EN ECB -PUBLIC  
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK  
of 23 January  2014 
concerning the rounding of payments denominated in euro  
(CON/ 2014/6) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 27 December 2013, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from  the Nationale Bank 
van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique (NBB) , acting on behalf of the Belgian Minister  for Finance , 
for an opinion on  a draft law concerning the rounding of payments denominated in euro (hereinafter the 
‘draft law’). The ECB was requested to deliver an opinio n within two weeks in order to enable the 
Belgian government to take the ECB opinion into consideration before the draft law is put before the 
Belgian Parliament.  
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Article 1 27(4) and 282(5)  of the Treat y on the 
Functioning of the European Union  and the  first and second indent s of Article  2(1) of Council Decision 
98/415/EC of 29  June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities 
regarding draft legislative provisions1, since the draft law relate s to currency matters and means of 
payment . In accordance with the first sentence of Article  17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European 
Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.  
 
1. Purpose of the draft law 
1.1 The draft law  amends the Law of 6  April 2010 on market practices and consumer protection , and 
amends the rules  on the rounding of prices in Belgium . It authorises retailers to round  the total 
price to be pai d by consumers to the nearest five  euro cents, r egardless of whether the relevant 
payment is made with banknotes, coins, electronic money or comparable means of payment such 
as, for example,  meal vouchers. However,  rounding should  not take place  if the amount to be paid 
for the purchase of an individual  item is one, two, three  or four euro cents. In accordance with 
Article 9a, rounding will only apply on total amount s due, not on each individual item. If retailers 
decide  to engage in the round ing of  amounts to be paid , they must do so in a consistent  manner. 
They must also  inform consumers about the  rounding by openly and clearly displaying  on their 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
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2 premises  a sign containing text stipulated in the draft law2. Such text  may not be changed by the 
retailers  for any reason, e.g.  in order to refuse one and tw o euro cent coins as a means of payment . 
Symmetrical rounding up or down of the amount  payable  to the nearest multiple of five cents must 
also be included in the invoice, receipt or any other proof of payment . 
1.2 As explained during the preparatory  work o n the draft law , the draft law’s aim is to limit the use of 
one and two euro cent coins in transactions between retailers  and consumers due to the 
disproportionate costs involved in handling such coins for authorities , banks and retailers  in 
minting, suppl ying and handling , respectively , one and two euro cent coins.  These coins are often 
lost or not reintroduced into circulation  by consumers , which creates a n ongoing  need to mint and 
replace  them in large quantities . Furthermore, rounding total amounts to b e paid , as proposed by 
the draft law , would  not lead to an overall increase in prices s ince such rounding would, depending 
on the situation , apply downwards or upwards. Finally, the rounding of prices  would  also satisfy a 
large number  of Belgian consumers,  who consider the one and two euro cent coins, similarly to the 
former 25 and 50 cent Belgian coins, a s coins of negligible value , which  results in  either the coins 
not being put back into circulation  or undue delay in retail transactions.  
 
2. General observations  
2.1 In accordance with Article 128(2) of the Treaty, the competence to  adopt measures to harmonise 
the denomination and technical specifications of all coins intended for circulation to the extent 
necessary to permit their smooth circulation with in the Union  is vested in the Council . The legal 
tender status of euro cent coins  within the euro area  is laid down in Article 1 1 of Council 
Regulation (EC) No  974/983. In addition, Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 provides 
that the euro , as the currency of the euro area , is divided into one hundred cent.  The denomination 
structure of the euro coins ( i.e. 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 cents, 1 euro and 2 euro  coins ) has remained 
unchanged since the introduction of the euro, the one and two euro cent coins a llowing consumers 
to pay the exact amount payable  to the last cent.  
2.2 Rounding rules  are in place  in two Member States. In Finland,  the Rounding Act No 890/2000 of 
27 October 2000 was enacted by the Finnish Parliament prior to  the introduction of the eur o in 
order to ensure  the continu ation  of a longstan ding tradition of rounding small cash payments  in 
Finnish markka to the nearest 10 penni. In the Netherlands, the Social Forum on the Payment 
System (a body established by the Ministry of Finance which bri ngs together retail organisations, 
the consumers’ association, commercial banks and the NCB) recommended the nationwide 
introduction of the rounding rule from 1  September 2004. Retailers applying the rounding rule 
                                                 
2  See new Article 9 bis, third paragraph, (2)  to be introduced by the draft law in the law of 6 April 2010 on market pract ices 
and consumer protection :  “The total amount to be paid may be symmetrically rounded to the nearest multiple of 
five cents, for all means of payment accepted by traders i n accordance with the law”.  
3  Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro  (OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 1).  
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3 inform their customers by displaying  a spe cial sticker at the entrance of their shops. Nevertheless, it 
is still possible for customers to pay the exact amount  payable , using one and two euro cent coins.  
2.3 The competent authorities have, however, repeatedly expressed their concern as regards suc h 
rounding rules, which undermine the legal tender status of one and two euro cent coins . As stated 
in Opinion CON/2002/15 , issued further to the proposed amendment of the Fin nish Rounding A ct, 
‘the Rounding Act should in any case not prevent the one and t wo cent coins from being used as a 
means of payment as they are de jure legal tender in the entire euro area. Member States’ 
legislation should not lead to divergent treatment of the euro’. In its ‘Report on the definition, 
scope and effects of legal tende r of euro banknotes and coins’, the Euro Legal Tender Expert 
Group (ELTEG) advised that ‘rounding rules seem to be contradictory to the notion of legal tender 
of coins [as] tendering the exact amount due does not extinguish the debt (except in the 
Netherla nds), while the very notion of legal tender implies the possibility to settle the exact amount 
owed ’. In its Recommendation of 22  March 2010 on the scope and effects of legal tender of euro 
banknotes and coins4, the Commission recommended that ‘ Member Stat es should […] refrain from 
adopting new rounding rules since they affect negatively the power to discharge from a payment 
obligation by tendering the exact amount owed and since it may lead in some circumstances to a 
surcharge on cash payments’.  
2.4 With a  view to prese rving the unity and integrity of the single monetary area, the ECB therefore 
recom mend s that any rounding rules  are established in a harmonised manner at Union, rather than 
national,  level.  
2.5 The ECB , nevertheless,  welcomes  that, as emphasi sed in the preparatory work for the draft law5 
and the consultation letter, the draft law does not alter the legal tender status of one and two euro 
cent coins in Belgium. It must  therefore  be ensured  that these coins continue to be fully accepted in 
Belgi um for: (a) all payments amounting to one, two, three or four euro cent  and payments of 
individual  items , which are not subject to the rounding rules6; (b) payments that retailers decide not 
to round; and (c) payments round ed up or down by retailers  in acc ordance with the draft law  when 
the customers want to pay the rounded up price with one and two euro cent coins . 
2.6 In any event , the mere introduction in Belgium of a principle that allows  rounding up or down, as 
appropriate, to the nearest  five cents fo r total amounts pa yable  in shops  should not lead to the 
discontinuance  of one and two euro cent coins by Belgian authorities , as appears to have been 
considered in a recent report7. On the contrary , Belgi an authorities need to ensure that one and 
                                                 
4  OJ L 83, 30/3/2010, p. 70.  See in particular the ninth recommendation.  
5  See the preparatory work of the draft law, commentary of article 5: «It is important to note that the one and two  euro cent 
coins remain legal means of payments and shall not be suppressed  ». 
6  See new article 9 bis, (2), second indent, to be introduced by the draft law in the law of 6 April 2010 on market practices 
and consumer protection.  
7  Conséquences de l’introduction en Belgique d’un principe d’arrondi symétrique à cents près pour les montants totaux 
payés en magasin  », available on  the NBB’s website at  www.nbb.be . 
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4 two euro cent coins are widely  availabl e in Belgium in accord ance with market needs in order to 
safeguard  retailer s’ freedom to choose whether  or not  to apply the rounding rules  and to comply 
with the draft law , which expressly excludes rounding for total prices  of one, two, three  or 
four euro cents  and implicitly excludes rounding for the purchase of individual  items . 
2.7 The ECB, nevertheless, understands that , should the practice of rounding up or down  become 
widespread , it is expected that retailers will need fe wer one and two euro  cent coins as change . 
This, in turn, goes some way towards address ing the issue of the hig h cost of replacing one and 
two euro cent coins that are no longer in circulation due to loss and hoarding.  
 
This opinion will be published on th e ECB’s website.  
 
 
Done at Frankfurt am Main,  23 January  2014. 
 
[signed]  
 
The President of the ECB  
Mario DRAGHI