30. 12. 78 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 379/3 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COUNCIL COUNCIL DECISION of 21 December 1978 amending Decision 71/143/EEC setting  up machinery for medlum term : financial assistance (78/1041/EEC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in partxcular Articles 103 and 108 thereof, ' Having regard to the opinion of the Monetary Committee, 'Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Whereas the European Council meeting in Brussels adopted, on 5 December 1978, a resolution setting out - the arrangements for the establishment of the Euro- pean monetary system ; whereas this system implies an increase in the commitment ceilings of the Member States within the medium-term financial assis- tance machinery; whereas the European Council expressly laid down that the amount of this assistance should be raised to 11 000 million ECU effectively available ; . Whereas the resolution of the European Council of § December 1978 states that the existing credit arrange- ments will be maintained for the initial phase of the European monetary system and will be consolidated into a single fund in the final phase; whereas it is appropriate that the obligations of the Member States cover the whole transitional period of the system ; Whereas it is expedient to use the ECU in medium- term financial assistance as well as in short-term monetary support for denominating claims and obliga- tions, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION : Article' 1 Council Decision 71/143/EEC of 22 March 1971 setting up machinery for medium-term financial assis- tance ('), as last aménded by Decision 78/49/EEC (2), is hereby amended as follows : 1. Article 1 (2) shall read as follows : ‘2. This obligation shall apply until 31 December 1980.’ ' 2. The first sentence of Article 3 (5) shall be replaced by the following: ‘The claims and obligations arising from the imple- mentation of mutual assistance shall be expressed in ECU as defined in Artlcle 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 3180/78 (3). 3. The first sentence of Article 5 (2) shall be replaced by the following: -~ ‘“Where refinancing takes place from outside the system, the debtor State shall agree that its debt, originally denominated in ECU, shall be replaced by a debt denominated in the currency used for the refinancing.’ (1) OJ No L 73, 27. 3. 1971, p. 15. () OJ No L 14,-18. 1. 1978, p. 14." (®) See page 1 of this Official Journal. -