OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
of 19 December 2000
at the request of the Netherla nds Ministry of Finance under th e second indent of Article 105(4)
of the Treaty establishing the European Community and
the second indent of Article 4(a)  of the Statute of the European  System of Central Banks and of
the European Central Bank
on a draft law enacting the speci fication of the Dutch system of  coinage in connection with the
introduction of euro banknotes and coins (Coinage Act 2002)
(CON/00/29)
1. On 24 November 2000 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the
Netherlands Ministry of Finance for an opini on on a bill of law amending the Coinage Act of
1987 in connection with the introduction of euro banknotes and coins.
2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the first and second indents of
Article 2(1) of Council Deci sion 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the
European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions1, as the
legislative proposal contains prov isions concerning currency matters and means of payment. In
accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the ECB, this
opinion has been adopted by the Governing Council of the ECB.
3. The objective of the draft law is to compleme nt Community law, as laid down in Council
Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 Ma y 1998 on the introduction of the euro2 and in Council
Regulation (EC) No 975/98 of 3 May 1998 on denom inations and technical specifications of
euro coins intended for circulation3, as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 423/1999 of
22 February 19994, with a number of national provisions concerning euro coins, special coins
that will only have legal tender status in the Ne therlands, and coins without legal tender status.
                                                          
1 OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.
2 OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 1.
3 OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 6.
4 OJ L 52, 27.2.1999, p. 2.
2The ECB welcomes Article 6 of the draft law that  clearly states that, in accordance with Article
106(2) of the Treaty,  the aforementioned coins w ill be issued subject to the approval by the
ECB of the volume of the issue.
4. Guilder coins are only referred to in one article of the draft law. Article 9(2) of the draft law
clarifies that the withdrawal and exchange of  guilder coins (and sub-denominations thereof)
will be decided by ministerial regulation. Th e Explanatory Memorandum notes that the public
will be able to exchange these coins (and gu ilder banknotes) for euro coins (respectively
banknotes) up to five years after 1 January 2002. The intention of the Dutch authorities is thatuntil 1 January 2003, such exchange will be possibl e at commercial banks. This exchange will
be free of charge until 1 April 2002. Subsequently after 1 January 2003 and until1 January 2007, exchange of guilder coins will onl y be possible at the branch offices of De
Nederlandsche Bank. The Explanatory Memorandum  also notes that guilder coins will lose
their legal tender status at midnight on 28 Ja nuary 2002. This is in line with the Joint
Declaration of the Council of the European  Union concerning the introduction of euro
banknotes and coins of 8 November 1999, accordin g to which the transitional period of dual
circulation of euro banknotes and coins and na tional banknotes and coins of the individual EU
Member States is to last betw een four weeks and two months.
5. Article 3 of the draft law specifies that the nati onal side of euro coins minted in the Netherlands
will be fixed by royal decree. Article 4 adds th e provision that the tec hnical specifications and
denominations of special coins with legal tender status (collector coins) will be determined by
Order in Council. In accordance with the c onclusions of the Ecofin Council meeting of
31 January 2000, the Explanatory Memorandum notes that the denominations, technical
specifications and design of these collector co ins will differ from that  of euro coins. The
withdrawal of special coins will be decided by ministerial regulation. It is noted that further
measures might be necessary in this respect after the adoption of the draft Council Regulation
which is currently being prepared on the prot ection of euro banknotes and coins against
counterfeiting.
6. Article 5 of the draft law contains the technical  specifications of coins that do not have legal
tender status. It is noted that Article 8 of th e draft law empowers the Minister of Finance to
appoint a special centre for the assessment and re gistration of counterfeit euro coins. This will
be done in the context of the Technical Scheme  for handling counterfeit euro coins which has
been adopted by the Ecofin Council on 28 Fe bruary 2000. The Explanatory Memorandum notes
the Minister's intention of appointing the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt  (the Royal Netherlands
Mint) as the Dutch authority for the assessment and registration of counterfeit euro coins. The
Minister can issue rules concerning this assessment.
7. Finally, the ECB welcomes the fact that those provisions in Dutch legislation which have
become obsolete are explicitly repealed by the draft law's Article 10.
38. The ECB confirms that it has no objection to th is opinion being made public by the competent
national authorities at their discretion.
Done at Frankfurt am Main on 19 December 2000.
The President of the ECB
[signed]
Willem F. DUISENBERG