Bargeld als elementarer Bestand einer freiheitlichen Gesellschaftordnung. Cash as an elementary component of liberal social order

Abstract

Since state institutions began using account screening, in the bank sector, not only in cases of suspicion, but as a standard procedure for monitoring account and invest-ment data, much of the illegal transfer of funds has shifted towards cash payments. In order to hinder, or even do away with such illegal monetary transactions, the EU is considering two possible courses of action; one moderate and one more radical. The moderate solution would see the introduction of legislation restricting the amount of cash used in payments. Several countries already have such legislation. It is possible that this limit could be adjusted by governments ad hoc, and could even be set at zero. This would be the radical course of action; doing away completely with cash payments. The consequence would be that the transfer of money would only be possible by bank transfer from account to account. Representatives of the banking sector are in favour of the campaign to eliminate the use of cash transactions, as this would lead to advantages within the banking indus-try. However, there would be many disadvantages for the general public. In the world of commerce, contractual liberty is a fundamental principle. All contracting parties have the right, within the law, to negotiate the terms of a contract to be signed, laying down goods or payment (cash included) to be made, as a part of the contract. Thus, legislation restricting the use of cash would be a breach of the free-dom of rights as laid down in the constitution of any EU country. The question as to whether or not to do away with the use of 500, - Euro bank notes is of little interest to legal and private monetary transactions, as these are seldom used in such cases. Since these notes are a simple way of transporting large sums of money unnoticed, their use is mainly limited to the world of illegal transactions where large sums of money need to be moved, as in the case of money laundering