This Appendix lists and briefly describes the EU legislation, other than Treaty provisions, on (i) the legal framework for the euro, (ii) the conversion rates between the euro and the currencies of the participating Member States, (iii) the technical specifications of euro coins (euro notes were issued under the authority of the European Central Bank), and (iv) the protection of the euro against counterfeiting. It then lists and briefly describes Ireland's national legislation dealing with the euro. While the Appendix is intended to provide a full reference to the matters it covers, it is not guaranteed to be comprehensive.
EU LEGISLATION
(i) The Legal Framework for the Euro
Council Regulation (EC) No. 1103/97 of 17 June 1997 on certain provisions relating to the introduction of the euro was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 19 June 1997 (OJ L162). It provided for the replacement of the ECU by the euro at the rate of one to one from 1 January 1999 and for continuity of contracts, and laid down rules for conversion and rounding.
Council Regulation (EC) No. 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro was published in the Official Journal on 11 May 1998 (OJ L139) and contains the remaining provisions for the legal framework for the euro. It provided that from 1 January 1999, the euro is the currency of participating Member States, laid down the provisions to apply during the transitional period from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2001 and provided for euro notes and coins to be put into circulation on 1 January 2002.
(ii) The Conversion Rates between the Euro and the Currencies of the Participating Member States
Council Regulation (EC) No. 2866/98 of 31 December 1998 on the conversion rates between the euro and the currencies of the Member States adopting the euro was published in the Official Journal on that day (OJ L359). It laid down the irrevocably-fixed conversion rates between the euro and the currencies of the eleven Member States adopting the euro from 1 January 1999.
Council Regulation (EC) No. 1478/2000 of 19 June 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No. 2866/98 on the conversion rates between the euro and the currencies of the Member States adopting the euro was published in the Official Journal on 7 July 2000 (OJ L167). It laid down the irrevocably-fixed conversion rate to apply between the euro and the Greek drachma from 1 January 2001.
(iii) The Technical Specifications of Euro Coins
Council Regulation (EC) No. 975/98 of 3 May 1998 on denominations and technical specifications of euro coins intended for circulation (OJ L139 of 11 May 1998) laid down the denominations and technical specifications of euro coins.
Council Regulation (EC) No. 423/1999 of 22 February 1999 amending Regulation (EC) No. 975/98 on denominations and technical specifications of euro coins intended for circulation (OJ L52 of 27 February 1999) amended the technical specifications of the 10 cent and 50 cent coins.
(iv) The Protection of the Euro against Counterfeiting
Council Framework Decision (2000/383/JHA) of 29 May 2000 on increasing protection by criminal penalties and other sanctions against counterfeiting in connection with the introduction of the euro (OJ L140 of 14 June 2000) required Member States to take the measures necessary to penalise counterfeiting of all currency, and to provide comprehensive protection against counterfeiting of euro notes and coins both before and after they have been issued. For this purpose, counterfeiting includes the making, altering, uttering, importing, exporting, receiving or obtaining of counterfeits or of counterfeiting materials.
Council Regulation 1338/2001 of 28 June 2001 laying down measures necessary for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting (OJ L181 of 4 July 2001) established procedures for collecting, storing and exchanging information on counterfeits and counterfeiting and for co-operation between the competent authorities at national and EU level, and between them and non-member countries and international organisations. It also required Member States to introduce measures to oblige credit institutions and other cash handlers to retain and hand over to the authorities all counterfeit notes and coins received by them and to establish National Analysis Centres for the analysis and classification of counterfeit notes and coins.
Council Decision (2001/887/JHA) of 6 December 2001 on the protection of the euro against counterfeiting (OJ L329 of 14 December 2001) provided for the communication of information concerning counterfeiting of the euro to Europol, and for making use, where appropriate, of the facilities offered by the Provisional Judicial Cooperation Unit and, subsequently, the facilities offered by Eurojust once it has been established by the Member States, in investigations into counterfeiting.
Council Framework Decision (2001/888/JHA) of 6 December 2001 amending Framework Decision 2000/383/JHA on increasing protection by criminal penalties and other sanctions against counterfeiting in connection with the introduction of the euro (OJ L329 of 14 December 2001) provided that Member States, for the purpose of establishing habitual criminality, recognise previous convictions in another Member State relating to counterfeiting of currency.
Council Decision (2001/923/EC) of 17 December 2001 establishing an exchange, assistance and training programme for the protection of the euro against counterfeiting (OJ L339 of 21 December 2001) established a programme (PERICLES) to provide financial support from the EU budget for a range of measures to promote awareness, co-operation and high-level training and support for the authorities (police, technical and legal experts) involved in combating counterfeiting of the euro.
NATIONAL LEGISLATION
The Central Bank Act 1998, which was signed by the President on 18 March 1998, provided for the compatibility of Irish Central Bank legislation with Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on European Union: these deal, respectively, with the independence of national central banks and with the requirement that national legislation, including central bank statutes, be compatible with the Treaty and the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and the European Central Bank.
The Finance Act 1998 (Section 47 and Schedule 2), which was signed by the President on 27 March 1998, provided for the taxation changes required for the introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999. In general, the amendments sought to treat, for tax purposes, gains and losses arising from the introduction of the euro in the same way as foreign exchange gains and losses were treated. (A minor amendment is contained in Section 87 of the Finance Act 1999).
The Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998, which was signed by the President on 13 July 1998, declared that by virtue of Council Regulation (EC) No. 974/98, from 1 January 1999 the currency of the State is the euro. The Act also removed incompatibilities between Irish monetary law and the EU legal framework for the use of the euro and gave effect to enabling provisions in that framework, for example in relation to the redenomination into euro of outstanding debt. The Act also facilitated companies which wished to redenominate their capital structure into euro before 1 January 2002. The Act also provides authority for the design, issue and sale of commemorative legal tender coinage.
The Act is in three parts. Part 1 (dealing with preliminary and general provisions) and Part III (dealing with commemorative coins) came into effect with the signature of the Act by the President. Part II contains the remaining provisions, and the Act provides that the Minister for Finance may commence the provisions of that Part by Order. Three Commencement Orders were made in relation to Part II.
Orders under the Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998:
- 1998
- The Economic and Monetary Act 1998 (Certain Provisions) (Commencement) Order 1998 (S.I. No. 279 of 1998) was made on 28 July 1998. The Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998 (Certain Provisions) (Commencement) (No. 2) Order 1998 (S.I. No. 527 of 1998) was made on 22 December 1998. Between them, these two Orders brought all sections of Part II into operation except Section 11(2): this provided for the issue of euro coins by the Minister for Finance and a Commencement Order in respect of it was made on 11 July 2001 and is listed below.
- The Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998 (Redenomination of Negotiable Debt Instruments) Order 1998 (S.I. No. 424 of 1998) was made on 29 October 1998. It empowered the Minister for Finance, or the National Treasury Management Agency on his behalf, to redenominate into euro, with effect from 1 January 1999, bonds, bills and notes issued by or on behalf of the Minister in the Irish pound unit under Irish law.
- 2001
- The Irish Pound Notes and Coins (Cessation of Legal Tender Status) Order 2001 (S.I. No. 313 of 2001) was made on 11 July 2001. It appointed 9 February 2002 as the "earlier operative date" for the purposes of Chapter III of the Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998: this effected the withdrawal of legal tender status from Irish pound notes and coins at midnight on Saturday 9 February 2002.
- The Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998 (Design of Coins) (No. 2) Order 2001 (S.I. No. 347 of 2001) was made on 26 July 2001. It provided for the Irish design of the national face of the euro and cent coins and for the "edge lettering" design of the 2 euro coin and repeats in a schedule the description agreed at EU level for the designs for the common faces of the coins. The Order also revoked the Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998 (Design of Coins) Order 2001 (S.I. No. 312 of 2001).
- The Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998 (Section 11(2)) (Commencement) Order 2001 (S.I No. 310 of 2001) was made on 11 July 2001. It commenced the Minister's power to issue coins in euro with effect from 1 January 2002.
- The Irish Pound Coinage (Calling In) (No. 2) Order 2001 (S.I. No. 348 of 2001) was made on 26 July 2001. It provided for the calling-in from 10 February 2002 of the £1, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p, 1p and 10 shilling coins. The Order also revoked the Irish Pound Coinage (Calling In) Order 2001 (S.I. No. 311 of 2001).
The Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 was signed by the President on 10 July 2000 and it commenced in January 2001. Section 200 of this Act, which is essentially a restatement of the provisions already existing in Irish law in the Copyright Act 1963 as amended, continues the copyright of the Central Bank of Ireland as regards Irish pound notes and declares the copyright of the European Central Bank as regards euro notes. It continues the copyright of the Minister for Finance in Irish pound coins, in the Irish national face of euro coins and in Irish commemorative coins, and declares the copyright of the European Community in the common face of euro coins.
Copyright Assignment Agreement In April 2000, by agreement with the Member States that had adopted the euro, the European Commission, acting on behalf of the European Community, assigned copyright in the common face of euro coins to each of those Member States in its national territory. As a result, Ireland exercises copyright in Ireland in the common face of euro coins. The reproduction rules in the Assignment Agreement consist of a general scheme of authorization for certain classes of reproduction of the common face design, combined with a blanket prohibition on reproduction on medals and tokens made in metal or on any other object made in metal which might be confused with coins. The Assignment Agreement was reproduced as Appendix 4 to the Board's second annual report.
The Euro Changeover (Amounts) Act 2001 was signed by the President on 25 June 2001. It provides, in necessary cases, for the replacement of Irish pound (IR£) amounts that are set down in law with convenient amounts in euro with effect from 1 January 2002. The amounts replaced relate to certain fees, charges etc., levied by Government Departments or bodies, and to certain thresholds, where the amounts are or may be paid in cash or need to be easily remembered. The Act reduced the fee etc. amounts to the nearest convenient euro amount below the exact equivalent of the IR£ amounts so as to favour the citizen, and increased the threshold amounts to the nearest convenient euro amount above the exact equivalent, again so as to favour the citizen.
The Act dealt only with cases where a convenient euro amount was identified as necessary. It did not deal with money amounts in the tax, social welfare or road tax codes, which were dealt with separately - see below.
The Act also amended the Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998 so as to enable the exact time of the withdrawal of legal tender status from IR£ notes and coins to be aligned with the timing of the repeal of certain sections in earlier law under which IR£ notes and coins were issued or under which limits were placed on the number of coins that may be tendered; and amended the Central Bank Act 1989 to defer, until the next business day, the giving of value by banks in respect of transactions that fall due for processing by them on a public holiday or on a day when the TARGET interbank settlement system is closed by decision of the European Central Bank (ECB). (Most such days already corresponded with public holidays in Ireland, when such deferral was already provided for; the effect of the provision was to add 1 May each year (Ireland's public holiday is on the first Monday in May), and 31 December 2001 when the ECB decided that TARGET should be closed in order to safeguard the smooth conversion of retail payment systems and internal bank systems to the euro).
The Finance Act 2001, which was signed by the President on 30 March 2001, provided, inter alia, for the replacement of Irish pound amounts in the tax code with convenient amounts in euro to operate from 1 January 2002. The Social Welfare Act 2001, which was signed by the President on 23 March 2001, did the same for money amounts in the Social Welfare code and the Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Act 2001, which was signed by the President on 3 July 2001, did the same for the road tax code.
Statutory Instruments relating to money amounts A number of Statutory Instruments were also made, by the relevant Ministers, to provide for convenient euro amounts to apply from 1 January 2002 in areas such as Court fees, diplomatic and consular fees and bankruptcy law.
The Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001 was signed by the President on 19 December 2001. It contains provisions against counterfeiting of currency notes and coins, including euro notes and coins before they were issued, and provides for an obligation on credit institutions and other cash handlers to retain and hand over to the competent authorities (i.e. An Garda Síochána or the Central Bank) all counterfeit or suspect currency (including euro notes and coins) received by them.
