EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 17 October 2008 
at the request of the Polish Minister for Finance  
on a draft law amending the Law on Naro dowy Bank Polski and certain other laws 
(CON/2008/53) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 9 September 2008 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Polish Minister for 
Finance for an opinion on a draft law amending the Law on Narodowy Bank Polski and certain other laws 
(hereinafter the ‘draft law’).  
The ECB’s competence to deliver an  opinion is based on Article 105(4) of the Treaty establishing the 
European Community and the third and fourth indent s of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 
29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Ce ntral Bank by national authorities regarding draft 
legislative provisions1, as the draft law relates to Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP) and to the collection, 
compilation and distribution of statistical inform ation. In accordance with  the first sentence of 
Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the Eur opean Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted 
this opinion.  
 1.  Purpose of the draft law 1.1 The draft law amends the Law on Narodowy Bank Polski
2 (hereinafter the ‘Law on NBP’) and 
certain other laws by extending the legal framework  for NBP’s collection of statistical information 
to statistical reporting by non-banking financial in stitutions operating in Poland, in particular by 
investment funds3. In this regard, the draft law is intended to align statistical reporting requirements 
in Poland with Regulation ECB/2007/8 of 27 July 2007 concerning statistics on the assets and liabilities of investment funds
4. 
1.2 Furthermore, the draft law introduces rules on the transmission of the collected statistical 
information, allowing NBP to transfer such info rmation to specified national and international 
entities, including the ECB5. Finally, the draft law permits the reciprocal sharing of individual and 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2  Law on Narodowy Bank Polski of 29 August 1997 (conso lidated text: Dz.U. of 1 April 2005 No 1, item 2). 
3  The data collected by NBP under the proposed provisions will be used to implement monetary policy, perform periodic 
assessments of the State’s monetary position as well as to compile the balance of payments and international 
investment position statistics (see Article 23(2) and Article 23(2c) of the Law on NBP, as amended by Article 1(1)(a) 
to (b) of the draft law). See point 1 of th e explanatory memorandum to the draft law. 
4  OJ L 211, 11.8.2007, p. 8. See point 1 of th e explanatory memorandum to the draft law. 
5  See Article 23(7) of the Law on NBP, as amended by Article 1(e) of the draft law. 
2 aggregated statistical information between NBP a nd the Polish Central Statistical Office, to the 
extent necessary for the performance of their statutory functions6.  
 2. General observations 2.1  Article 5.2 of the Statute of the European Sy stem of Central Banks and of the European Central 
Bank provides that ‘national central banks shall carry  out, to the extent possible, the tasks described 
in Article 5.1’, which are the tasks of the European  System of Central Banks (ESCB) as defined by 
the Treaty and the ESCB Statute. Although regulations adopted under Article 34.1 of the ESCB Statute do not confer any rights or impose any obligations on Member States that have not adopted the euro (hereinafter the ‘non-participating Member  States’), Article 5 of the ESCB Statute applies 
to all Member States, whether or not they have adopted the euro
7. Further, Article 47.2 of the 
ESCB Statute provides that the ECB’s General Council is required to contribute to the collection of statistical information as referred to in Article 5 of  the ESCB Statute. In addition, Article 10 of the 
Treaty requires Member States to ‘take all approp riate measures ... to ensure fulfilment of the 
obligations arising out of this Treaty’ and, more  specifically, Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) 
No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank
8 requires all Member States to ‘organise themselves in the field of statistics 
… and fully cooperate with the ESCB in order to ensure the fulfilment of the obligations arising 
out of Article 5 of the Statute’. These provisions therefore mean that non-participating Member States are under an obligation to design and implemen t at national level all measures they consider 
appropriate to carry out the collection of statistical  information needed to fulfil the ECB’s statistical 
reporting requirements and to make timely preparations in the field of statistics in order for them to 
become participating Member States
9. 
2.3  In this context, it is primarily the task of  the national authorities of non-participating Member 
States to determine which detailed reporting requ irements and collection methods are the most 
efficient and effective at the national level a nd the least burdensome for the reporting population 
concerned. The ECB notes that the reporting regi mes for collecting statistical data by national 
central banks are an indispensable component of the national statistical collection systems. The 
ECB does not comment in detail on national reporting provisions as they may differ considerably between Member States, depending on various nati onal and external factors. The ECB’s comments 
are therefore of a general nature only and are m eant to serve as a guide, enabling NBP to shape its 
                                                 
6  See Article 23(8) and (9) of the Law on NBP, as  amended by Article 1(e) of the draft law. 
7  First sentence of recital 5 to Regulation ECB/2007/8. 
8  OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. Recital 17 of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 states th at, while it is recognised that the 
statistical information needed to fulfil the ECB’s statistica l reporting requirements is not th e same for the participating 
as for the non-participating Member States, Article 5 of th e Statute applies to both par ticipating and non-participating 
Member States.  
9  See ECB Opinion CON/2007/24 of 8 Augus t 2007 at the request of Banca Na ţională a României on a draft regulation 
concerning statistical reporting of assets and liabilities recorded on the balance shee t of non-banking financial 
institutions. 
3 reporting requirements in line with those of the Eu rosystem in preparation for Poland’s adoption of 
the euro10.  
 3. Collection of statistical information 
The ECB welcomes both objectives of the draft law, i. e. clarifying the legal obligations of financial 
institutions outside the banking sector to provide statistical information directly to NBP and 
aligning NBP’s statistical framework with the ECB’ s requirements, in particular as laid down in 
Regulation ECB/2007/8. Achieving consistency with  the ECB’s statistical standards will enable 
reporting agents to become familiar with the sta tistical reporting regime that will apply once the 
euro has been introduced in Poland. The a bove comments do not prejudice any future ECB 
assessment relating to the reporting scheme for st atistics on balance sheet assets and liabilities of 
non-banking financial corporations in Poland. 
 4. Rules on exchange of information  4.1  The ECB welcomes the proposed amendments to the Law on NBP, which will enable individual 
and aggregated statistical data to be exchanged,  on the basis of reciprocity, between NBP and the 
Central Statistical Office
11. As this extended data-sharing may prevent duplication in the collection 
of statistical data, the proposed amendments are expected to reduce the reporting burden on the reporting population in Poland. At the same time , they may further enhance the quality of the 
statistics concerned. 
4.2 Furthermore, the draft law will allow NBP to disclose data collected from individual financial 
institutions to: (i) the ECB, in connection with NBP’s obligations stemming from its participation 
in the ESCB; (ii) foreign entities,  in performance of Poland’s inte rnational obligations; (iii) the 
Minister for Finance, for the purposes of management of the public debt; and (iv) other entities, as specified in separate provisions
12. The ECB notes that this part of  the amendments introduced by 
the draft law is substantially similar to the amendments proposed in the previous draft law 
amending the Law on NBP, as commented in ECB Opinion CON/2008/3913. The ECB reiterates in 
this respect that the Community law provisions  protecting the confidentiality of information 
reported by market participants apply not only to  NBP’s provision of information to the ECB but 
also to other exchanges of supervisory and statisti cal information. The draft law needs to precisely 
define the other instances when NBP is allowed to  disclose information. In addition, it needs to 
refer to the requirement to comply with Comm unity law in this respect. Moreover, the ECB 
understands that the draft law’s provisions am ending Article 23 of the Law on NBP will be 
                                                 
10  See ECB Opinion CON/2005/5 of 28 February 2005 at the request  of Central Bank of Malta on a draft directive No 5 
on statistical repor ting requirements.  
11 See Article 23(8) and (9) of the Law on NBP, as  amended by Article 1(e) of the draft law.  
12 See Article 23(7) of the Law on NBP, as amended by  Article 1(d) and Article 3 of the draft law.  
13 See paragraph 3.4 of ECB Opinion CON/2008/39 of 1 Septembe r 2008 at the request of the Polish Minister for Finance 
on a draft law on the Financial Stability Committee. 
4 reconciled later in the drafting procedure with th e amendments proposed by the draft provisions 
commented on in ECB Opinion CON/2008/39, in so far as both proposals amend Article 23 of the Law on NBP. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.   Done at Frankfurt am Main, 17 October 2008. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET