OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
at the request of the Austrian Ministry of Finance under Articl e 105 (4), second indent, of the
Treaty establishing the European Community and Article 4 (a), second indent, of the Statute of
the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank on a draft Federal
Act by way of which measures in the field of currency in connection wi th the issuance of euro
banknotes and coins are adopted (Euro Act), and the Austrian Coinage Act of 1988 and the
Central Bank Act of 1984 are amended
CON/00/14
1. On 24 May 2000 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Austrian
Ministry of Finance on a draft Federal Act by way of which measures in the field of currency in
connection with the issuance of euro banknotes  and coins are adopted (Euro Act), and the
Austrian Coinage Act of 1988 and the Central Bank Act of 1994 are amended.
2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is ba sed on Article 2(1) first and third indents, of
Council Decision (98/415/EC) of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the EC B by national
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions, as the legislative proposal contains provisions
concerning currency matters and national central banks. In accordance with Article 17.5, firstsentence, of the Rules of Procedure of the EC B, this ECB Opinion has been adopted by the
Governing Council of the ECB.
3. The objectives of the draft Federal Act are to ad apt national legal provisions in order to (i)
shorten the period of dual circul ation of banknotes and coins to two months, (ii) arrange the
changeover of the government budget to euro, (iii) amend national  monetary law whichconflicts with Community law and repeal it wher e it has become obsolete, (iv) establish the
legal basis for the issuance of euro and cent co ins, and (v) adopt additional banknote protection
in the Central Bank Act.
4. The ECB notes that according to the draft Federal Act the period of dual circulation of euro and
Austrian schilling banknotes and coins ends at midnight on 28 February 2002 by withdrawing
the legal tender status of Austrian schilling bank notes and coins from that date. This provision
is in accordance with the joint Declaration of  the Council of the European Union concerning
the introduction of euro banknotes and coins of 8 November 1999, according to which thetransitional period of dual circulation of euro banknotes and coins and national banknotes and
coins of the individual EU Member States is to last between four weeks and two months.
5. The ECB welcomes that those pr ovisions in Austrian legisla tion which have become obsolete
are explicitly repealed by the draft Federal Act.
6. The ECB notes that the description of the lega l tender status of euro banknotes and coins in
Article I (1) (a), (b) and (d) of the draft Fe deral Act would not be necessary from a legal
perspective. As stated correctly in the explan atory memorandum to the draft Federal Act, euro
banknotes issued by the ECB and the national centr al banks of the Member States participating
in the euro area, as well as the euro or cent coins issued by these Member States (competent
mints) intended for circulation and in complian ce with the measures la id down by the Council
in accordance with Article 106(2) of the EC Treaty,  are already legal tender in Austria by virtue
of the provisions in Articles 10 and 11 of Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998
on the introduction of the euro. Therefore, no st andardisation competencies are conferred upon
the national legislator in this respect. Hence,  the ECB understands that these provisions have
only been referred to in the draft Federal Act for reasons of clarity.
7. The ECB notes that according to Article II (4) of the draft Federal Act (now Article 9 (2) of the
Austrian Coinage Act), the Münze Österreich Aktie ngesellschaft shall, in  order to inform the
general public, immediately announce in the “Amt sblatt” (“Official Journal”) of the “Wiener
Zeitung” issues of euro and cent coins made ava ilable by other Member States participating in
Stage Three of Economic and Monetary Union without a derogation which are legal tender in
all the Member States taking part in the thir d stage of Economic and Monetary Union. For the
same reason, the Münze Österreich Aktiengesellsch aft is according to Article II (5) of the draft
Federal Act (now Article 10 (5) of the Austri an Coinage Act) obliged to announce in the
“Amtsblatt” (“Official Journal”) of the “Wien er Zeitung” withdrawals of coins in other
Member States.
8. The ECB notes that according to Article II (5) of  the draft Federal Act (now Article 10 (4) of
the Austrian Coinage Act), for coins withdrawn fr om circulation in othe r Member States, where
only a limited exchange period is provided for by the national rules of the issuing Member
State, the obligation on the part of the Münze Österreich Aktiengesellschaft and theOesterreichische Nationalbank to exchange such  coins shall cease three weeks before the end of
this exchange period. The ECB understands fro m the explanatory memorandum to the draft
Federal Act that this obligation of the M ünze Österreich Aktiengesellschaft and the
Oesterreichische Nationalbank refers to the pe riod during which such coins can be exchanged
in the Member State which has withdrawn the coin s after the coins have lost their legal tender
status. The ECB notes that this  provision represents the first determining such a period.
9. The ECB understands that the provision of the draft Federal Act on legal tender euro and cent
coins would probably not cover legal tender euro and cent coins that could be issued in the
future by San Marino, the Vatican and Monaco, if a decision was to be taken to entitle thesecountries to issue such coins.
10. The ECB welcomes that according to Article III of the draft Federal Act a provision to enhance
the legal protection of banknotes is incorpor ated in the Central Bank Act, following a
recommendation of the ECB of 7 July 1998 rega rding the adoption of certain measures to
enhance the legal protection of euro banknot es and coins (ECB/1998/7). The ECB notes, that
according to this provision, the issuance and use of documents for payment purposes which aresimilar to banknotes, denominated in euro and in tended for circulation, shall – to the extent that
the act does not constitute a set of facts am ounting to a punishable act falling within the
competence of the courts and is not subject to a more severe punishment under other penal
administrative provisions – be deemed an admi nistrative infringement and shall be punished by
the district administrative authority by the imposition of a fine of up to EUR 3,000. 
11. 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 28 June 2000.
The Vice President of the ECB
[signed]
Christian Noyer