Federal Central Bank - Constitutional text

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.