EN ECB-PUBLIC  
 
 
 OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 7 October 2011  
on sanctions related to the protection of the euro against counterfeiting 
(CON/2011/78) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 8 September 2011 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Slovenian Ministry 
of Finance for an opinion on a draft regulation on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) 
No 1338/2001 of 28 June 2001 laying down measures ne cessary for the protection of the euro against 
counterfeiting, amended by Counc il Regulation (EC) No 44/2009 of 18 December 2008 amending 
Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 laying down measures necessary for the protection of the euro against 
counterfeiting (hereinafter the ‘draft regulation’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union and the first, second and third indents of Article 2(1) of Council 
Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consulta tion of the European Central Bank by national 
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions1, as the draft law relates to currency matters, means of 
payment and Banka Slovenije. In accordance with th e first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of 
Procedure of the European Central Bank, th e Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1.  Purpose of the draft regulation 
Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2009  of 18 December 2008 amending Regulation (EC) 
No 1338/2001 laying down measur es necessary for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting
2, the 
draft regulation: (a) sets out the offences in breach of the first and second subparagra phs of Article 6(1) of 
Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 in conjunction with Decision ECB/2010/14 of the European Central Bank 
of 16 September 2010 on the authenticity and fitn ess checking and recirculation of euro banknotes3; and 
(b) provides that Banka Slovenije is the competent authority to supervise compliance with Regulation 
(EC) No 1338/2001 and to take decisions on offences under the draft regulation. The draft regulation will 
enter into force on 31 December 2011. 
                                                      
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
2  OJ L 17, 22.1.2009, p. 1.  
3  OJ L 267, 9.10.2010, p. 1. 
ECB-PUBLIC 
2 2. General observations 
2.1 Even though national authorities are not required to consult the ECB on measures taken to ensure 
that breaches of Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 are subject to effective, 
proportionate and deterrent sanctions , it is nonetheless beneficial to address this issue in order to 
encourage a harmonised approach across the Union to the extent possible, subject to national 
peculiarities4. 
2.2 The ECB broadly welcomes the draft regulation wh ich should provide for an effective system of 
deterrent sanctions in relation to the protecti on of the euro against counterfeiting and thus 
contribute to maintaining public confidence in euro banknotes in circulation.  
 3. Consistency with Union legislation 3.1 Articles 3 to 9 of the draft regulation describ e cash handler obligations, the breach of which 
constitutes a serious or minor offence sanctioned by a fine under Articles 11 or 12 of the draft regulation. The ECB considers it essential for the draft regulation to only deviate from Decision ECB/2010/14 where the Decision has expressly allowed such deviations. To ensure consistency, 
the ECB recommends including direct references in the draft regulation to the relevant provisions 
of Decision ECB/2010/14, including its technical a nnexes. Alternatively, a full reproduction of the 
relevant provisions of Decision ECB/2010/14 wit hout any alterations or additions is also 
acceptable. 
3.2 Decision ECB/2010/14 applies to cash handlers by virtue of Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) 
No 1338/2001, which refers to procedures defined by the ECB for checking euro banknotes. In this 
context, the ECB understands that the terms used in  the draft regulation have the same meaning as 
in Decision ECB/2010/14. If necessary to ensure legal certainty, additional new terms should be defined
5.  
 4. Sanctions regime In accordance with Articles 11 and 12 of the draft regulation, a fine of EUR 75 000 will be imposed on 
cash handlers committing a serious breach of their oblig ations under the draft re gulation and a fine of 
EUR 3 000 will be imposed on the responsible person of such cash handlers. For a minor breach, cash 
handlers will be fined EUR 30 000 and their respective responsible persons EUR 1 000. To ensure that 
specific circumstances are taken into account and th at sanctions are proportionate, the ECB recommends 
that the Ministry consider whether the proposed system  of fixed fines could be replaced by a system that 
sets a maximum ceiling or provides for a range of fines for each particular breach. 
                                                     
 
4 See paragraph 1.1 of Opinion C ON/2010/87 and paragraph 2.4 of Opini on CON/2011/64. All ECB opinions are 
published on the ECB’s webs ite at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
5 For instance, it could be useful to de fine ‘euro banknote depot’ to ensure clarity  in granting the remote credit institution 
branch status under Article 7( 2) of the draft regulation. 
ECB-PUBLIC 
3 5. Tasks of Banka Slovenije under the draft regulation 
In accordance with Article 2 of the draft regulation, Banka Slovenije acts as the competent authority to 
supervise compliance with Regulation (EC) No 1338/200 1 and to take decisions regarding offences under 
the draft regulation. Banka Slovenije would have to  commit additional human and financial resources to 
carry out these new tasks. In this context, the ECB has emphasised that  ‘Member States may not put their 
[national central banks] in a position where they have  insufficient financial resources to carry out their 
[European System of Central Banks] or Eurosystem related tasks, as applicable’6. The ECB has 
consistently expressed its concern that, when allocati ng additional tasks to natio nal central banks, it must 
be ensured that they have sufficient human and fina ncial resources, both in term s of quantity and quality, 
for all of their tasks, and in particular that their cap acity to fulfil their European System of Central Banks 
or Eurosystem-related tasks is not affected7. 
 6. Name of the single currency The title and Article 1 of the draft regulation refer to  the full title of Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001 and 
thereby uses the incorrect spelling of the name of th e single currency (‘evro’ instead of ‘euro’). The ECB 
would like to draw the Ministry’s attention to th e corrigendum to the Slovenian language version of 
Regulation (EC) No 1338/2001
8 replacing all instances of incorrect sp elling of the name of the single 
currency with the correct spelling and thus making it co mpatible with Union law in  this respect. The ECB 
expects that the abovementioned spelling mistak es in the draft regulation will be corrected. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.   Done at Frankfurt am Main, 7 October 2011. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET 
                                                     
 
6  See e.g. the ECB’s Convergence Report May 2010, p. 21, available on the ECB’s we bsite at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
7  In the context of consultations by Slovenian authorities, see e.g. paragraph 2.3 of Op inion CON/2007/38, paragraph 3.5 
of Opinion CON/2011/25 and paragraph 3.1 of Opinion CON/2011/70. 
8  OJ L 121, 6.5.2006, p. 56.