Opinion of the European Central Bank of 12 February 2014 on the introduction of the euro in Lithuania (CON/2014/14)
Date: 2014-02-12
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Lithuania, euro, issuing of currency, monetary integration, money, national law

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 12 February 2014 

on the introduction of the euro in Lithuania 

(CON/2014/14) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 22 January 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Lithuanian Ministry 

of  Finance  for  an  opinion on  the  draft  law  on  the  introduction  of the  euro  in  Lithuania  (hereinafter  the 

‘draft law’). 

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/EC1, as the draft law relates to currency matters, means of payment and Lietuvos bankas. 

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  

The purpose of the draft law is to establish a procedure for the introduction of the euro in Lithuania and, 

more particularly, to lay down rules governing the following matters: (a) the exchange of the litas to the 

euro after the adoption of the euro in Lithuania and related rounding rules; (b) the exchange of non-cash 

and electronic money; (c) the dual display of prices of goods and services; (d) references to the litas and 

the  euro  in  legal  instruments;  and  (e)  the  withdrawal  of  the  litas  from  circulation.  The  draft  law  also 

contains measures relating to the adaptation of accounting practices and enforcement of the law. 

2. 

General observations 

2.1  The ECB welcomes the timely preparations for the introduction of the euro, and notes that the Law 
on  foreign  currency  in  Lithuania2  will  be  repealed  from  the  date  of  the  adoption  of  the  euro  in 

Lithuania to avoid any inconsistencies in the legal framework. 

2.2  The draft law addresses an earlier concern3 and uses the correct spelling of the euro. It is therefore 

compatible with Union law in this respect. 

1  

2  
3  

Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities 
regarding draft legislative provisions (OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42). 
Valstybės žinios, 14.07.1993, No 28-640. 
See Opinion CON/2005/21, paragraph 10. All ECB opinions are published on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
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3. 

Definition of dual circulation period 

The ECB understands that the ‘transitional period’ mentioned in Article 3(2) of the draft law means the 

dual circulation period, i.e. the 15-calendar day period following the adoption of the euro within which 

the litas keeps its legal tender status in  parallel with  the euro as laid down in Article 25(1) of the draft 
law.  This  is  in  line  with  Article  15(1)  of  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  974/984.  The  term  ‘transitional 

period’ is used in Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 to define a different concept, related to the start of 

stage three of the economic and monetary union, i.e. a period of three years between the euro adoption 
date and the cash changeover date5. The ECB recommends that the term ‘transitional period’ used in the 

draft  law  should  be  replaced  by  a  reference  to  Article  25(1)  of  the  draft  law,  which  would  clarify  that 

‘dual circulation period’ is the correct term. 

4.   Rounding rules and the principle of neutrality 

4.1  Article 7(1) of the draft law specifies that the conversion and rounding rules laid down in Articles 4 
and 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/976 apply in the context of the conversion mechanism 

relating to the litas and the euro. However, the wording of the first part of Article 7(2) of the draft 

law unnecessarily complicates the application of Article 5 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1103/97. 

The draft law should regulate only those issues relating to the introduction of the euro in Lithuania 
not covered by Union legislation. This approach would also help simplify the draft law7. 

4.2  Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 lays down the principle that ‘the substitution of 

the euro for the currency of each participating Member State shall not in itself have the effect of 

altering the denomination of legal instruments in existence on the date of substitution’ (hereinafter 

the ‘principle of neutrality’). 

Article 7(4) of the draft law allows the rounding up of fines or other monetary obligations to the 

nearest euro. In this regard, the principle of neutrality does not prevent the national legislator from 

using  its  sovereign  powers  when  expressing  monetary  amounts  such  as  fines,  fees,  minimum 
capital, taxes, allowances, salaries, etc. in legislative provisions8.  

Accordingly,  the  national  legislator  remains  free  to  legislate  on  the  increase  or  decrease  of  any 

monetary amounts when addressing euro changeover matters. In doing so, however, it is bound to 

act  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  legal  certainty  and  transparency,  i.e.  it  must  ensure  that 

economic  agents  are  able  to  make  a  clear  distinction  between  a  decision  of  the  Lithuanian 

authorities to increase or decrease any amount and the process of converting an amount into euro 

and rounding it. 

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5  

6  

7  
8  

Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro (OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 1). 
In Article 1(h) of Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 the term ‘transitional period’ is defined as ‘a period of three years 
at the most beginning at 00.00 hours on the euro adoption date and ending at 00.00 hours on the cash changeover date’. 
Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  1103/97  of  17  June  1997  on  certain  provisions  relating  to  the  introduction  of  the  euro 
(OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1). 
See also Opinion CON/2007/43, in particular paragraph 2.2.  
See also Opinion CON/2012/97, in particular paragraph 3.2. 

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4.3  The  ECB  welcomes  the  greater  precision  of  the  rounding  rules  on  monetary  amounts  for  tariffs 
contained in Article 7(5) of the draft law, which are in line with previous ECB opinions9 and the 
case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union10. 

5. 

Settlement in euro at automated retail locations after expiry of the dual circulation period 

Article 25(6) of the draft law provides that after the expiry of the dual circulation period, automated retail 

locations shall only accept euro for settlement. The ECB trusts that an impact assessment with regard to 

the practical feasibility of this provision has been made. 

6. 

Entry into force and application of the draft law 

6.1  Article 1 of the draft law defines the purpose of the draft law as being to establish the procedure for 

the preparations to introduce the euro, the exchange of the litas to the euro, and the conversion of 

litas-denominated  values  to  euro-denominated  values  after  the  adoption  of  the  euro  in  Lithuania. 

Article 2(2) of the draft law defines the date of adoption of the euro as the date set in the Council 

decision abrogating Lithuania’s derogation under Article 140(2) of the Treaty. 

Article 32 of the draft law provides that the draft law shall enter into force on the date the Council 

makes a decision to abrogate Lithuania’s derogation under Article 140(2) of the Treaty. 

Furthermore, most of the provisions of the draft law contain specific references to their application 
date, e.g. ‘before the date of adoption of the euro’11, ‘as from the date of adoption of the euro’12, 
‘on the date of adoption of the euro’13 etc. 

6.2  Certain provisions of the draft law do not specify the dates from which they apply. These include, 

inter alia, Article 4 (information on images of euro banknotes and coins), Article 6(2) (destruction 

of  litas  banknotes  and  coins),  Article  14  (redenomination  of  the  nominal  value  of  securities  and 

other  financial  instruments),  and  Article  15  (redenomination  of  the  State  debt,  loans  and 

guarantees).  These  provisions  should  be  read  and  interpreted  systemically,  either  in  conjunction 

with Article 1 (i.e. attributed to one of the fields mentioned in Article 1) or with Article 32 of the 

draft law (general entry into force provision). In the interests of clarity and legal certainty, the dates 

of  entry  into  force  and  application  of  the  provisions  of  the  draft  law  should  be  simplified  and 

clarified.  

9  
10  
11  
12  
13  

See Opinion CON/2005/21, in particular paragraph 20. 
Case C-19/03 Verbraucher-Zentrale Hamburg eV v O2 (Germany) GmbH & Co. OHG [2004] ECR-I-8183. 
E.g. Article 6(1) of the draft law. 
E.g. Articles 3(1), 3(3), 8, 9(1), 12(1), 16(1), 20, 25 etc. of the draft law. 
E.g. Article 10(1) of the draft law. 

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6.3  The national authorities should ensure that the national law provisions introducing amounts in euro 

that  replace  the  national  currency  do  not  enter  into  force  prior  to  the  date  of  the  adoption  of  the 
euro, following the Council decision abrogating the Member State’s derogation14. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 12 February 2014. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

14 

See also paragraph 3.1 of Opinion CON/2012/97, paragraph 3.2 of Opinion CON/2006/28 and paragraph 5.1 of Opinion 
CON/2007/43. 

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