Euros in the ten new countries

[bocky]

About the plates, here's a great website.

BTW, I've already seen LT plates here in Portugal Not usual at all.

[Cinnamon]

When I bought my car 2002 I wanted to keep my old plate because I think the new EU-plate doesn't look so cool... Blue colour doesn't match my car...
That's why I have new car but the plates are without euro-sign

[Fons]

In the Netherlands we see lots of trucs from Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.
And also quite a lot from Portugal.

In the Netherlands we can see lots of foreign cars/trucks, some of them from a far away country (Greece/Ireland/Romania)

[John S]

Sorry for my late posting... One of my Swedish friends told me last week, that they will never join the monetary union. Let's hope that he is wrong...

They won't be able to do so... Sweden has not an opt-out agreement with the EU about the euro. The government will soon or later ask for a new referendum.

Since Sweden does not have an opt out clause, why is Swenden allowed to have a referendum? The EU should be insisting they join or take them to court for violating the treaty.

Swedens actions are not fair to the nations who joined.

And on another note, the UK and Denmark should never have been given an opt out. The opt out clause for them should be removed and they should be required to join the ERM and adopt the euro.

[John S]

Dakkus, how did you find out the average age of the Finnish cars?
I would love to see the stas for the cars in Ireland (if they exist). I would say they are quite young. It is unusual to see a car over 10 years old...
As for the license plates, the other day when driving home I kept an eye out for any old Irish plates. The journey home took me 45 mins, and was on a very busy motorway, and guess what? I saw only one old license plate.

Fjon:

I see Eire is finally joining the world in another way. They are finally completing the change of road speed signs from miles per hour to kilometres per hour (km/h).

The new cars sold after 2005-01-01 must have metric only dashboard instruments. I hear some new cars already have them now. The first 3 weeks in January will be used to educate the country on the change.

Can you give us your impression and the impression of people you come in contact with concerning the change?

Also, with the completion of road speed and distance signs, what is left to convert? Or is Eire now fully metric?

Thanks

[John S]

Well, my sister bought a car with EU-plates. She changed them back to those old ones. According to her they were ugly and people were staring at them. I think the real reason is that she lives in an area where EU is not popular. Some people do think that EU-plates mean you are a EU-supporter.

Is that legal? In the US when you get a new car (or purchase a used vehicle) and register it you have the option to transfer the old plates (in some cases) from the car you are getting rid of. If you choose not to and get new plates, the old plates and numbers on them are no longer valid. If they end up on a car and the police happen to enter the number and find it is an expired plate, that person can and will incur a heavy fine, and possibly loss of the use of the vehicle and suspension of the drivers license.

Old plates are permitted to be reused if they are in good condition and/or if the state has not deemed them obsolete. If they do, they have to be replaced at the end of their yearly cycle. This way the mix of old and new is kept to a minimum.

Finland and others should require the use of new plates each time a car is registered or allow a fixed number of years to replace the old plates. The plates are only ugly if you are not use to them.

[Craft]

Finland and others should require the use of new plates each time a car is registered or allow a fixed number of years to replace the old plates. The plates are only ugly if you are not use to them.

Hmm, I wonder why you have such strong opinions of and urge to tell what we should do (in Finland and some others with the licence plates; in Sweden, Denmark, Britain with the euro; etc.)

I like the EU style plates, but I see no problem with having both EU and old style plates. New pieces of old style plates are still produced, so they are not just recycling old plates. I don't think making EU plates mandatory would make EU any more popular among the ones who would still like to have old style (i.e. non-EU) plates. Would you please explain the idea behind your opinion of this matter.

[Fjon]

Fjon:

I see Eire is finally joining the world in another way. They are finally completing the change of road speed signs from miles per hour to kilometres per hour (km/h).

The new cars sold after 2005-01-01 must have metric only dashboard instruments. I hear some new cars already have them now. The first 3 weeks in January will be used to educate the country on the change.

Can you give us your impression and the impression of people you come in contact with concerning the change?

Also, with the completion of road speed and distance signs, what is left to convert? Or is Eire now fully metric?

Thanks

I think everyone is quite happy with the change, and many people think it's long overdue. Distance signs were changed over to KM about 10 years ago, and it was ridiculous having some signs in Miles and some in KM.

I guess Ireland will officially be metric then, but there are some things that can't be changed over. We will still have pints (Beer or milK), and the older generation will still use ounces and pounds in the butcher or supermarket.

[Olivier]

I think everyone is quite happy with the change, and many people think it's long overdue. Distance signs were changed over to KM about 10 years ago, and it was ridiculous having some signs in Miles and some in KM.

I guess Ireland will officially be metric then, but there are some things that can't be changed over. We will still have pints (Beer or milK), and the older generation will still use ounces and pounds in the butcher or supermarket.

Do you cook in imperial measures or in metric? And do you think in feet and inches or in meters and centimeters?
People of Canada can't adapt to the metric system. It's amazing! I tell people that if all the Europeans reached to adopt a new currency, then the Canadians could forget the pints, ounces, feet, inches, cups, yards...

I simply can't cook in imperial measures!

[Fjon]

Everything is still quite messed up. Recipes are given in both metric and imperial - imperial mainly for older people. I would think in both as well - when it comes to distance in KM, but when it comes to weight and height of a person in imperial.

[airis]

Well, my sister bought a car with EU-plates. She changed them back to those old ones...

Is that legal? In the US when you get a new car (or purchase a used vehicle) and register it you have the option to transfer the old plates (in some cases) from the car you are getting rid of. If you choose not to and get new plates, the old plates and numbers on them are no longer valid. ...

Only the style of the plates changed. So there were the same numbers and letters in both plates.

[Olivier]

I think it's funny how most EU countries have been so relaxed about changing their license plates to the EU ones. Looking at most foreign cars I see I would say only Germany has done it correclty. In Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, UK (especially) I have nearly seen as many cars with EU plates as those without.

There may be old cars...

Its reminds me of when France had "yellow" lights at the front of the cars, whereas all Europe's cars had white lights. Now, only the very old french cars have yellow lights.

[Olivier]

Since Sweden does not have an opt out clause, why is Swenden allowed to have a referendum? The EU should be insisting they join or take them to court for violating the treaty.

Swedens actions are not fair to the nations who joined.

And on another note, the UK and Denmark should never have been given an opt out. The opt out clause for them should be removed and they should be required to join the ERM and adopt the euro.

You know is building on compromises. If no opt-out was possible, we would not have the euro today.
About Sweden, I don't mind if people form there does not feel ready yet. There are already 350 millions of people using the euro everyday. Sweden, Denmark and the UK will join, soon or later.

[Dakkus]

Is that legal? In the US when you get a new car (or purchase a used vehicle) and register it you have the option to transfer the old plates (in some cases) from the car you are getting rid of. If you choose not to and get new plates, the old plates and numbers on them are no longer valid. If they end up on a car and the police happen to enter the number and find it is an expired plate, that person can and will incur a heavy fine, and possibly loss of the use of the vehicle and suspension of the drivers license.

Old plates are permitted to be reused if they are in good condition and/or if the state has not deemed them obsolete. If they do, they have to be replaced at the end of their yearly cycle. This way the mix of old and new is kept to a minimum.

Finland and others should require the use of new plates each time a car is registered or allow a fixed number of years to replace the old plates. The plates are only ugly if you are not use to them.

Erm.. At least here in Finland the plates are scrapped when the car is scrapped or the plates are changed.
It's possible getting old-style (Without the EU flag) by request. Then they'll do the plates otherwise the normal way, but make them a bit narrower and throw the blue band away.

[ajb924]

I believe that, among the new EU members, Malta and Cyprus are financially ready for the euro, and it's only a matter of time.

i think in Malta we will have the EURO on 1st JAN 2008, our goverment doesnt want to hurry up into it, but its suppose to join ERM sometime this year