EN ECB-PUBLIC  
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 7 May 2013 
on strengthening Banca Na ţională a României’s institutional role and independence 
(CON/2013/31) 
 
Introduction and legal basis 
On 18 April 2013, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Banca Na ţională a 
României (BNR) for an opinion on draft amendmen ts to the Romanian Constitution concerning BNR 
(hereinafter the ‘draft amendments’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an  opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union and the first and th ird indents 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, as the draft amendments relate to currency matters and the national 
central bank. 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 amendments 
BNR has prepared a set of proposals in the context of the revision of the Romanian Constitution. For 
institutional and functional stability purposes, the Statute of Banca Na ţională a României
2 (hereinafter the 
‘Statute of BNR’) will be included in the category of organic laws3 and BNR’s institutional role and 
independence will be enshrined in the Constitution. Furt hermore, the draft amendments aim to ensure the 
flexibility of the national legislation with regard to fu rther developments at the European level and to the 
adoption of the euro by providing for the possibility of regulating by organic law the transfer of BNR tasks to the ECB and the introduction of the euro as legal tender. 
 2. General observations Due to the specific legislative stag es in the national Constitution revisi on process, the cons ulting authority 
invokes reasons of extreme urgency and asks the E CB to deliver its opinion by 7 May 2013. The ECB 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2  Law 312/2004 on the Statute of Banca Na ţională a României, Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I No 582, 
30 June 2004 . 
3  Organic laws are laws which are adopted by the Romanian Parliament in areas of high importance for the functioning of 
the State and they cannot be subject to legislative delegation to the Romanian Go vernment. Organic laws are adopted by 
a majority of both Chambers of Parliament. 
ECB-PUBLIC  
2 draws the consulting authority’s attention to the second sentence of Article 4 of Decision 98/415/EC 
pursuant to which the ECB must be consulted ‘at an appropriate stage’ in the legislative process. This 
implies that the consultation should take place at a point in the legislative process that affords the ECB 
sufficient time to carefully examine the draft legisla tive provisions and to adopt its opinion in the required 
language versions and which also enables the relevant  national authorities to take the ECB’s opinion into 
consideration before the provisions are adopted. 
 3. Specific observations 3.1 The draft amendments provide that BNR is th e central bank of Romania, an independent public 
institution and a member of the European System of Central Banks, and that its tasks, administration and functioning are regulated by law, in accordance with the treaties Romania has 
signed. The ECB welcomes the introduction of these provisions in the Romanian Constitution. 
3.2 The ECB also welcomes the enhanced ins titutional and functional stability, as well as legal 
certainty, provided by the inclusion of the Statute of BNR in the category of organic laws
3. 
3.3 The draft amendments introduce a constitutional pr ovision specifying that an organic law may be 
used to regulate: (a) the transfer of BNR’s tasks to the ECB (draft Article 1371(4)(a)); and (b) the 
replacement of the national currency with th e euro and the circulation thereof (draft 
Article 1371(4)(b)). The ECB notes that the draft Article 1371(4)(a) is not clear as to which tasks 
are intended to be transferred from BNR to the ECB or when this transfer would take place. The 
draft Article 1371(4)(a) appears to enable the Parliament to  make the legislative adjustments to the 
Statute of BNR that are specified in the ECB’s Convergence Report4 and are necessary to ensure 
full integration of BNR into the Eurosystem5. While such adjustments to the Statute of BNR should 
be adopted as soon as possible, they need only to  enter into force on the date Romania adopts the 
euro6. The scope of application of a possible organic law in accordance with Article 1371(4)(a) of 
the draft amendments should therefore be clarified. 
3.4 In addition, changes to the draft Article 1371(1) are necessary in order to ensure, upon adoption of 
the euro by Romania, that the Constitution is co mpatible with the Treaty and the Statute of the 
European System of Central Banks and of the Euro pean Central Bank (hereinafter ‘Statute of the 
ESCB’). The draft Article 1371(1) provides that BNR has the excl usive right to issue currency in 
the form of banknotes and coins in Romania. This provision is not consistent with the Treaty and 
the Statute of ESCB as it neither recognises the ECB’s exclusive right to authorise the issue of euro 
banknotes within the Union nor provides for a plurality of issuers7. In order to address this concern, 
the ECB suggests inserting references to the Tr eaty and the Statute of the ESCB in the draft 
Article 1371(1). In particular, Article 1371(1) should state that BNR shall have the right, in 
                                                 
4  See the ECB’s Convergence Report, 2012, p. 253. 
5  See the ECB’s Convergence Report, 2012, p. 32. 
6  See the ECB’s Convergence Report, 2012, p. 32. 
7  See paragraph 3 of Opinion CON/2005/38. All ECB opinions are published on the ECB’s we bsite at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
ECB-PUBLIC  
3 accordance with the Treaty, to i ssue currency in the form of banknotes and coins. The ECB notes 
that such provisions, recognising that the ECB has the right to authorise the issue of euro banknotes and to approve the volume of issuance of euro coins, and that the ECB and the national central 
banks of the Member States whose currency is th e euro may issue euro banknotes, should enter into 
force on the date on which Romania adopts the euro. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.   Done at Frankfurt am Main, 7 May 2013. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Mario DRAGHI