Opinion of the European Central Bank of 28 August 2006 at the request of Česká národní banka on a draft decree on the terms and conditions under which it is possible to reproduce banknotes, coins, cheques, securities and payment cards and to produce objects imitating them (CON/2006/45)
Date: 2006-08-28
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Czechia, counterfeiting, issuing of currency, money, national law

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 28 August 2006  

at the request of Česká národní banka 

on a draft decree on the terms and conditions under which it is possible to reproduce banknotes, 

coins, cheques, securities and payment cards and to produce objects imitating them 

(CON/2006/45) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 14 July 2006 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Česká národní banka (ČNB) 

for  an  opinion  on  a  draft  decree  on  the  terms  and  conditions  under  which  it  is  possible  to  reproduce 

banknotes,  coins,  cheques,  securities  and  payment  cards  and  to  produce  objects  imitating  them 

(hereinafter the ‘draft decree’). 

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

European Community and the first and second indents of Article 2(1) 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,  as  the  draft  decree  relates  to  currency  matters  and  means  of  payment.  In 

accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the ECB, the Governing 

Council has adopted this opinion. 

1.   Purpose of the draft decree 

The terms and conditions under which banknotes, coins, cheques, securities and payment cards (‘money 

symbols’) may be reproduced or imitated in the Czech Republic are currently laid down in ČNB Decree 
No 36/1994 Coll2. The purpose of the draft decree, which will replace Decree No 36/1994, is to adapt the 

existing  rules  to  the  relevant  Community  legislation,  reflect  developments  in  national  administrative 
offences  law3,  and  take  into  account  new  methods  of  reproduction  of  money  symbols,  i.e.  intangible 

reproductions. In particular, it is necessary to exclude euro coins from the scope of the draft decree since 
this area is now subject to directly applicable Community regulations4. Furthermore, the draft decree is 

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OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
Decree of Česká národní banka No 36/1994 Coll., on the terms and conditions under which it is possible to reproduce 
banknotes, coins, cheques, securities and payment cards and to produce objects imitating them. 
New  Article  46c  concerning  administrative  offences  in  reproducing  money  symbols  and  their  imitations  was  recently 
inserted  into  the  Law  on  Česká  národní  banka  No  6/1993  Coll.,  as  amended,  providing  for  a  substantially  increased 
penalty as compared to a previously applicable provision of the Law on offences No 200/1990 Coll., as amended. 
Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2182/2004  of  6  December  2004  concerning  medals  and  tokens  similar  to  euro  coins 
(OJ L 373,  21.12.2004,  p.  1)  and  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2183/2004  of  6  December  2004  extending  to  the  non-

 
 
 
 
                                                 
aimed  at  aligning  Czech  banknote  reproduction  rules  to  those  applicable  to  euro  banknotes  pursuant  to 

Decision  ECB/2003/4  of  20  March  2003  on  the  denominations,  specifications,  reproduction,  exchange 
and withdrawal of euro banknotes5. 

2. 

Banknote reproduction rules 

2.1 

In order to protect the integrity of euro banknotes as a means of payment, the general public must 

be able to distinguish genuine euro banknotes from reproductions. The ECB would therefore like to 

emphasise the importance of the rules on the reproduction of euro banknotes laid down in Decision 

ECB/2003/4 (hereinafter the ‘euro banknote reproduction rules’). Article 2 of the draft decree lays 

down the terms and conditions under which it is possible to reproduce banknotes and to produce 

objects imitating them in the Czech Republic. Since Decision ECB/2003/4 is not yet applicable in 

the Czech Republic, the above provision of the draft decree effectively provides for the protection 

of  euro  banknotes  on  the  national  level.  In  general  terms,  the  ECB  welcomes  the  banknote 

reproduction  rules  under  the  draft  decree,  as  they  draw  on  the  euro  banknote  reproduction  rules. 

However, the ECB notes that certain provisions of the draft decree differ from those of Decision 

ECB/2003/4. In view of preparations for the future adoption of the euro by the Czech Republic, the 

ECB would recommend that the euro banknote reproduction rules are taken into account in national 

legislation as far as possible at this stage. The Czech legislator could consider including a statement 

in  the  draft  decree  that  euro  banknote  reproductions  will  be  governed  by  the  euro  banknote 

reproduction  rules,  and  rules  on  the  enforcement  of  measures  to  counter  non-compliant 

reproductions of euro banknotes. 

2.2  The ECB also notes that the draft decree does not reflect Article 2(3)(c) of Decision ECB/2003/4, 

which allows the reproduction of individual design elements of euro banknotes provided that they 

are not depicted on a background that resembles a banknote. The ECB would also propose aligning 

the content of Article 2(1)(e) in conjunction with Article 4 of the draft decree with Article 2(3)(e) 

of Decision ECB/2003/4 as regards the concept of ‘material that cannot be mistaken for the original 

material’. 

2.3  Furthermore,  the  ECB  observes  that  Article  2(1)(c)  of  the  draft  decree,  which  provides  for 

reproductions  of  parts  of  banknotes  along  the  lines  of  Article  2(3)(d)  of  Decision  ECB/2003/4, 

contains an additional criterion, namely that such parts must be ‘produced in a way that does not 

allow  the  whole  banknote  to  be  assembled  from  the  individual  parts’.  The  ECB  welcomes  this 

provision as it further clarifies the conditions under which parts of banknotes may be reproduced in 

the Czech Republic. 

2.4  As far as the conditions under which intangible reproductions can be made are concerned, the ECB 

points out that Article 2(3)(f) of Decision ECB/2003/4 requires, inter alia, the word ‘SPECIMEN’ 

to be printed across the reproduction. Under Article 2(2) of the draft decree, other words of similar 

participating Member States the application of Regulation (EC) No 2182/2004 concerning medals and tokens similar to 
euro coins (OJ L 373, 21.12.2004, p. 7).  
OJ L 78, 25.3.2003, p. 16. 

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meaning  may be used instead of the word ‘SPECIMEN’. The ECB welcomes this provision as it 

makes the concept easily understandable to the general public. 

2.5  Finally,  the  ECB  notes  that  under  Article  2(1)(d)  of  the  draft  decree  it  is  permissible  to  produce 
reproductions of visually distorted banknotes6. While this criterion is not explicitly provided for in 

Decision  ECB/2003/4,  the  ECB  considers  that  reproductions  meeting  the  criteria  specified  in 

Article 2(1)(d) of the draft decree can be considered as sufficiently distorted to eliminate the risk of 

the  general  public  mistaking  them  for  genuine  banknotes.  Such  distorted  reproductions  would 

accordingly also be considered lawful under the ECB banknote reproduction rules in application of 

Article 2(4) of Decision ECB/2003/4. 

3.  Other comments 

3.1  Exclusion of euro coins from the scope of the draft decree 

Article 1 of the draft decree defines the scope of application of the draft decree ‘with reference to 

directly applicable Community legislation’. The ECB understands that this reference relates to the 

application  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2182/2004  and  Council  Regulation  (EC) 

No 2183/2004. The ECB considers that Article 1 could be further clarified to explicitly provide that 

euro coins are excluded from the scope of the decree. 

This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 28 August 2006. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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Article 2(1)(d) of the draft decree allows ‘one-sided reproductions and imitations of banknotes on which the longer and 
shorter sides form an angle differing from a right angle by at least 20 degrees’. 

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