EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 8 July 2004 
at the request of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank   
on a draft regulation on the collection of stat istics concerning imports and exports of services 
(CON/2004/24) 
 1. On 9 June 2004, the European Central Bank (E CB) received a request from the Oesterreichische 
Nationalbank (OeNB) for an opinion on a draft regulation of the OeNB on the collection of 
statistics concerning imports and exports of services ( Verordnung der Oesterreichischen 
Nationalbank betreffend statistische Erhe bungen über die Importe und Exporte von 
Dienstleistungen ) (hereinafter the ‘draft regulation’). 
2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the fourth indent of Article 2(1) of 
Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by 
national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions
1, as the draft regulation relates to the 
collection, compilation and distribution of mone tary, financial, banking, payment systems and 
balance of payments statistics. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of 
Procedure of the European Central Bank, th e Governing Council has adopted this opinion. 
3. The draft regulation will form part of the new reporti ng system in Austria in the area of balance of 
payments and international investment position sta tistics (hereinafter ‘cross-border statistics’) and 
reflects a general change from indirect reporting by the banking sector of cross-border payments to a system that relies predominantly on direct re porting by resident legal entities that conduct cross-
border transactions. The reporting requirements cove r the services that reporting agents provide to 
or receive from non-residents. The ECB notes that notwithstanding the proposed changes, the Austrian reporting system will have the following features: 
(a) The geographical classification of transactions  with non-residents is in accordance with the 
geographical breakdown requested by the ECB and will thus allow the OeNB to continue to 
contribute data to euro area cross-border statistics. 
(b) The reporting population of resident legal entities is defined by means of thresholds relating 
to number of employees or turnover, allowing a sample-based estimation of the services provided to or received from non-residents. The definition of reporting population is 
sufficiently wide to cover all legal entities resi dent in Austria from which statistical data 
                                                     
 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2 need to be collected to enable  precise euro area cross-border statistics to continue to be 
compiled. 
(c) The scope of services covered will continue to allow different types of transactions to be 
recorded comprehensively in an adequately st ructured form. This will continue to enable 
Austria to contribute precise data to euro area statistics on cross-border services and compensation of employees. 
4. The ECB welcomes the initiative of adjusting the reporting system in Austria, which, whilst 
reducing the reporting burden falling on the bankin g sector and financial intermediaries, should 
ensure the quality of the data contributed  to euro area cross-border statistics.  
5. The ECB notes that the draft regulation allows the OeNB to entrust data collection in the area of 
balance of payments to third parties. The ECB does not object in principle to the OeNB 
outsourcing specific data collection activities, pr ovided certain legal requirements are met. In 
particular, the OeNB must retain full res ponsibility for all such activities, including the 
transmission of all relevant data to the ECB. The OeNB must also be able to check whether 
reporting agents are complying with its own and thereby with the ECB’s statistical reporting 
requirements. As far as reporting requirements vis- à-vis the ECB are concerned, any cooperation 
between the OeNB and other competent authorities in  Austria is subject to the requirements laid 
down in Guideline ECB/2003/7 of 2 May 2003 on the statistical reporting requirements of the 
European Central Bank in the field of balance of  payments and international investment position 
statistics and the international reserves template
2. The ECB invites the OeNB to consult the ECB 
on any agreement that the OeNB concludes in this context regarding the outsourcing of data collection activities. 
6. The ECB confirms that it has no objection to the competent national authorities making this 
opinion publicly available at their discretion. Th is opinion will be published on the ECB’s website 
six months after the date of its adoption. 
  Done at Frankfurt am Main, 8 July 2004. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET 
                                                     
 
2  OJ L 131, 28.5.2003, p. 20.