EN ECB-PUBLIC 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 6 February 2015 
on a new legal framework for the production of official statistics in Lithuania 
(CON/2015/5) 
 
Introduction and legal basis 
On 27 November 2014, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Lithuanian 
Ministry of Finance for an opinion on a draft law amending the Law on statistics (hereinafter the ‘draft 
law’) and a draft law amending the Code on administrative breaches of the law (hereinafter together the ‘draft laws’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 
Functioning of the European Union and the third and fourth indents of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 
98/415/EC
1, as the draft laws relate to Lietuvos bankas and the collection, compilation and distribution of 
monetary, 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, the Governing 
Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1. Purpose of the draft laws 
1.1 The aim of the draft laws is to improve the general functioning of official statistics production and 
ensure consistency with updated Union legislation in the field of statistics
2. The draft laws explicitly 
recognise the role of Lietuvos bankas in the ar ea of official statistics and define its rights and 
obligations in this regard, including empowering it to impose sanctions for non-compliance with 
statistical reporting obligations.  
1.2 The draft law defines the principles underlying the official statistics, the organisation of official 
statistics, the powers of and relationship between Lietuvos bankas and Lietuvos statistikos departamentas (the National Statistical Institute of Lithuania, hereinafter ‘Statistics Lithuania’), the 
rights and obligations of statisti cal data users, and the use and protection of statistical data, 
including confidential data. 
 
                                                 
1  Council Decision 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national 
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions (OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42). 
2  Including Regulation (EC) No 177/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 
establishing a common framework for business registers for statistical purposes (OJ L 61, 5.3.2008, p. 6), Council 
Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8) and Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164). 
ECB-PUBLIC  
2 2. General observations  
The ECB welcomes the draft laws, which aim to ensure consistency with the framework of European 
statistics and to improve the production of official st atistics in Lithuania. The ECB welcomes in particular 
the provisions of the draft laws recognising two separate but complementary legal frameworks under 
which official statistics are developed, produced and disseminated, namely by Statistics Lithuania, operating within the partnership of the European Stat istical System (ESS), and by Lietuvos bankas, as a 
member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).  
 
3. Statistical principles 3.1 The statistical principles governing the production of European statistics by the ESCB under 
Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 are similar but not ident ical to the statistical principles governing the 
production of European statistics by the ESS under Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. The ECB 
welcomes the recognition of two sets of principles in the draft law, one applying to Statistics Lithuania
3 and the other applying to Lietuvos bankas4.  
3.2 However, the ECB considers the condition ‘unless Union legislation provides otherwise’5 
superfluous since the complementary statistical regimes and the corresponding two sets of principles stem from Union legislation: Regulations (EC) No 2533/98 and (EC) No 223/2009 respectively. For legal certainty reasons, Article 3 of  the draft law should make it explicit that the 
statistical principles contained in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 govern the production of official 
statistics by Statistics Lithuania and other bodies  managing official statistics, while Lietuvos 
bankas, in its capacity as member of the ESCB, should apply the statistical principles contained in Regulation (EC) No 2533/98. 
 
4. Lietuvos bankas’ independence 4.1 The ECB broadly welcomes the fact that the draft laws recognise and preserve the independence 
of Lietuvos bankas as a body concerned with and producing official statistics in its areas of 
competence. 
4.2 However, the ECB recommends introducing certain dr afting clarifications in the draft law to ensure 
Lietuvos bankas’ independence. More particularly, the draft law
6 should make clear that the 
cooperation between Lietuvos bankas and Statistics Lithuania must be without prejudice to 
Lietuvos bankas’ independence and to its tasks within the statistical framework of the ESCB7.  
                                                 
3  Article 3(1) of the draft law. 
4  Article 3(3) of the draft law. 
5  Article 3(3) of the draft law. 
6  For example, Article 4(3) of the draft law. 
7  See also paragraph 2.3 of Opinion CON/2010/2, paragraph 2 of Opinion CON/2010/24, and Opinion CON/2012/84. 
All ECB opinions are published on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
ECB-PUBLIC  
3 4.3 Furthermore, as regards the administrative liability of  officials, civil servants and the staff of official 
statistics bodies for non-compliance with the draft law, including as regards the treatment of confidential data
8, the draft law amending the Code on administrative breaches of the law9 should 
be amended: it should ensure that, prior to submission to the court, administrative cases against 
Lietuvos bankas’ staff regarding unlawful use of statistical data and disclosure of confidential 
statistical data, if any, should be investigated by Lietuvos bankas, and not by Statistics Lithuania.  
 
5. Cooperation between Lietuvos bankas and Statistics Lithuania 
5.1 The ECB emphasises that ensuring effective cooperation between Lietuvos bankas and Statistics 
Lithuania is very important to minimise the reporting burden on respondents and to guarantee the 
coherence and consistency of all official statistics. It welcomes the general clause in the draft law10 
referring to such cooperation in preparing and implementing the official statistics programme. The ECB recommends introducing drafting clarifications explicitly confirming the duty to cooperate in other provisions of the draft law, for example as regards the exchange of statistical data
11. The 
ECB recommends clarifying in Articles 4 and 6 that data produced by Lietuvos bankas may be 
used directly or indirectly by Statistics Lithuania and by other bodies managing official statistics for the production of European statistics and, equally , that statistics produced by Statistics Lithuania 
and the other bodies managing official statistics may be used directly or indirectly by Lietuvos 
bankas
12.  
5.2 In the same vein, for legal certainty reasons the ECB recommends introducing drafting 
clarifications to spell out explicit ly Lietuvos bankas’ performance of its statistical tasks within the 
statistical framework of the ESCB, and strengthen the overarching principle of the development, 
production and dissemination of the official statistics under two separate but complementary legal 
frameworks. In particular, the statistics that are necessary to undertake the tasks of the ESCB should be explicitly included in the definition of ‘European statistics’
13. In addition to the definition of 
the ‘European statistical programme’, a corresponding definition of the ‘statistical work programme 
of the ESCB’ should be introduced. Lietuvos bankas’ place in the organisation of official statistics 
should be further clarified14: although it is an official statistics body, Lietuvos bankas does not 
belong to the ESS and develops, produces and dissem inates European statistics in its capacity as 
member of the ESCB. Finally, it should be clarifie d that Statistics Lithuania prepares the official 
Lithuanian statistics programme together with Lietuvos bankas15, and that the report on the 
implementation of such statistics programme to be approved by the Lithuanian government should 
                                                 
8  Article 20 of the draft law and Article 3 of the draft law amending the Code on administrative breaches of the law. 
9  Article 7 of the draft law amending the Code on administrative breaches of the law (amendment to Article 2591 of the 
Code on administrative breaches of the law). 
10  Article 4(3) of the draft law. 
11  Article 13(1) of the draft law. 
12  Article 6(6)(1) of the draft law. 
13  Article 2(2) of the draft law. 
14  Article 4 of the draft law. 
15  Article 6(5)(1) of the draft law. 
ECB-PUBLIC  
4 not include information on the statistical activities of Lietuvos bankas16 as these are presented in 
the latter’s annual report. 
 
6. Sharing of confidential statistical data 
6.1  The draft law includes provisions regarding the sharing of statistical data and information with 
Eurostat, the ECB, and national central banks and national statistical institutes of Union Member 
States17. It also allows the transmission of confidential statistical data to scientific research 
bodies18. In order to ensure the efficient collection, compilation and dissemination of European 
statistics, the ECB recommends clarifying that Arti cle 13 of the draft law allows the exchange of 
confidential statistical information data with Eurost at, all authorities belonging to the ESS and the 
ESCB19.  
6.2 The ECB also recommends, in line with its Recommendation ECB/2014/1320, explicitly allowing 
Lietuvos bankas to transfer confidential statisti cal information to Union and national authorities 
responsible for the supervision of financial institutions, markets and infrastructures and macro-
prudential oversight, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Union legislation, in particular 
Regulation (EC) No 2533/98.  
6.3 As regards the treatment of confidential statisti cal information, the ECB recommends specifying in 
the draft law21 that Lietuvos bankas is bound by the provisions laid down in Regulation 
(EC) No 2533/98. 
 7. Sanctioning powers 7.1 The draft laws, which aim to ensure the proper application of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98
22, 
provide for the sanctioning powers of Lietuvos bankas and Statistics Lithuania in relation to third 
parties that fail to comply with their statistical obligations. However, the draft law does not mention 
the ECB’s powers to impose sanctions for non-compliance with the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements
23. The ECB recommends addressing this issue in the draft law. 
                                                 
16  Article 6(5)(2) of the draft law, which should be brought in line with Articles 9(2) and (3) of the draft law. 
17  Articles 13(2) and (3) of the draft law. 
18  Article 13(4) of the draft law. 
19  Also see Opinion CON/2010/2, paragraph 4.  
20  Recommendation ECB/2014/13 of the European Central Bank of 21 March 2014 for a Council Regulation amending 
Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (OJ C 188, 20.6.2014, p. 1). 
21  Article 14 of the draft law. 
22  Annexes to the draft laws.  
23  Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98. 
ECB-PUBLIC  
5 7.2 The ECB also recommends aligning the sanctioning powers of Lietuvos bankas laid down in the 
draft laws24 and in the Law on Lietuvos bankas: according to the Law on Lietuvos bankas25, it is for 
Lietuvos bankas to determine the size of sanctions and arrangements for their application to legal 
entities. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 
 
 Done at Frankfurt am Main, 6 February 2015. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Mario DRAGHI 
                                                 
24  Article 2 of the draft law amending the Code on administrative breaches of the law. 
25  Article 541 of the Law on Lietuvos bankas.