Mo C 69/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 13. 3. 79 
Communication (*) on the calculation (') of the equivalents of the ECU and of the 
European unit of account published by the Commission 
1. Definition of the ECU and the European unit of account (EUA) 
The ECU, as defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No 3180/78 of 18 December 
1978 (3) and the EUA, as defined in Article 10 of the Financial Regulation of 
21 December 1977 (4) are composed of the same amounts of national currencies. 
These amounts are as follows: 
0-828 German mark, 
1-15 French francs, 
0-0885 pound sterling, 
109 Italian lira, 
0-286 Dutch florin, 
3-66 Belgian francs, 
0-140 Luxembourg franc, 
0-217 Danish krone, 
0-00759 Irish pound. 
The equivalent of the ECU and the EUA in any currency is equal to the sum of the 
equivalents of these amounts in that currency. 
2. Exchange rates used for calculating the ECU's and EUA's equivalents 
The Central Bank in each Member State communicates a representative market 
exchange rate for its currency against the United States dollar. The dollar has been 
chosen as giving the most representative rate in all financial centres. The rates are 
taken from the exchange markets at 2.30 p.m. They are communicated by the 
National Bank of Belgium to the Commission, which uses them to calculate an 
ECU/EUA equivalent first in dollars and then in the currencies of the Member States. 
If an exchange market is closed, the Central Banks agree on a representative exchange 
rate for the currency against the dollar which is communicated to the Commission. 
(*) This new communication annuls and replaces the previous communication (OJ No C 225. 
22. 9. 1978). 
(2) From 28 December 1978. 
(8) OJ No L 379, 30. 12. 1978, p. 1. 
(*) OJ No L 356, 31. 12. 1977. 
13. 3. 79 Official Journal pf the European Communities No C 69/5 
Example: Calculation of equivalents for 1 December 1978: 
National currency 
amount of the ECU and 
EUA definition 
(a) 
0-828 DM 
1-15 FF 
0-0885 £ (*) 
109 Lit 
0-286 Fl 
3-66 Bfrs 
0-140 Lfrs 
0-217 Dkr 
0-00759 £ I (») 1 December 1978 
exchange rate 
against the US $ 
O) 
1-9358 
4-4495 
1-9364 
853-00 
2-1035 
30-6675 
30-6675 
5-3885 
1-9364 
Total of dollar amoi Equivalent in dollars 
of national currency 
amount 
(c) 
(a) : (b) 
0-4277301 
0-2584560 
0-1713714 
0-1277842 
0-1359638 
0-1193445 
0-0045650 
0-0402709 
0-0146972 
ants 1-3001831 Equivalent in national 
currency oi total $ 
amount 
(d) 
$ total X (b) 
2-51689 
5-78516 
0-671443 
1109-06 
2-71494 
39-8734 
39-8734 
7-00604 
0-671443 
(') The dollar exchange rate from London and Dublin is the number of dollars per currency tnrit raefcer than* the 
number of currency units per dollar. Column (c) is therefore found for each of these two currencies by 
multiplying the value in column (a) by that in column (b); and column (d) by dividing the dollar equivalent 
of the ECU and EUA (c) by the rate in column (b). 
The Commission also calculates an equivalent of the ECU and EUA for other 
currencies using for each its market rate against the dollar at 2.30 p.m. 
3. Publication of the currency equivalents of the ECU and EUA 
The daily equivalents in the different currencies calculated by the Commission are 
published correct to six significant figures in the 'C edition of the Official Journal 
of the European Communities.