L 7816 Official Journal of the European Union 25.3.2003 EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 20 March 2003 on the denominations, specifications, reproduction, exchange and withdrawal of euro banknotes (ECB/2003/4) (2003/205/EC) THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity and in particular to Article 106(1) thereof and to Article 16 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, Whereas: 1 Article 106(1) of the Treaty and Article 16 of the Statute provide that the European Central Bank (ECB) has the exclusive right to authorise the issue of banknotes within the Community. These articles also provide that the ECB and the national central banks may issue such notes. Pursuant to Article 10 of Council Regulation (EC) No 974/98 of 3 May 1998 on the introduction of the euro ('), the ECB and the national central banks of the participating Member States (hereinafter ‘NCBs’), shall put euro banknotes into circulation. The European Monetary Institute (EMI) carried out the preparatory work for the production and issue of euro banknotes, and in particular with regard to the euro banknote designs, it facilitated the recognition and acceptance of the new euro banknote denominations and specifications by users by taking into account the specific visual and technical requirements of European associations of banknote users. As successor to the EMI the ECB holds the copyright on the designs of the euro banknotes originally held by the EMI. The ECB and the NCBs, acting on behalf of the ECB, may enforce this copyright with regard to repro- ductions issued or distributed in breach of this copy- right, such as, inter alia, reproductions which might adversely affect the standing of euro banknotes. The ECB's and the NCBs' right to issue euro banknotes includes the competence to take all necessary legal measures to protect the integrity of the euro banknotes as a means of payment. The ECB should take measures to provide for a minimum level of protection in all parti- () OJL 139, 11.5.1998, p. 1. cipating Member States in order to ensure that the general public can distinguish genuine euro banknotes from reproductions. It is therefore necessary to establish common rules according to which the reproduction of euro banknotes will be permitted. The provisions of the present Decision should be without prejudice to the application of criminal law, in particular regarding counterfeiting. Reproductions of euro banknotes in electronic form should only be regarded as lawful if the producer thereof adopts adequate technical measures to deter print-outs, where the general public might mistake the print-outs for genuine euro banknotes. The competence to take measures to protect the integ- rity of the euro banknotes as a means of payment includes the competence to adopt a common regime under which the NCBs are prepared to exchange muti- lated or damaged euro banknotes. Under this regime certain categories of euro banknotes are designated which should be withheld by NCBs when presented to them for exchange. The part of the original euro banknote that needs to be presented in order to qualify for exchange is subject to minimum measurement requirements. These measure- ments should be expressed as a percentage of the surface area of the original euro banknote before it was muti- lated or damaged, in order to prevent the distortion of measurements, for instance in situations where the euro banknote is mutilated or damaged due to shrinkage. To encourage the proper handling of anti-theft devices by all professional banknote handlers it is appropriate, when they request NCBs to exchange euro banknotes that have been mutilated or damaged by using anti-theft devices, for NCBs to charge the banknote handlers a fee to compensate for the analysis performed with regard to the exchange of these euro banknotes.