EN
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
of 20 December 2001
at the request of the Aust rian Ministry of Finan ce on a draft law amending
the Nationalbankgesetz (the National Bank Act)
(CON/2001/40)
1. On 19 November 2001 the European Central Ba nk (ECB) received a request for an opinion
from the Austrian Ministry of Fi nance on a draft law amending the Nationalbankgesetz (the
National Bank Act), hereinafter referred to as the draft law.
2. The ECBs competence to deliver an opinion is based on the second indent of Article 105(4) of
the Treaty establishing the European Community and Article 2(1) of CouncilDecision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the ECB by national authorities
regarding draft legislative provisions
1, as the legislative proposal contains provisions
concerning currency matters and means of pa yment. The Governing Council of the ECB has
adopted this opinion in accordance with the fi rst sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of
Procedure of the ECB.
3. The main purpose of the draft law is the creation of the possibility to impose sanctions for non-
compliance with the duties imposed by Article  6(1) of Council Regu lation No 1338/2001 of 28
June 2001 laying down measures necessary for the protection of the euro againstcounterfeiting
2 as required by Article 6(2) and (3). Furthermore, the draft law extends the
obligations under Article 79 of the National Bank Act to bureaux de change. 
4. The ECB welcomes the draft law which intends to impose effective sanctions on credit
institutions and any other institutions engaged in  the sorting and distribution to the public of
banknotes and coins as a professional activity, wh ere they fail to withdraw from circulation all
euro notes and coins received by them, which they know or have sufficient reason to believe tobe counterfeit.
5. The ECB notes that the obligations contained in the directly applicable Article 6(1) of Council
Regulation No 1338/2001 are also covered by Artic le 79 of the National Bank Act as amended
by the draft law. On that basis, Article 79a of  the draft law sanctions failure to comply with
                                                          
1OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.
2OJ L 181, 4.7.2001, p. 6.
2Article 79 of the National Bank Act, instead of sa nctioning the failure to comply with the duties
laid down in Article 6(1) of Council Regulati on No 1338/2001 in order to fulfil the obligations
imposed on Austria by Article 6(2) and (3) of Council Regulation No 1338/2001. 
6. In view of this method chosen to apply Ar ticle 6 of Council Regulation No 1338/2001, the ECB
underlines the importance for establishments subject to sanctions according to Article 79a
National Bank Act to be the same as the estab lishments referred to in Article 6(1) of Council
Regulation No 1338/2001. Furthermore, it is understood that by using the term " verdächtige " in
Article 79a of the Austrian National Bank Act,  reference is made not only to banknotes and
coins that are suspected of being counterfeit, but  also to those banknotes and coins which banks
and any other institution know or have sufficient reason to believe to be counterfeit, as laiddown in Article 6(1) of the Council Regulation. 
7. The ECB would welcome efforts by the nationa l central banks and the banking industry to
ensure the effectiveness of the detection and the withdrawal from ci rculation of potential
counterfeits, as an accompaniment to the draft law's implementation of Article 6 of Council
Regulation No 1338/2001.
8. The ECB notes the introduction of an admi nistrative penalty of up to EUR 7 000 for
establishments that fail to discharge their ob ligations under Article 79(1) of the National Bank
Act. 
9. The ECB notes that the draft law does not provid e for a specific date of entry into force and
thus it will enter into force on the day after publication in the Bundesgesetzblatt . The ECB
notes that the time limit for adoption of sanctions provisions is 1 January 2002.
10. The ECB confirms that it has no objection to the competent national authorities making this
opinion publicly available at their discretion.
Done at Frankfurt am Main on 20 December 2001.
The President of the ECB
[signed]
Willem F. DUISENBERG