Council Regulation (EC) No 2169/2005 of  21 December 2005  amending Regulation (EC) No 974/98 on the introduction of the euro
Date: 2005-12-23
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: euro, euro area, exchange rate, national currency, single monetary policy

29.12.2005

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Official Journal of the European Union

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I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2169/2005

of 21 December 2005

amending Regulation (EC) No 974/98 on the introduction of the euro

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(3)

establishing the European
Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular to the third sentence of Article
123(4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Central Bank (2),

Whereas:

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on
the introduction of the euro (3) provides for the substi-
tution of the euro for the currencies of the Member
States which fulfilled the necessary conditions for the
adoption of the single currency at the time when the
Community entered the third stage of economic and
monetary union. That Regulation also includes rules
these
which apply to the national currency units of
Member States during the transitional period ending on
31 December 2001, and rules on banknotes and coins.

(4)

(5)

(6)

Regulation (EC) No 974/98 sets out a timetable for tran-
sition to the euro in the Member States currently parti-
cipating. In order to provide clarity and certainty with
regard to the rules governing the introduction of the
is necessary to lay
euro in other Member States,
down general provisions specifying how the various
periods in the transition to the euro are to be determined
in the future.

it

It is appropriate to provide for a list of participating
Member States which may be extended when further
Member States adopt the euro as the single currency.

In order to prepare a smooth changeover to the euro,
Regulation (EC) No 974/98 provides for a transitional
the euro for the
period between the substitution of
currencies of the participating Member States and the
introduction of euro banknotes and coins. The transi-
tional period should last three years at the most, but
should be as short as possible.

The transitional period can be reduced to zero, in which
case the euro adoption date and the cash changeover
date fall on the same day, if a Member State considers
that a longer transitional period is not necessary. In that
case, euro banknotes and coins will become legal tender
in that Member State on the euro adoption date.
it should be possible for such a Member
However,
from a ‘phasing-out’ period of one
State to benefit
year, during which it would be possible to continue to
make reference to the national currency unit in new legal
instruments. This would give economic actors in such a
Member State more time to adapt to the introduction of
the euro and therefore ease the transition.

(2)

Council Regulation (EC) No 2596/2000 amended Regu-
lation (EC) No 974/98 to provide for the substitution of
the euro for the currency of Greece.

(1) Opinion delivered on 1 December 2005 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(2) OJ C 316, 13.12.2005, p. 25.
(3) OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Council
Regulation (EC) No 2596/2000 (OJ L 300, 29.11.2000, p. 2).

(7)

It should be possible for the general public to exchange
and coins denominated in the national
banknotes
for euro banknotes and coins free of
currency unit
charge during the dual circulation period, subject
to
certain ceilings.

(8)

Regulation (EC) No 974/98 should therefore be amended
accordingly,

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

date and ending at 00.00 hours on the cash changeover
date;

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 974/98 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 1 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 1

For the purpose of this Regulation:

(a) “participating Member States” shall mean the Member

States listed in the table in the Annex;

(i)

(j)

“phasing-out period” shall mean a period of one year at
the most beginning on the euro adoption date, which
can only apply to Member States where the euro
adoption date and the cash changeover date fall on the
same day;

“redenominate” shall mean changing the unit in which
the amount of outstanding debt is stated from a national
currency unit to the euro unit, but which does not have
through the act of redenomination the effect of altering
any other term of the debt, this being a matter subject to
relevant national law;

(b) “legal

instruments” shall mean legislative and statutory
judicial decisions,
provisions, acts of administration,
contracts, unilateral
instruments
other than banknotes and coins, and other instruments
with legal effect;

legal acts, payment

(k) “credit

institutions” shall mean credit

institutions as
defined in Article 1(1) of Directive 2000/12/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 20 March
2000 relating to the taking up and pursuit of
the
business of credit
institutions (*). For the purpose of
this Regulation, the institutions listed in Article 2(3) of
that Directive with the exception of post office giro
institutions shall not be considered as credit institutions.

(c) “conversion rate”

irrevocably fixed
shall mean the
conversion rate adopted for the currency of each parti-
cipating Member State by the Council in accordance with
the first sentence of Article 123(4) of the Treaty or with
paragraph 5 of that Article;

___________
(*) OJ L 126, 26.5.2000, p. 1. Directive as last amended by
Directive 2005/1/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council (OJ L 79, 24.3.2005, p. 9).’;

(d) “euro adoption date” shall mean either the date on which
the respective Member State enters the third stage under
Article 121(3) of the Treaty or the date on which the
abrogation of the respective Member State’s derogation
under Article 122(2) of the Treaty enters into force, as
the case may be;

2. the following Article shall be inserted:

‘Article 1a

The euro adoption date, the cash changeover date, and the
for each participating
phasing-out period,
Member State shall be as set out in the Annex.’;

if applicable,

(e) “cash changeover date” shall mean the date on which
euro banknotes and coins acquire the status of
legal
tender in a given participating Member State;

3. Article 2 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 2

(f)

“euro unit” shall mean the currency unit as referred to in
the second sentence of Article 2;

With effect from the respective euro adoption dates, the
currency of the participating Member States shall be the
euro. The currency unit shall be one euro. One euro shall
be divided into one hundred cent.’;

(g) “national currency units” shall mean the units of the
currency of a participating Member State, as
those
units are defined on the day before the adoption of
the euro in that Member State;

4. Article 9 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 9

(h) “transitional period” shall mean a period of three years at
the most beginning at 00.00 hours on the euro adoption

Banknotes and coins denominated in a national currency
unit shall retain their status as legal
tender within their
territorial limits as from the day before the euro adoption
date in the participating Member State concerned.’;

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5. the following Article shall be inserted:

Article 14

‘Article 9a

The following shall apply in a Member State with a “phasing-
out” period. In legal instruments created during the phasing-
out period and to be performed in that Member State,
reference may continue
to the national
currency unit. These references shall be read as references
to the euro unit according to the respective conversion rates.
Without prejudice to Article 15, the acts performed under
these legal instruments shall be performed only in the euro
unit. The rounding rules laid down in Regulation (EC) No
1103/97 shall apply.

to be made

The Member State concerned shall limit the application of
the first subparagraph to certain types of legal instrument, or
to legal instruments adopted in certain fields.

The Member State concerned may shorten the period.’;

6. Articles 10 and 11 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 10

With effect from the respective cash changeover dates, the
ECB and the central banks of
the participating Member
States shall put into circulation banknotes denominated in
euro in the participating Member States.

prejudice

to Article

Without
banknotes
denominated in euro shall be the only banknotes which
tender in participating Member
have the status of
States.

these

legal

15,

Article 11

With effect from the respective cash changeover date, the
participating Member States shall
issue coins denominated
in euro or in cent and complying with the denominations
and technical specifications which the Council may lay down
in accordance with the second sentence of Article 106(2) of
the Treaty. Without prejudice to Article 15 and to the
provisions of any agreement under Article 111(3) of the
Treaty concerning monetary matters, those coins shall be
legal tender in
the only coins which have the status of
participating Member
issuing
authority and for those persons specifically designated by
the national
the issuing Member State, no
party shall be obliged to accept more than 50 coins in
any single payment.’;

legislation of

Except

States.

the

for

Where, in legal instruments existing on the day before the
cash changeover date, reference is made to the national
currency units, these references shall be read as references
to the euro unit according to the respective conversion rates.
The rounding rules
laid down in Regulation (EC) No
1103/97 shall apply.’;

8. Article 15 shall be amended as follows:

(a)

in paragraphs 1 and 2, the words ‘after the end of the
transitional period’ shall be replaced by the words ‘from
the respective cash changeover date.’;

(b) the following paragraph shall be added:

institutions

currency unit of

in participating Member

‘3.
During the period referred to in paragraph 1,
credit
States
adopting the euro after 1 January 2002 shall exchange
their customers’ banknotes and coins denominated in the
national
for
banknotes and coins in euro, free of charge, up to a
ceiling which may be set by national law. Credit insti-
tutions may require that notice be given if the amount to
be exchanged exceeds a ceiling set by national law or, in
the absence of such provisions, by themselves and corre-
sponding to a household amount.

that Member State

The credit institutions referred to in the first subpar-
agraph shall exchange banknotes and coins denominated
in the national currency unit of that Member State of
persons other than their customers, free of charge up to
a ceiling set by national law or, in the absence of such
provisions, by themselves.

law may limit

National
the
preceding two subparagraphs to specific types of credit
institutions. National law may also extend this obligation
upon other persons.’;

the obligation under

9. the text appearing in the Annex to this Regulation shall be

added as an Annex.

7. Articles 13 and 14 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 13

Article 2

Articles 10, 11, 14, 15 and 16 shall apply with effect from
the respective cash changeover date in each participating
Member State.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the Official
Journal of the
European Union.

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This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in
accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community, subject to Protocols 25 and
26 to, and Article 122(1) of, the Treaty.

Done at Brussels, 21 December 2005.

For the Council
The President

B. BRADSHAW

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ANNEX

‘ANNEX

Member State

Euro adoption date

Cash changeover date

Member State with a
“phasing-out” period

Belgium

Germany

Greece

Spain

France

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Austria

Portugal

Finland

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

1 January 2001

1 January 2002

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

1 January 1999

1 January 2002

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a’