Council Decision of 12 July 2011 on the signing and conclusion of the Monetary Agreement between the European Union and the French Republic on keeping the euro in Saint-Barthélemy following the amendment of its status with regard to the European Union

• Articles: 16

Article 1

1.   The Monetary Agreement between the European Union and the French Republic on keeping the euro in Saint-Barthélemy following the amendment of its status with regard to the European Union (‘the Agreement’) is hereby approved on behalf of the Union.

2.   The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.

Article 1

The euro shall remain the currency of Saint-Barthélemy.

Article 2

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person(s) empowered to sign the Agreement to bind the Union.

Article 2

The French Republic shall continue to grant legal tender status to euro-denominated banknotes and coins in Saint-Barthélemy.

Article 3

The President of the Council shall, on behalf of the Union, give the notification provided for in Article 11 of the Agreement.

Article 3

1.   The French Republic shall continue to apply in Saint-Barthélemy the European Union legal acts and rules necessary for the functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union in the following fields:

(a)

euro banknotes and coins;

(b)

preventing fraud and counterfeiting of cash and non-cash means of payment;

(c)

medals and tokens;

(d)

measures necessary for the use of the euro as a single currency adopted on the basis of Article 133 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

(e)

banking and financial legislation, including the legal acts adopted by the European Central Bank;

(f)

preventing money laundering;

(g)

statistical reporting requirements established by the Eurosystem.

2.   The French Republic shall undertake to cooperate fully with Europol in the territory of Saint-Barthélemy as regards the prevention of fraud and counterfeiting of means of payment and preventing and combating money laundering.

Article 4

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Article 4

The measures taken by the competent French authorities to transpose the acts adopted by the European Union — including those of the European Central Bank — in the fields mentioned in Article 3(1) shall apply automatically and under the same conditions in Saint-Barthélemy.

Article 5

Those European Union acts adopted in the fields mentioned in Article 3(1) — including those of the European Central Bank — that are directly applicable in the Member States shall apply automatically and under the same conditions in Saint-Barthélemy.

Article 6

Credit institutions and, as applicable, other financial institutions authorised to carry out operations in Saint-Barthélemy shall have access to interbank settlement and payment systems and to securities settlement systems in the euro area under the same conditions as those applied to institutions located in metropolitan France.

Article 7

Every two years the French Republic shall present a report to the Commission and the European Central Bank on the application in Saint-Barthélemy of the European Union legal acts and rules covered by this Agreement. The report includes, in particular, a list of the directly applicable European Union acts, including those of the European Central Bank, that apply automatically to Saint-Barthélemy by virtue of Article 5. The first report will be communicated by the end of 2012.

Article 8

1.   A joint committee shall be convened when needed. It shall be chaired by the Commission and composed of representatives of the European Union and of the French Republic.

2.   The European Union delegation shall be headed by the Commission and include representatives of the European Central Bank.

3.   The joint committee shall meet at the request of one of the members of the delegation of the European Union or of the French Republic in order to examine any problems that might arise from the application of this Agreement.

Article 9

The Court of Justice of the European Union shall have exclusive competence for settling any dispute between the parties that may arise from the application of this Agreement and that has not been settled within the joint committee.

Article 10

The European Union or the French Republic may terminate this Agreement subject to one year’s notice.

Article 11

This Agreement shall enter into force on 1 January 2012 after the parties have notified each other of the completion of their own ratification procedures.

Article 12

This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in English and French, both texts being equally authentic.