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Document 02002R0332-20090528
Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 of 18 February 2002 establishing a facility providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States' balances of payments
Consolidated text: Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 of 18 February 2002 establishing a facility providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States' balances of payments
Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 of 18 February 2002 establishing a facility providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States' balances of payments
02002R0332 — EN — 28.05.2009 — 002.001
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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 332/2002 of 18 February 2002 (OJ L 053 23.2.2002, p. 1) |
Amended by:
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Official Journal |
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No |
page |
date |
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L 352 |
11 |
31.12.2008 |
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L 128 |
1 |
27.5.2009 |
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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 332/2002
of 18 February 2002
establishing a facility providing medium-term financial assistance for Member States' balances of payments
Article 1
The outstanding amount of loans to be granted to Member States under this facility shall be limited to EUR 50 billion in principal.
Article 2
Where a Member State which has not adopted the euro proposes to call upon sources of financing outside the Community which are subject to economic policy conditions, it shall first consult the Commission and the other Member States in order to examine, among other things, the possibilities available under the Community medium-term financial assistance facility. Such consultations shall be held within the Economic and Financial Committee, in accordance with Article 119 of the Treaty.
Article 3
The medium-term financial assistance facility may be implemented by the Council on the initiative of:
the Commission, acting pursuant to Article 119 of the Treaty in agreement with the Member State seeking Community financing;
a Member State experiencing, or seriously threatened with, difficulties as regards its balance of current payments or capital movements.
The Member State seeking medium-term financial assistance shall discuss with the Commission an assessment of its financial needs and submit a draft adjustment programme to the Commission and the Economic and Financial Committee. The Council, after examining the situation in the Member State concerned and the adjustment programme presented in support of its application, shall decide, as a rule during the same meeting:
whether to grant a loan or appropriate financing facility, its amount and its average duration;
the economic policy conditions attached to the medium-term financial assistance with a view to re-establishing or ensuring a sustainable balance of payments situation;
the techniques for disbursing the loan or financing facility, the release or drawing-down of which shall, as a rule, be by successive instalments, the release of each instalment being subject to verification of the results achieved in implementing the programme in terms of the objectives set.
Article 3a
The Commission and the Member State concerned shall conclude a Memorandum of Understanding setting out in detail the conditions laid down by the Council pursuant to Article 3. The Commission shall communicate the Memorandum of Understanding to the European Parliament and the Council.
Article 4
In cases where restrictions on capital movements are introduced or reintroduced pursuant to Article 120 of the Treaty during the period of the financial assistance, its conditions and arrangements shall be re-examined pursuant to Article 119 of the Treaty.
Article 5
The Commission shall take the necessary measures to verify at regular intervals, in collaboration with the Economic and Financial Committee that the economic policy of the Member State in receipt of a Community loan complies with the adjustment programme, any other conditions laid down by the Council pursuant to Article 3 and the Memorandum of Understanding referred to in Article 3a. To this end, the Member State shall make all the necessary information available to the Commission and fully cooperate with the latter. On the basis of the findings of such verification, the Commission, after the Economic and Financial Committee has delivered an opinion, shall decide on the release of further instalments.
The Council shall decide on any adjustments to be made to the initial economic policy conditions.
Article 6
Loans granted as medium-term financial assistance may be granted as consolidation of support made available by the European Central Bank under the very short-term financing facility.
Article 7
The characteristics of the successive instalments released by the Community under the financial assistance facility shall be negotiated between the Member State and the Commission. Where the Commission takes the view that the characteristics desired by the Member State will lead to Community financing that runs counter to the technical constraints imposed by financial markets or is such as to tarnish the reputation of the Community as a borrower on those same markets, it has the right to withhold its agreement and propose an alternative solution.
Where a Member State receives a loan carrying an early repayment clause and decides to exercise this option, the Commission shall take the necessary steps.
Refinancing or restructuring operations shall be carried out in accordance with the conditions set out in paragraph 1 and shall not have the effect of extending the average duration of the borrowing concerned or increasing the amount of capital outstanding at the date of the refinancing or restructuring.
Article 8
The Council shall adopt the decisions referred to in Articles 3 and 5, acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission made after consulting the Economic and Financial Committee.
Article 9
The European Central Bank shall make the necessary arrangements for the administration of the loans.
The funds shall be paid only for the purposes indicated in Article 1.
Article 9a
Without prejudice to Article 27 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, the European Court of Auditors shall have the right to carry out, in the Member States receiving Community medium-term financial assistance, any financial controls or audits that it considers necessary in relation to the management of that assistance. The Commission, including the European Anti-Fraud Office, shall thus have the right to send its officials or duly authorised representatives to carry out, in Member States receiving Community medium-term financial assistance, any technical or financial controls or audits that it considers necessary in relation to that assistance.
Article 10
Every three years the Council shall examine, on the basis of a report from the Commission and after the Economic and Financial Committee has delivered an opinion, whether the facility established still meets, in its principle, arrangements and ceiling, the need which led to its creation.
Article 11
Regulation (EEC) No 1969/88 is hereby repealed.
Article 12
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
( 1 ) OJ C 180 E, 26.6.2001, p. 199.
( 2 ) Opinion delivered on 6 September 2001 (not yet published in the Official Journal).
( 3 ) OJ C 151, 22.5.2001, p. 18.
( 4 ) OJ L 178, 8.7.1988, p. 1. Regulation as amended by the 1994 Act of Accession.
( 5 ) As defined in Guideline ECB/2007/2 of 26 April 2007 on a Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express Transfer system (TARGET2) (OJ L 237, 8.9.2007, p. 1).