Proposition 51K1578

Projet de loi modifiant l'article 3 de la loi du 10 décembre 2001 concernant le passage définitif à l'euro.

General information ¶

Submitted by

The Senate

Submission date

Jan. 19, 2005

Official page

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Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

South-East Asia euro aid to disaster victims aid policy natural disaster

Voting ¶

Voted to reject

CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA MR FN VB

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Discussion ¶

Feb. 3, 2005 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, Colleagues, I consider myself happy to have found the exit of the beautiful, new, colourful prison of Hasselt this afternoon, so that I can present to you here today, this afternoon, a verbal report on a bill that has reached us from the Senate. This bill emphasizes the positive values of solidarity and commitment that are apparently still present in our society.

Your Committee on Finance discussed the present bill during its meeting on Tuesday 1 February 2005, which is also the reason why an oral report is presented here. Minister Reynders stated that he has been repeatedly asked in the past to allow the collection and exchange of coins in Belgian franc against euros even after 31 December 2004, but only for a good purpose. However, the Minister was not inclined at the time to respond to such a request, as this would require a legislative change anyway. As a result of the tsunami catastrophe in Southeast Asia, this question has recently been raised again. This initiative was supported by several senators. The Minister has contacted the National Bank. He assured him that such an operation was possible provided a legislative change was possible. The draft law, approved by the Senate, therefore stipulates that the euro equivalent of the coins exchanged in Belgian francs at the locks of the National Bank or the locks of De Post must be deposited on the account 12-12.

The Minister submitted a few comments to the text transmitted by the Senate. He emphasized, first and foremost, that the costs of that operation are borne by the Treasury and, consequently, by the taxpayer. In fact, the drafting of the budget was based on the assumption that already part of the coins in Belgian francs would no longer be converted to euros. The Minister also wondered whether this one-time operation should be limited to a single good purpose, namely supporting the victims of the tsunami disaster. Per ⁇ the scope of the proposed legislative amendment should be expanded to include similar, similar initiatives such as, for example, the 11.11.11 action. Eventually, the legislature could even give the King the authority to further extend the operation to other actions for a good purpose. However, the Minister proposed to limit that extension in that case to those organisations that are already recognised for the tax deductibility of gifts made to them.

During the general discussion, colleague de Donnea examined the budgetary impact of the present draft. The minister stated that this could be difficult to estimate precisely. After all, it all depends on the amount of coins in Belgian franc that the parties concerned will collect. After the approval of the present draft law, they have until 1 April 2005 time to organize such collection actions. In that regard, he recalled that since 1 January 2005, it is no longer possible to use coins in Belgian francs in trade or to exchange against euros. However, if the draft law in question is approved, it will still be possible until 1 April 2005 to use its equivalent in euros for a good purpose by depositing them on one of the accounts listed in the draft.

An amendment was submitted by Ms. Lahaye-Battheu, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Massin, Mr. Gustin, Mr. Van der Maelen, Mr. Bogaert, Mr. Van Biesen and myself. This amendment aims to extend the bill to account 11.11. According to most applicants, this extension could be sufficient and no further extension was needed.

In the article-by-article discussion, I would like to mention that Article 1 was unanimously adopted. Article 2, as amended, was unanimously approved and Article 3 was also approved. The amended draft was unanimously adopted. It is obvious that the Chamber Committee hopes that this draft will be approved with the same sense of cohesion and solidarity. I would like to thank the numerous attendees for their unwavering attention.

This was the classic way of the oral report with the agreement of the committee.

I will be ⁇ brief given that the report made by Ms. Roppe is very comprehensive. I would like to emphasize this because it is an oral report and demonstrates the Chamber’s willingness to move quickly and thus avoid delays in the measures to be taken. This bill came from the Senate and we amended it. It is true that in this particular operation, if the money is not returned, the full profit is for the state. If the possibility of returning this currency is extended, an operation can be carried out in favour of institutions, in particular here the "tsunami 12-12" operation, following a catastrophe and this in order to make a financial contribution.

Obviously, one can always say that it is a decrease in revenue for the state treasures but it is not one of them properly speaking since, anyway, it is money that the Belgian leaves for the benefit of the state by renouncing its conversion into euros. It can therefore be said that the effect is ⁇ marginal for the state, but that it is nevertheless the sign of a redistribution of wealth for the benefit of people who have suffered a disaster.

On this occasion, you can ask yourself a question. I am pleased to have seen all the political groups present in the Committee on Finance sign their agreement on this subject by signing the amendment. Indeed, we are concerned about the fate of the victims of a disaster, we are concerned about the countries victims of the disaster but we also have other concerns about what can happen in the third world countries that suffer from hunger, drought, civil war, exploitation, without yet being mediated.

All of us who have signed this amendment, of which I do not claim paternity, can be proud of this approach we are doing, of this gesture we are making and which is slightly different from the approach of a relatively powerful state in the world — it is good to emphasize it. A personality – the right arm of the president of this state – allows itself to say that there is an interest in it, that it is an opportunity for him to go to support the countries of Southeast Asia after the disaster. Our approach is of a different type and it is important to say that. It is important to carry out this type of approach especially since it does not have any particular consequences for the state finances. This is what I wanted to emphasize today.

Mr Bogert is. I see that you have taken a different position. Very strategic, I must say.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out the excellent report of Mr. Roppe, who, as always, did this very accurately.

CD&V fully supports the proposal. We have appreciated that Senator Wouter Beke has taken the initiative. He was able to immediately build something across all party borders, which hopefully will generate several million euros to support the region concerned.

The amendment came a little like a surprise. But well, we also wanted to support that in the committee, because we were still in the same atmosphere there. Above all party politics, we thought we should support it. There are also a number of positive arguments for this.

So far, Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, my intervention. We find it a very good initiative and we are also very pleased that, regardless of any party-political boundaries, it can be approved so quickly in the House and in the Senate.

March 10, 2005 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

President, ministers, colleagues, the women’s march that travels through Flanders this week and continues today in Hasselt, I left here to present a brief report on the draft law amending article 3 of the law of 10 December 2001 on the definitive transition to the euro. It sounds technical and my report will therefore be largely technical, but brief. Nevertheless, I am pleased that a value of solidarity is also founded in this bill, a value that is also strongly emphasized in the Women’s Charter.

The present bill will not be strange to my colleagues. Coming from the Senate, the original proposal was amended by the House, after which it was returned through the Senate to our Finance Committee. The Senate wanted to further extend the exchange of the euro — this is the matter — to all recognised NGOs. Minister Reynders called the course of affairs rather surreal. He himself was in favour of focusing the action on the achievement of the Millennium Goals. However, a majority of the committee members of the Committee on Finance, including your rapporteur, supported the extension of the exchange operation of Belgian franc in euros until 1 July 2005 and the use of the proceeds thereof for action 12-12 and 11.11.11. The various articles were finally unanimously approved.

In order to end a long story well and to be able to continue supporting 11.11.11 and 12-12, even the small money left with us, this draft is therefore once again and now finally submitted for approval to the hemisphere. Thank you for your very intense attention.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the rapporteur for her extensive report.

I would like to emphasize the importance that our group attaches to the difficult proposal regarding the final transition to the euro. We want, together with hopefully as many colleagues as possible, that as many Belgian francs as possible be collected for Tsunami 12-12 and 11.11.11. Following the floodwave in Southeast Asia, some branches of the National Bank provided a collection bus for the end of the year to persons who came to hand over their old Belgian francs. This action generated a total of 9,064 euros in two days. Some associations then also organized actions to collect old Belgian francs for the victims of the tsunami. By the way, I learned today through Foreign Affairs that only one-quarter of the amounts predetermined by the world governments were deposited in the tsunami funds.

The former Belgian francs in question were exchangeable at the National Bank and at De Post until 31 December 2004. Under the Act of 2001, such exchange could no longer be carried out from 1 January 2005. The bill proposed by colleague senator Beke intended to extend the submission period in favor of the account 12-12 until the end of June. The bill was also submitted by his colleagues-senators Jacinta De Roeck of the sp.a and Jacques Germeaux of the VLD.

There are still many old coins in circulation. Recent figures from the National Bank of Belgium show that at the end of 2004 around 189,600,000 euros are still in circulation. At the end of 2001, there were 477 million euro coins in circulation. This means that at the end of December 2004, 24.4% of the coins – expressed in value – were still in circulation. The potential for exchanging old coins is therefore ⁇ high.

Collecting old Belgian francs is a popular means of collecting money for the Third World and for the disaster-affected areas. Furthermore, I believe that the scope of this proposal will enable the feelings of solidarity with these people to be further strengthened.

Various individuals and organizations did this between 27 and 31 December 2004. They now want to extend their actions and therefore demand that the legal framework be adjusted. The proposal presented today is a party-border proposal. It is supported by the majority and the opposition. The plenary session of the Senate has already unanimously supported this proposal. Not only the tsunami action, but also many other projects can benefit from the fundraising. The total amount will be divided between 12-12 and 11.11.11.

During the parliamentary debate in the Senate, the feasibility of this law has been questioned by a number of people. Was it not easier to deposit the amount of the old Belgian francs that the government had already debited and virtually put into the Silver Fund by depositing on the 12-12 account? There was no need for separate legislation. This suggestion did not eventually succeed. Therefore, it is ⁇ appropriate to clarify the reason here, especially when it happens in the week of the volunteer. After all, it is not just about money, colleagues, but also about mobilization and responsibility.

Of course, it would have been much easier, as we know, to transfer some money from the Silver Fund to the Tsunami Fund. That costs the difficulty of a transfer. However, this would go beyond the ultimate goal of giving people, associations and organizations the opportunity to take action against the suffering in Southeast Asia and the Third World.

This law was created at the request of local associations and initiatives that enabled this mobilization. The television broadcast Tsunami 12-12 has shown that our countrymen can be moved. Even subsequent collection operations, such as Peace Islands, Brotherly Sharing and the Damian Action, show that the solidarity readiness with the rest of the world is ⁇ high. We want nothing but to support this fundamental flow. We hope that this law will be passed in the Volunteer Week. It is a tribute to the volunteers and everyone who arranged themselves with drive and enthusiasm, without self-interest or personal gain, commitment to others, close, far, multiple or one-time.

Finally this. Our colleague in the Senate has placed a collection box in the peristile of Parliament, where old francs can be deposited. People can issue their Belgian francs to parliamentarians until the end of March 2005. Parliamentarians will then deposit the money in the collection bus. Collega-senator Beke calls, together with colleague Germeaux and colleague De Roeck of sp.a, to do that as much as possible and to turn the feelings of solidarity that existed after the second day of Christmas into a concrete action. They also request that this be possible until 30 June 2005.

I hope, colleagues, to be able to count on your all support to translate the beautiful proposal into force of law. I thank you. (The applause)

Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak for a moment, only to say that the small coin may be delivered until the end of June 2005 and not until the end of March 2005, as Mr. De Crem just mentioned. Thus, until 1 July 2005 the small money can be collected.