GUIDELINE (EU) 2020/1552 OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 14 October 2020

amending Guideline ECB/2013/23 on government finance statistics (ECB/2020/50)

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, and in particular Article 5.1 and 5.2, and Articles 12.1 and 14.3 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 of 25 May 2009 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community (1),

Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union (2),

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (3), and in particular Article 4 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The quality assessment of the data in the field of government finance statistics (GFS) is performed in accordance with the Statistics Quality Framework of the European Central Bank (ECB), and includes a regular report submitted by the Executive Board to the Governing Council of the ECB. Monitoring of data quality is critical and should be carried out in a timely manner.

(2) However, the right balance should be achieved between the need for monitoring and the frequency of the reporting of the relevant information to the Governing Council. It is, therefore, necessary to update the frequency with which the Executive Board reports on the quality of GFS to the Governing Council. In order to allow for quality analysis, the first report in accordance with this Guideline should be submitted by the Executive Board to the Governing Council by 30 June 2023.

(3) When severe data quality issues are identified, it is appropriate to afford the Executive Board the facility of providing such additional reports as it deems necessary to the Governing Council. For the same reason, it is also appropriate to provide that the Executive Board be able to exercise this discretion as soon as possible.

(4) In recent years, new monitoring tools have emerged. It is, therefore, necessary to update the scope of assessments to be performed in the context of data quality monitoring and reporting.

(5) Therefore, Guideline 2014/2/EU of the European Central Bank (ECB/2013/23) (4) should be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS GUIDELINE:

Article 1 Amendments Guideline ECB/2013/23 is amended as follows: (1) in Article 7, paragraphs 2 and 3 are replaced by the following: ‘2. The Executive Board of the ECB shall report biennially to the Governing Council of the ECB on the quality of the GFS. That report shall be submitted by the Executive Board to the Governing Council by 30 June of the year following each relevant biennial period. The first biennial report shall be submitted by 30 June 2023. 3. The report referred to in paragraph 2 shall address at least the following: (a) the coverage of the data, (b) the extent to which they comply with the relevant definitions, (c) the magnitude of revisions, and (d) an analysis of excessive deficit-debt adjustments.’; (2) in Article 7, the following paragraph 4 is added: ‘4. Where the Executive Board observes severe data quality issues, it may provide the Governing Council with additional reports as necessary.’.

Article 2 Taking effect and implementation 1. This Guideline shall take effect on the day of its notification to the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro. 2. The Eurosystem central banks shall comply with this Guideline from 1 July 2021. However, they shall comply with Article 1(2) of this Guideline from the day of its notification to the national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro.

Article 3 Addressees This Guideline is addressed to all Eurosystem central banks.

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 14 October 2020. For the Governing Council of the ECB The President of the ECB Christine LAGARDE

(1) OJ L 145, 10.6.2009, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 174, 26.6.2013, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8.

(4) Guideline 2014/2/EU of the European Central Bank of 25 July 2013 on government finance statistics (ECB/2013/23) (OJ L 2, 7.1.2014, p. 12).