Opinion of the European Central Bank of 20 December 2001 at the request of the Austrian Ministry of Finance on a draft law amending the Nationalbankgesetz (the National Bank Act) (CON/2001/40)
Date: 2001-12-20
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Austria, administrative sanction, counterfeiting, euro, money, national law

EN

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 20 December 2001

at the request of the Austrian Ministry of Finance on a draft law amending

the Nationalbankgesetz (the National Bank Act)

(CON/2001/40)

1. 

On  19  November  2001  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  for  an  opinion

from  the  Austrian  Ministry  of  Finance  on  a  draft  law  amending  the  Nationalbankgesetz  (the

National Bank Act), hereinafter referred to as the “draft law”.

2.

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

the  Treaty  establishing 

the  European  Community  and  Article 2(1)  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.  The  Governing  Council  of  the  ECB  has

adopted  this  opinion  in  accordance  with  the  first  sentence  of  Article  17.5  of  the  Rules  of

Procedure of the ECB.

3. 

The main purpose of the draft law is the creation of the possibility to impose sanctions for non-

compliance with the duties imposed by Article 6(1) of Council Regulation No 1338/2001 of 28

June  2001  laying  down  measures  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  euro  against

counterfeiting2  as  required  by  Article  6(2)  and  (3).  Furthermore,  the  draft  law  extends  the

obligations under Article 79 of the National Bank Act to bureaux de change. 

4. 

The  ECB  welcomes  the  draft  law  which  intends  to  impose  effective  sanctions  on  credit

institutions  and  any  other  institutions  engaged  in  the  sorting  and  distribution  to  the  public  of

banknotes and coins as a professional activity, where they fail to withdraw from circulation all

euro notes and coins received by them, which they know or have sufficient reason to believe to

be counterfeit.

5. 

The ECB notes that the obligations contained in the directly applicable Article 6(1) of Council

Regulation No 1338/2001 are also covered by Article 79 of the National Bank Act as amended

by  the  draft  law.  On  that  basis,  Article  79a  of  the  draft  law  sanctions  failure  to  comply  with

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2

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.

OJ L 181, 4.7.2001, p. 6.

                                                          
Article 79 of the National Bank Act, instead of sanctioning the failure to comply with the duties

laid down in Article 6(1) of Council Regulation No 1338/2001 in order to fulfil the obligations

imposed on Austria by Article 6(2) and (3) of Council Regulation No 1338/2001. 

6. 

In view of this method chosen to apply Article 6 of Council Regulation No 1338/2001, the ECB

underlines  the  importance  for  establishments  subject  to  sanctions  according  to  Article 79a

National Bank Act to be the same as the establishments referred to in Article 6(1) of Council

Regulation No 1338/2001. Furthermore, it is understood that by using the term "verdächtige" in

Article  79a  of  the  Austrian  National  Bank  Act,  reference  is  made  not  only  to  banknotes  and

coins that are suspected of being counterfeit, but also to those banknotes and coins which banks

and  any  other  institution  know  or  have  sufficient  reason  to  believe  to  be  counterfeit,  as  laid

down in Article 6(1) of the Council Regulation. 

7. 

The  ECB  would  welcome  efforts  by  the  national  central  banks  and  the  banking  industry  to

ensure  the  effectiveness  of  the  detection  and  the  withdrawal  from  circulation  of  potential

counterfeits,  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  draft  law's  implementation  of  Article  6  of  Council

Regulation No 1338/2001.

8. 

The  ECB  notes  the  introduction  of  an  administrative  penalty  of  up  to  EUR  7  000  for

establishments that fail to discharge their obligations under Article 79(1) of the National Bank

Act. 

9. 

The ECB notes that the draft law does not provide for a specific date of entry into force and

thus  it  will  enter  into  force  on  the  day  after  publication  in  the  Bundesgesetzblatt.  The  ECB

notes that the time limit for adoption of sanctions provisions is 1 January 2002.

10.  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 20 December 2001.

The President of the ECB

[signed]

Willem F. DUISENBERG

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