Federal Central Bank
Article 61 – Central
bank
The Federal Central Bank is the
central bank of the European Union.
Article 62 – Composition of the
bank
1. The President and six members of
the Executive Board lead the Federal Central Bank.
2. Every citizen of the Union who
completed the age of 37 years and is a
person of acknowledged
professional experience in monetary or financial matters can be the
President or the member of the Executive Board.
3. The term of service of the
President and the members of the Executive Board is eight years.
Nobody can be the President or the member of the Executive Board more
then once.
5. The law stipulates details.
Article 63 – Election and
appointment of members of the Federal Central Bank
1. The President of the Federal
Central Bank is elected by the citizens of the Union according to the
provisions of the article 47 of this constitution.
2. The members of the Executive Board
are appointed by the President of the bank. At most two members of
the Executive Board can be citizens of the same member state as the
President of the bank.
3. The law stipulates details.
Article 64 – Rights and duties of
the members of the Federal Central Bank
1. The President and the members of
the Executive Board decide independently and shall not take
instructions from other representatives of the Union or any member
state.
2. The President and the members of
the Executive Board are not allowed to hold any constitutional or
other salaried office of the European Union, of any member state or
its autonomous entity, to engage in other paid occupation, to receive
any remunerations and to give unpaid consultancy.
3. The members of the Federal Central
Bank may not be prosecuted, restricted in his free movement or
arrested unless caught while committing a criminal act.
4. The members of the Federal Central
Bank receive a salary paid from means of the Union.
5. The mandate of the President
becomes effective by his election. The mandate of the members of the
Executive Board becomes effective by their appointment.
6. The President and the members of
the Executive Board take the oath in the beginning of their mandate.
The oath reads: “I, … (name of a person), solemnly pledge now to
protect stable value of the currency of the
Union in order that it serves to the
welfare of all citizens of the Union.”
7. The mandate of the President and
the members of the Executive Board expires by
(a) expiration of the term of
mandate,
(b) resignation,
(c) recall,
(d) death,
(e) exercise of an incompatible
function,
(f) sentence for a deliberate
offence.
7. Details are stipulated by the law.
Article 65 – Objectives
1. The Federal Central Bank
a) is an exclusive issuer of the
currency of the Union,
b) puts the currency of the Union
into circulation,
c) guarantees stable value of the
currency of the Union,
d) manages reserves of foreign
currencies, securities and precious metals,
d) provides bank services to the
Union,
e) supervises orderly functioning of
financial institutions and determines their obligations,
f) secures smooth and secure monetary
circulation in the territory of the Union.
2. The Federal Central Bank is a
public institution in complete ownership of the Union and comes under
democratic supervision.
3. The law stipulates details.
Article 66 – President of the Bank
1. The President of the Federal
Central Bank
(a) administers the Bank and
represents it externally,
(b) decides on amount of the currency
of the Union in circulation,
(c) determines transactions and other
activities of the Bank related to stability of the currency of the
Union,
(d) approves the budget of the Bank,
(e) defines the types, amounts and
uses of the funds of the Bank,
(f) decides on reserves of the Bank.
2. Decisions
of the President of the Bank are published in the Official Journal of
the European Union.
Article 67 – Executive Board
1. The Executive Board
(a) implements the policy defined by
the President of the Bank,
(b) supervises financial
institutions,
(c) secures smoothness and security
of clearings and money circulation,
(d) carries out other functions
coming under the power of the Bank that are not reserved for the
President of the Bank.
2. The Executive Board is called and
chaired by the President of the Bank.
3. Decisions of the Executive Board
are passed by majority of votes. The President of the Bank has one
vote.
4. A form of publishing decisions
of the Executive Board is stipulated by the law.
Article 68 – Information and
statistics
1. The Federal Central Bank is
entitled to require necessary information and documents from natural
persons and corporate bodies acting in the financial sphere as well
as from public institutions for the purpose of performing tasks
assigned to itself by the constitution and the laws.
2. Requisite components of the
required information and time limits are determined by the Federal
Central Bank.
3. The Federal Central Bank compiles
and periodically publishes statistics related to the currency of the
Union and the financial system of the Union.
4. Details are stipulated by the law.
Article 69 – Reports
1. The Federal Central Bank submits a
report on condition of the currency of the Union and the financial
system of the Union as well as its strategy to secure stability of
the currency of the Union to the Assembly of the Union at least twice
a year.
2. The Assembly of the Union can
request an extraordinary report on activities of the Federal Central
Bank at any time.
Article 70 – Giving information
The Federal
Central
Bank, the Assembly of the Union and the Council of Chancellors inform
each other on their measures concerning the currency and the
financial matters.
