EU warns Slovenia on Euro prices

The European Commission is urging Slovenia to take measures to prevent shops from using the adoption of the euro to push up prices.
The commission wants Slovenian shops to agree to fair prices when the new currency is adopted. Slovenia intends to put advertisements in newspapers to shame retailers who charge excessively high prices. Slovenia is set to join the eurozone in January 2007, and is the first of the new EU member states to adopt the euro.

The commission said it would consider getting shops to display signs that declared their pricing was transparent and fair.
There will be a two-week period after the euro is adopted for the Slovene tolar to run simultaneously with the new currency.

While EU leaders have already given Slovenia the green light to join the euro, EU finance ministers are to make a final decision on 11 July. The commission also wants other nations that want to adopt the euro, including Cyprus, Malta and Estonia, to increase their efforts at explaining the changeover to people, and to reassure citizens that prices will remain stable.