Guideline of the European Central Bank of 25 October 2001 amending Guideline ECB/2000/6 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 (ECB/2001/10)
Date: 2001-10-25
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: European Central Bank, central bank, euro, exchange transaction, paper money

L 304/28

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21.11.2001

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

GUIDELINE OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 25 October 2001

amending Guideline ECB/2000/6 on the implementation of Article 52 of the Statute of the Euro-
pean System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank after the end of the transitional
period

(ECB/2001/10)

(2001/805/EC)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL
BANK,

(5)

In accordance with Article 12.1 and Article 14.3 of the
Statute, ECB guidelines
form an integral part of
Community law,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community and in particular to Article 106(1) thereof and to
Articles 16 and 52 of the Statute of the European System of
Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter
referred to as the ‘Statute’),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Guideline ECB/2000/6 of 20 July 2000 on the imple-
mentation 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 (1) contains
the conditions under which national central banks
(NCBs) of participating Member States will exchange
banknotes of other participating Member States at their
respective par value. Article 3 thereof states that bank-
notes that qualify for exchange must not be badly muti-
lated and specifically mentions two categories of bank-
notes that do not qualify for exchange.

Some NCBs have decided to implement schemes for the
marking of national banknotes after 1 January 2002,
which aim at facilitating and protecting the withdrawal
of the national banknotes. The purpose of marking is to
discourage the acceptance by the general public of
national banknotes and the continued use of national
banknotes as legal tender.

In view of the general obligation to exchange banknotes
of other participating Member States, it must be ensured
that marked banknotes are excluded,
i.e. that marked
banknotes are treated in the same way as mutilated
banknotes. Therefore, Article 3 of Guideline ECB/2000/6
will have to be amended accordingly,
in order that
marked banknotes are explicitly mentioned among the
categories of banknotes that do not qualify for exchange.

(4)

Furthermore, it is acknowledged that information on the
marking procedures in the different Member States
should be made available on the ECB website.

(1) OJ L 55, 24.2.2001, p. 66.

HAS ADOPTED THIS GUIDELINE:

Article 1

Introduction of new recital

In Guideline ECB/2000/6, the following new recital 4a shall be
inserted:

‘(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 banknotes that will be excluded
from the exchange rules; whereas marking schemes
will be implemented by some NCBs of participating
Member States with the aim of
facilitating and
protecting the withdrawal of the 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.’

Article 2

Amendment to Article 1

In Article 1 of Guideline ECB/2000/6, the following text shall
be added after the fourth indent:

‘— “marking” 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 in implementation of legal
measures
the level of each participating
Member State, with the aim of facilitating the with-
drawal of the national banknotes from circulation.’

taken at

21.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 304/29

Article 3

Amendment to Article 3

Article 3 of Guideline ECB/2000/6 shall be amended to read as
follows:

that
‘Banknotes of other participating Member States
qualify for exchange under this Guideline shall not be badly
mutilated. 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 provisions

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.

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 25 October 2001.

For Governing Council of the ECB

Willem F. DUISENBERG