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The French treasury is considering European plans to phase out one and two-cent coins in the coming years.

The plan, which was first put forward in 2013, has been raised again by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and is one of numerous initiatives put forward in the Commission's new work programme to cut bureaucracy and save money.

Increasingly, eurozone countries are adopting rounding policies. In Belgium, for example, rounding has been compulsory for all cash payments since December 1, 2019.

When the idea was first mooted, it was estimated that taking the coins out of circulation would save €1.4billion in manufacture, transportation and accounting costs.

At the beginning of 2020, it was estimated that there were more than 36billion one and two-cent coins in circulation.

Not all eurozone countries are in favour of the idea. Estonia recently decided to mint an extra 10million small denomination coins.