LegalizeMonetary Agreement between the European Union and the Principality of Andorra
MONETARY AGREEMENT
between the European Union and the Principality of Andorra
2011/C 369/01
THE EUROPEAN UNION, represented by the European Commission,
and
THE PRINCIPALITY OF ANDORRA,
Whereas:
- (1) On 1 January 1999, the euro replaced the currency of each Member State participating in the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union, among which Spain and France, pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998.
- (2) Prior to this Agreement, the Principality of Andorra did not have an official currency, nor had it concluded a monetary agreement with any Member State or third country. Spanish and French banknotes and coins were used de facto in Andorra and were replaced by euro banknotes and coins as from 1 January 2002. The Principality of Andorra has also issued some collector coins denominated in diners.
- (3) In accordance with the present Monetary Agreement, the euro shall be the official currency of the Principality of Andorra. The Principality of Andorra will thus have the right to issue euro coins and the obligation to grant legal tender status euro banknotes and coins issued by the Eurosystem and the Member States which have adopted the euro. The Principality of Andorra should ensure that European Union rules on banknotes and coins denominated in euros — including those related to the protection of the euro against counterfeiting — are applicable within its territory.
- (4) The Principality of Andorra has a significant banking sector which operates in close connection with that of the euro area. Relevant EU banking and financial legislation, legislation concerning the prevention of money laundering, the prevention of fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment, and statistical reporting requirements should therefore be made progressively applicable to the Principality of Andorra with a view to ensuring a more level playing field.
- (5) This Agreement does not impose any obligation on the ECB and national central banks to include the financial instruments of the Principality of Andorra in the list(s) of securities eligible for monetary policy operations of the Eurosystem.
- (6) A Joint Committee composed of representatives of the Principality of Andorra and of the European Union should be established in order to examine the application of this Agreement, decide the annual ceiling for coin issuance and assess the measures taken by the Principality of Andorra for implementing relevant EU legislation. The delegation of the European Union should be composed of representatives of the European Commission, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic and the European Central Bank.
- (7) The Court of Justice of the European Union should be the body in charge of settling any disputes which may arise from the application of the Agreement,
HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
The Principality of Andorra shall be entitled to use the euro as its official currency in accordance with Regulations (EC) No 1103/97 and (EC) No 974/98. The Principality of Andorra shall grant legal tender status to euro banknotes and coins.
Article 2
The Principality of Andorra shall not issue banknotes. The conditions for issuing euro coins as from 1 July 2013 are laid down in the following Articles.
The right to issue euro coins as of 1 July 2013 is subordinated to:
- (a) the prior adoption by the Principality of Andorra of all the EU legal acts and rules listed in the Annex to the present Agreement for which there is a transposition deadline of 12 or 18 months, from the entry into force of this Agreement;
- (b) the signature by the Principality of Andorra of the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding concerning Consultation, Cooperation and the Exchange of Information within a deadline of at most 18 months, from the entry into force of this Agreement.
Article 3
The annual ceiling (in value terms) for the issuance of euro coins by the Principality of Andorra shall be calculated by the Joint Committee established by the present Agreement as the sum of:
- — a fixed part, whose initial amount for 2013 is set at EUR 2 342 000 . The Joint Committee may revise annually the fixed part with a view to taking into account both inflation — on the basis of euro-area HICP inflation in the previous 12 months — and possible significant trends affecting the euro coins collector market,
- — a variable part, corresponding to the average per capita coin issuance of the euro area in the previous 12 months multiplied by the number of inhabitants of the Principality of Andorra.
Article 4
Euro coins issued by the Principality of Andorra shall be identical to those issued by the Member States of the European Union which have adopted the euro as far as the face value, legal tender status, technical characteristics, artistic features of the common side and shared artistic features of the national side are concerned.
The Principality of Andorra shall notify in advance the draft national sides of its euro coins to the European Commission, which shall check their compliance with the EU rules.
Article 5
Euro coins issued by the Principality of Andorra shall be minted by the EU Mint experienced in striking euro coins of its choice. The Joint Committee should be informed of any change of contractor.
At least 80 % of euro coins intended for circulation shall be put into circulation at face value. The Joint Committee may decide to increase this proportion.
The issuance of euro collector coins by the Principality of Andorra shall be in accordance with the European Union guidelines laid down for euro collector coins, which, inter alia, require the adoption of technical characteristics, artistic features and denominations that enable euro collector coins to be distinguished from coins intended for circulation.
Article 6
Half of the volume of euro coins issued by the Principality of Andorra shall be added to the volume of coins issued by the Kingdom of Spain and the other half to the volume of coins issued by the French Republic for the purposes of European Central Bank approval of the total volume of the issue by the Kingdom of Spain and the French Republic in accordance with Article 128(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
No later than 1 September each year, the Principality of Andorra shall notify the European Commission, the Kingdom of Spain and the French Republic of the total face value of the euro coins that it intends to issue during the following year. The Principality of Andorra shall also inform the European Commission about the intended conditions of issuance of these coins, in particular the proportion of collector coins and the detailed arrangements for the introduction of circulation coins.
Article 7
This Agreement does not prejudice the right of the Principality of Andorra to continue issuing collector coins denominated in diners.
Collector coins denominated in diners issued by the Principality of Andorra shall not be legal tender in the European Union.
Article 8
The Principality of Andorra shall undertake to adopt all appropriate measures, through direct transposition or possibly equivalent actions, with a view to implementing the EU legal acts and rules listed in the Annex to this Agreement, in the field of:
- (a) euro banknotes and coins;
- (b) banking and financial law, in particular in relation to the activity and supervision of the institutions concerned;
- (c) prevention of money laundering, prevention of fraud and counterfeiting of cash and non-cash means of payment (for which a cooperation agreement should be signed with Europol), medals and tokens and statistical reporting requirements. Regarding legislation on the collection of statistical information, the detailed rules of implementation and the technical adaptations (including the appropriate derogations taking into account the specific status of Andorra) shall be agreed with the European Central Bank no later than 18 months before the required start of the statistical reporting;
- (d) the measures necessary for the use of the euro as a single currency adopted under Article 133 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The legal acts and rules referred to in paragraph 1 shall be implemented by the Principality of Andorra by the deadlines specified in the Annex.
The Principality of Andorra may request technical assistance — in particular on the compilation and collection of statistical information — to facilitate implementation of relevant EU legislation of the entities constituting the delegation of the European Union.
The Annex shall be amended by the Commission once a year or more often if deemed appropriate, with a view to taking into account new relevant EU legal acts and rules and amendments to existing ones. The Joint Committee shall thereafter decide on appropriate and reasonable deadlines for the implementation by the Principality of Andorra of the new legal acts and rules added to the Annex.
The Joint Committee may, in exceptional cases, revise an existing deadline specified in the Annex.
The updated Annex shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Article 9
Credit institutions and, where appropriate, other financial institutions authorised to carry out their activities in the territory of the Principality of Andorra may have access to interbank settlement and payment and securities settlement systems in the euro area under appropriate terms and conditions to be determined by the relevant authorities in Spain or the relevant authorities in France, in agreement with the European Central Bank.
Article 10
The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have exclusive competence for settling any dispute between the parties, which may arise from the application of this Agreement, and which has not been solved within the Joint Committee.
If the European Union, represented by the European Commission and acting on a recommendation by the EU delegation in the Joint Committee, or the Principality of Andorra considers that the other Party has not fulfilled an obligation under this Agreement, it may bring the matter before the Court of Justice. The judgment of the Court shall be binding on the Parties, which shall take the necessary measures to comply with the judgment within a period to be decided by the Court in its judgment and shall not be subject to an appeal procedure.
In the event that the European Union or the Principality of Andorra fails to take the necessary measures to comply with the judgment within the specified period, the other Party may terminate the Agreement subject to three months’ notice.
Article 11
A Joint Committee shall be established. It shall be composed of representatives of the Principality of Andorra and of the European Union. The delegation of the European Union shall be composed of representatives of the European Commission (holding the chairmanship), the Kingdom of Spain and the French Republic, together with representatives of the European Central Bank.
The Joint Committee shall meet at least once a year. The Chair shall rotate on an annual basis between a representative of the European Union and a representative of the Principality of Andorra. The Joint Committee shall adopt its decisions unanimously.
The Joint Committee shall exchange views and information and adopt the decisions referred to in Articles 3 and 8. In particular, the delegation of the European Union shall inform the Principality of Andorra of any European Union legislative initiatives that fall within the scope of Article 8. Furthermore, the Joint Committee shall examine the measures taken by the Principality of Andorra and shall endeavour to solve any disputes resulting from the implementation of this Agreement.
The European Union shall be the first to chair the Joint Committee upon the entry into force of this Agreement, as laid down in Article 13.
Article 12
Without prejudice to Article 10(3), each Party may terminate this Agreement subject to one year’s notice.
Article 13
This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which both Parties have notified each other that their ratification procedures have been completed in accordance with the rules applicable to each Party.
Article 14
This Agreement shall be concluded and signed in four languages: Catalan, French, English and Spanish, with the text in each of these languages considered equally authentic.
Done at Brussels, 30 June 2011.
For the European Union
Olli REHN
Member of the European Commission
For the Principality of Andorra
Antoni MARTÍ PETIT
Head of Government
ANNEX
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