French parliament considers €1 note

THE SON of former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing has launched a new campaign to introduce a one-euro note.

Puy-de-Dôme MP Louis Giscard d'Estaing has assembled a parliamentary committee of nine MPs and senators to examine the idea.

He wants the European Central Bank to bring in the new denomination when it refreshes the notes in 2012, the tenth anniversary of the currency.

Mr Giscard d'Estaing said a one-euro note would improve the currency's image compared with the US dollar, would be cheaper to produce and would be of interest to tourists visiting the continent.

He first put forward a bill calling for the low-denomination note in 2003 and gathered the signatures of 325 European MPs in a petition two years later.

Another possible explanation for his campaign could be the extra work it would create for the Banque de France's printing plant in Chamalières in the Puy-de-Dôme.

The town's mayor since 2005 is Louis Giscard d'Estaing.