Opinion on a proposal from the EC Commission for a Council Regulation (EC) on the consolidation of the existing Community legislation on the definition of the ECU following the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union (CON/94/4)
Date: 1994-09-13
Institutions: European Monetary Institute
Subjects: Ecu, national currency

EUROPEAN MONETARY INSTITUTE

13 September 1994

OPINION ON A PROPOSAL FROM THE EC COMMISSION FOR A COUNCIL

REGULATION (EC) ON THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE EXISTING COMMUNITY

LEGISLATION ON THE DEFINITION OF THE ECU FOLLOWING THE ENTRY INTO

FORCE OF THE TREATY ON EUROPEAN UNION

1

Pursuant to Article 109f (6)  of  the  Treaty,  the  EMI  hereby  submits  its  opinion  on  a  proposal

from  the  Commission  for  a  Council  Regulation  (EC)  on  the  consolidation  of  the  existing

Community legislation on the definition of the ECU following the entry into force of the Treaty

on European Union (Doc. COM (94) 140 - final).

2

The EMI understands that the proposed Regulation shall only consolidate existing (primary and

secondary) Community legislation and will mean no change in substance to the definition of the

ECU.  It  welcomes  the  initiative  taken  by  the  Commission  and  agrees  with  the  Commission's

proposal as far as its substance is concerned. The way, however, in which the word "ECU" is

written  in  the  different  Community  languages  should  conform  with  the  approach  followed  in

the Treaty on European Union, and the wording of Article 2 Para 1 of the proposal should be

changed to include correct reference to Regulation (EEC) No. 2626/84. Furthermore, in order to

avoid any misunderstanding regarding the abbreviations of the national currencies, Article 1 of

the proposal concerning the definition of the ECU should designate the national currencies by

their full name in the language being used.

3

Concerning the preamble of the Regulation it would be preferable to re-arrange the order of the

last  four  recitals  and  to  mirror  more  closely  the  wording  of  the  Treaty  and  of  the  existing

secondary  legislation.  The  text  hereafter  intends  to  describe  more  clearly  the  need  for

consolidating legislation:

"Whereas  the  present  definition  of  the  composition  of  the  ECU  basket  in  terms  of  the

currencies  of  the  Member  States  was  published  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the  European

Communities  no C241  of  21  September  1989,  in  a  Commission  communication  and  not  in  a

Council regulation;

Whereas  Article  1  of  Regulation  (EEC)  No  3180/78,  as  amended  by  Regulations  (EEC)  No

2626/84 and (EEC) No. 1971/89, defines the ECU as the sum of amounts of the currencies of

- 2 -

the Member States that may be changed under conditions determined by the Council pursuant

to Article 2 of the said Regulation;

Whereas Article 2 of the aforementioned Regulation has been superseded by Art. 109g of the

Treaty establishing the European Community which provides that the composition of the ECU

basket  in  terms  of  the  amounts  of  the  currencies  of  the  Member  States  shall  not  be  changed

with effect from the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union and that from the start of

the third  stage,  the  value  of  the  ECU  shall  be  irrevocably  fixed  in  accordance  with  Art.  109l

(4),"

In  this  version  the  substance  of  the  last  recital  is  already  incorporated  so  that  the  last  recital

could be left out in the preamble.

4

This opinion was adopted by the Council of the EMI on 13 September 1994.

By the Council of the EMI

The President

[signed]

A Lamfalussy