EN ECB -PUBLIC  
OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK  
of 21 December  2022  
on the  implementation of the recommendations of the ECB convergence report concerning 
central bank independence  
(CON/20 22/45) 
Introduction and legal basis  
On 24 November 2022 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Българска народна 
банка (Bulgarian National Bank  (BNB) ), acting on behalf of the Bulgarian Minister for Finance , for an 
opinion on a draft law amending the Law on BNB and the Law on counter -corruption and unlawfully 
acquired assets forfeiture (hereinafter the ‘draft law’) . 
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 Art icle 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC1, as 
the draft law relates to BNB. 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. P
urpose of the draft law
As explained in the consultation letter, the draft law aims to address certain issues identified in th e
202
2 Convergence Report of the ECB with regard to the independence of BN B. In this respect, the
draft law proposes to amend the Law on BNB2 and the Law on counter -corruption and unlawfully
acquired assets forfeiture (hereinafter the ‘Law on counter -corruption’)3 in respect of, inter alia,  the
mat
ters set out below.
1.1 Grounds for  removal from office in case of a conflict of interest 
The draft law proposes to amend Article 80(1) of the Law on counter -corruption in order to provide 
that t he ascertainment of a conflict of interest in accordance with that Law will be a ground for 
removal from office of a senior public office holder, unless otherwise provided for in 
the Constitution, in the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European 
Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statute of the ESCB’) or in special legislation.  
1.2 The right of national courts to review a decision to dismiss  any member, other than the Governor, 
of the decision- making bodies of BNB  
The draft law aims to ensure the right of access to effective legal remedies for any  member of the 
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 Law on BNB (Закон за Българската народна банка, обн. ДВ, 46 от 10.06.1997 г.).  
3 Law on counter -corruption  and unlawfully acquired  assets  forfeiture  (Закон за противодействие на корупцията и 
за отнемане на незаконно придобитото имущество, обн. ДВ, бр. 7 от 19.01.2018 г.).  
ECB -PUBLIC  
2 Governing Council  of BNB, other than the Governor, in cases concerning their dismissal.  To this 
end the draft law proposes to introduce a new provision in Article 14 of the Law on BNB in 
accordance with which t he grounds for relieving a Deputy Governor or another member of the BNB 
Governing Council, except for the Governor, from of fice must  be established by decision of the 
BNB Governing Council . That decision is adopted according to a procedure determined by the 
Governing Council  of BNB . The decision has the immediate effect of suspending the respective 
member from the exercise of their  duties. The decision is subject to appeal before Върховния 
административен съд (the Supreme Administrative Court ) within 7 days  and that court has  14 
days to issue a final ruling on the appeal. The final ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court on 
the appeal is sent to the  national authority which  has the competence to relieve from office  the 
members of the BNB Governing Council.  
 
2. General observations  
2.1 The ECB welcomes the draft law’s efforts to achieve the required level of legal convergence as set 
out in the recommendations for Bulgaria contained in the 2022  Convergence Report of the ECB . 
2.2 The ECB notes that the compatibility of Bulgarian legislation – including the Law on BNB and the 
Law on counter -corruption – with the Treaties and the Statute of the ESCB  will be assessed in the 
ECB’s next convergence report, as required by Article 131 of the Treaty.  
 
3. Specific observations  
3.1 Grounds for removal from office in case of a conflict of interest  
3.1.1.  In accordance with Article 12 of the Law on BNB, the Governor and the three Deputy Governors 
are appointed by the National Assembly, while the other three members of BNB’s Governing 
Council are appointed by the Pres ident of the Republic. Article 14(1) of the Law on BNB provides 
that the appointing authority may remove a member of the Governing Council from office if one of 
the grounds it lists for removal from office is established. The ECB therefore understands that  the 
competence to take a decision to remove a member of BNB’s Governing Council from office is 
vested solely in the appointing authority: either the National Assembly or the President of the 
Republic. In accordance with Article 14(1) of the Law on BNB the  grounds for removal are met 
where: (i) the member no longer fulfils the conditions required for the performance of their duties or 
(ii) the member  has been found guilty of serious misconduct4. 
3.1.2.  However, the Law on counter -corruption also applies to the Governor, the Deputy Governors and 
the other members of the Governing Council of BNB  as senior public office holders5. The Law on 
counter -corruption provides that Комисия та за противодействие на корупцията и за отнемане 
на незаконно придобитото имущество (the Counter Corruption and Unlawfully Acquired Assets 
Forfeiture Commission)  may establish by means of a decision the existence of a conflict of interest 
with regard to senior public office holders6. As a consequence of such a decision7, the respective 
 
4  See paragraph 3.1 of Opinion CON/2021/2. All ECB opinions are published on EUR -Lex. 
5  Point 12 of Article 6(1) of the  Law on counter -corruption.  
6  Article 74 of the Law on counter -corruption.  
ECB -PUBLIC  
3 senior public office holder may be removed from office in accordance with Article 80(1) of the Law 
on counter -corruption. Against this background, the Law on counter -corruption establishes a 
ground for relieving from office that is in addition t o the two grounds contained in Article 14.2 of the 
Statute of the ESCB8. 
3.1.3.  Therefore, the ECB has noted in its Convergence Report that the Law on counter -corruption needs  
to be further adapted in view of the following9. According to Article 14.2 of the Sta tute of the ESCB, 
a Governor may only be relieved from office on either of the two grounds contained in that Article10. 
As regards the other members of the decision- making bodies of national central banks (NCBs), the 
same rules for the security of tenure and grounds for relieving Governors from office also apply, 
safeguarding the personal independence of those persons. The provisions of Article 14.2 of the 
Statute of the ESCB are not restricted to the security of tenure of Governors, and Article 130 of the 
Treaty and Article 7 of the Statute of the ESCB refer to ‘members of the decision -making bodies’ of 
NCBs rather than to Governors specifically. This is legally required, in particular, when a Governor 
is a ‘first among equals’ with colleagues with equivalent voting rights or where such other members 
are involved in the performance of  tasks related to the European System of Central Banks  
(ESCB)11.  
3.1.4.  Against this backdrop, the ECB understands that the intention of the proposed amendment to 
Article 80(1) of the  Law on counter -corruption is to ensure that the ascertainment of a conflict of 
interest in accordance with that Law would not be a ground for removal from office of the Governor and the other members of the Governing Council of BNB, because this would be contrary to the 
Treaty , the Statute of the ESCB  and the Law on BNB . In this regard the ECB understands  that the 
proposed reference to ‘special legislation’ in Article 80(1) of the Law on counter -corruption is to be 
understood as referring,  in particular , to Article 14(1) of the Law on BNB. The ECB further 
understands  that this reference entails that Article 80(1) of the Law on counter -corruption cannot 
apply in relation to the Governor and the other members  of the Governing Council of BNB  because 
the proposed amendment to Article 80(1) of the Law on counter -corruption  ensures  that the 
ascertainment of a conflict of interest in accordance with that Law will  not be a ground for removal 
from office of a senior public office holder  where it is otherwise provided for in special legislation , 
such as the Law on BNB . 
3.2 The right of national courts to review a decision to dismiss any member, other than the Governor, of the decision- making bodies of BNB  
3.2.1.  As noted in the ECB’s Convergence Report 2022 t he rationale of personal independence is to 
shield the members of the decision- making bodies of ESCB central banks from political 
interference when exercising the powers conferred upon them by the Treaty and the Statute  of the 
ESCB
12. Therefore, Article 130 of the Treaty, which guarantees the independence of members of 
 
7  See Chapter 8, Section VI of Law on counter -corruption, titled ‘Consequences upon Conflict of Interest 
Ascertainment’.  
8  See paragraph 3.1 of Opinion CON/2021/2.  
9  See ECB’s Convergence Report 2022 , paragraph 7.1.2.  
10  This was confirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its judgment of 26  February 2019, Rimšēvičs v 
Latvia, joined cases C -202/18 and C -238/18, EU:C:2019:139, paragraphs 88 and 89.  
11  See ECB’s Con vergence Report 2022 , paragraph 2.2.3 . 
ECB -PUBLIC  
4 the decision- making bodies of BNB, requires that they have access to effective legal remedies for 
cases concerning their dismissal, including – but not limi ted to –  compensation.  
3.2.2.  The ECB understands that the draft amendment to Article 14 of the Law on BNB aims to ensure 
that within the administrative procedure for dismiss al of any member, other than the Governor, of 
the decision- making bodies  of BNB, it is possible to request a review by national courts of the 
decision of the BNB Governing Council establishing the grounds for relieving a Deputy Governor or 
another member of the  BNB Governing Council, except for the Governor, from office. The judicial 
review of such a decision may lead to its annulment.  
3.2.3.  While in accordance with the draft law , this possibility to request judicial review does not pertain to 
the decision to dismiss the relevant member of the BNB Govern ing Council, which is adopted by 
the respective appointing authority13, the ECB understands that the decision of the BNB Governing 
Council is nevertheless an indispensable step in the procedure for the adoption of a dismissal 
decision and the appointing authority may not act in its absence. Thus, the annulment  of the 
decision of the BNB Governing Council establishing the grounds for relieving a Deputy Govern or or 
another member of the BNB Governing Council, except for the Governor, from office precludes the 
adoption of a  decision by the appointing authority to dismiss the relevant member of the BNB 
Governing Council . In addition,  the ECB understands that when deciding on the dismissal , the 
appointing authority cannot consider  and adopt  additional grounds for dismissal that  were not 
established in the decision of the BNB ’s Governing Council.  
3.2.4.  The ECB further understands that in accordance with general administrative law, an appeal before 
the Supreme Administrative Court could suspend the application of the decision of the BNB 
Governing Council14. 
3.2.5.  Based on the above understanding of the prop osed amen dment  to Article 14 of the Law on BNB, 
the ECB has no further comments regarding this provision.  
 
This opinion will b e published on EUR -Lex. 
 
 
Done at Frankfurt am Main, 21 December 2022.  
 
[signed]  
 The President of the ECB  
Christine  LAGARDE  
 
12  See ECB’s Convergence Report 2022, paragraph 7.1.2.  
13  See paragraph 3.1.1. above.  
14  Article  166(4) of the Code of Administrative Procedure (Административнопроцесуален кодекс, обн. ДВ, бр. 30 от 
11 Април 2006 г. ).