THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 128(2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank,
Whereas:
(1)
Commission Recommendation 2009/23/EC of 19 December 2008 on common guidelines for the national sides and the issuance of euro coins intended for circulation, endorsed by the Council conclusions of 10 February 2009, defines common principles for the designs used for the national sides of euro circulation coins and establishes procedures whereby Member States inform each other of draft designs, and for the approval of these designs.
(2)
As the euro coins circulate in the whole euro area, their national design features are a matter of common interest. To permit their smooth circulation and in the interests of legal certainty and transparency it is appropriate that the rules defined in Recommendation 2009/23/EC concerning denominations and technical specifications of euro circulation coins, be made legally binding by integrating them into Council Regulation (EC) No 975/98.
(3)
Euro coins have a common European side and a distinctive national side. The common European sides of euro coins bear both the name of the single currency and the denomination of the coin. The national side should neither repeat the name of the single currency nor the denomination of the coin.
(4)
A clear indication of the name of the issuing Member State should be put on the national side of the coin in order to allow interested coin users to easily identify the issuing Member State.
(5)
The edge lettering of euro coins should be considered part of the national side and should therefore not repeat any indication of the denomination, except for the 2-euro coin, and provided that only the figure ‘2’ or the term ‘euro’ in the relevant alphabet, or both, are used.
(6)
The designs on the national side of euro coins are decided upon by each Member State whose currency is the euro and should take into account the fact that euro coins circulate in the whole euro area and not only in the issuing Member State. In order to ensure that coins are immediately recognisable as euro coins also from their national side, the design should be fully surrounded by the 12 stars of the Union flag.
(7)
In order to facilitate the recognition of circulation coins and to ensure appropriate continuity in the minting, Member States should only be allowed to modify the designs used for the national sides of regular circulation coins once every 15 years, except if the Head of State referred to on a coin changes. This should, however, be without prejudice to changes necessary to prevent counterfeiting of the currency. Changes to the design of the common European side of circulation coins should be decided by the Council and voting rights should be restricted to Member States whose currency is the euro.
(8)
Individual Member States should be allowed to issue commemorative coins to celebrate subjects of major national or European relevance, whereas commemorative coins issued collectively by all Member States whose currency is the euro should be reserved for subjects of the highest European relevance. The 2-euro coin constitutes the most suitable denomination for this purpose, principally on account of the large diameter of the coin and its technical characteristics, which offer adequate protection against counterfeiting.
(9)
Taking into account that euro coins circulate in the whole euro area, to avoid the use of inappropriate designs, issuing Member States should inform each other and the Commission about draft designs for the national side of euro coins in advance of the planned issue date. The Commission should verify the compliance of the designs with the technical requirements of this Regulation. Submission of draft designs to the Commission should be made sufficiently in advance of the planned issue date for issuing Member States to modify the design if necessary.
(10)
Furthermore, uniform conditions for the approval of the designs of the national sides of euro coins should be laid down to avoid the choice of designs which could be considered as inappropriate in some Member States. In view of the fact that the competence for an issue as sensitive as the design of the national sides of the euro coins belongs to the issuing Member States, implementing powers should therefore be conferred on the Council. Any implementing decisions taken on this basis by the Council would be closely connected to the acts adopted by the Council on the basis of Article 128(2) of the Treaty; therefore, the suspension of the voting rights of the members of the Council representing Member States whose currency is not the euro for the adoption by the Council of those decisions should apply as set out in Article 139(4) of the Treaty. The procedure should allow the issuing Member States to modify the design in due time if so required.
(11)
Regulation (EC) No 975/98 should therefore be amended accordingly,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: