Consolidated version of Guideline ECB/2000/6 of 20 July 2000 on the implementation of Article 52 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank after the end of the transitional period, as amended by Guideline ECB/2001/10
Date: 2000-07-20
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: European Central Bank, central bank, euro, exchange transaction, paper money

C 325/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21.11.2001

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Consolidated version of Guideline ECB/2000/6 of 20 July 2000 on the implementation of Article
52 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank after
the end of the transitional period, as amended by Guideline ECB/2001/10

(2001/C 325/12)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community (hereinafter referred to as the (cid:145)Treaty(cid:146)) and in
particular to Article 106(1) thereof and to Articles 12.1, 14.3
and 52 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks
and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter referred to as
the (cid:145)Statute(cid:146)),

rules; whereas marking schemes will be implemented by
some NCBs of participating Member States with the aim
the
facilitating and protecting the withdrawal of
of
national banknotes, and therefore marked banknotes will
be explicitly mentioned among the banknotes that do not
qualify for exchange; whereas it is deemed necessary to
make information on the marking procedures in the
different Member States available on the ECB website.

Whereas

(5) In accordance with Articles 12.1 and 14.3 of the Statute,
ECB Guidelines form an integral part of Community law,

(1) Article 52 of the Statute empowers the Governing Council
of the European Central Bank (ECB) to take the necessary
that banknotes denominated in
measures
currencies with irrevocably fixed exchange
rates are
exchanged by the national central banks (NCBs) at their
respective par values.

to ensure

(2) The objective of Articel 52 of the Statute is to ensure a
high degree of
substitutability between the national
currency units after the adoption of the conversion rates
referred to in Article 123(4) of the Treaty and between the
the
national curreny units and the euro. To that end,
the ECB is to ensure that each
Governing Council of
national
the
ready to exchange, at
conversion rates, any banknote issued by the NCB of
another Member State without a derogation into euro
banknotes.

central bank is

(3) The NCBs shall ensure that banknotes of other participating
Member States can be either exchanged against euro
banknotes and coins or, according to national legislation,
credited to an account. National central banks shall ensure
that
the exchange of banknotes of other participating
Member States against euro banknotes and coins can be
performed at par value. NCBs are obliged to provide such
service themselves or to appoint an agent to perform this
service on their behalf.

(4) The Governing Council of the ECB is determined to ensure
that each NCB is ready to exchange, at the conversion rates,
any banknote issued by the NCB of another Member State
without a derogation into euro banknotes.

(4a) Whereas it is acknowledged that, as a general rule, badly
mutilated banknotes do not qualify for exchange, and
specific reference will be made to certain categories of
that will be excluded from the exchange
banknotes

HAS ADOPTED THIS GUIDELINE:

Article 1

Definitions

For the purposes of this Guideline:

(cid:151) (cid:145)NCBs(cid:146) shall mean the national central banks of Member
States that have adopted the single currency in accordance
with the Treaty,

(cid:151) (cid:145)participating Member States(cid:146) shall mean all Member States
which have adopted the single currency in accordance with
the Treaty,

(cid:151) (cid:145)banknotes of other participating Member States(cid:146) shall mean
banknotes issued by an NCB which were legal tender on 31
December 2001 that are presented to another national
central bank or to its appointed agent for exchange,

(cid:151) (cid:145)exchange of banknotes of other participating Member
States(cid:146) shall mean the exchange of banknotes issued by a
national central bank and presented to another national
central bank or to its appointed agent to be exchanged
against euro banknotes and coins or against the crediting
of funds to an account,

(cid:151) (cid:145)marking(cid:146) shall mean the identification of

the national
banknotes with a distinctive and specific symbol, e.g.
holes punched by perforators, which will be carried out
by authorised institutions
legal
measures taken at the level of each participating Member
State, with the aim of facilitating the withdrawal of the
national banknotes from circulation,

in implementation of

21.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 325/15

(cid:151) (cid:145)par value(cid:146)

shall mean the value resulting from the
conversion rates adopted by the EU Council under Article
123(4) of the Treaty without any spread between buying
and selling rates.

Article 2

Obligation to exchange at par value

1.
The NCBs shall, in at least one location in the national
territory, by themselves or through their appointed agent,
ensure that banknotes of other participating Member States
can be either exchanged against euro banknotes and coins or,
upon request, credited to an account with the institution
effecting the exchange, if the national legislation provides for
such possibility, in both cases at their respective par value.

2.
NCBs may limit the member and/or the total value of
banknotes of other participating Member States that they are
prepared to accept for any given transaction or on any one day.

Article 3

Banknotes which qualify for exchange

Banknotes of other participating Member States that qualify for
exchange under this Guideline shall not be badly multilated. In
particular, the banknotes shall not consist of more than two
parts of
the same banknote joined together or have been
damaged by anti-theft devices. In addition they shall not have
been marked or have been damaged in a manner that makes it
impossible to check the presence of marking.

Article 4

Final provision

This Guideline is applicable to all banknotes of other partici-
pating Member States presented for exchange between 1
January 2002 and 31 March 2002.

This Guideline is addressed to the NCBs of participating
Member States.

This Guideline shall be published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.