EN ECB-PUBLIC  
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 20 April 2021  
on rounding rules for payments denominated in euro 
(CON/2021/14) 
 
Introduction and legal basis 
On 25 February 2021 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Minister for Finance 
of the Slovak Republic for an opinion on a draft Law amending L aw No 18/1996 on prices, as amended 
(hereinafter the ‘draft law’)1. 
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 second inde nts of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 
98/415/EC2, as the draft law relates to currency matters and means of pay ment. 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 law 
1.1 The purpose of the draft law is to introduce the rounding o f prices of goods and services which are 
paid in cash to the nearest 5 cent. Cash payments of 1 and 2 ce nt are to be rounded to 5 cent. For 
cash payments of other amounts,  the non-rounded amount of less than half of the value of 5 cent is 
to be rounded down and the total remainder of non-rounded cash payments equal to or greater 
than half of the value of 5 cent are to be rounded up. When the  purchase of several goods is paid 
for by a single cash payment, only the total (final) cash payme nt is rounded (i.e. the price of 
individual items contributing to  the final cash amount to be pa id is not rounded).  
1.2 The explanatory memorandum explains that the purpose of the  draft law is to minimise the need to 
use 1 and 2 cent coins, with the aim of (a) reducing costs for entrepreneurs and the public in 
relation to bank fees charged for depositing or processing 1 an d 2 cent coins, (b) simplifying the 
issuance of coins for cash payments, and (c) reducing the use o f packaging materials and 
transportation required for thes e coins, thus having a positive  environmental effect.  
 
 
1  Návrh zákona ktorým sa mení zákon Národnej rady Slovenskej re publiky č. 18/1996 Z. z. o cenách v znení 
neskorších predpisov. 
2  Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation  of the European Central Bank by national 
authorities regarding draft legisl ative provisions (OJ L 189, 3 .7.1998, p. 42). 
ECB-PUBLIC  
2 2. General observations  
2.1 The draft law is not likely to have a real impact on inflat ion in Slovakia, particularly considering that, 
except for cash payments of 1 and 2 cent, the rounding of price s is symmetrical and confined to 
final cash amounts to be paid.  
2.2 In accordance with Article 128(2) of the Treaty, the compet ence to adopt measures to harmonise 
the denomination and technical specifications of all euro coins  intended for circulation to the extent 
necessary to permit their smooth circulation within the Union i s vested in the Council of the 
European Union, on a proposal from the European Commission and after consulting the European 
Parliament and the ECB. The legal tender status of euro cent co ins within the euro area is laid 
down in Article 11 of Council Regulation (EC) No 974/983. In addition, Article 2 of Regulation (EC) 
No 974/98 provides that the euro, as the currency of the euro a rea, is divided into one hundred 
cent. The denomination structure of the euro coins (i.e. 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 euro cent, 1 euro and 2 euro 
coins) has remained unchanged since the introduction of the eur o4. However, the use of different 
denominations of euro coins, as currently devised, should be pe riodically and carefully examined 
by the competent institutions against the criteria of cost and public acceptability.  In particular, the 
Commission should conduct an im pact assessment on the continued  issuance of 1 and 2 euro cent 
coins5. In this regard, the Commission has performed a public consult ation on uniform rounding 
rules for cash payments in euro, with the response period havin g closed on 11 January 2021. 
2.3 With a view to preserving the unity and integrity of the si ngle monetary area, and considering the 
abovementioned ongoing work of the Commission, the ECB recommen ds that any rounding rules 
are established in a harmonised manner at Union, rather than at  national level6. Accordingly, any 
mandatory rounding rules on euro coins would appear to call exc lusively for Union rather than 
national legislation given that the euro coins are the only leg al tender coins in the Members States 
whose currency is the euro.  
2.4 The ECB also considers it important to stress that mandator y rounding legislation must not prevent 
the 1 and 2 euro cent coins from being accepted as a means of p ayment as they are de jure  legal 
tender in the entire euro area. In this respect, Member States’  legislation must not lead to divergent 
treatment of euro legal tender. In this regard, the ECB underst ands that the provisions of Article 
17a of the Law on Národná banka Slovenska7 will continue to require payees to accept 1 and 2 
euro cent coins in cash payments even after the draft law intro duces mandatory rounding. This 
means that 1 and 2 cent coins remain universally accepted legal  tender in Slovakia. The ECB 
considers it crucial that 1 and 2 euro cent coins remain univer sally accepted legal tender for so 
long and insofar as they remain legal tender under Union law. 
2.5 Finally, the ECB notes that the reduced use of 1 and 2 euro  cent coins as a result of rounding 
would reduce resource consumption and be supportive of a more e fficient use of cash. This is in 
 
3  Council Regulation (EC) No 974 /98 of 3 May 1998 on the introd uction of the euro (OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 1). 
4  See paragraph 2.1 of Opinion CO N/2014/6. All ECB opinions are  published on EUR-Lex.  
5  See Recital 7 of Regulation (EU) No 651/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the 
issuance of euro coins (O J L 201, 27.7.2012, p. 135). 
6  See paragraph 2.4 of Opinion CON/2014/6 and paragraph 2.4 of Opinion CON/2018/41.  
7  Zákon Národnej rady Slovenske j republiky č. 566/1992 Zb. o Ná rodnej banke Slovenska. 
ECB-PUBLIC  
3 line with the goals of the Eurosystem’s Cash 2030 strategy8 to make the cash cycle as cost 
efficient as possible and to look at the environmental footprin t of cash to identify opportunities to 
reduce its environmental impact.  
 
This opinion will be published on EUR-Lex.  
 
Done at Frankfurt am Main, 20 April 2021. 
 
[signed] 
 The President of the ECB 
Christine LAGARDE 
 
8  Available on the ECB’s website at  https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/cas h_strategy/html/index.en.html