OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
at the request of Bank of Greece under Article 105 (4 ), second indent, of the Treaty establishing
the European Community and Article 4 (a) of th e Statute of the Europe an System of Central
Banks and of the European Central Bank on a draft law concerning additional measures in
implementation of Council Regulations (EC)  1103/97, 974/98 and 2866/98, as applicable, on the
introduction of the euro
[CON/00/21 ]
1. On 11 August 2000 the European Central Bank  (ECB) received a request from the Bank of
Greece for an opinion on a draft law concerning  additional measures in implementation of
Council Regulations (EC) 1103/97, 974/98 and 2866/ 98, as applicable, on the introduction of
the euro (hereinafter “the Draft Law”).
2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opini on is based on Article 2 of Council Decision
98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of  the ECB by national authorities regarding
draft legislative provisions1, as the legislative proposal contai ns provisions concerning currency
matters and means of payment. In accordance w ith the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the
Rules of Procedure of the ECB, this ECB opi nion has been adopted by the Governing Council
of the ECB. 
3. The purpose of the Draft Law is to deal with th e necessary adaptation of Greek legislation with
a view to ensuring the national implementation of the regulatory framework for the introduction
of the euro on 1 January 2001. The Draft Law re gulates the status of the Greek drachma as
legal tender until 28 February 2002. The Draft Law consists of 21 articles, replacing oramending existing currency legislation and regula ting issues related to the introduction of the
euro in Greece. 
                                                          
1 OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42-43.
4. The ECB welcomes the initiative of the Greek  Government to prepare for the timely
implementation of the measures necessary or appropriate for the changeover to the single
currency both in the private and in the public sector. The Draft Law constitutes a
comprehensive piece of legislative work, which encompasses a wide range of topics and areaswith a view to ensuring the sm ooth introduction of the euro in the Greek legal system and in the
Greek securities markets. The Draft Law introduces a simple method for the re-denomination ofshare capital and share trading without any a dditional costs for companies (see Articles 12, 14
and 18). The ECB welcomes and overall assesses positively the provisions contained in theDraft Law and no major inconsistencies or probl ems are to be mentioned without prejudice to
the observations made under Section 5. In practi ce, it would be possible to trade, settle and
clear in euro stock exchange transactions of securities in Greek drachmae, without re-
denominating them (see Article 18, Section 1). Th e ECB would also like to suggest that the
legislator may wish to provide in the Draft La w that the same method for the re-denomination
of outstanding public debt can additionally be applied by the issuers of private bonds, according
to the principle of “no compulsion, no prohibition”. 
5. Article 1 provides for a general clause of subs tituting the euro for the Greek drachma. Article 2
contains conversion and rounding rules. The ECB notes that, in accordance with the case-law
of the European Court of Justice, which, in pr inciple, prohibits the national legislator from
repeating provisions of a regulation, Section 1 of  Article 2 of the Draft Law should be deleted
because national provisions should refrain from merely repeating paragraphs 1 to 4 of Article 4and Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 since the Council Regulation is directly
applicable in national jurisdictions. Article 2, S ection 3, provides for a rounding of not less than
two decimals for intermediate computations of sums that are not to be paid or accounted for.
However, Article 4(4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 provides explicitly for aminimum rounding to three decimal digits for c onversions from one national unit to the other.
Therefore, as regards Article 2, Section 3, the ECB would welcome a clarification of its
inapplicability to conversions between national currency denominations. Furthermore, the ECB
welcomes the provision of Section 5 in Article 2. 
6. In its May 2000 Convergence Report, the ECB took  note that, as far as legislation other than
the Statute of the Bank of Greece is concerned, such legislation will be adapted in a lawintroducing the euro. In view of this obser vation, the ECB welcomes in particular the
provisions in Section 1 of Article 4, and Secti ons 1 and 2 of Article 5 of the Draft Law that
amend or repeal existing legislation relating to  monetary, currency or foreign exchange issues
as a result of the introduction of the euro in Greece. 
7. Article 6 deals with tax provisions. Article 7 supplements existing accounting provisions.
Article 8 deals with the re-denomination of public debt and introduces a one-year statute of
limitation with the proviso in Section 6 for litigation concerning the application of the
provisions therein. This should allow for clarity and legal certainty. Article 9 gives the optionto the State and legal persons to use the euro  in their transactions with Greek customs
authorities during the year 2001. However, the asse ssment, collection and refunding of customs
duties and taxes, as well as any payments through the Greek customs authorities during the year2001 shall be effected in Greek drachmae. Article  10 empowers the Minister  of Finance and the
competent Minister to regulate in the area of Accounting of the State and of legal persons in
public law. This provision, which is often us ed in the Draft Law, should allow for greater
flexibility and efficiency when regulating ma tters of accounting. Articles 11 to 14 amend
provisions of the codified la w of stock corporations (Law 2190/1920, as amended) and of the
law on limited liability companies (Law 3190/1955, as amended). 
8. Article 15 provides for dual display of prices . Article 16 appoints already existing Committees
for the Amicable Settlement of Consumer Disputes  as a “Euro-Observatory”, i.e. as bodies to,
amongst other tasks, hear, mediate and assist c itizens with respect to changeover issues under
the aegis of the Ministry of Development.  Such measures are conducive to a smooth
changeover and greater confidence of the pub lic to the changeover. Article 17 contains
provisions regarding the euro logo. Article 18 re gulates issues related to the capital markets and
the stock exchange. Article 19 regulates the conversion and rounding of sanctions,
administration fees and fines. Article 20 impos es a fine in case of non-compliance with the
provisions of the Draft Law and Article 21 stipulates that this  Law is intended to enter into
force on 1 January 2001. These articles do not give rise to any specific remarks from the ECB’s
point of view. 
9. The ECB confirms that it has no objection to  this ECB opinion being made public by the
competent national authorities at their discretion.
Done at Frankfurt am Main on 1 September 2000.
The President of the ECB
[signed]
Willem F. DUISENBERG