EN
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
of 25 April 2002
at the request of the Spanish Secretary of State for the Economy, Energy and Small and
Medium-Sized Enterprises on a dr aft Royal Decree on the arrangem ents for the payment of the
Banco de Españas profits to the Treasury 
(CON/2002/14)
1. On 26 March 2002 the European Central Bank  (ECB) received a request from the Spanish
Secretary of State for the Economy, Energy a nd Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises for an
opinion on a draft Royal Decree on the arrangements for the payment of the Banco de Españasprofits to the Treasury. 
2. The ECBs competence to deliver an opinion is based on 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 provisions1. In accordance with the first
sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedur e of the European Central Bank, the Governing
Council of the ECB has adopted this opinion.
3. The draft Royal Decree is based on the power  granted by the second final provision of
Law 12/1998 of 28 April amending the Act of Aut onomy of the Banco de España to determine,
by way of governmental regulation, the regime for the payment of the Banco de Españasprofits to the Treasury. 
4. The draft Royal Decree would replace Royal Decree 1746/1999 of 19 November, which applied
until the financial year 2001. The provisional nature of Royal Decree 1746/1999 was aprecaution, and until such a time as the ECB w ould adopt a new decision on the allocation of
monetary income under Article 32 of the Stat ute of the ESCB and of  the ECB (hereinafter
referred to as the 'Statute') after the e nd of the application of Decision ECB/2000/19 of
3 November 1998 as amended by Decision of 14 December 2000 on the allocation of monetary
income of the national central banks of particip ating Member States and losses of the ECB for
the financial years 1999 to 2001
2.
                                                          
1OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.
2OJ L 336, 30.12.2000, p. 119.
2Royal Decree 1746/1999 was subject to consultati on with the ECB. The ECB formulated its
opinion on 28 October 19993. Royal Decree 1746/1999 laid down the following schedule for
payment to the Treasury of profits generated and accounted for by the Banco de España:
 in November each year, 70% of the profits accrued and recorded until 30 September of the
same financial year,
 in February each year, 90% of the profits accrued and recorded until 31 December of the
preceding financial year, discounting the instalment paid in November,
 the remaining profits, following the approval of the accounts of the Banco de España for
the financial year by the Government.
5. The draft Royal Decree would extend the applicati on of the rules to the next three financial
years (2002, 2003, and 2004) on the basis of experi ence that is believed to demonstrate the
advisability of maintaining the quoted percentages and schedule. 
6. The ECB already had an opportunity to comment on the above-mentioned rules in the context
of ECB Opinion CON/99/16. In th at instance, the ECB found th at such rules protect the
financial independence of the Banco de España, since they regulate in detail the schedule andamount of the advance payments, without affo rding any ad hoc discretion to the political
authorities. This assessment also  applies to the draft Royal Decree extending the application of
the rules already examined by the ECB.
7. While the draft Royal Decree would extend the rules already in place by virtue of Royal
Decree 1746/1999, these rules need now to be examin ed in the light of the new regime for the
allocation of monetary income of national centr al banks (NCBs) under Article 32 of the Statute.
Decision ECB/2001/16 of 6 December 2001 governs th e allocation of monetary income of the
national central banks of participating Me mber States from the financial year 20024. This
Decision must be read in conjunction with  Decision ECB/2001/15 of 6 December 2001 on the
issue of euro banknotes5. Under Article 2 of Decision ECB/2001/15, the ECB and the NCBs
shall issue euro banknotes.
8. The remuneration of intra-Eurosystem balances on euro banknotes in circulation resulting from
the application of Decision ECB/2001/15 is settle d on a quarterly basis, except in 2002 when it
will be settled at the end of the year. The allocation of each NCBs monetary income takesplace at the end of the financial year. Under the draft Royal Decree, the Banco de Españawould pay to the Treasury 70% of the profits accrued and recorded until 30 September of that
year; that is, until the end of the third quart er. On the first working day of the following
February, the Banco de España would pay to  the Treasury 90% of the profits accrued and
                                                          
3 CON/99/16.
4 OJ L 337, 20.12.2001, p. 55.
5 OJ L 337, 20.12.2001, p. 52.
3recorded until 31 December of the previous year; that is, at the end of the financial year.
Therefore, the proposed measures  would not conflict with the cu rrent ECB regime for the issue
of euro banknotes and the allocation of monetary  income of NCBs of the participating Member
States.
9. The ECB notes that the proposed period of three fi nancial years for the application of the draft
Royal Decree is considered to be necessary in order to evaluate the application of Decisions
ECB/2001/15 a nd ECB/2001/16.
10. The ECB confirms that it has no objection to the competent national authorities making this
opinion publicly available at their discretion.
Done at Frankfurt am Main on 25 April 2002.
The President of the ECB
[signed]
Willem F. DUISENBERG