Euro coins are to be redesigned to either show a larger EU or another common symbol reflecting a bigger EU, EU finance ministers agreed on 13 May.
Although euro bank notes show a map of the post-2004 enlargement 25-nation bloc, the map depicted on current euro coins shows old member states only.
EU finance commissioner Joaquin Almunia is set to make recommendations on the new design next month, but no date has been set for the introduction of the new design.
So far, six of the newcomers - Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia Latvia, Malta and Cyprus - have joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, which acts as a waiting room for entry into the eurozone.
They are pushing for a newly designed coin to be produced as quickly as possible.
By: N. Peter Kramer
