OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN MONETARY INSTITUTE
on a consultation from the Belgian Ministry of  Finance under Article 109f(6) of the Treaty
establishing the European Community (the “Treat y”) and Article 5.3 of the Statute of the EMI as
elaborated in the Council Decision of 22 Novemb er 1993 (93/717/EC) on a proposed reform of the
Organic Law of the Nati onal Bank of Belgium
CON/96/16
1. The consultation was initiated on 22 November 1996 by the Belgian Ministry of Finance. For
this purpose, the Ministry of Finance submitted the text of the draft legislation together with an
explanatory memorandum to the EMI.
2. The EMI’s competence to deal with the request  for consultation is based on Article 1, second
indent, of the Council Decision of 22 November 1993 (93/717/EC),  as the draft legislation
concerns the statute of the Nationa l Bank of Belgium (the “Bank”). 
3. The proposed amendments to the Bank’s statute form part of a more extensive review thereof
on which the EMI was consulted in August 1996 and on which it gave its opinion on6 September 1996 (CON/96/10). The amendments which are presently in addition beingproposed concern the Bank’s powers to issue for collection or commemorative purposes gold
coins with legal tender status and to transfer  the net revenues thereof to the State for the
purpose of reducing its debts in foreign currenci es. The main additions to the Bank’s Organic
Law read in an unofficial  translation as follows:
Article 23 bis
“The Bank shall be authorised, subject to th e approval of the ECB, where appropriate, to
issue for collection or commemorative purposes gold  coins with legal tender status in a total
amount of up to 10% of the weight of gold recorded in the assets of the Bank as at
1 January 1987. At most, 2% of this weight of gold may be used for this purpose each year.
The net revenue resulting from the issue of such coins shall be transferred to the State for
the purpose of reducing its debts in foreign currencies after the deduction of the dues towhich Luxembourg is entitled by virtue of the Protocol of 9 March 1981 on the monetary
association between the two countries.”
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Article 43 bis
“Notwithstanding the provisions in Article 23 bis, the net revenue resulting from the issue of
coins for collection and commemorative purposes sh all be transferred to the State in a total
amount of up to the unused balance of 2.75% of th e weight of gold recorded in the assets of
the Bank as at 1 January 1987 and which the State was authorised to use, particularly for the
purpose of issuing coins in accordance with Article 20 bis, second paragraph, of the Law of24 August 1939 on the National Bank of Belgium.”
For reasons of easy reference, Article 20 bis, s econd paragraph, of the Bank’s present statute is
also cited below.
“Notwithstanding the provisions of the firs t paragraph, any capital gain realised after
1 January 1987 as a result of transfers of gold a ssets, especially for the issuing by the State
of collector’s or commemorative coins, shall be  allocated to the State. However, the total
amount of the transfers whose increased value is being allocated in this way may not exceed
2.75% of the weight of the gold which appear s in the Bank’s assets on the aforementioned
date.”
4. Whereas Article 20 bis, second paragraph, implies that the State may presently up to a certain
limit issue gold coins for collection or commemo rative purposes, this function would be taken
over by the Bank under Article 23 bis. For the future, this gives rise to the question whether theissue of gold coins by the Bank is compatible  with the Bank’s ESCB-related tasks. Article 14.4
of the Statute of the ESCB/ECB states that national central ba nks may perform functions other
than those specified in this Statute unless th e Governing Council finds, by a majority of two
thirds of the votes cast, that these interfere w ith the objectives and tasks of the ESCB. However,
without prejudice to the ECB’s Governing Council’s exclusive competence to take action under
Article 14.4, the EMI does not see an incompatibility with ESCB-related tasks. Indeed, theissue of such coins is subject to approval by the ECB and does not in itself interfere with the
objectives and tasks of the ESCB. 
Furthermore, there are three issues which the EM I would like to note, merely as a reminder, in
connection with the draft legislation. Firstly, the issue of gold coins by the Bank is an activity
which, in accordance with Article 14.4 of the ES CB/ECB Statute, shall be performed on the
responsibility and the liability of the Bank and sh all not be regarded as being part of the
functions of the ESCB. Secondly, the introducti on of euro coins and the relevant Community,
and where appropriate national, legislation to support the introduction of such coins will affect
the legal tender status of Belgian franc gold co ins. And last but not least, Article 31.2 of the
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ESCB/ECB Statute makes national operations with foreign reserve assets inclusive of gold
above a certain limit subject to the approval of the ECB.
As far as the transfer of the net revenues of the issue of gold coins to the State is concerned, the
EMI understands that this reflects the Bank’s stat us as legal owner of Belgium’s gold reserves,
whilst the State is considered to be the fiducia ry owner, a situation which was also implied in
Article 20 bis, second paragraph. The main differ ences of the new regime for the issue of gold
coins, apart from the issuing aut hority, are: another ceiling (10% in total and not more than 2%
per year, with the same historical benchmark as contained in Article 20 bis, i.e. the weight of
gold in the Bank’s books on 1 January 1987) and an explicit reference that the net revenuestransferred to the State may only be used to re duce Belgium’s debts in foreign currencies. This
construction is not deemed incompatible with provisions of the Treat y and/or the ESCB/ECB
Statute. This observation applies also to the tr ansitory arrangement contained in Article 43 bis
which provides for equal treatment (i.e. transfer  of net revenues from the Bank to the State) of
that part of Belgium’s gold reserves which the State in the past was authorised to use,
particularly for the issue of coins, and which it did not use. 
5. The EMI agrees that this opinion may be made public by the consulting authority. 
10 January 1997