EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 12 June 2006 
at the request of the Slovenian Ministry of Finance 
on a draft law on the introduction of the euro 
(CON/2006/29) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 12 May 2006 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Slovenian Ministry of 
Finance for an opinion on a draft law on the introducti on of the euro (hereinafter the ‘draft law’). 
The ECB’s competence to de liver an opinion is based on Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing the 
European Community and on the first and second inde nts of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC 
of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national au thorities regarding draft 
legislative provisions1, as the draft law relates to currency ma tters and means of payment. In accordance 
with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rule s of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the 
Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1. Purpose of the draft law 
The main objectives of the draft law are to facilitate the euro changeover and to address the issues relating 
to the introduction of the euro that are not containe d in the relevant Community legislation, i.e. Council 
Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 of 17 June 1997 on certa in provisions relating to the introduction of the 
euro
2, Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro3 and Council 
Regulation (EC) No 2866/98 of 31 December 1998 on th e conversion rates between the euro and the 
currencies of the Member States adopting the euro4.  
 
2. General observations 
2.1. The ECB welcomes the draft law as it contains a comprehensive set of provisions for the 
introduction of the euro, which should greatly facilitate a smooth changeover to the euro in 
                                                      
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
2  OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2595/2000 (OJ L 300, 29.11.2000, p. 1).  
3  OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2169/2005 (OJ L 346, 29.12.2005, p. 1). 
4  OJ L 359, 31.12.1998, p. 1. Regula tion as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1478/2000 (OJ L 167, 7.7.2000, p. 1). 
2 Slovenia. The Slovenian Government’s initiative of preparing early for the introduction of the euro 
should ensure the timely implementation of the necessary measures. 
2.2. Name of the single currency  
The draft law that was submitted to the E CB for consultation uses the correct spelling5 of the name 
of the single currency in the nominative singular cas e and is therefore compatible with Community 
law in this respect6. Moreover, in the course of the consulta tion procedure, the consulting authority 
informed the ECB that a new provision would be inserted in the draft law providing that as from the day of entry into force of the draft law the wo rd ‘evro’ in all grammatical cases will be replaced 
with the word ‘euro’ in the relevant case in laws and regulations. The ECB welcomes this new 
provision, as it will satisfactorily solve the spelling issue in Slovenia. 
2.3. Timing for adoption of the draft law an d preconditions for its entry into force  
According to Article 28, the draft law ‘shall enter into force on the fifteenth day after its 
publication and shall take effect from the day following the publication of the Council decision on 
abrogation of the derogation pursuant to Article 122(2) of the Treaty’. It should be recalled that the Community has exclusive competence in matters relating to economic and monetary union, and 
national legislation should not in any way prejud ge the EU Council’s decision regarding abrogation 
of the derogation and the date on which this abroga tion takes effect. Certain provisions of the draft 
law containing specific dates (e.g. Article 11(3), pot entially Article 16 and indirectly Article 8(2)) 
presuppose that Slovenia will adopt the euro on 1 Ja nuary 2007. However, in practice this should 
not cause any problems as the consulting authority h as informed the ECB that the draft law will be 
submitted to the Slovenian Parliament after abrogation of the derogation. 
2.4. Direct applicability of Community regulations  
Certain provisions of the draft law repeat the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 974/98
7. In 
this context, the ECB notes that Article 249 of the Treaty provides that a Community regulation ‘shall be binding in its entirety and directly a pplicable in all Member States’. A Community 
regulation therefore does not need to be trans posed into the domestic law of Member States
8. If a 
Member State transposes a regulation into national law, the fact that the provision is a Community law provision may be obscured. In addition, if a Member State transposes a regulation in even a 
                                                     
 
5  The ECB understands that the spelling mistakes in Articles 21(2) and 22(1) of the draft law will be corrected.  
6  See: ECB Opinion CON/2005/57 of 16 December 2005 at the re quest of the Slovene Ministry of Economic Affairs on 
the provisions of the draft Companies Act concerning redeno mination resulting from the introduction of the euro; ECB 
Opinion CON/2006/17 of 13 March 2006 at the request of the Sl ovenian Ministry of Finance on a draft law amending the 
Law on Banka Slovenije; and the ECB’s Convergence Report of May 2006, Chapte r II, Section 5 and Subsection 7.2. 
7  Article 3 of the draft law repeats Ar ticle 2 of Regulation (EC) No 974/98; Ar ticle 9(1), Article 11(1) and (2), and 
Article 13(1) of the draft law repeat Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 974/98. 
8  As stated by the Court of Justice of the European Communities in Case 34-73 Fratelli Variola S.p.A. v Amministrazione 
italiana delle Finanze  [1973] ECR 981: ‘by virtue of the obligations ar ising from the Treaty and assumed on ratification, 
Member States are under a duty not to obs truct the direct applicability inherent in regulations and other rules of 
Community law. Strict compliance with this obligation is  an indispensable condition of simultaneous and uniform 
application of Community regulations throughout the Community’. This position was reiterated in Case 50-76 
Amsterdam Bulb BV v Produktschap voor Siergewassen [1977] ECR 137. 
3 slightly different form, there is a risk that its content will be altered9. In light of the above, the ECB 
would recommend deleting those articles of the draft law which repeat provisions of Regulation (EC) No 974/98 or, alternatively, amendi ng those articles to refer merely to the relevant 
provisions of Regulation (EC) No 974/98. 
 
3. Definitions  
3.1. Conversion rate 
The definition of ‘convergence rate’ in Article 2 of the draft law refers to the Treaty establishing 
the European Community published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. This 
definition should be amended to refer to the Offici al Journal of the European Union as only the text 
of the Treaty published there is deemed to be authentic. 
3.2. Day of the introduction of the euro  
The definition of ‘day of the introduction of the euro ’ in Article 2 of the draft law, which refers to 
Article 122(2) of the Treaty, does not comply fully with Community law. Article 122(2) of the Treaty is the legal basis for the EU Council’s d ecision on abrogation of the derogation. Following 
this decision, and in accordance with Article 123(5) of the Treaty, the EU Council adopts the 
conversion rate between the euro and the currency of the relevant Member State and determines the 
date on which abrogation of the der ogation will take effect. Therefore, the definition of ‘day of the 
introduction of the euro’ in Article 2 of the draf t law should be amended by referring to it as the 
day on which the abrogation of Slovenia’s dero gation takes effect, as determined by the EU 
Council in accordance with Article 122(2) of the Treaty. 
3.3. Bottom-up method 
The bottom-up method is defined in Article 2 of the draft law as a ‘debt-redenomination method, 
whereby the value of each denomination of a debt se curity is redenominated’,  and this is partially 
repeated in the last sentence of Article 12(1) of the draft law. For reasons of legal clarity, the ECB would advise deleting the repetition in Article  12(1) and defining the method in detail
10 in Article 2 
of the draft law, which contains the definitions.  
 
4. Cash changeover  
4.1. There appears to be a need to phrase Article 4(2)  of the draft law more precisely. Currently, there 
seems to be a discrepancy between, on the one hand,  the period of 14 days and, on the other hand, 
                                                      
9  For instance, Article 13(3) of the draft law clearly co ntradicts Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 974/98 and should 
therefore be deleted. 
10  See Commission Communication of 2 July 1997 on the impact  of the introduction of the euro on capital markets 
(COM(97) 337 final). 
4 the period beginning at 00.00 on the day of the introduction of the euro and ending at 24.00 on the 
fourteenth day after the day of the introduction of  the euro, which would mean a total of 15 days. 
4.2. Article 6(1) of the draft law provides that from the day of the introduction of the euro, Banka 
Slovenije ‘shall start withdrawing tolar banknotes a nd coins from circulation’. From an operational 
point of view, the ECB would like to draw attenti on to the experience of past changeovers, where it 
proved very practical gradually to start withdrawi ng coins before the day of the introduction of the 
euro, to facilitate the logistics of this withdrawal (particularly given the bulk and weight of coins in 
circulation, the required special storage facilities, etc.). 
4.3. In accordance with Article 6(2) of the draft law, Banka Slovenije ‘may adopt an executive 
regulation laying down the procedures and methods  for the cash changeover’. This provision 
should be amended to state explicitly that any Bank a Slovenije decision in this respect must be in 
accordance with decisions taken by the ECB’s d ecision-making bodies.Article 7 of the draft law 
read in conjunction with Article 24 of the draft law leaves some room for different interpretations 
in relation to the cash changeover in post offices. The draft law refers to three different entities in 
this respect: Pošta Slovenije  (a state-owned company providing postal services in Slovenia), Poštna 
banka Slovenije  (a bank partially owned by Pošta Slovenije  for which the latter also acts as the 
contractual service provider) and post offices (local business units of Pošta Slovenije ). The ECB 
would recommend clarifying whether ‘post offices’ in  Article 24 refers to such local units of Pošta 
Slovenije  or, if they do not have separate legal personality, whether any fines incurred would be 
imposed on Pošta Slovenije . Since Pošta Slovenije  is only the contractual service provider for 
Poštna banka Slovenije , it may be appropriate that the latter be  held responsible in the event of any 
infringement. However, if this is the case Poštna banka Slovenije  is already included in the 
category of ‘banks’ under Article 24 of the draft law. 
4.4. With respect to Article 8(2) of the draft law,  the ECB would recommend specifying more clearly 
what the situation will be after 31 December 2016,  i.e. Banka Slovenije will no longer exchange 
tolar coins and after that date any exchange cl aim against the Republic of Slovenia will be time-
barred. 
 5. Account balances and payment transactions 
5.1. For reasons of legal clarity, the ECB would recommend stating explicitly that ‘payment 
transactions’ in Article 10 of the draft law only refers to non-cash payments.  
5.2. According to Article 12 of the draft law, debt securities of the state budget denominated in tolars 
and issued as book-entry securities in accordance with Slovenian la w must be redenominated using 
the bottom-up method and the minister responsible for finance will prescribe the methods and procedures for redenominating individual types of such debt securities. The ECB would suggest amending this provision by explicitly stating th at any such redenomination must comply with 
Community law. 
5 5.3. According to Article 14(1) of the draft law, ‘deb tors shall be responsible for the accuracy of the 
conversion into euro of amounts denominated in tolars at the time of payment or when submitting a 
payment order’, ‘unless otherwise agreed by the pa rties or provided for in a regulation’. According 
to the explanatory memorandum accompanying th e working version of the draft law which was 
made public at an earlier stage of the legislative process11, the intention behind this provision was 
to make clear that it is the debtor (and not th e bank acting as payment intermediary) who will be 
responsible for the accuracy of conversion from tola rs into euro, in particular as regards money 
orders issued before 31 December 2006 (when tola rs are the only legal tender) and falling due after 
the introduction of the euro. In order to avoid any misunderstanding in interp reting the scope of this 
provision, especially in the light of Commission Recommendation 98/287/EC of 23 April 1998 concerning dual display of prices and other monetary amounts
12, the ECB suggests that the draft 
law explicitly specifies that relations between  retailers and consumers are exempted from 
Article 14(1). 
 6. Interest rates, indices and exchange rates 
The ECB would recommend aligning Article 18 of th e draft law with Article 67 of the Law on Banka 
Slovenije
13. In respect of foreign currencies that are on th e ECB’s exchange-rate list, the exchange rates 
were previously determined by Banka Slovenije but  will now only be published by Banka Slovenije (on 
the basis of the reference exchange rates of fore ign currencies determined and published by the ECB). 
Banka Slovenije may, however, s till determine and publish the refere nce exchange rates for foreign 
currencies that are not on the ECB’s exchange-rate list. 
 
7. Other provisions on rounding 
7.1. Article 21(2) of the draft law provides for an excepti on to the rule of rounding to no less than two 
decimal places: for lower-value prices and for goods  and services that are sold in bulk ‘prices shall 
be rounded to no less than four decimal places’. Cu rrently, there seems to be significant scope for 
different interpretations of when rounding to no less than four decimal places should be used, and 
the draft law only provides a few examples (such as prices for electricity units, telephone charges, etc.)
14. For reasons of legal certainty, the draft law should contain more precise definitions of prices 
                                                      
11  Available on the Slovenian Government website at www.gov.si. 
12  OJ L 130, 1.5.1998, p. 26. 
13  Zakon o Banki Slovenije , adopted on 19 June 2002 and last amended on 30 March 2006; published in the Official Gazette 
of the Republic of Slovenia, Nos 58/02, 85/02 and 39/06. 
Article 67(1) of the Law on Banka Slovenije reads: 
‘From the day of the introduction of the euro as the currency of the Republic of Slovenia, Articles 21 and 22 of this act 
shall cease to apply. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence , the Bank of Slovenia shall pub lish an exchange rate list on 
the basis of reference exchange rates of  foreign currencies determined and publis hed by the European Central Bank. The 
Bank of Slovenia may also determine and publish exchange rate s of foreign currencies that are not on the exchange rate 
list of the European Central Bank.’ 
14  For the interpretation of the Court of Justice of the Eu ropean Communities of the euro rounding rules, see Case C-19/03 
Verbraucher-Zentrale Hamburg eV  v O2 (Germany) GmbH & Co. OHG  [2004] ECR I-8183.  
6 which ‘have lower values’ and of  goods and services falling within the category of those ‘sold in 
bulk’. This is particularly important since the draft law15 provides for sanctions for infringements 
of this provision. 
7.2. Article 22(1) of the draft law provides that, wher e there is dual pricing in accordance with the Law 
on dual pricing in tolars and euro , ‘undertakings may indicate prices to the nearest EUR 0.05 or to 
the nearest multiple thereof’, where goods and ser vices are sold via automatic vending machines or 
by similar selling methods and where, for technical reasons, it is not possible to make payments with an accuracy of EUR 0.01 and 0.02. The ECB understands that the rounding possibility set out in this provision: (i) refers to the actual pri ce of the goods or services sold exclusively using the 
methods mentioned above; (ii) is due exclusivel y to the technical restrictions of the vending 
machines in question; and (iii) is  in any event without prejudice to the rounding rules in Council 
Regulation (EC) No 1103/97.  
 8. Penal provisions 
With respect to Article 25 of the draft law, the EC B would like to make the following editorial comment. 
It seems that there is a discrepancy between the pe nal provision in point 5 of Article 25(1) (referring to 
infringements of Article 21(2)) and the wording of Article 21(2), as well as between point 6 of Article 25(1) and the wording of the underlying provis ion (Article 21(5)). For reasons of legal clarity, the 
ECB would recommend aligning the wording of the penal provisions in points 5 and 6 of Article 25(1) of 
the draft law with their underlying provisions.  
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.   Done at Frankfurt am Main, 12 June 2006. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET 
                                                     
 
15  Point 5 of Article 25(1) of the draft law.