Euro banknotes and coins IIIa: Article III-186 Constitution

Did the intergovernmental conference (IGC 2004) improve on or ─ as more often ─ subtract from the proposal by the European Convention regarding the issue of euro banknotes and coins?

First, a reminder of the contents.

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In the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, the provisions on monetary policy are located in Part III ‘The policies and functioning of the Union’, Title III ‘Internal policies and action’, Chapter II ‘Economic and monetary policy’, Section 2 ‘Monetary policy’.

Article III-186 sets out a more centralised system for euro banknotes and a more decentralised arrangement for the issue of euro coins, OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/82:

Article III-186 Constitution

1. The European Central Bank shall have the exclusive right to authorise the issue of euro bank notes in the Union. The European Central Bank and the national central banks may issue such notes. Only the bank notes issued by the European Central Bank and the national central banks shall have the status of legal tender within the Union.

2. Member States may issue euro coins subject to approval by the European Central Bank of the volume of the issue.

The Council, on a proposal from the Commission, may adopt European regulations laying down measures to harmonise the denominations and technical specifications of coins intended for circulation to the extent necessary to permit their smooth circulation within the Union. The Council shall act after consulting the European Parliament and the European Central Bank.


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The next post is going to compare the Constitutional Treaty III-186 with the draft Constitution Article III-78 and look at some legislative materials on the Constitution.


Ralf Grahn