EN ECB-PUBLIC  
 
 
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 
of 16 August 2013  
on the autonomy of the Banco de España in staff matters 
 and on termination of the office of the Governor 
(CON/2013/61) 
 
Introduction and legal basis 
On 25 July 2013, the European Central Bank (ECB) r eceived a request from the Banco de España for an 
opinion on a partial draft Resolution of the Banco de España’s Governing Council (hereinafter the ‘draft 
resolution’) which will amend the Ba nco de España’s Internal Rules of 28 March 2000 (hereinafter the 
‘Internal Rules’). 
The ECB’s competence to deliver an  opinion is based on the last paragraph of Article 127(4) and the 
Article 282(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union a nd 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, as the draft resolution relates to the Banco de 
España. 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 resolution 
The draft resolution updates the Internal Rules to incorporate several amendments made to Law 13/1994 
on the autonomy of the Banco de España (hereinaft er ‘Law 13/1994’). The most relevant amendments 
include: (a) the introduction of staff cost-cutting measu res equivalent to those generally established for 
public sector employees, provided that the Banco de España’s ability to carry out its functions on an 
independent basis is not impaired, although the Banc o de España may not, in any event, agree wage 
increases or decreases beyond the limits generally set for public sector employees; and (b) the deletion of 
the ground for dismissal of the Governor and/or Deputy  Governor on the basis that  either has reached the 
age of 70 years. The other grounds for dismissal remain unaffected. 
 2. General observations When Law 13/1994 was first amended, through Law 17/2012 on the State General Budget for 2013 
(hereinafter ‘Law 17/2012’), the ECB was cons ulted and issued Opinion CON/2012/89. The draft 
                                                 
1 OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
ECB-PUBLIC  
2 resolution implements the amendments of Law 13/1994 and takes into account some, but not all, of the 
ECB’s comments.  
 3. Staffing policy of the Banco de España The ECB recommended in its Opinion CON/2012/89
2 that the Sixth Final Provision of the Law 17/2012 
(which amended Article 6 bis of Law 13/1994) should state that the Banco de España will not be obliged 
to take measures if these interfere with its ability to in dependently carry out its tasks. The ECB also stated 
that, based on the understanding that the Banco de Espa ña will not be obliged to take measures if these 
interfere with its ability to independently carry out its tasks, Article 22 and the Sixth Final Provision of 
Law 17/2012 are compatible with the principle of central bank independence. However, the 
recommendation made in Opinion CON/2012/89 was not taken into account in this respect as the above 
mentioned confirmation was neither made in the Sixth Final Provision of Law 17/2012, nor in 
Article 6 bis of Law 13/19943.  
The ECB notes that the draft resolution incorporates this recommendation in the second paragraph of 
Article 18 of the Internal Rules. However, the third paragraph of Article 18 of the Internal Rules, which 
mirrors the second sentence of Article 6 bis of Law 13/1994, establishes an absolute limit for 
remuneration changes, but does not expressly safeguard  the Banco de España’s ability to carry out its 
tasks independently. Thus, the concerns expressed  by the ECB in Opinion CON/2012/89 relating to 
Article 6 bis of Law 13/1994 are also valid with resp ect to Article 18 of the Internal Rules. The ECB 
therefore recommends an express provision in the third pa ragraph of Article 18 of the Internal Rules that 
the Banco de España will not be obliged to take  measures if these interfere with its ability to 
independently carry out its tasks. 
 4. Termination of the office of the Governor and/or Deputy Governor 4.1 The ECB welcomes the deletion of the age limit a pplicable to the term of office of the Governor 
and/or Deputy Governor from both Law 13/1994 and the draft resolution. 
4.2 The draft resolution still includes the following wo rding in the context of the grounds for dismissal 
of the Governor and the Deputy Governor: ‘due to  permanent incapacity to exercise his/her role, 
serious failure to comply with his/her obligations , professional disqualification or proceedings for a 
wilful offence’. The concerns expressed in Opinion CON/2012/89
4 relating to Article 25(4) of Law 
13/1994 are also valid with respect to Articles 42 a nd 50 of the Internal Rules, which mirror the 
Law. As consistently stated in the ECB’s converg ence reports and opinions, the statutes of national 
central banks should either contain grounds for di smissal compatible with those laid down in 
                                                 
2 See Opinion CON/2012/89, paragraph 6. All ECB opinions ar e published on the ECB's we bsite at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
3 Article 6 bis of Law 13/1994 reads as fo llows: ‘Without prejudice to its autonomy in  matters of staff policy, the Banco de 
España shall apply to its staff costs-rela ted measures equivalent to those generall y established, principally by the State 
budget laws for each year, and may not, under any circumstances, agree remuneration increases that involve an increase 
in the overall wage the limits set for such workers.’  (Unofficial translation) 
4 See Opinion CON/2012/89, paragraph 7. 
ECB-PUBLIC  
3 Article 14.2 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central 
Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statute of the ESCB’), or omit any mention of grounds for dismissal, since 
Article 14.2 is directly applicable5. Accordingly, Articles 42.3 and 50.3 of the Internal Rules should 
be aligned with Article 14.2 of the Statute of the ESCB, or the grounds for dismissal should be 
deleted. 
 This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website.    Done at Frankfurt am Main, 16 August 2013. 
 
[signed] 
 
The Vice-President of the ECB 
Vítor CONSTÂNCIO  
 
                                                 
5 See, for example, the ECB’s Convergence Report 2012, p. 24.