Article 1 
1. For the purpose of this Decision: ‘participating Member State’ shall mean a Member State which has adopted the single currency in accordance with the Treaty; ‘draft legislative provisions’ shall mean any such provisions which, once they become legally binding and of general applicability in the territory of a Member State, lay down rules for an indefinite number of cases and are addressed to an indefinite number of natural or legal persons. 2. Draft legislative provisions shall not include draft provisions the exclusive purpose of which is the transposition of Community directives into the law of Member States.
Article 2 
1. The authorities of the Member States shall consult the ECB on any draft legislative provision within its field of competence pursuant to the Treaty and in particular on: — currency matters, — means of payment, — national central banks, — the collection, compilation and distribution of monetary, financial, banking, payment systems and balance of payments statistics, — payment and settlement systems, — rules applicable to financial institutions insofar as they materially influence the stability of financial institutions and markets. 2. In addition, the authorities of Member States other than participating Member States shall consult the ECB on any draft legislative provisions on the instruments of monetary policy. 3. The ECB shall, immediately on receipt of any draft legislative provision, notify the consulting authority whether, in its opinion, such provision is within its field of competence.
Article 3 
1. The authorities of the Member States preparing a legislative provision may, if they consider it necessary, set the ECB a time limit for the submission of its opinion which may not be less than one month from the date on which the President of the ECB receives notification to this effect. 2. In case of extreme urgency, the time limit may be reduced. In this case, the consulting authority shall state the reasons for the urgency. 3. The ECB may request in due time an extension of the time limit for up to an additional four weeks. This request shall not be unreasonably declined by the consulting authority. 4. Upon expiry of the time limit, the absence of an opinion shall not prevent further action by the consulting national authority. Should the opinion of the ECB be received after the time limit, Member States shall, nevertheless, ensure that it is brought to the knowledge of the authorities referred to in Article 4.
Article 4 
Each Member State shall take the measures necessary to ensure effective compliance with this Decision. To that end, it shall ensure that the ECB is consulted at an appropriate stage enabling the authority initiating the draft legislative provision to take into consideration the ECB's opinion before taking its decision on the substance and that the opinion received from the ECB is brought to the knowledge of the adopting authority if the latter is an authority other than that which has prepared the legislative provisions concerned.
Article 5 
1. This Decision shall apply from 1 January 1999. 2. Decision 93/717/EC shall be repealed with effect from 1 January 1999.
Article 6 
This Decision is addressed to the Member States. Done at Luxembourg, 29 June 1998. For the Council The President R. COOK Done at Luxembourg, 29 June 1998. For the Council The President R. COOK For the Council The President R. COOK