EN 
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 3 November 2010 
on amendments to the Constitution and on the La w on legislation, regarding the legislative powers 
of the Magyar Nemzeti Bank 
(CON/2010/76) 
 Introduction and legal basis
 
On 28 September 2010, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Hungarian 
Ministry of Public Administration and Justice for an opinion on a draft law on legislation (hereinafter the 
‘draft law on legislation’)1. On 1 October 2010, the ECB received a request from the Hungarian Ministry 
of Public Administration and Justice for an opinion on a draft law amending Law XX of 1949 on the Constitution of the Hungarian Republic (hereinafter th e ‘draft law amending the Constitution’) (the draft 
law on legislation and the draft law amending the Cons titution, hereinafter collectively referred to as ‘the 
draft laws’). Since the subject matter of the draft la ws is closely related, the ECB has merged the two 
consultations. 
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 indent  of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC of 
29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Ce ntral Bank by national authorities regarding draft 
legislative provisions
2, as the draft laws relate to the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB). In accordance with 
the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Pr ocedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing 
Council has adopted this opinion. 
 1.  Purpose of the draft laws 
In its Decision 121/2009 (XII.17.) the Hungarian  Constitutional Court annulled Law XI of 1987 on 
legislation from 1 January 2011. The reason for the a nnulment was that most provisions of the Law on 
legislation did not comply with c onstitutional developments that had ta ken place since its adoption. Since 
the remaining provisions were insufficient to constitu te a legal act, the Cons titutional Court annulled the 
Law on legislation as a whole, with such annulment to  take effect in the future. The Constitutional Court 
also requested the legislator to adopt a new law on the same subject matter by 31 December 2010. In 
response to the Constitutional Court’s decision, the draft law on legislation has been prepared and 
                                                 
1  On 19 October 2010, the Hungarian Ministry of Public Ad ministration and Justice submitted an updated version of the 
draft law on legislation.  
2  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
2 submitted to the Hungarian Parliament for adoption. Th is draft law is to replace the Law on legislation 
and thus reestablish the legislation framework in H ungary. The decision of the Constitutional Court also 
obliged the legislator to regulate certain issues in the Constitution instead of the Law on legislation. The 
draft law amending the Constitution incor porates these issues into the Constitution. 
The draft law on legislation establishes the general requirements regarding legi slation and regulates the 
scope, amending procedures, drafti ng and publication of legal acts, as well as the continuous monitoring 
of the legal system and the publication of legal acts.  Under the draft law on legislation, a Government 
decree will regulate in further detail the consultation pr ocedures to be carried out with the institutions of 
the European Union, including with the ECB. The draft law amending the Constitution provides, inter 
alia, what constitutes a legal act, how legal acts should be adopted and published a nd also refers to the 
powers of the MNB’s Governor to adopt decrees. 
 2. General observations 2.1 The ECB understands the importance of the adop tion of the draft laws since a valid legislative 
framework creates the foundation for the national legislative processes. The ECB also welcomes 
the establishment of an up to date legislative fra mework in Hungary that will ensure that the 
Hungarian authorities duly comply with their c onsultation obligations at European level. 
2.2 The ECB notes that under the draft law ame nding the Constitution, a decree of the MNB’s 
Governor maintains its position in the legislative hi erarchy and is at the same level as Government 
decrees.  
 3. Specific comments 3.1  The ECB welcomes the fact that the draft law on legislation establishes the general rules regarding 
the consultation procedures to be carried out with the EU institutions and also foresees the adoption 
of a Government decree that will regulate such pr ocedures in detail. The ECB expects this future 
Government Decree to comply with Decision 98/415/EC. 
3.2  The ECB would like to point out that t he duty to consult with the ECB is not limited to draft 
legislative provisions which are to be adopted by  a parliament. Decision 98/ 415/EC covers all types 
of legally binding provisions, including secondary legislation, as well as generally applicable acts 
of NCBs or supervisory authorities where these bodi es have regulatory power s. However, this does 
not mean that the ECB should be consulted on  all secondary legislation implementing primary 
legislation falling within the ECB’s fields of  competence. Given the objectives of Decision 
98/415/EC, it is clear that an opinion should onl y be sought from the ECB on such draft secondary 
legislation if its subject matter is closely relate d to the ECB’s tasks and if the impact on areas 
within the ECB’s fields of competence differs from that resulting from the primary legislation 
itself.   
3 3.3 The ECB notes that under Article 20(4) of the draft law on legislation, the MNB’s Governor 
maintains the right to initiate consultation procedur es with the ECB with regard to decrees of the 
MNB’s Governor. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.    Done at Frankfurt am Main, 3 November 2010. 
 
[signed] 
 
The President of the ECB 
Jean-Claude TRICHET