OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
of 27 June 2000
at the request of the Bank of Greece
on a draft law ratifying amendments to the Statute of the Bank of Greece
(CON/00/15)
1. On 5 June 2000 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Bank of Greece for
an ECB Opinion on a draft law ratifying amendments to the Statute of the Bank of Greece whichwere endorsed by its General Assembly of Shareholders on 25 April 2000 (the “draft law”).
2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is ba sed on Article 2, paragraph one, third indent, of
the Council Decision (98/415/EC) of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the ECB by nationalauthorities regarding draft legislative provisions, as the legislative proposal contains provisionsconcerning a national central bank. In accordance with Article 17.5, first sentence, of the Rules ofProcedure of the European Central Bank, this ECB Opinion has been adopted by the GoverningCouncil of the ECB.
3. The amendments to the Statute of the Bank of Greece aim at the integration of the Bank of Greece
in the Euro system upon introduction of the euro by Greece. The ECB has already delivered itsOpinion CON/00/07 on the amendments to the Statute of the Bank of Greece on 17 April 2000 andit has also addressed such amendments in its May 2000 Convergence Report on Greece andSweden. In its Opinion and Convergence Report, the ECB noted that the ECB should also beconsulted on the draft law to be adopted by Parliament, which is with this procedure noweffectuated. 
4. The draft law ratifies in Article 18 the decision of the General Assembly of 25 April 2000 and
reiterates the amendments to the Statute of the Bank of Greece as adopted by the GeneralAssembly on that date. 
5. The ECB notes that Article 18 of the draft law contains provisions incorporating the observations
of the ECB made in its Opinion CON/00/07 under sections 5 to 24. In accordance with theobservation in section 16 of Opinion CON/00/07, the ECB notes that paragraph 37 of Article 18recognises that the words “adoption of the euro as the national currency of Greece” throughout the
Page 2 of 2Statute of the Bank of Greece shall be replaced by the “adoption of the euro as the currency of
Greece”. The ECB welcomes this clarification.
6. In accordance with the ECB’s Opinion and its April 2000 Convergence Report, the draft law
repeals the core provisions of Law 2548/97 in Article 19. The provisions remaining in force amendor repeal previous legislation, regulate issues rela ting to the interim period after the entry into force
of the draft law until the introduction of the euro or are of a transitional or technical nature and,consequently, have not been incorporated in the Bank of Greece’s Statute. The ECB appreciatesthat Law 2548/97 has now almost completely been abolished, but  that there are at the same time avery limited number of provisions which, by nature, may be better placed in a law which can bemore easily amended rather than in the Bank of Greece’s Statute, which is of a more permanentnature.  The ECB acknowledges that the Bank of Greece’s Statute in any case clearly andunambiguously elaborates, for example in Article 2, third paragraph, the Bank of Greece’s status asan integral part of the Eurosystem and the implications thereof.
7. All in all, the ECB welcomes the draft law and notes with satisfaction that its adoption will
complete the legislative procedure to make the Bank of Greece’s Statute compatible withrequirements for the introduction of the euro as laid down in the Treaty establishing the EuropeanCommunity and the Statute of the ESCB/ECB.
8. 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 27 June 2000.
The President of the ECB
[signed]
Willem F. Duisenberg