Euro honeymoon with consumers is over, says EU poll

The Euro's honeymoon with consumers ended in dramatic fashion yesterday when a European Commission survey showed that more than two-thirds of those using the currency believe they have been systematically cheated.

The finding of the Eurostat poll conducted in the 12 eurozone countries suggests that 68.5 per cent of all euro users – equivalent to about 170 million consumers – believe that prices have been rounded up across the board.

Yesterday's survey, which coincides with a political row in Germany over price hikes, has been a rude awakening to the architects of the euro, who basked in the success of the near-faultless changeover to the new currency on 1 January.

It is also a blow to campaigners for the euro in the three EU nations which have yet to join the European single currency and which may hold referendums: the UK, Sweden and Denmark.

However, the findings gave euro-enthusiasts some cause for comfort because it confirmed there were only limited practical difficulties in switching to the new currency.

More than eight out of 10 people believe the changeover went well and more than half of those polled said it was easy to remember or compare prices in euros. Seven out of 10 say they have no problems understanding bills.

That was despite the fact that most have yet to make the mental transition to the euro and still think in francs, lire or pesetas. Seven out of 10 said that, when looking at the price of an everyday product they often or always think in the old currency. Eight out of 10 say they often or always have to convert prices in their heads.

Nevertheless, the findings on price increases are the most sensitive for the European Commission.

About 1,000 people were polled in each of the member states, between 29 March and 1 May this year, for Eurostat, the statistical wing of the European Commission. In addition to those who think all prices have increased, a further 15.1 per cent of those asked thought costs had gone up in certain sectors.

Only slightly more than one in 10 said prices had been rounded down or stayed the same, and the sectors identified by the largest number as the main offenders were cafés and restaurants, and services such as hairdressing and taxis.

Despite the furore over euro-related inflation in Germany – where nearly three-quarters of people believe all prices have been rounded up – the findings there were not as bad as in some countries. Nearly nine out of 10 of those polled in the Netherlands, and more than eight out of 10 of those questioned in Spain, believed that costs had increased across the board.

Yesterday, David Byrne, European Commissioner for health and consumer protection said: "This poll shows consumers have coped well with the new currency. I am, however, concerned that in some sectors prices have increased at an above-average rate; for example, in the food or in the hotel and restaurant sector an average of four per cent. The effect of these increases has been more prominent in the minds of consumers than the effect of the compensatory decreases, for example in the communications or transport sector, by an average of one percent."

Consumer groups say they are not surprised by the poll because their research indicates that some prices have risen in most eurozone nations.

Newspapers, TV and radio emerged as an unsung heroes of the changeover to the euro. Asked which of a number of groups has been most help, 45.1 per cent nominated the media.