Opinion of the European Central Bank at the request of Bank of Greece under Article 105 (4), second indent, of the Treaty establishing the European Community and Article 4 (a) of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank on a draft law concerning additional measures in implementation of Council Regulations (EC) 1103/97, 974/98 and 2866/98, as applicable, on the introduction of the euro (CON/00/21)
Date: 2000-09-01
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Greece, euro, monetary integration, money, national law

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

at the request of Bank of Greece under Article 105 (4), second indent, of the Treaty establishing

the European Community and Article 4 (a) of the Statute of the European System of Central

Banks and of the European Central Bank on a draft law concerning additional measures in

implementation of Council Regulations (EC) 1103/97, 974/98 and 2866/98, as applicable, on the

introduction of the euro

[CON/00/21]

1.

On  11 August 2000  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the  Bank  of

Greece  for  an  opinion  on  a  draft  law  concerning  additional  measures  in  implementation  of

Council Regulations (EC) 1103/97, 974/98 and 2866/98, as applicable, on the introduction of

the euro (hereinafter “the Draft Law”).

2.

The  ECB’s  competence  to  deliver  an  opinion  is  based  on  Article 2  of  Council  Decision

98/415/EC  of  29 June  1998  on  the  consultation  of  the  ECB  by  national  authorities  regarding

draft legislative provisions1, as the legislative proposal contains provisions 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 ECB opinion has been adopted by the Governing Council

of the ECB. 

3. 

The purpose of the Draft Law is to deal with the necessary adaptation of Greek legislation with

a view to ensuring the national implementation of the regulatory framework for the introduction

of  the  euro  on  1 January 2001.  The  Draft  Law  regulates  the  status  of  the  Greek  drachma  as

legal  tender  until  28 February 2002.  The  Draft  Law  consists  of  21  articles,  replacing  or

amending existing currency legislation and regulating issues related to the introduction of the

euro in Greece. 

1 OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42-43.

                                                          
4. 

The  ECB  welcomes  the  initiative  of  the  Greek  Government  to  prepare  for  the  timely

implementation  of  the  measures  necessary  or  appropriate  for  the  changeover  to  the  single

currency  both  in  the  private  and  in  the  public  sector.  The  Draft  Law  constitutes  a

comprehensive piece of legislative work, which encompasses a wide range of topics and areas

with a view to ensuring the smooth introduction of the euro in the Greek legal system and in the

Greek securities markets. The Draft Law introduces a simple method for the re-denomination of

share capital and share trading without any additional costs for companies (see Articles 12, 14

and  18).  The  ECB  welcomes  and  overall  assesses  positively  the  provisions  contained  in  the

Draft Law and no major inconsistencies or problems are to be mentioned without prejudice to

the  observations  made  under  Section  5.  In  practice,  it  would  be  possible  to  trade,  settle  and

clear  in  euro  stock  exchange  transactions  of  securities  in  Greek  drachmae,  without  re-

denominating  them  (see  Article  18,  Section  1).  The  ECB  would  also  like  to  suggest  that  the

legislator may wish to provide in the Draft Law that the same method for the re-denomination

of outstanding public debt can additionally be applied by the issuers of private bonds, according

to the principle of “no compulsion, no prohibition”. 

5. 

Article 1 provides for a general clause of substituting the euro for the Greek drachma. Article 2

contains conversion and rounding rules. The ECB notes that, in accordance with the case-law

of  the  European  Court  of  Justice,  which,  in  principle,  prohibits  the  national  legislator  from

repeating provisions of a regulation, Section 1 of Article 2 of the Draft Law should be deleted

because national provisions should refrain from merely repeating paragraphs 1 to 4 of Article 4

and Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 since the Council Regulation is directly

applicable in national jurisdictions. Article 2, Section 3, provides for a rounding of not less than

two decimals for intermediate computations of sums that are not to be paid or accounted for.

However,  Article  4(4)  of  Council  Regulation (EC) No  1103/97  provides  explicitly  for  a

minimum rounding to three decimal digits for conversions from one national unit to the other.

Therefore,  as  regards  Article  2,  Section  3,  the  ECB  would  welcome  a  clarification  of  its

inapplicability to conversions between national currency denominations. Furthermore, the ECB

welcomes the provision of Section 5 in Article 2. 

6. 

In its May 2000 Convergence Report, the ECB took note that, as far as legislation other than

the  Statute  of  the  Bank  of  Greece  is  concerned,  such  legislation  will  be  adapted  in  a  law

introducing  the  euro.  In  view  of  this  observation,  the  ECB  welcomes  in  particular  the

provisions in Section 1 of Article  4,  and  Sections  1  and  2  of  Article  5  of  the  Draft  Law  that

amend or repeal existing legislation relating to monetary, currency or foreign exchange issues

as a result of the introduction of the euro in Greece. 

7. 

Article  6  deals  with  tax  provisions.  Article  7  supplements  existing  accounting  provisions.

Article  8  deals  with  the  re-denomination  of  public  debt  and  introduces  a  one-year  statute  of

limitation  with  the  proviso  in  Section  6  for  litigation  concerning  the  application  of  the

provisions therein. This should allow for clarity and legal certainty. Article 9 gives the option

to  the  State  and  legal  persons  to  use  the  euro  in  their  transactions  with  Greek  customs

authorities during the year 2001. However, the assessment, collection and refunding of customs

duties and taxes, as well as any payments through the Greek customs authorities during the year

2001 shall be effected in Greek drachmae. Article 10 empowers the Minister of Finance and the

competent Minister to regulate in the area of Accounting of the State and of legal persons  in

public  law.  This  provision,  which  is  often  used  in  the  Draft  Law,  should  allow  for  greater

flexibility  and  efficiency  when  regulating  matters  of  accounting.  Articles  11  to  14  amend

provisions of the codified law of stock corporations (Law 2190/1920, as amended) and of the

law on limited liability companies (Law 3190/1955, as amended). 

8. 

Article 15 provides for dual display of prices. Article 16 appoints already existing Committees

for the Amicable Settlement of Consumer Disputes as a “Euro-Observatory”, i.e. as bodies to,

amongst other tasks, hear, mediate and assist citizens with respect to changeover issues under

the  aegis  of  the  Ministry  of  Development.  Such  measures  are  conducive  to  a  smooth

changeover  and  greater  confidence  of  the  public  to  the  changeover.  Article  17  contains

provisions regarding the euro logo. Article 18 regulates issues related to the capital markets and

the  stock  exchange.  Article  19  regulates  the  conversion  and  rounding  of  sanctions,

administration  fees  and  fines.  Article  20  imposes  a  fine  in  case  of  non-compliance  with  the

provisions  of  the  Draft  Law  and  Article  21  stipulates  that  this  Law  is  intended  to  enter  into

force on 1 January 2001. These articles do not give rise to any specific remarks from the ECB’s

point of view. 

9.

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 1 September 2000.

The President of the ECB

[signed]

Willem F. DUISENBERG