The practical preparations would include ensuring the production of new banknotes and coins, as well as the replacement of the old ones. The latter would entail a considerable logistical operation. For example, a couple of hundred large lorries would be required simply to deliver the necessary coins at the time of  BIS Review 29/2003  1  the introduction. But there is more to it than that. Computer systems would need to be converted, not least at the Riksbank, but also in many other areas of society. The Riksbank would also expend a lot of effort on providing information to the general public about the implications of a changeover. In addition, there would be a number of changes in our own operations, which I will return to later. Participation in ERM2 One important question that would become relevant during the preparatory phase is how best to ensure exchange rate stability against the euro within the scope of the exchange rate mechanism ERM2, the successor to the ERM system. In this regard, there may be reason to say something about history. The Riksbank has previously, mainly over the years 1995-1997, considered the issue of ERM participation and the possibilities for combining this with the inflation target policy that has been conducted for a number of years.
At the same time, it is necessary that the legal and practical adaptations that are a precondition for our participation be prepared and decided upon before the EU’s finance ministers within the scope of the ECOFIN Council take the final decision. If the referendum results in a “yes” vote, the Riksbank will be required to help ensure that entry into monetary union proceeds in a stable, smooth manner. Since the middle of the 1990s, the Riksbank has been collaborating with the financial sector via the SIFS group - Consultation and Information with the Financial Sector - with a view to ascertaining the adaptation measures necessary ahead of a potential Swedish changeover to the euro and how long these measures would take to implement. The aim has been to make the time between a Swedish Riksdag decision in favour of participation and entry itself as short as possible. The Swedish government has recommended that Sweden, in the event of a “yes” vote, should strive to enter monetary union on 1 January 2006, and that this should be carried out through a direct changeover or “big bang”. The switch-over of all electronic transactions in society would then be made simultaneously with the cash changeover. This proposal has been welcomed by the financial sector, and there are good chances therefore of a smooth, efficient changeover to the euro at the beginning of 2006. For the Riksbank, a changeover to the euro would of course be a major project.