Opinion of the European Central Bank of 17 July 1998 at the request of the Banque Nationale de Belgique under Article 109f (6) of the Treaty establishing the European Community (the "Treaty") and Article 5.3 of the Statute of the EMI on draft regulations laying down the mode of enforcement of certain provisions contained in the Royal Decree of 13 April 1997 on the recording of foreign payments of the BelgiumLuxembourg Economic Union and of the current account of the Kingdom of Belgium (CON/98/28)
Date: 1998-07-17
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Belgium, Belgo-Luxembourg Economic Union, balance of payments, foreign investment, national law, statistics

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 17 July 1998

at the request of the Banque Nationale de Belgique under Article 109f (6) of the Treaty

establishing the European Community (the “Treaty”) and Article 5.3 of the Statute of the EMI

on draft regulations laying down the mode of enforcement of certain provisions contained in the

Royal Decree of 13 April 1997 on the recording of foreign payments of the Belgium-

Luxembourg Economic Union and of the current account of the Kingdom of Belgium

CON/98/28

1.  On 20 May 1998, the European Monetary Institute (hereinafter referred to as the “EMI”) received

a request from the Banque Nationale de Belgique for an opinion on  a  draft  Ministerial  Decision

(“the  draft  Ministerial  Decision”)  enacting  Regulations  of  the  Belgian  Luxembourg  Institute  of

Exchange  (“the  proposed  Regulations”)  defining  the  implementation  modalities  of  certain

provisions of the Royal Decree of 13 April 1997 regarding the recording of external payments of

the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union and the current account of the Kingdom of Belgium. 

2.  In accordance with Article 109l (2) of the Treaty, the European Central Bank (hereinafter referred

to as the “ECB”) has taken over the advisory functions of the EMI which has gone into liquidation

upon the establishment of the ECB on 1 June 1998. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion

is based on Article 1.1, third indent, of the Council Decision (93/717/EC) of 22 November 1993 on

the consultation of the EMI by the authorities of the Member States on draft legislative provisions.

3.  The main aim of the draft Ministerial Decision is to update the existing Regulations of the Belgian

Luxembourg Institute of Exchange regarding the collection of the statistical information necessary

for the production of the Balance of Payments of the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union and

the current account of Belgium.

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4.  The  ECB  welcomes  the  draft  Ministerial  Decision  since  the  definitions  and  classification

principles  given  in  the  proposed  Regulations  are  compliant  with  the  IMF  Balance  of  Payments

Manual  (5th  edition)  released  in  October  1993  and  the  harmonisation  proposals  defined  by  the

EMI.  This  relates  in  particular  to  the  residence  criterion,  the  principles  underlying  the

classification  of  the  resident  entities,  and  the  breakdown  by  instruments.  At  the  same  time,  the

ECB would put forward the following important technical points.

5.  In  Regulation  B3,  the  definitions  for  a  “paiement  avec  l’étranger”  and  for  the  “pays  de  la

contrepartie  non  résidente”  might  be  confusing.  It  is  understood  that  the  reporting  of  payments

between  residents,  which  are  neither  to  be  compiled  within  the  Balance  of  Payments  nor  in  the

International Investment Position, may be requested for checking purposes. Nonetheless, it should

be  stressed  that  the  corresponding  data  must  be  clearly  isolated  from  those  recorded  in  the

statistics (see neutral codes in Annex 1 to proposed Regulation B3).

6.  In Annex 1 of proposed regulation B3, options are included amongst Portfolio Investment, while

other  derivatives  are  recorded  in  another  chapter,  which  is  not  fully  compliant  with  the  agreed

harmonisation proposals on derivatives and might also be confusing.

7.  The  classification  of  the  Monetary  Financial  Institutions  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  “MFIs”)  is

important  not  only  due  to  their  role  in  the  Belgian  collection  system,  but  also  for  the  sectoral

breakdown  requested  for  the  quarterly  and  annual  Balance  of  Payments  and  for  the  annual

International Investment Position. The classification must comply with the List of MFIs which was

released  by  the  EMI  in  April  1998  and  will  be  regularly  updated.  The  sectoral  breakdown

(including  the  MFIs)  applies  to  Portfolio  Investment  and  Other  Investment  in  the  Financial

Account.  Moreover,  the  MU/non-MU  split  for  Direct  Investment  abroad  and  for  Portfolio

Investment (assets and liabilities) is also a major requirement for the ECB’s “monthly key items”.

The  ECB  is  pleased  to  note  that  the  economic  classification  given  in  Annex  1  to  the  proposed

Regulation  B3  appears  to  be  compliant  with  both  requirements  on  sectoral  breakdown  and

MU/non-MU split.

8.  The ECB is pleased to note that the timeliness required (proposed Regulation B1, article 5 para 7,

B2 article 4 para 1, B4 article 5, B5 article 5) is fully compliant with the deadlines described in the

EMI  report  entitled  “Statistical  Requirements  for  Stage  Three  of  Monetary  Union  –

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Implementation Package” (July 1996) for monthly, quarterly and annual Balance of Payments as

well as for the annual International Investment Position.

9.  Finally, the ECB is pleased to note that the proposed Regulation B7 allows adequate verification

and enforcement.

For the President of the ECB

[signed]

Christian Noyer
Vice-President