Opinion of the European Central Bank of 27 November 2008 at the request of the Greek Ministry of Economy and Finance on a draft law on enhancing liquidity of the economy to address the impact of the international financial crisis and on a draft decision on its implementation (CON/2008/79)
Date: 2008-11-27
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Greece, credit institution, financial stability, liquidity control, monetary crisis

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 27 November 2008 

at the request of the Greek Ministry of Economy and Finance on a draft law on enhancing liquidity 

of the economy to address the impact of the international financial crisis and on a draft decision 

on its implementation 

(CON/2008/79) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 18 November 2008 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Greek Ministry of 

Economy and Finance for an opinion on a draft law on enhancing liquidity of the economy to address the 

impact  of  the  international  financial  crisis  (hereinafter  the  ‘draft  law’)  and  on  a  draft  decision  of  the 

Minister of Economy and Finance implementing the draft law (hereinafter the ‘draft decision’). 

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

European Community and the third and sixth 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 law and the draft decision relate to the Bank of Greece (BoG) and to 

rules  applicable  to  financial  institutions  insofar  as  they  materially  influence  the  stability  of  financial 

institutions and markets. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of 

the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 

1.  

Purpose of the draft law and the draft decision 

1.1  Objective and nature 

According  to  its  explanatory  memorandum,  the  draft  law  is  aimed  at  strengthening  the  national 

economy  against  the  implications  of  the  international  financial  crisis  by  enhancing  liquidity.  In 

particular,  the  provision  of  additional  capital  should  enable  credit  institutions  to  grant  credit  to 

households and businesses and contribute to reducing the pressure on lending interest rates. Finally, 

the  draft  law  aims  at  safeguarding  the  proper  implementation  of  the  financial  support  measures 

(hereinafter the ‘measures’) by establishing a Supervisory Council (SC) and provides for sanctions 

in cases of non-compliance with the terms of use of such measures as laid down in the draft law. 

The  draft  decision  implements  the  draft  law,  taking into account, inter alia, the capital adequacy 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
and  solvency  of  credit  institutions,  which  are  necessary  factors  to  ensure  financial  stability2;  in 

particular  it  lists  the  conditions  for  using  the  measures,  such  as  the  commission  to  be  paid  by 

beneficiary CIs and the rating requirements for eligible collateral. 

1.2  Main features  

The  measures  comprise  the  following:  (i)  State  participation  in  the  capital  of  credit  institutions 

authorised  by  the  BoG  (hereinafter  the  ‘beneficiary  CIs’)  through  the  acquisition  of  preference 

shares with a value of up to EUR 5 billion to be issued by 1 February 2009 and subscribed for by 
the  Greek  State  by  31  December  20093;  (ii)  provision  of  State  guarantees  with  a  value  of  up  to 

EUR  15  billion  to  beneficiary  CIs  for  loans  to  be  granted  to  them  by  31  December  2009  with  a 

maturity  of  three  months  to  three  years  against  payment  of  commission  and/or  provision  of 
adequate collateral4; and (iii) issuance by 31 December 2009 of Government securities with a value 

of  up  to  EUR  8  billion  and  a  maturity  of  up  to  three  years,  to  be  lent  to  beneficiary  CIs  for 
enhancing  liquidity  against  payment  of  commission  and  provision  of  adequate  collateral5.  In 

principle,  the  specific  terms  of  implementation  of  the  above  measures  will  be  determined  by  a 

decision  of  the  Minister  for  Economy  and  Finance  (hereinafter  the  ‘MEF’)  on  a  proposal  by  the 

Governor of the Bank of Greece (hereinafter the ‘BoG Governor’).  

Moreover,  under  Article  4  of  the  draft  law,  funds  provided  by  the  State  for  the  purposes  of 

implementing Articles 2 and 3 may, by an MEF Decision on a proposal by the BoG Governor, be 

allocated within a total cap on State guarantees and securities of EUR 23 billion, depending on the 

take-up  and  the  overall  needs  that  might  arise.  In  addition,  under  Article  5,  beneficiary  CIs  are 

obliged  to  use  the  proceeds  of  the  liquidation  of  securities  received  under  Article  3  to  grant 

mortgage  loans  and  loans  to  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises  (SMEs)  on  competitive  terms, 

while  the  guarantee  provided  under  Article  2  may  apply  to  lending  to  businesses  of  vital 

importance  for  the  growth  of  Greece.  Article  6  provides  for  a  simplified  procedure  for 

collateralising loans or credit granted to credit institutions using as collateral in favour of the State 

or the BoG claims of such credit institutions against third parties. Finally, Article 7 provides for the 
establishment of the SC to monitor implementation of the measures6, as well as for sanctions. 

2  
3  

4  

5  
6  

See recital 2 of the draft decision. 
See Article 1 of the draft law. These shares give voting rights and a right to a fixed dividend on the capital contributed 
and shall allow for State representation at a general meeting of ordinary shareholders and on the Board entailing a right to 
veto  any  decision  on  dividend  distribution  and  executive  pay  considered  to  jeopardise  the  interest  of  depositors  or  to 
substantially  affect  the  solvency  and  smooth  running  of  the  bank;  finally,  these  shares  may  not  be  transferred  by  the 
Greek  State  to  third  parties  or  listed  on  regulated  markets;  in  case  of  liquidation,  the  claims  of  the  Greek  State  as  a 
shareholder shall be satisfied in priority to any other ordinary shareholder. 
See Article 2 of the draft law. State representation on the Board has the same legal effects as under Article 1(3) for the 
period of the guarantee’s validity. 
See Article 3 of the draft law. 
The SC will be chaired by the MEF; other participants will be the BoG Governor, the deputy MEF in charge of the State 
General Accounting Department and the State representative appointed to the Board of beneficiary CIs. 

2 

 
 
                                                 
2. 

General observations 

2.1  The Government submitted the draft law to the Greek Parliament on 23 October 2008 and a further 

amendment  to  the  draft  law  was  submitted  on  6  November  2008.  The  Ministry  of  Economy  and 

Finance consulted the ECB on 18 November 2008, requesting that the consultation be treated as a 

matter  of  urgency,  and  indicated  that  it  was  likely  that  Parliament  would  enact  the  draft  law  by 

21 November  2008.  The  draft  law  provides  for  retroactive  entry  into  force  from  the  date  of  its 

submission  to  Parliament.  The  ECB  understands  that  the  legislative  procedure  is  at  an  advanced 

stage and notes that  a consultation should take place at  a point which affords the ECB sufficient 

time to examine the draft legislative provisions and also enables the relevant national authorities to 

take the ECB’s opinion into consideration before the provisions are adopted. It even follows from 

Article 3(4) of Decision 98/415/EC that Member States are obliged to suspend the adoption process 

of the draft legislative provision pending submission of the ECB’s opinion, given that the adopting 

national authority should have the opportunity to deliberate the ECB’s opinion in a meaningful way 
before  taking  its  decision  on  the  substance7.  The  ECB  also  wishes  to  draw  the  consulting 

authority’s attention to the recent ECB  opinions issued at the request of other Member States, in 

which the ECB has already commented on draft legislation sharing some of the features of the draft 
law8. Moreover, the ECB notes that harmonisation regarding the end of such schemes across euro 

7  

8  

See the Guide to consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions, 
Title IV, Section 1, available on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
See the following ECB Opinions: CON/2008/44 of 3 October 2008 at the request of the Irish Minister for Finance on a 
draft  Credit  Institutions  (Financial  Support)  Bill  2008;  CON/2008/46  of  8  October  2008  at  the  request  of  the  Belgian 
Ministry of Finance on a preliminary draft law on measures promoting financial stability and in particular establishing a 
State guarantee for the provision of credit in the context of financial stability; CON/2008/48 of 15 October 2008 at the 
request of the Irish Minister for Finance on a draft Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Scheme 2008; CON/2008/50 of 
17 October 2008 at the request of the Belgian Ministry of Finance on a draft royal decree adopted under Article 117bis of 
the  Law  of  2  August  2002  on  the  supervision  of  the  financial  sector  and  on  financial  services;  CON/2008/51  of 
17 October  2008  at  the  request  of  the  Greek  Ministry  of  Economy  and  Finance  on  a  draft  law  on,  inter  alia,  the 
establishment  of  the  ‘Depositors  and  Investors  of  Credit  Institutions  Compensation  Fund’;  CON/2008/52  of 
17 October 2008 at the request of the Spanish State Secretary for Economic Affairs on a Royal Decree-Law creating a 
Fund for the acquisition of financial assets and on a Royal Decree-Law adopting urgent financial and economic measures 
in  relation  to  the  concerted  European  action  plan  of  the  euro  area  countries;  CON/2008/54  of  17  October  2008  at  the 
request of the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs on a proposed Law on financial stability; CON/2008/55 
of 20 October 2008 at the request of the Austrian Ministry of Finance on draft legal measures to ensure the stability of the 
Austrian financial market; CON/2008/56 of 21 October 2008 at the request of the Banque de France on a draft amending 
finance law for the financing of the economy; CON/2008/57 of 21 October 2008 at the request of the German Ministry of 
Finance on a Law on the implementation of a package of measures to stabilise the financial market and an order on its 
implementation; CON/2008/58 of 23 October 2008 at the request of the Banca d’Italia on behalf of the Italian Ministry 
for  Economic  Affairs  and  Finance  on  two  Decree-Laws  containing  urgent  measures  to  guarantee  the  stability  of  the 
banking  system  and  the  continuity  of  the  provision  of  credit;  CON/2008/59  of  24  October  2008  at  the  request  of  the 
Swedish Ministry of Finance on a draft proposal on stabilising measures for the Swedish financial system; CON/2008/60 
of  27  October  2008  at  the  request  of  the  Spanish  State  Secretary  for  Economic Affairs  on  a  draft  Order implementing 
Royal Decree-Law 6/2008 creating the Fund for the acquisition of financial assets and on a draft Basic Agreement of the 
Fund’s Executive Council; CON/2008/61 of 28 October 2008 at the request of the Belgian Minister for Finance on a draft 
royal  decree  implementing  the  Law  of  15  October  2008  on  measures  promoting  financial  stability  and  in  particular 
establishing a State guarantee for the provision of credit in the context of financial stability, in relation to the protection 
of deposits and life insurance and amending the Law of 2 August 2002 on the supervision of the financial sector and on 
financial  services;  CON/2008/62  of  29  October  2008  at  the  request  of  the  Swedish  Ministry  of  Finance  on  a  draft 
ordinance on State guarantees for banks etc.; CON/2008/65 of 12 November 2008 at the request of the Banca d’Italia on 
behalf  of  the  Italian  Ministry  for  Economic  Affairs  and  Finance  on  a  draft  ministerial  decree  containing  provisions  to 
implement  Decree-Law  No  157/2008  on  further  urgent  measures  to  guarantee  the  stability  of  the  credit  system; 
CON/2008/67 of 13 November 2008 at the request of the Spanish Ministry for Economic Affairs and Finance on a draft 
order implementing Royal Decree-Law 7/2008 authorising State guarantees; and CON/2008/68 of 13 November 2008 at 
the  request  of  the  Finnish  Ministry  of  Finance  on  a  draft  government  proposal  for  laws  amending  the  Law  on  the 

3 

                                                 
area and EU Member States is also crucial. The ECB should be involved in such concertation and 

coordination and would welcome the explicit provision for this in subsequent legislation. 

2.2  As  already  mentioned  in  recent  ECB  opinions  on  draft  national  laws  in  other  Member  States 

relating  to  emergency  measures  arising  out  of  the  current  financial  turmoil,  it  is  important  for 

national  authorities  to  coordinate  their  responses  to  the  current  financial  situation  with  their  EU 

partners.  Given  the  similarities  of  the  causes  and  consequences  of  the  financial  crisis  across 

Member  States  and  the  potential  interdependencies  of  policy  responses,  the  ECB  notes  that 

coordination is already taking place at the international and European level to preserve confidence 

and financial stability. More specifically, the ECB refers to the conclusions adopted at the Ecofin 

Council meeting on 7 October 2008, which highlighted common principles to guide the action of 

Member States as follows: (i) interventions should be timely and the support should in principle be 

temporary; (ii) the interests of taxpayers should be protected; (iii) existing shareholders should bear 

the due consequences of the intervention; (iv) the government should be in a position to bring about 

a change of management; (v) management should not retain undue benefits; (vi) governments may 

have, inter alia, the power to intervene in remuneration; (vii) the legitimate interest of competitors 

must  be  protected,  in  particular  through  the  State  aid  rules;  and  (viii)  negative  spill-over  effects 
should be avoided9. Against this background, the ECB is pleased to note that the draft law and draft 

decision closely follow these conclusions. 

2.3  On  12 October  2008,  the  Heads  of  State  of  the  euro  area  issued  a  ‘Declaration  on  a  concerted 
European  action  plan  of  the  euro  area  countries’  (hereinafter  the  ‘Declaration’)10,  in  which  they 

confirmed  their  commitment  to  act  together  in  a  decisive  and  comprehensive  way  to  restore 

confidence and the proper functioning of the financial system, with the aim of restoring appropriate 

and  efficient  financing  conditions  for  the  economy.  They  agreed  on  common  principles  to  be 

followed  by  the  EU  and  euro  area  governments,  central  banks  and  supervisors  to  avoid  national 

measures  adversely  affecting  the  functioning  of  the  single  market  and  the  other  Member  States. 

Such  coordinated  approach  includes  initiatives  aimed  at  all  of  the  following:  (i)  ensuring 

appropriate  liquidity;  (ii)  facilitating  the  funding  of  banks  through  various  means;  (iii)  providing 

additional  capital  resources  to  financial  institutions;  (iv)  recapitalisation  of  distressed  banks.  The 

European  Council  also  endorsed  these  principles  for  all  Member  States  on  16 October  2008. 

Against  this  background,  the  ECB  highlights  that  all  initiatives  put  in  place  by  national 

governments to restore confidence in the financial markets should be aimed at implementing such 

common principles, in the spirit of close cooperation with other Member States and EU institutions. 

Government Guarantee Fund and the Law on credit institutions. All ECB opinions are available on the ECB’s website at 
www.ecb.europa.eu.  
See  the  press  release  of  the  2894th  Council  meeting  (13784/08),  available  on  the  Council’s  website  at 
www.consilium.europa.eu. 
The Declaration is available on the French Presidency’s website at www.ue2008.fr. 

9  

10  

4 

                                                                                                                                                             
3. 

Specific comments 

3.1  Eligibility for support  

The draft law states that beneficiary CIs are eligible for the measures. The ECB understands that 

subsidiaries of foreign credit institutions are included in the scope of beneficiary CIs, in line with 

the Commission’s guidance on compliance by the financial sector support schemes with State aid 
rules11,  as  also  referred  to  in  the  preamble  of  the  draft  decision,  in  particular  with  the  eligibility 

criteria that all institutions incorporated in the Member State concerned, including subsidiaries of 

foreign credit institutions, with significant activities in that Member State, should be covered by the 

support scheme concerned. In relation to this, the ECB notes that for reasons of legal certainty and 

clarity, terminological consistency should be ensured in the draft decision and the draft law when 

referring to such beneficiary CIs.  

3.2  Conditions  for  support  and  relationship  with  the  single  monetary  policy  of  the  euro  area  and 

financial stability 

The ECB notes that, in line with the Declaration, Member States must act in a coordinated manner 

to avoid significant differences in national implementation from having a counter-productive effect 

and creating distortions in global banking markets. The Declaration acknowledges the need to work 

in cooperation with the ECB to ensure consistency with the Eurosystem’s management of liquidity 

and compatibility with its operational framework. Similarly, harmonisation regarding the expiry of 

such  financial  support  schemes  across  the  euro  area  would  also  be  necessary.  Against  this 

background,  the  ECB  recalls  that  uncoordinated  decisions  among  Member  States  should  be 

avoided  as  they  may  lead  to  a  fragmentation  of  the  euro  area  money  market.  In  this  respect,  the 

ECB makes the following observations, which are important from a monetary policy perspective, 

as regards the measures. 

First, the ECB notes that Article 1 of the draft law provides for State participation in the capital of 

beneficiary CIs through the acquisition of preference shares. In this respect, in line with previous 

opinions, the ECB recalls that harmonisation and coordination of government measures intended to 

alleviate  tensions  in  the  financial  markets  is  of  crucial  importance.  The  recapitalisation  measures 

considered  in  Member  States  are  aimed  at  strengthening  the  capital  position  of  fundamentally 

sound financial institutions in order to improve the functioning and stability of the banking system 

and to ensure the proper financing of the economy. In particular, a consistent approach should be 

used when defining the conditions for recapitalisations including the pricing of the instruments to 

provide  Tier  1  capital  to  financial  institutions,  in  order  to  support  the  implementation  of  the 

11  

See  the  ‘Communication  from  the  Commission  –  The  application  of  State  aid  rules  to  measures  taken  in  relation  to 
financial  institutions  in  the  context  of  the  current  global  financial  crisis’  of  13  October  2008,  available  on  the 
Commission’s website at www.ec.europa.eu. Paragraph 18 specifies that ‘The eligibility criteria of financial institutions 
… must be objective, taking due account of their role in the relevant banking system and the overall economy, and non-
discriminatory  so  as  to  avoid  undue  distortive  effects  on  neighbouring  markets  and  the  internal  market  as  a  whole.  In 
application  of  the  principle  of  non  discrimination  on  the  grounds  of  nationality,  all  institutions  incorporated  in  the 
Member State concerned, including subsidiaries, and with significant activities in that Member State should be covered 
by the scheme’. 

5 

 
 
 
                                                 
Declaration  of  12  October  2008.  Against  this  background,  the  ECB  notes  that  in  general  the 

conditions for capital support should aim at protecting the interests of taxpayers and respecting the 

level playing field among institutions. Moreover, the ECB highlights that the pricing conditions for 

capital support should be risk-based and market-oriented, determined by taking into consideration 

the  specific  risk  of  both  the  specific  instrument  chosen  for  injecting  capital  and  the  institution 

concerned. Specific features of the instruments for capital injections (such as preferred shares and 

other hybrid instruments) should be appropriately chosen so that, while encouraging an early end to 

the State’s capital support of banks, they should not result in an excessive increase in the cost of 

capital.  Finally,  the  temporary  nature  of  the  State’s  intervention  should  be  ensured  by  providing 

financial institutions with incentives to redeem such instruments as soon as possible. 

Second, the ECB notes that under Article 2 of the draft law, the MEF may issue a State guarantee 

for loans to be concluded by beneficiary CIs by 31 December 2009 with a maturity of up to three 

years. The ECB also notes that, under Article 2(1) of the draft law, as implemented by Section 2A 

of  the  draft  decision,  the  deadline  for  such  guarantees  will  expire  on  31  December  2012  at  the 

latest. The ECB recalls that such arrangements for the granting of government guarantees on bank 

debt  should,  in  their  practical  implementation,  aim  at:  (i)  addressing  the  funding  problems  of 

liquidity-constrained  solvent  banks  by  improving  the  functioning  of  the  market  for  bank  debt  of 

longer  term  maturity;  (ii)  preserving  the  level-playing  field  among  financial  institutions  and 

avoiding market distortions and (iii) ensuring consistency with the management of liquidity by the 

Bank of Greece. In this context, the ECB understands that the above provision seeks to implement 

Article  8  of  the  Declaration  which  states, inter  alia,  that  the  euro  area  governments  would  make 

available a Government guarantee of new medium term (up to five years) bank senior debt issuance 

and meets the principles stated in the Declaration indicating the temporary feature of such schemes.  

Third,  the  ECB  notes  that  the  draft  decision,  in  line  with  paragraph  3.4  of  CON/2008/52, 
recognises  the  ECB’s  contribution12  to  the  harmonisation  and  coordination  across  the  EU  of  the 

exercise  of  determining  the  price  of  State  guarantees.  In  particular,  the  ECB  recalls  that  it  is 

important  to  ensure  that  the  price  of  the  State  guarantee  is  risk-based  and  market-oriented  and 

determined on the basis of the costs of a corresponding guarantee in the market. However, it has to 

be  highlighted  that  the  abovementioned  contribution  by  the  ECB  is  not  formally  incorporated  in 

any ECB legal act. 

Fourth, the ECB welcomes the provision of Section 9 of the draft decision which aims to ensure 
that  the  beneficiary  CIs  do  not  profit  from  undue  use  of  their  guaranteed  status13  to  engage  in  a 

heightened level of activities which could distort the market and facilitate abnormal balance sheet 

12  

13  

Under  Section  2A(c)  of  the  draft  decision  the  pricing  of  State  guarantees  will  be  determined  in  accordance  with  the 
procedure established by the ECB. Under Section 3(d) thereof, such pricing also applies to Government securities.  
See, e.g. paragraph 3.4 of ECB Opinion CON/2008/48, paragraph 3.1 of ECB Opinion CON/2008/50 and paragraph 3.4 
of ECB Opinion CON/2008/57. 

6 

 
 
 
                                                 
growth14. In this regard, the ECB reiterates the importance of establishing appropriate safeguards 

such as limits on the marketing of financial products or on expansion of activities on the basis of 

State guarantees. 

Fifth,  as  stated  in  previous  opinions,  the  ECB  considers  that  extending  State  guarantees  to 

interbank  deposits  should  be  avoided,  as  it  could  entail  a  substantial  distortion  in  the  various 

national segments of the euro area money market by potentially increasing short-term debt issuance 

activity across Member States and therefore impairing the implementation of the single monetary 

policy.  Therefore,  the  ECB  welcomes  Section  2A  (a)  of  the  draft  decision,  which  states  that 

interbank deposits may not be covered by State guarantees. 

3.3  Role of the central bank 

The ECB notes the participation of the BoG in the measures, as provided for in the draft law and 

further specified and supplemented in the draft decision. In particular, Articles 1 to 4 of the draft 

law  require  a  proposal  of  the  BoG  Governor  prior  to  the  adoption  of  ministerial  decisions 

determining the terms of implementation of the draft law. Moreover, Article 7(1) provides for the 

participation of  the  BoG Governor  in the  newly  established  SC with  the  task  of  coordinating  the 

proper and efficient implementation of the draft law and ensuring that the liquidity provided will 

benefit depositors, borrowers and the Greek economy in general. In this respect the ECB notes that 

the  draft  law  expressly  clarifies  that  the  establishment  and  operation  of  the  SC  will  be  without 

prejudice  to  the  supervisory  competences  of  the  BoG.  In  addition,  Article  7(2)  provides  for 

sanctions to be imposed under Article 55A of the Statute of the Bank of Greece in cases of non-

compliance  by  beneficiary  CIs  with  the  terms  of  use  of  the  scheme,  including  revocation  of  the 
measures by an MEF decision on a proposal by the BoG Governor15. The ECB appreciates that the 

draft law recognises the BoG’s expertise as it will facilitate the BoG’s effective performance of its 

financial stability role. The ECB understands that such advisory function will be performed without 

prejudice  to  the  BoG’s  independence  and  in  full  compliance  with  the  Treaty  provisions  on  the 

prohibition of monetary financing.  

14  

15  

Section  9  states,  inter  alia,  that  in  implementing  the  draft  law  beneficiary  CIs  must  abstain  from  aggressive  market 
strategies,  including  advertising  by  invoking  their  guaranteed  status  especially  against  non-beneficiary  CIs.  They  must 
also abstain from expanding their activities or from pursuing other purposes in manners unduly distorting competition. To 
this end, beneficiary CIs must ensure that during the implementation the average increase of total assets does not exceed 
a  determined  limit.  The  SC  will  monitor  compliance  with  such  obligations  on  the  basis  of  reports  provided  for  in 
Section 8. 
In this context, Section 8 of the draft decision stipulates, inter alia, that beneficiary CIs must regularly inform the BoG on 
the  precise  use  of  the  funds  received.  The  BoG  Governor  then  informs  the  SC  accordingly.  On  the  basis  of  quarterly 
reports from beneficiary CIs, the BoG prepares a biannual report on the use of funds, outlining the implementation of the 
business plans of each beneficiary CI as well as any restructuring plans. Such report will be submitted to the SC and the 
Commission of the European Communities. 

7 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 27 November 2008. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

8