Opinion of the European Central Bank of 22 June 2011 on the circulation of banknotes and coins (CON/2011/51)
Date: 2011-06-22
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Czechia, counterfeiting, monetary policy, money, national law

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 22 June 2011 

on the circulation of banknotes and coins  

(CON/2011/51) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 10 May 2011 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Česká národní banka for an 

opinion  on  a  draft  decree  on  the  implementation  of  certain  provisions  of  the  Law  on  the  circulation  of 

banknotes and coins (hereinafter the ‘draft decree’). 

The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 

Functioning  of  the  European  Union  and  the  first,  second  and  third  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, means of 

payment and CNB. 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 decree 

The  draft  decree  comprehensively  implements  relevant  provisions  of  the  recently  adopted  Law  on  the 
circulation of banknotes and coins2 (hereinafter the ‘Law’), on which the ECB was  consulted in 20093. 

The draft decree lays down, in particular: (i) standards for processing national banknotes and coins; (ii) a 

description of the degree of wear and damage of national banknotes and coins unfit for further circulation; 

(iii)  the  procedure  for  seizing  suspicious  banknotes  and  coins;  (iv)  reproduction  rules  for  national  and 

foreign  banknotes  and  coins;  (v)  reporting  obligation  vis-à-vis  the  national  central  bank;  and  (vi)  types 

and  content  of  professional  training  courses  on  identifying  national  and  foreign  banknotes  and  coins 

suspected of being counterfeit. 

2. 

General observations  

The Czech Republic is a Member State with a derogation within the meaning of Article 139 of the Treaty 

and, therefore, the ECB requirements regarding (i) the authenticity and fitness checking and recirculation 

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3  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
Law No 136/2011 Coll. on the circulation of banknotes and coins and amending Law No 6/1993 Coll. on Česká národní 
banka. Under Article 35 of Law No 136/2011 Coll., CNB is authorised to issue a decree to implement specific provisions 
of the Law.     
See Opinion CON/2009/52. All ECB opinions are published on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
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of  euro  banknotes4  and  (ii)  the  reproduction  rules  for  euro  banknotes5  currently  do  not  apply  to  Česká 

národní banka.  These  requirements  will  apply  to  Česká  národní banka  once  the  Czech  Republic  adopts 

the euro and Česká národní banka becomes a fully integrated member of the Eurosystem. In this context, 

the ECB generally welcomes the efforts to make the Czech legal framework in this area compatible with 

that  applicable  in  the  euro  area  as  this  will  facilitate  the  future  participation  of  the  Czech  Republic  in 

economic and monetary union. However, Opinion CON/2009/52 remains largely valid also in the context 
of the present draft decree6 and should be considered alongside the specific observations set out below. 

3. 

Specific observations 

3.1 

Standards for processing the national currency 

The ECB notes that the standards for processing the national banknotes draw largely on Decision 

ECB/2010/14. As regards the procedures for the testing of currency processing equipment, the draft 

decree provides that each type of equipment will only be tested once and that the validity of a test 

will  not  be  time  limited.  However,  Česká  národní  banka  may,  where  appropriate,  retest  all 
equipment  that  has  already  passed  the  test7.  This  approach  may  bear  the  risk  that  currency 

processing equipment is not regularly and mandatorily re-tested to check that it is still capable of 

detecting  the  most  recent  counterfeits  in  circulation.  The  ECB  notes  that  under  Decision 

ECB/2010/14  the  successful  test  results  are  valid  for  one  year  only,  provided  that  the  relevant 
equipment is capable of detecting all counterfeits known during this period8.  

3.2  Reproduction of banknotes 

According  to  the  explanatory  memorandum  to  the  draft  decree,  the  conditions  under  which 

banknote  reproductions  may  be  made  are  identical  (with  one  exception  allowing  for  the 

reproduction of visually distorted banknotes) to the conditions laid down in Decision ECB/2003/4. 

The ECB notes, however, that the draft decree allows tangible reproductions that have the original 
banknote  size  and  the  word  ‘Specimen’  or  other  similar  word  printed  diagonally  across  them9. 

Decision  ECB/2003/4  does  not  allow  such  reproductions  of  euro  banknotes,  as  the  risk  that  they 

may be mistaken by the general public for genuine euro banknotes is considered too high. 

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8  
9  

See  Decision  ECB/2010/14  of  16  September  2010  on  the  authenticity  and  fitness  checking  and  recirculation  of  euro 
banknotes (OJ L 267, 9.10.2010, p. 1). 
See  Decision  ECB/2003/4  of  20 March 2003  on  the  denominations,  specifications,  reproduction,  exchange  and 
withdrawal of euro banknotes (OJ L 78, 25.3.2003, p. 16). 
See, in particular, paragraphs 2.2, 2.3 and 3.1 of Opinion CON/2009/52. 
See Article 6(5) of the draft decree. 
See Article 9(3) of Decision ECB/2010/14. 
See Article 16(1)(d) of the draft decree. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 22 June 2011. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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