Euro: introduction

PURPOSE : to present a proposal for Council Regulation amending Regulation 974/98/EC on the introduction of the euro. CONTENT : on 3 May 2000, the Commission adopted a proposal for a Council Decision in accordance with Article 122(2) of the Treaty, proposing that Greece fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of the single currency and that the derogation of Greece is abrogated with effect from 1 January 2001. In case of a positive decision, the Council will subsequently have to adopt the conversion rate between the euro and the drachma which will take effect from 1 January 2001 and will have to take other measures necessary for the introduction of the euro in Greece. The envisaged date for the adoption of the euro in Greece falls into the transition period (1.1.1999 until 31.12.2001) during which the former currencies of the participating Member States are sub-units of the Euro. Euro banknotes and coins will be introduced as from 1 January 2002. The scope of the measures to be taken for the introduction of the euro in Greece depends to a large extent on whether the length of the transitional period remaining after 1 January 2001 can be considered to be sufficiently long for Greece. Given that Greece will benefit from the experience gained in other countries with respect to the preparations for 2002, it can be assumed that Greece will be able to comply with the established deadlines of the end of the transnational period and that no specific provisions in the legal framework of the euro are necessary. Therefore, the two Council Regulations which form part of the legal framework of the Euro Regulation 974/98/EC on the introduction of the euro and Regulation 1103/97/EC on certain measures relating to the introduction of the euro can be fully applied to Greece. They need to be amended for the sole purpose of integrating Greece and its currency into the existing framework. In the first paragraph of Article 1, three definitions in Article 1 of Regulation 974/98/EC are amended: Greece is included in the definition of 'participating Member States'; the definition of 'conversion rate' is broadened to include conversion rates which are adopted after the start of the third stage of the EMU on the basis of Article 123(5) (ex 109 1 (5); the definition of 'national currency units' is broadened to include units of former national currencies which are replaced by the euro after the start of the third stage. The second paragraph provides for the substituion of the drachma by the euro as the currency of Greece as from 1 January 2001. With regard to Article 2, this article fixes the date of entry into force of the regulation at 1 January 2001, ensuring that it will be applicable in conformity with the timing of the other Council acts relating to the adoption of the euro by Greece, i.e. the date of the abrogation of the derogation and the date of the entry into force of the conversion rate of the drachma.�