prices.

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But with a euro, we'll have to learn it all at once.

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That's what scares me a bit.

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Because for us it's 40 times less.

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So if we're not used to it,

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things will seem cheaper, especially at the beginning.

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We could get caught out

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because we'll think things are cheaper at the beginning.

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And if we learn to think just in euros,

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well, I suppose it will become automatic

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after about six months or about a year.

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Is it important to know how much everything costs?

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Not say, oh, last year that cost so much in francs,

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and now it costs this much in euros.

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That's two things to remember instead of just one.

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When the euro comes in,

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many people fear that shopkeepers will put up their prices.

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But with Logo Euro,

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they've promised to abide by the rules concerning rounding

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and to ensure accurate conversions.

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These shopkeepers have signed a charter.

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Yes, with the charter,

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we've said that we'll display prices in euros straight away.

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There you are.

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That's why the prices have been up since February.

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So you've got a head start on the others then?

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Oh, yes.

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We've had the prices up since the 5th of February.

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And we enjoy doing it,

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to show that we're not lagging behind,

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to show that we're moving with the times,

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that we keep up with the times.

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We didn't want customers to get annoyed

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if they wanted to pay in euros.

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We said to ourselves, we're in,

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so we may as well get on with it.

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If a customer asks,

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we have to accept payment in euros.

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That's why we did it straight away.

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Do you think that reassures people,

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and that compared with your competitors,

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people say, oh, they know about the euro in them?

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Yes, I think so.

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Elderly people are already confused about old and new francs.

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So then they say to themselves,

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it's okay, they'll help us.

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They'll help us.

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Despite being exposed to prices being displayed in both currencies,

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and despite all the publicity,

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many people don't know how much a standard product in the supermarket

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would cost in euros, even approximately.

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For people on low incomes,

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not taking notice of prices in euros,

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and of the figures after the decimal point,

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could result in a nasty surprise for their purse after 2002.

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15.24 euros.

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How much do you think 15.24 euros is worth?

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Roughly, what do you think?

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You don't know, madame?

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Yet you're wearing such a nice pair of glasses.

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15.24 euros is 100 francs.

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Yes, look, there are tables to explain.

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So start getting used to it.

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Do you look at the prices in euros?

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No, not yet. No, no.

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What are you waiting for?

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Well, we're waiting for it to come in.

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We'll take it when it comes.

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We're not yet looking at prices in euros.

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We're still in the old system.

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I think there'll be a reaction.

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I think consumers will have to take responsibility for themselves.

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I don't think consumers are going to wait

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for the 1st of January 2002 to convert prices into euros.

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They will have to understand that from that moment on,

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prices will be displayed in euros.

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We'll use the euro when we have to,

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when that's all there is.

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It's the same as with computers.

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Five years ago, computers weren't my problem.

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I don't want to know about it.

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It wasn't my problem.

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I don't like learning new things. It's too complicated.

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But then I had to learn.

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Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to survive in my company.

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But it's the same with the euro.

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They'll learn on their own.

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They'll have to.

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So the euro is here to stay,

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and those who don't yet understand all the implications

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of the new European currency will have to learn to count well.

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We'll learn by doing,

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but help from the grocer, the corner shops and social workers

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will come in handy.

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Jack, Freddie and Anna feel they've got a good grasp on what lies ahead.

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Children of immigrants and constructors

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of the European coal and steel community,

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they are not in the least bit afraid of life with the euro.

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You see, you're not in the euro.

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No, but it's still difficult to imagine at the moment.

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But of course, I mean, it's not going to be painless.

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Do you think when you go and make your first purchases in euros

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and they give you back your change that you'll know straight away

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if they've given you the right money back?

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Well, I'm sure we'll hesitate.

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But I'm going to ask for explanations,

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even if I hold up the queue for a whole hour.

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My staff will be trained anyway.

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Well, it's not here just yet.

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Anyway, did you imagine that there would be the euro,

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a single currency?

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No, so there you go.

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Did you imagine there wouldn't be any borders to cross?

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Well, there aren't any now.

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You have to look at all of that.

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20 years ago, you had to declare how much petrol

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was in your tank at the border.

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There's none of that anymore.

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So you see, that's Europe for you.

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THE END

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© BF-WATCH TV 2021

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© BF-WATCH TV 2021