Opinion of the European Central Bank of 20 December 1999 at the request of the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance on a draft law amending the Decree of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, as amended on 10 November 1944, relating to exchange control (CON/99/22)
Date: 2000-12-20
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Luxembourg, balance of payments, international investment, national law, statistics

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 20 December 1999

at the request of the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance

on a draft law amending the Decree of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg,

as amended on 10 November 1944, relating to exchange control

(CON/99/22)

1. 

On  30 November  1999  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the

Luxembourg Ministry of Finance for an ECB Opinion on a draft law amending the Decree of

the  Grand  Duchy  of  Luxembourg,  as  amended  on  10  November  1944,  relating  to  exchange

control.

2. 

The  ECB’s  competence  to  deliver  an  opinion  is  based  on  Article 105 (4)  of  the  Treaty

establishing  the  European  Community  and  Article 2 (1),  in  particular  the  third  and  fourth

indents,  of  Council  Decision  (EC)  No. 98/415  of  29 June  1998  on  the  consultation  of  the

European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions, as the draft

law  deals  with  the  national  central  banks  and  the  collection,  compilation  and  distribution  of

balance  of  payments  and  international  investment  position  (“position  extérieure  globale”)

statistics.  In  accordance  with  Article 17.5,  first  sentence,  of  the  Rules  of  Procedure  of  the

European Central Bank, this ECB Opinion has been adopted by the Governing Council of the

ECB.  This  ECB  Opinion  is  based  on  an  unofficial  English  translation  of  the  official  French

proposal.

3. 

The  ECB  notes  that  the  purpose  of  the  draft  law  is  to  prepare  the  legal  framework  for  the

transfer  of  statistical  powers  in  the  area  of  balance  of  payments  and  international  investment

position  statistics  from  the  Institut  belgo-luxembourgeois  du  change  (IBLC)  to  the  Banque

centrale  du  Luxembourg  (BCL)  and  the  Service  central  de  la  statistique  et  des  études

économiques (STATEC) and to specify the division of responsibilities between the BCL and the

STATEC, both of which will finally take effect on 1 January 2002. The draft law takes account

of the situation created by the transition to Stage Three of Economic and Monetary Union and

of the end of the monetary association between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Belgium.

2

4. 

The  ECB  welcomes  the  draft  law.  The  proposed  amendments  are  in  line  with  Article 4  of

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No.  2533/98  of  23  November  1998  concerning  the  collection  of

statistical  information  by  the  European  Central  Bank,  which  requires  the  Member  States  to

organise themselves in the field of statistics and to co-operate fully with the European System of

Central  Banks  (ESCB)  in  order  to  ensure  the  fulfilment  of  the  obligations  arising  out  of

Article 5 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central

Bank.  The  proposed  amendments  are  also  fully  in  line  with  the  spirit  of  the  ECB

Recommendation of 1 December 1998 on the statistical reporting requirements of the European

Central Bank in the field of balance of payments and international investment position statistics,

which,  inter  alia,  requests  the  IBLC  to  establish  with  the  BCL  the  appropriate  modalities  of

statistical co-operation to ensure a permanent structure of data transmission aimed at fulfilling

the statistical requirements of the ECB. 

5. 

In particular, the ECB welcomes the fact that the BCL, as part of the competences that it will

share with the STATEC, will not only be fully involved in the compilation of all the balance of

payments and international investment position statistics, but also in the setting-up of both the

data  collection  system  and  the  related  methodology,  concepts  and  definitions.  In  principle,

compliance  with  the  statistical  requirements  of  the  ECB  is  thus  ensured.  The  ECB  also

welcomes  the  proposal  to  establish  a  common  database  on  the  balance  of  payments  and  the

international investment position at the BCL and the fact that the BCL will have the right to use

not only data collected by itself or by the STATEC, but also data which are collected by other

competent national administrative bodies or public institutions.

6. 

The ECB notes that the procedures for implementing the draft law, in particular in the area of

the collection, verification and management of data, will be subject to an agreement between the

BCL  and  the  STATEC. The  ECB  is  of the  opinion that  the  agreement  needs  to  provide  for  a

legal  mechanism  which  would  allow  any  amendment  to  the  existing  internal  statistical  legal

framework  of  the  ESCB  in  the  area  of  balance  of  payments  and  international  investment

position  statistics  automatically  to  become  part  of  the  agreement,  insofar  as  this  is  deemed

necessary,  without  the  need for  a  new  agreement  between  the  BCL  and  the  STATEC.  At  the

same  time,  provision  must  be  made  to  ensure  that  the  agreement  does  not  put  the  BCL  in  a

position  which  makes  it  legally  impossible  for  the  BCL  to  comply  with  any  future  ECB

Regulation in the area of balance of payments and international investment position statistics.

3

7. 

The ECB welcomes the fact that the draft law empowers the BCL and the STATEC to start to

implement the provisions of the draft law before the IBLC ceases to carry out its tasks, in order

to make early preparation for the cessation of these activities.

8. 

The  ECB  confirms  that  it  has  no  objection  to  this  ECB  Opinion  being  made  public  by  the

competent national authorities at their discretion.

Done at Frankfurt am Main on 20 December 1999.

The Vice President of the ECB

[signed]

C. Noyer