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Frankfurt - Euro banknotes would remain paper, the European Central Bank said on Monday, choosing to fight counterfeiting with new security measures but resisting a move to plastic money.
The ECB also has no plans to do away with the €500 notes favoured by some criminals, said executive board member Yves Mersch
Polymer notes were first adopted by Australia in 1988 and are now used in over 20 countries. Britain is due to make the shift in 2016 and become the largest economy to use them, but the ECB will continue to make euros from cotton-based paper.
Coating
"We have seen with great interest what the Bank of England does and also what other central banks have been doing around the world and we are studying their experiences," Mersch told a news conference when presenting the new €10 note.
"The outcome of our studies was that we would remain with ... the current series," he said.
The new notes will have a protective coating, extending their lifetime.
The BoE has estimated that the plastic banknotes will save Britain about £100m over a decade.
The ECB also has no plans to do away with the €500 notes favoured by some criminals, said executive board member Yves Mersch
Polymer notes were first adopted by Australia in 1988 and are now used in over 20 countries. Britain is due to make the shift in 2016 and become the largest economy to use them, but the ECB will continue to make euros from cotton-based paper.
Coating
"We have seen with great interest what the Bank of England does and also what other central banks have been doing around the world and we are studying their experiences," Mersch told a news conference when presenting the new €10 note.
"The outcome of our studies was that we would remain with ... the current series," he said.
The new notes will have a protective coating, extending their lifetime.
The BoE has estimated that the plastic banknotes will save Britain about £100m over a decade.
