[Official version in English][1]

RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

(OJ L 080, 18.3.2004, p. 41)

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CHAPTER V. SPECIFIC PROCEDURAL PROVISIONS

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Article 17
Legal instruments of the ECB

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17.2. ECB guidelines shall be adopted by the Governing Council, and thereafter notified, in one of the official languages of the European Communities, and signed on the Governing Council’s behalf by the President. They shall state the reasons on which they are based. Notification of the national central banks may take place by means of telefax, electronic mail or telex or in paper form. Any ECB guideline that is to be officially published shall be translated into the official languages of the European Communities.

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17.6. ECB Instructions shall be adopted by the Executive Board, and thereafter notified, in one of the official languages of the European Communities, and signed on the Executive Board’s behalf by the President or any two Executive Board members. Notification of the national central banks may take place by means of telefax, electronic mail or telex or in paper form. Any ECB Instruction that is to be officially published shall be translated into the official languages of the European Communities.

17.7. All ECB legal instruments shall be numbered sequentially for ease of identification. The Executive Board shall take steps to ensure the safe custody of the originals, the notification of the addressees or consulting authorities, and the publication in all the official languages of the European Communities in the Official Journal of the European Communities in the case of ECB Regulations, ECB opinions on draft Community legislation and those ECB legal instruments whose publication has been expressly decided.

17.8. The principles of Council Regulation (EC) No 1 determining the language to be used by the European Economic Community(1) of 15 April 1958 shall apply to the legal acts specified in Article 34 of the Statute.

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Done at Frankfurt am Main, 19 February 2004.

The President of the ECB
Jean-Claude Trichet