About 500 laws that involve monetary amounts are

currently under review, as they will need to be adapted as the country prepares itself for the euro changeover.

To date, the Translation and Law Drafting Unit (TLDU) in the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry has reviewed more than 300 chapters forming part of the legislation’s primary acts and subsidiary legislation.

This may well be one of the aspects about the change-over to the single European currency that is taken for granted, and few will have spared a thought about the conversion of monetary amounts in existing national legislation, but it is probably the second largest single task in the legal field, following that of transposing EU Directives and Regulations into national law in preparation for EU membership.

In line with the Euro Adoption Act, which lays down the legal framework and measures that need to be taken for the successful adoption of the euro, the process involves the adapt-ation of all national legislation involving monetary amounts.

Moreover, the TLDU has to establish the required enabling powers for the implementation of alterations.

The actual process for adapting all national legislation in view of the introduction of the euro involves three main stages.

First, all references to the Maltese lira (Lm) currency in all primary acts and subsidiary legislation have had to be identified. The TLDU is responsible for the documentation of a comprehensive and updated list.

The identification process will be followed by the conversion of identified Lm amounts into euro, which will be finalised soon after the irrevocable fixed exchange rate is confirmed.

The fixed exchange rate, known as the central parity rate (EUR1:Lm0.4293), was set when Malta joined ERMII two years ago. This will be confirmed after Malta receives the formal go-ahead to join the eurozone on 10 July.

All necessary amendments will be made through legal notices published under the Euro Adoption Act, which provides for the amendment of articles, schedules and forms in Maltese legislation containing monetary values or references to the Maltese lira.

The Finance Ministry will then assume ultimate responsibility for validating the accuracy of all converted euro amounts and will sign-off finalised legal notices prepared by the TLDU.

Finally, the Office of the Attorney General will be responsible for overseeing and ensuring the publication of each legal notice under the Euro Adoption Act by 31 December 2007 as changes will then come into effect on 1 January 2008.

The new legal texts are to be put online within the Laws of Malta website after 1 January. An NECC spokesman said that through early and careful planning, and the commitment of all the public officers involved in the process, the public sector is confident that the changeover to the euro will prove to be a

success story.