Definitions
Article 1
For the purposes of this Decision:
1. ‘NCBs’ shall mean the national central banks of the Member States that have adopted the single currency in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community;
2. ‘euro banknotes’ shall mean those banknotes complying with the requirements of Decision ECB/2001/7, and with the technical specifications laid down by the Governing Council;
3. ‘
subscribed capital key
’
shall mean the NCBs' shares (expressed as percentages) in the ECB's subscribed capital that result from applying to the NCBs the weightings in the key referred to in Article 29.1 of the Statute and as applicable for the relevant financial year;
4. ‘
banknote allocation key
’
shall mean the percentages that result from taking into account the ECB's share in the total euro banknote issue and applying the subscribed capital key (rounded to the nearest multiple of 0,0005 percentage point) to the NCBs' share in such total. Where the resulting percentages do not total 100 %, the difference shall be compensated for: (i) if the total is below 100 %, by adding 0,0005 of a percentage point to the smallest share(s) in ascending order until exactly 100 % is reached, or (ii) if the total is above 100 %, by subtracting 0,0005 of a percentage point in descending order from the largest share(s) until exactly 100 % is reached.
The Annex to this Decision specifies the banknote allocation key applying from
1 January 2009
.

Issue of euro banknotes
Article 2
The ECB and the NCBs shall issue euro banknotes.

Obligations of issuers
Article 3
1
NCBs shall put into and withdraw from circulation euro banknotes, and perform any physical handling in relation to all euro banknotes, including those issued by the ECB.
2
NCBs shall accept all euro banknotes on the request of the holder for exchange against euro banknotes of the same value or, in the case of account holders, to be credited to accounts held at the recipient NCB.
3
NCBs shall treat all euro banknotes accepted by them as liabilities and process them in an identical manner.
4
NCBs shall not transfer euro banknotes accepted by them to other NCBs and shall keep such euro banknotes available for reissue. As an exception, and in accordance with any rules laid down by the Governing Council of the ECB:
a
mutilated, damaged, worn or withdrawn euro banknotes may be destroyed by the recipient NCB;
b
euro banknotes held by NCBs may, for logistical reasons, be redistributed in bulk within the Eurosystem.

Allocation of euro banknotes within the Eurosystem
Article 4
1
The total value of euro banknotes in circulation shall be allocated to the Eurosystem members by application of the banknote allocation key.
2
The difference between the value of euro banknotes allocated to each NCB in accordance with the banknote allocation key and the value of the euro banknotes that such NCB puts into circulation shall give rise to intra-Eurosystem balances. The ECB shall hold intra-Eurosystem claims on NCBs in proportion to their shares in the subscribed capital key, for a value equivalent to the value of euro banknotes that it issues.

Final provisions
Article 5
1
This Decision shall enter into force on 1 January 2002.
2
This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Substituted by Decision of the European Central Bank of 18 December 2003 amending Decision ECB/2001/15 of 6 December 2001 on the issue of euro banknotes (ECB/2003/23) (2004/49/EC).
Substituted by Decision of the European Central Bank of 12 December 2008 amending Decision ECB/2001/15 on the issue of euro banknotes (ECB/2008/26) (2009/56/EC).