46.3. The President shall prepare the meetings of the General Council.

46.4. By way of derogation from Article 12.3, the General Council shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.

46.5. The Secretariat of the General Council shall be provided by the ECB.

Article 47

Responsibilities of the General Council

47.1. The General Council shall:

perform the tasks referred to in Article 44;
contribute to the advisory functions referred to in Articles 4 and 25.1.

47.2. The General Council shall contribute to:

the collection of statistical information as referred to in Article 5;
the reporting activities of the ECB as referred to in Article 15;
the establishment of the necessary rules for the application of Article 26 as referred to in Article 26.4;
the taking of all other measures necessary for the application of Article 29 as referred to in Article 29.4;
the laying down of the conditions of employment of the staff of the ECB as referred to in Article 36.

47.3. The General Council shall contribute to the necessary preparations for irrevocably fixing the exchange rates of the currencies of Member States with a derogation against the currencies, or the single currency, of the Member States without a derogation, as referred to in Article 1091( 5 ) of this Treaty.

47.4. The General Council shall be informed by the President of the ECB of decisions of the Governing Council.

Article 48

Transitional provisions for the capital of the ECB

In accordance with Article 29.1 each national central bank shall be assigned a weighting in the key for subscription of the ECB's capital. By way of derogation from Article 28.3, central banks of Member States with a derogation shall not pay up their subscribed capital unless the General Council, acting by a majority representing at least two thirds of the subscribed capital of the ECB and at least half of the shareholders, decides that a minimal percentage has to be paid up as a contribution to the operational costs of the ECB

Article 49

Deferred payment of capital, reserves and provisions of the ECB

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