OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
of 7 February 2000
at the request of the Danish authorities on a draft Act amending
the Act on Danmarks Statistik (Statistics Denmark)
(CON/00/03)
1. On 14 January 2000 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Danish
authorities for an ECB Opinion on a draft Act amending the Act on Danmarks Statistik(Statistics Denmark) (hereinafter referred to as the “Draft Law”). 
2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an Opinion is based on Article 105 (4) of the Treaty
establishing the European Community (hereinafter referred to as the “Treaty”) and Article 2 (1),third and fourth indents, of Council Decision No. 98/415/EC of 29 June 1998 on theconsultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislativeprovisions, as the Draft Law contains provisions on Danmarks Nationalbank and rules
concerning the collection, compilation and distribution of monetary, financial, banking,
payment systems and balance of payments statistics. The Draft Law also provides for otheramendments, which do not relate to the above-mentioned consultative competence of the ECB.However, the present Opinion only focuses on those provisions which do so. In accordance withArticle 17 (5), first sentence, of the Rules of Procedure of the ECB, this Opinion has beenadopted by the Governing Council of the ECB. This Opinion is based on an unofficial Englishtranslation of the relevant provisions of the Draft Law.
3. The ECB understands that the Draft Law includes provisions which de facto provide a legal
basis for the collection, compilation and publication of financial statistics by Danmarks
Nationalbank, made possible by a transfer of this competence from the national statisticalauthority, Statistics Denmark, to Danmarks Nationalbank via an agreement being concludedbetween the two authorities. A liability agreement already exists, but the Draft Law facilitatesthe establishment of a more elaborate co-operation agreement. The transfer of competenceimplies that, inter alia, Danmarks Nationalbank will be able to sanction an institution in breachof the reporting requirements. Furthermore, by means of the envisaged division of labour
2between Danmarks Nationalbank and Statistics Denmark, the Draft Law provides for the
possibility of the two authorities exchanging c onfidential statistical information. Finally, the
Draft Law extends the present scope of application of the statistical reporting obligation, interms of both the categories of institutions obliged to report and the categories of data, whichhave to be reported. 
4. The ECB welcomes the initiative, which will enhance the possibility of increasing the
consistency of Danish financial statistics with international and European standards, includingthose set or, as the case may be, followed by the ECB. In this connection it is recalled thatCouncil Regulation (EC) No. 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of
statistical information by the European Central Bank (hereinafter referred to as the “Council
Regulation”) states in recital 17 that, inter alia: “while it is recognised that the statisticalinformation needed to fulfil the ECB’s statistical reporting requirement is not the same for theparticipating as for the non-participating Member States, Article 5 of the Statute [of theEuropean System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank] applies to both theparticipating and the non-participating Member States; whereas this fact, together with Article 5of the Treaty, implies an obligation to design and implement at the national level all themeasures that Member States consider appropriate in order to carry out the collection ofstatistical information needed to fulfil the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements”.
5. However, the ECB notes with some concern that  the primary competence for establishing the
financial statistics in question continues to be held by Statistics Denmark, with the possibility,according to Article 1 (1) of the Draft Law, for it to be transferred by agreement to DanmarksNationalbank rather than entrusted to the central bank directly. In the ECB’s view, DanmarksNationalbank should be able to avail itself independently of its own statistical data necessary tofulfil its tasks – particularly in the field of monetary policy – and, therefore, the preferablesolution would be to entrust Danmarks Nationalbank with the relevant powers already at thisstage. Furthermore, should Denmark adopt the euro at a later stage, there will be a need to
comply with the requirements of the Treaty and the Statute of the European System of Central
Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter referred to as the “Statute”) for StageThree of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and in particular with the ECB’s statisticalreporting requirements. These reporting requirements are derived from Article 5 of the Statuteas further specified by Community legislation, both of which will entrust DanmarksNationalbank with its own statistical competen ce. Transferral by an agreement rather than
entrustment of competencies is incompatible with Danmarks Nationalbank having its ownstatistical competence and the Draft Law, once adopted, would, to this extent in any case, haveto be adapted should Denmark adopt the euro at a later stage. 
36. Notwithstanding the above, the ECB appreciates the fact that in the specific Danish context the
best way to facilitate the work at this stage is considered to be transferral of the competence to
Danmarks Nationalbank by means of an agreement. The Draft Law is in any event animprovement, which is expected to enable Danmarks Nationalbank to design and implement allthe measures that Denmark considers to be appropriate in order to carry out the collection ofstatistical information needed to fulfil the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements. For thesereasons the ECB does not, at this juncture, object to the envisaged transitional arrangement.
7. Article 1 (2) of the Draft Law governs the exchange of documents containing data on financial
statistics and balance of payments statistics between Danmarks Nationalbank and Statistics
Denmark, including confidential statistical information. The provision states that the documentsin question, which are exchanged between the two au thorities, are exempt from the right of the
public to have access to public documents according to the Act on open administration. It isnoted that, should Denmark adopt the euro at a la ter stage, the confidentiality regime laid down
in Article 8 of the Council Regulation would apply. This might also require, inter alia, practicaladaptations to the proposed exchange of statistical information between DanmarksNationalbank and Statistics Denmark. 
8. The ECB welcomes the division of labour between Danmarks Nationalbank and Statistics
Denmark, which is described in the motivation to the Draft Law as intending to mirror theexisting relationship between the Commission of the European Communities (Eurostat) and theECB. In other words, Danmarks Nationalbank would need to have full responsibility for moneyand banking statistics (comprising all the balance sheet data of institutions in the EuropeanSystem of Accounts 1995 (ESA 95) sub-sect ors S.122 and S.123, off-balance-sheet data
relevant to the tasks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), data on interest rates,yields and financial asset prices, capital market issues and redemptions and on financialderivatives), whereas the areas of balance of payments statistics (the ECB acting under its own
responsibility in capital and financial account issues, the Commission (Eurostat) acting under its
own responsibility in current account issues), international investment position and financialaccounts statistics will need to be treated as a shared competence. Cost and other economicstatistics are the responsibility of Eurostat viz. Statistics Denmark. Article 1 (3) of the DraftLaw is seen to allow sufficient flexibility for Danmarks Nationalbank to prepare for thefulfilment of the current and possible new future obligations identified by the ECB forparticipating national central banks. 
49. The ECB confirms that it has no objection to this Opinion being made public by the competent
national authorities at their discretion.
Done at Frankfurt am Main on 7 February 2000.
The President of the ECB
[signed]
Willem F. Duisenberg