Opinion of the European Central Bank of 4 September 2018 on new rounding rules for payments denominated in euro (CON/2018/41)
Date: 2018-09-04
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Belgium, consumer information, money, national law, payment, retail trade

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 4 September 2018 

on new rounding rules for payments denominated in euro 

(CON/2018/41) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  8  August  2018  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the  Belgian  Ministry  of 

Employment,  Economy  and Consumers for an opinion on a draft law setting out new rounding rules for 

payments denominated in euro (hereinafter the ‘draft law’). 

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

Functioning  of  the  European  Union  and  the  first  and  second  indents  of  Article  2(1)  of  Council  Decision 
98/415/EC1, as the draft law 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  European  Central  Bank,  the  Governing 

Council has adopted this opinion.  

1. 

Purpose of the draft law 

1.1  The main purpose of the draft law is to enhance the efficiency of cash payments in Belgium.  

1.2  Under the current legal framework2, retailers may round the total price to be paid by consumers to 

the  nearest  five  euro  cent,  regardless  of  whether  the  relevant  payment  is  made  with  banknotes, 

coins, electronic money or comparable means of payment. If retailers decide to round amounts to 

be paid, they must do so in a consistent manner and duly inform consumers.  

1.3  The explanatory memorandum accompanying the draft law mentions a recent survey conducted in 

Belgium  according  to  which  only  30 %  of  retailers  apply  the  existing  optional  rule  on  rounding  of 

payments,  although  80 %  of  retailers  are  in  favour  of  such  rounding.  The  same  survey  indicates 

that eight out of ten consumers have difficulties using coins of one or two euro cent and seven out 

of  ten  consumers  are  in  favour  of  their  abolition  through  the  rounding  of  cash  payments. 

Furthermore,  according  to  the  explanatory  memorandum,  the  agence  pour  la  simplification 

administrative/  Dienst  voor  de  Administratieve  Vereenvoudiging  (the  office  for  Administrative 

Simplification) has estimated that the costs related to the delivery, sorting, counting and transport 

of  one  and  two  euro  cent  coins  amount  to  EUR  44  million.  In  addition,  the  explanatory 

memorandum  highlights  the  high  cost  to  the  administration  générale  de  la  trésorerie/  Algemene 

Administratie van de Thesaurie (general administration for treasury) caused by the issuance of one 

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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). 
See Article VI.7/1, VI.7/2 and VI.7/3 of the “Code de droit économique”/ “Wetboek van economisch recht” (Economic 
Law Code), as most recently amended by a Law of 15 May 2014. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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and two euro cent coins, for which there is a continuous need due to the limited circulation thereof. 

As  a  consequence,  the  administration  générale  du  trésor/  Algemene  Administratie  van  de 

Thesaurie  general  administration  for  (treasury)  had  to  put  approximately  60  million  coins  into 

circulation last year. 

1.4 

In order to address the limited efficiency of the existing rules on payments and alleviate the costs 

caused by the minting and circulation of one and two euro cent coins, the draft law provides that, 

from  1  December  2019,  it  will  be  mandatory  for  retailers  to  round  the  total  price  paid  in  cash  by 

consumers to the nearest five cent multiple. Total prices ending with one, two, six or seven cents 

shall be rounded down to the nearest five cent. Total prices ending  with three, four, eight or nine 

cents shall be rounded up to the nearest five cent. Rounding also applies to the amounts paid back 

in cash by retailers to consumers.  

1.5  Furthermore,  the  draft  law  authorises  retailers  on  an  optional  basis  to  round  the  total  price  when 

the payment is carried out with means of payment other than cash. This option, if used by retailers, 

must  be  implemented  for  all  other  means  of  payment  and  applies  to  the  amounts  paid  back  by 

retailers  to  consumers.  Furthermore,  retailers  must  inform  consumers  about  the  rounding  of  all 

payments by openly and clearly displaying on their premises where the payments take place a sign 

stating that the total amount is always rounded. 

1.6  When voluntary rounding is widespread, the draft law empowers the King of Belgium to impose by 

royal  decree  the  mandatory  rounding  of  payments  carried  out  with  other  means  of  payment, 

including, for example, electronic money or meal vouchers. 

1.7  Rounding of all payments – whether on a mandatory basis for cash from 1 December 2019 or on 

an  optional  or  mandatory  basis  for  other  means  of  payment  -  may  only  be  implemented  if  the 

payment  takes  place  in  the  physical  presence  of  the  consumer  of  the  retailer  and  if  the  total 

amounts due exceed five euro cent.  

1.8  According to the explanatory memorandum, the proposed amendments to the rules on payments 

would not affect the legal tender of the one and two euro cent coins, as consumers and enterprises 

would still be authorised to use them.  

2. 

General observations 

2.1  The draft law is not likely to have real impact on inflation  in Belgium, particularly considering that 

total  prices  and  amounts  paid  back  ending  with  one,  two,  six  or  seven  cents  would  be  rounded 

down to the nearest five cent, while total prices ending with three, four, eight or nine cents would be 

rounded up to the nearest five cent as equal shares of payments are likely to be rounded upwards 

or downwards (symmetric rounding).  

2.2 

In accordance with Article 128(2) of the Treaty, the competence to adopt measures to harmonise 

the denomination and technical specifications of all euro coins intended for circulation to the extent 

necessary  to  permit  their  smooth  circulation  within  the  Union  is  vested  in  the  Council  of  the 

European Union, on a proposal from the European Commission and after consulting the European 

Parliament  and  the  ECB.  The  legal  tender  status  of  euro  cent  coins  within  the  euro  area  is  laid 

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down in Article 11 of Council Regulation (EC) No 974/983. In addition, Article 2 of Regulation (EC) 

No  974/98  provides  that  the  euro,  as  the  currency  of  the  euro  area,  is  divided  into  one  hundred 

cent.  The  denomination  structure  of  the  euro  coins  (i.e.  1,  2,  5,  10,  50  euro  cents,  1  euro  and  2 
euro  coins)  has  remained  unchanged  since  the  introduction  of  the  euro 4.  However,  the  use  of 

different  denominations  of  euro  coins,  as  currently  devised,  should  be  periodically  and  carefully 

examined  by  the  competent  institutions  against  the  criteria  of  cost  and  public  acceptability.  In 

particular,  the  Commission  should  conduct  an  impact  assessment  on  the  continued  issuance  of 
one and two euro cent coins5. 

2.3  The  ECB  recalls  that  the  competent  authorities  have  repeatedly  expressed  their  concern  as 

regards rounding rules which undermine not only the legal tender status of one and two euro cent 

coins  but  also  the  existence  of  these  denominations.  In  particular,  making  rounding  mandatory 

would  in  practice  endanger  the  existence  of  one  and  two  euro  cent  denominations.  Rounding 

legislation  should  not  prevent  the  one  and  two  euro  cent  coins  from  being  used  as  a  means  of 

payment as they are de jure legal tender in the entire euro area. Member States’ legislation should 

not  lead  to  divergent  treatment  of  the  euro.  In  its  ‘Report  on  the  definition,  scope  and  effects  of 
legal tender of euro banknotes and coins’, the Euro Legal Tender Expert Group (ELTEG)6 advised 

that ‘rounding rules seem to be contradictory to the notion of legal tender of coins [as] tendering the 

exact amount due does not extinguish the debt (except in the Netherlands), while the very notion of 

legal  tender  implies  the  possibility  to  settle  the  exact  amount  owed’.  In  its  Recommendation  of 
22 March  2010  on  the  scope  and  effects  of  legal  tender  of  euro  banknotes  and  coins 7,  the 

Commission  recommended  that  ‘Member  States  should  […]  refrain  from  adopting  new  rounding 

rules  since  they  affect  negatively  the  power  to  discharge  from  a  payment  obligation  by  tendering 

the  exact  amount  owed  and  since  it  may  lead  in  some  circumstances  to  a  surcharge  on  cash 
payments’8. 

2.4  With  a  view  to  preserving  the  unity  and  integrity  of  the  single  monetary  area,  the  ECB  therefore 

recommends that any rounding rules are established in a harmonised manner at Union, rather than 
at  national  level 9.  Accordingly,  any  mandatory  rounding  rules  on  euro  coins  would  appear  to  call 

exclusively  for  Union  rather  than  national  legislation  given  that  the  euro  coins  are  the  only  legal 

tender coins in the Members States whose currency is the euro.  

2.5  Notwithstanding this general concern, the ECB nevertheless welcomes that, as emphasised in the 

preparatory work for the draft law and the consultation letter, the draft law does not alter the legal 

tender status of one and two euro cent coins in Belgium, which shall still be accepted for payments 

if the payer wants to use one or two euro cent coins. This may be the case for payments amounting 

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Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro (OJ L 139, 11.5.1998, p. 1). 
See  paragraph  2.1  of  Opinion  CON/2014/6.  All  ECB  opinions  are  published  on  the  ECB’s  website  at 
www.ecb.europa.eu.  
See Recital 7 of Regulation (EU) No 651/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on the 
issuance of euro coins (OJ L 201, 27.7.2012, p. 135). 
This report is available at http/ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/articles/euro/documents/elteg_en.pdf. 

Commission  Recommendation  of  22  March  2010  on  the  scope  and  effects  of  legal  tender  of  euro  banknotes  and 
coins (OJ L 83, 30.3.2010, p. 70). See in particular the ninth recommendation. 
See paragraph 6 of Opinion CON/2002/15 and paragraph 2.3 of Opinion CON/2014/6.  

See paragraph 2.4 of Opinion CON/2014/6.  

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to one, two, three or four euro cent and (ii) payments of rounded prices, if the customer wants to 

use one and two euro cent coins in this respect.  

2.6  As  a  matter  of  principle,  the  ECB  is  not  opposed  to  the  voluntary  symmetric  rounding  of  cash 

payments  where  it  may  contribute  to  the  reduction  of  costs  for  authorities,  banks  and  retailers  in 

minting,  supplying,  sorting  and  handling  these  coins.  Such  concerns  are,  however,  irrelevant  for 

cashless payments, in respect of which the need for rounding is hence arguable. In the context of 

equal  treatment  of  cash  and  cashless  payments,  the  ECB  has  a  clear  preference  for  voluntary 

rounding for both types of payment.  

2.7 

In  view  of  the  above,  the  ECB  encourages  the  Belgian  legislator  to  find  alternative  methods  to 

promote  the  more  widespread  implementation  of  the  current  optional  rules  on  rounding,  for 

example  by  related  communication  measures,  especially  as  the  survey  referred  to  in  the 

preparatory  work  acknowledges  the  strong  preference  of  both  retailers  and  consumers  for  such 

rounding.  

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 4 September 2018. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

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