EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 12 June 2008 
at the request of the Slovak Ministry of Finance  
on a draft decree laying down the scope of prices, payments and other amounts subject to dual 
display with regard to the field of gambling games and methods of their dual display 
(CON/2008/25) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 27 May 2008 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Slovak Ministry of 
Finance for an opinion on a draft decree laying dow n the scope of prices, payments and other amounts 
subject to dual display with regard to the field of gambling games and methods of their dual display 
(hereinafter the ‘draft decree’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an  opinion is based on Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing the 
European Community and the first and second indents of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 
29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Ce ntral Bank by national authorities regarding draft 
legislative provisions1, as the draft decree relates 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 decree 
The draft decree, which constitutes secondary legisla tion implementing primary legislation, and is based 
on Article 18(10)(a)(5) of Law No 659/2007 Coll. on the introduction of the euro in Slovakia and including amendments to certain laws (hereinaft er the ‘Slovak Euro-Law’), provides for technical 
instructions on the dual display of certain pri ces, payments and other amounts in the gambling games 
sector. 
 
2. General observations 
The ECB notes that the draft decree is based on an enabling provision contained in the Slovak Euro-Law 
pursuant to which detailed technical implementing measures may be adopted to facilitate a smooth 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
2 changeover to the euro. The ECB has assessed the Slovak Euro-Law in Opinion CON/2007/432. 
Furthermore, ECB Opinion CON/2008/233 assessed the issue of dual display in Slovakia in more detail.  
In line with the Commission Recommendation of 10 January 2008 on measures to facilitate future 
changeovers to the euro4, published following adoption of the Slovak Euro-Law, the ECB reiterates that 
mandatory dual display should become effective as  soon as possible after official adoption of the 
irrevocably fixed conversion rate between the national currency and the euro by the Council. The Slovak 
Euro-Law provides for mandatory dual display to st art one month after the conversion rate is adopted, 
while also allowing for voluntary dual display both in advance of and following the mandatory period5. 
Taking into account the Slovak Euro-Law and the Commission Recommendation, the parties concerned 
should be encouraged to apply the draft decree in this  regard from the date of official adoption of the 
conversion rate. 
 3. Specific observations The ECB has no specific observations on the draft decree.  This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.   Done at Frankfurt am Main, 12 June 2008. 
 
[signed] 
 
The Vice-President of the ECB 
Lucas PAPADEMOS 
                                                 
2  ECB Opinion CON/2007/43 of 19 December 2007 at the request of the Slovak Ministry of Finance on a draft law on the 
introduction of the euro in Slovakia a nd on amendments to certain laws. 
3  ECB Opinion CON/2008/23 of 30 May 2008 at the request of Národná banka Slovenska on a draft decree laying down 
rules for the dual display of certain prices, payments and other amounts and on a draft decree laying down the number of 
decimal places of certain types of s ecurities for the purpose of rounding by re denomination of their nominal value from 
the Slovak currency to the euro. 
4  Recommendation 2008/78/EC (notified under document  number C(2007)6912), OJ L 23, 26.1.2008, p. 30. 
5  Article 18(1) of the Slovak Euro-Law reads: ‘The period of dual display during which simultaneous dual display in the 
Slovak currency and the euro is implemented on a mandatory basi s, in the established relevant  scope of prices, payments 
and other amounts and in accordance with  other stipulated rules, shall begin one month following the date when the 
conversion rate is fixed and shall end one year following the euro introducti on date. Voluntary dual display may, under 
the stipulated rules, be implemented more broadly than in  the mandatory scope of dual display; voluntary dual display 
may also be implemented, under the sti pulated rules, outside the mandatory peri od of dual display but from the date of 
fixing the conversion rate at the earliest.’