Opinion of the European Central Bank of 19 September 2001 at the request of the Netherlands Ministry of Finance on an amendment of the current Decision dated 27 July 1998 on the establishment of rules concerning the exchange, withdrawal and cancelling of banknotes by De Nederlandsche Bank and the information thereon to be provided to the general public (CON/2001/26)
Date: 2001-09-19
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Netherlands, issuing of currency, money, national law

EN

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 19 September 2001

at the request of the Netherlands Ministry of Finance on an amendment of the current

Decision dated 27 July 1998 on the establishment of rules concerning the exchange,

withdrawal and cancelling of banknotes by De Nederlandsche Bank and the information

thereon to be provided to the general public

CON/2001/26

1. 

On 10 August 2001 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Netherlands

Ministry of Finance for an opinion on a draft Decision amending the Decision of 27 July 1998

on the establishment of rules concerning the exchange, withdrawal and cancelling of banknotes

by  De  Nederlandsche  Bank  and  the  information  thereon  to  be  provided  to  the  general  public

(hereinafter the “draft Decision”).

2. 

The  ECB’s  competence  to  deliver  an  opinion  is  based  on  Article 105(4)  of  the  Treaty

establishing  the  European  Community,  Article  4  of  the  Statute  of  the  European  System  of

Central  Banks  and  of  the  European  Central  Bank  and  Article  2(1),  first,  second  and  third

indents,  of  Council  Decision  98/415/EC  of  29 June  1998  on  the  consultation  of  the  European
Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions1. 

3. 

Article 1A of the draft Decision amends Article 1 of the existing Decision and it clarifies that

withdrawn  banknotes  denominated  in  guilders  can  be  exchanged  during  office  hours  at  De

Nederlandsche Bank's branches. The new wording set out in Article 1A of the draft Decision is

marginally more restrictive in that De Nederlandsche Bank's offices might, in addition to the list

of public holidays contained in Article 1 of the existing Decision, also be closed on Liberation

Day  and  on  days  falling  between  a  public  holiday  and  a  weekend.  However,  as  this  concerns

only  a  small  restriction  of  the  general  public's  rights  to  exchange  guilder  banknotes  at  De

Nederlandsche Bank's branches, the ECB does not raise any objections to Article 1A of the draft

Decision.

1

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.

                                                     
4. 

Article 1 B of the draft Decision deletes Article 2(1) of the current Decision, which holds that

De Nederlandsche Bank shall decide the denominations and the form of guilder banknotes. The

deletion  of  this  Article  is  appropriate  in  view  of  the  withdrawal  of  banknotes  denominated  in

guilders as from 1 January 2002. 

5. 

Finally,  Article  1C  of  the  draft  Decision  deletes  Article  4(5)  of  the  current  Decision.  This

Article deals with the inclusion in De Nederlandsche Bank's profit and loss account of the profit

accruing from guilder banknotes that have been withdrawn from circulation and which, 10 years

after  their  withdrawal,  still  have  not  been  submitted  for  exchange.  The  Explanatory

Memorandum  accompanying  the  draft  Decision  notes  that  this  is  a  private  law  matter,  which

will be incorporated in a separate agreement between De Nederlandsche Bank and the Ministry

of Finance. 

6. 

This separate agreement has not yet been finalised, but the Explanatory Memorandum envisages

the  following  scenario:  in  2003  65%  of  the  withdrawn  guilder  banknotes  that  are  reasonably

estimated on 1 January 2003 not to be submitted for exchange in that year, will be included in

De  Nederlandsche  Bank's  profit  and  loss  account  for  2002.  In  2008  90%  of  the  withdrawn

guilder  banknotes  that  are  reasonably  estimated  on  1  January  2008  not  to  be  submitted  for

exchange in 2008, will be included in De Nederlandsche Bank's profit and loss account for 2007

after deduction of the amount which has been included in the profit and loss account for 2002.

Finally, in 2013 the remainder of the withdrawn guilder banknotes that have not by then been

submitted for exchange will be included in De Nederlandsche Bank's profit and loss account for

2012 after deduction of the amounts which have been included in the De Nederlandsche Bank's

profit and loss accounts for 2002, respectively for 2007. The ECB has no objections as such to

Article  1C  of  the  draft  Decision.  The  ECB  understands  that  the  draft  agreement  will  merely

incorporate the aforementioned rules without affecting more general financial matters. 

7. 

In  accordance  with  Article  17.5,  first  sentence,  of  the  Rules  of  Procedure  of  the  European
Central Bank,2 this ECB opinion has been adopted by the Governing Council of the ECB.

8. 

The  ECB  confirms  that  it  has  no  objection  to  the  competent  national  authorities  making  this

opinion publicly available at their discretion.

Done at Frankfurt am Main on 19 September 2001.

The President of the ECB

[signed]

Willem F. DUISENBERG

2 

OJ L 125, 19.5.1999, p 34

2