Article 141 [General Council of the ECB]

The heading of Chapter 5 of Title VIII of the TFEU (‘transitional provisions’) insinuates that within an (undefined) period, all MS will adopt the single currency. Indeed, MS are obliged to adopt the euro unless they have secured an opt-out. However, this obligation is hardly enforceable so that in the near future there will be ‘Member States with a derogation’ (➔ Article 139 TFEU para 7 et seqq.). The central banks of MS with a derogation as specified in Article 139.1 TFEU shall retain their powers in the field of monetary policy according to national law (Article 282.4, sentence 2, TFEU and Article 42.2 of the ESCB Statute). Nevertheless, all NCBs are part of the ESCB, but only euro area NCBs are part of the Eurosystem (Article 282.1 TFEU). Article 141 TFEU (in conjunction with Article 44 of the ESCB Statute) considers this situation by establishing the General Council as a third decision-making body of the ECB. The General Council provides a link between the MS inside and those outside the Eurosystem. This body is charged with tasks regarding the MS currently not participating in the euro. In addition, if and as long as there are MS with a derogation, the General Council is entrusted with additional tasks.