Agreement of 29 April 2004 between the European Central Bank and the national central banks of the Member States outside the euro area on 1 May 2004 amending the Agreement of 1 September 1998 laying down the operating procedures for an exchange rate mechanism in stage three of economic and monetary union
Date: 2004-04-29
Institutions: European Central Bank, National banks outside the Eurosystem: Česká národní banka, Danmarks Nationalbank, Eesti Pank, Κεντρική Τράπεζα της Κύπρου, Latvijas Banka, Lietuvos Bankas, Magyar Nemzeti Bank, Bank Centrali ta’ Malta/Central Bank of Malta, Narodowy Bank Polski, Banka Slovenije, Národná banka Slovenska, Sveriges Riksbank, Bank of England
Subjects: Denmark, European Central Bank, Sweden, United Kingdom, accession to the European Union, central bank, exchange rate

13.5.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 135/3

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

AGREEMENT

of 29 April 2004

between the European Central Bank and the national central banks of the Member States outside
the euro area on 1 May 2004 amending the Agreement of 1 September 1998 laying down the oper-
ating procedures for an exchange rate mechanism in stage three of economic and monetary union

(2004/C 135/03)

THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK (ECB) AND THE NATIONAL
CENTRAL BANKS OF THE MEMBER STATES THAT ARE OUTSIDE
THE EURO AREA ON 1 MAY 2004 (HEREINAFTER THE ‘NON-EURO
AREA NCBs’),

(5)

Two textual amendments should also be made to the
Central Bank Agreement,

Whereas:

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

in its Resolution of 16 June
The European Council
1997 (1) (hereinafter the ‘Resolution’) agreed to set up an
exchange rate mechanism (hereinafter ‘ERM II’) when the
third stage of economic and monetary union began on 1
January 1999.

Under the Resolution, ERM II is designed to help to
ensure that non-euro area Member States participating
in ERM II orient their policies to stability, foster conver-
gence and thereby help them in their efforts to adopt
the euro.

The Agreement of 1 September 1998 between the Euro-
pean Central Bank and the national central banks of the
Member States outside the euro area laying down the
operating procedures for an exchange rate mechanism in
stage three of Economic and Monetary Union (2) (herein-
after the ‘Central Bank Agreement’) lays down the oper-
ating procedures for ERM II.

It is necessary to amend the Central Bank Agreement to
take account of the accession of the Czech Republic, the
the
Republic of Estonia,
the
Republic of Latvia,
Republic of Hungary,
the
Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the
Slovak Republic to the European Union and their respec-
tive national central banks (NCBs) becoming part of the
European System of Central Banks on 1 May 2004.

the Republic of Cyprus,
the Republic of Lithuania,
the Republic of Malta,

(1) OJ C 236, 2.8.1997, p. 5.
(2) OJ C 345, 13.11.1998, p. 6. Agreement as amended by the Agree-

ment of 14 September 2000 (OJ C 362, 16.12.2000, p. 11).

Article 1

Amendments to the Central Bank Agreement in view of
the accession of the new Member States

1.
Česká národní banka, Eesti Pank, the Central Bank of
Cyprus, Latvijas Banka, Lietuvos bankas, Magyar Nemzeti Bank,
the Central Bank of Malta, Narodowy Bank Polski, Banka Slove-
nije and Národná banka Slovenska shall become parties to the
Central Bank Agreement with effect from 1 May 2004.

Annex II to the Central Bank Agreement is replaced by

2.
the text set out in the Annex to this Agreement.

Article 2

Other amendments to the Central Bank Agreement

The Central Bank Agreement is amended as follows:

1. Article 9.1 is replaced by the following:

‘Outstanding very short-term financing balances shall be
remunerated at
the representative domestic three-month
money market rate of the creditor's currency prevailing on
the trade date of the initial financing operation or, in the
event of a renewal pursuant to Articles 10 and 11 of this
Agreement, the three-month money market rate of the cred-
itor's currency prevailing two business days before the date
on which the initial financing operation to be renewed falls
due.’

C 135/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

13.5.2004

2. Article 19 is replaced by the following:

‘Cooperation in the concertation

Non-euro area NCBs not participating in ERM II shall cooperate with the ECB and the participating
non-euro area NCBs in the concertation and/or the other exchanges of information necessary for the
proper functioning of ERM II.’

Article 3

Final provisions

1.

This Agreement shall enter into force on 1 May 2004.

2.
This Agreement shall be drawn up in English, French and German and duly signed by the parties.
The ECB, which is required to retain the original Agreements, shall send a certified copy of each of the
original Agreements in English, French and German to each euro area and non-euro area NCB.

Done at Frankfurt am Main, on 29 April 2004.

13.5.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 135/5

ANNEX

‘ANNEX II

CEILINGS ON ACCESS TO THE VERY SHORT-TERM FINANCING FACILITY REFERRED TO IN ARTICLES 8,
10 AND 11 OF THE CENTRAL BANK AGREEMENT

with effect from 1 May 2004

(in millions of euro)

Central banks party to this Agreement

Ceilings (1)

Česká národní banka

Danmarks Nationalbank

Eesti Pank

Central Bank of Cyprus

Latvijas Banka

Lietuvos bankas

Magyar Nemzeti Bank

Central Bank of Malta

Narodowy Bank Polski

Banka Slovenije

Národná banka Slovenska

Sveriges Riksbank

Bank of England

European Central Bank

700

730

300

290

340

390

680

270

1 830

350

470

990

4 660

nil

(1) The amounts indicated are notional for central banks which do not participate in ERM II.

Euro area NCBs

Ceilings

Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique

Deutsche Bundesbank

Bank of Greece

Banco de España

Banque de France

Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland

Banca d'Italia

Banque centrale du Luxembourg

De Nederlandsche Bank

Oesterreichische Nationalbank

Banco de Portugal

Suomen Pankki

nil

nil

nil

nil

nil

nil

nil

nil

nil

nil

nil

nil’