EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 27 July 2009  
on public access to information on officials’ wealth 
(CON/2009/64) 
 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 1 July 2009 the European Central Bank (ECB) recei ved a request from the President of the Slovenian 
Parliament for an opinion on a draft law on public access to information on officials’ wealth (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 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 law relates to Banka Slovenije . 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 falls within the regulatory frame work for the prevention of corruption in Slovenia 
and regulates the duty of officials to declare info rmation on their wealth and public access to such 
information.
  
1.2 The purpose of the draft law, as stated in its e xplanatory memorandum, is to ensure transparency in 
the conduct of public officials and take precauti onary measures in the field of corruption.  
 2. General observations 2.1 The ECB welcomes this consultation by the Sloveni an Parliament. As the term ‘officials’, which is 
defined in Article 2 of the draft law, explicitly includes the Governor of Banka Slovenije and other 
high-ranking officials of Banka Slovenije, the draf t law should be assessed from the perspective of 
compatibility with the principle of personal indepe ndence of the Governor and of other members of 
the Governing Board of Banka Slovenije. 
2.2 The ECB has previously considered a similar draft law in Opinion CON/2008/43
2. 
 
                                                 
1  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
2  All ECB opinions are available on the ECB website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
2 3. Declaration of wealth  
3.1 Under the draft law, all officials, including the President of the Republic, Prime Minister, members 
of Parliament, ministers and judges are obliged to periodically provide the Slovenian Court of Audit with information on their personal wealth , e.g. income, real estate, securities and cash 
holdings
3. In addition, they have to explain any increase in their wealth that exceeds the net salary 
payments they received since their previous declaration4. Such information will be made publicly 
available on the Court of Audit’s website notwithst anding any restrictions as regards personal data 
protection and tax secrets5. 
3.2 If an official fails to provide information on th eir wealth and income, the Court of Audit has the 
power to impose a fine under Article 13 of the draf t law and order, under Article 8 of the draft law, 
that such official’s salary is gradually reduced every month by one tenth, to the level of the 
minimum salary, until the official provides the requested information. Such Court of Audit’s decision will be executed by the respective official ’s employer. Pursuant to  Article 13(4) of the 
draft law, a fine will be imposed on an official in  the amount of the value of undeclared wealth or 
of the wealth from unexplained sources, respectively,  in addition to any fine imposed in accordance 
with Article 13(1) of the draft law. 
3.3 The ECB understands that the possibility to re duce the salaries of members of Banka Slovenije’s 
Governing Board will apply as a general sanction, equivalent to a fine, under the Slovenian legal 
system and will not interfere with the legal relationship between the central bank and its 
independent decision-making officials. Under this assumption, the sanction of salary reduction would not jeopardise the personal independence of  Banka Slovenije officials as provided for in 
Article 108 of the Treaty and Article 7 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘Sta tute of the ESCB’), desp ite the fact that the 
sanction is linked to the salary of the Governor and the members of Banka Slovenije’s Governing 
Board, provided that the ECB’s understanding as follows is correct. The sanction of salary 
reduction is understood to be used to speed up the provision of information requested by the Court 
of Audit and it applies to all relevant officials in  Slovenia, including the President of the Republic, 
the Prime Minister and members of the Sloveni an parliament. Moreover, the sanction will be 
imposed by the Court of Audit, which is an independent body, and the conditions for the decision on the salary reduction (i.e. the grounds, amount and duration) as well as the legal remedy against 
such decision are clearly provided for in the draft law.  Pursuant to Article 6(2) of the draft law, the 
Court of Audit shall communicate findings on unjustified increases of wealth to the body competent for electing or appointing the relevant o fficial. In this respect, the ECB recalls that the 
dismissal of central bank Governors and other members of central bank decision-making bodies 
who are involved in the performance of ESCB-re lated tasks is subject to the provisions of 
Article 14.2 of the Statute of the ESCB. On th e basis of the above assumptions and understanding, 
                                                 
3  See Article 4 of the draft law. 
4  See Article 6 of the draft law. 
5  See Article 7 of the draft law. 
3 the ECB is of the opinion that the provisions of th e draft law on wealth declarations and the related 
sanctions would not be incompatible with  the principle of personal independence. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.   Done at Frankfurt am Main, 27 July 2009. 
 
[signed] 
 
The Vice-President of the ECB 
Lucas D. PAPADEMOS