
Article 1 
For the purposes of this Decision:

((a)) ‘participating Member States’ shall mean Member States which have adopted the euro in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community;
((b)) ‘NCBs’ shall mean national central banks of participating Member States;
((c)) ‘intra-Eurosystem balances on euro banknotes in circulation’ shall mean the claims and liabilities arising between a NCB and the ECB and between a NCB and the other NCBs as a result of the application of Article 4 of Decision ECB/2001/15;
((d)) ‘ECB’s income on euro banknotes in circulation’ shall mean the income accruing to the ECB on the remuneration of its intra-Eurosystem claims on NCBs related to its share of euro banknotes in circulation as a result of the application of Article 2 of Decision ECB/2001/16.
Article 2 

1. The ECB’s income on euro banknotes in circulation shall be due in full to the NCBs in the same financial year it accrues and shall be distributed to the NCBs in proportion to their paid-up shares in the subscribed capital of the ECB.
2. The ECB shall distribute to the NCBs its income on euro banknotes in circulation earned in each financial year on the second working day of the following year.
3. The amount of the ECB’s income on euro banknotes in circulation may be reduced in accordance with any decision by the ECB's Governing Council on the basis of the Statute in respect of expenses incurred by the ECB in connection with the issue and handling of euro banknotes.
Article 3 
In derogation from Article 2:

1.. the Governing Council shall decide before the end of the financial year not to distribute part or all of the ECB’s income on euro banknotes in circulation in accordance with Article 2 to the extent necessary to ensure that the amount of the distributed income does not exceed the ECB’s net profit for that year if on the basis of a reasoned estimate prepared by the Executive Board the Governing Council expects that the ECB will have an overall annual loss or will make an annual net profit that is less than the estimated amount of its income on euro banknotes in circulation;
2.. the Governing Council may decide before the end of the financial year to transfer part or all of the ECB’s income on euro banknotes in circulation to a provision for foreign exchange rate, interest rate and gold price risks.
Article 4 

1. Decision ECB/2002/9 is repealed. References to the repealed Decision shall be construed as references to this Decision.
2. This Decision shall enter into force one day following its adoption.
Done at Frankfurt am Main, 17 November 2005.
The President of the ECB
Jean-Claude TRICHET