Opinion of the European Central Bank of 2 November 2004 at the request of Magyar Nemzeti Bank on a draft regulation on the scope of information to be supplied to the central bank’s information system and on the method and time limits for data supply (CON/2004/33)
Date: 2004-11-02
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Hungary, central bank, data collection, disclosure of information, national law, statistics

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 2 November 2004 

at the request of Magyar Nemzeti Bank 

on a draft regulation on the scope of information to be supplied to the central bank’s information 

system and on the method and time limits for data supply 

(CON/2004/33) 

1. 

On 5 October 2004, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from Magyar Nemzeti 

Bank  (MNB)  for  an  opinion  on  a  draft  regulation  on  the  scope,  method  and  time  limits  for 

information  to  be  supplied  to  the  central  bank’s  information  system  (hereinafter  the  ‘draft 

regulation’). 

2. 

The  ECB’s  competence  to  deliver  an  opinion  is  based  on  the  fourth  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  regulation  relates  to  the 

collection  of  statistical  information.  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. 

3. 

The draft regulation is intended to replace MNB Decree No 3/2003 (PK.16) on the information to 

be  supplied  to  the  central  bank’s  information  system.  The  primary  purpose  is  to  extend  to 

Hungarian branches of financial institutions and investment enterprises with headquarters outside 

Hungary the obligation to provide information to MNB. The proposed regulation relates to MNB’s 

information system, which collects the statistical information necessary for MNB to fulfil its tasks.  

4. 

Article  5.2  of  the  Statute  of  the  European  System  of  Central  Banks  and  of  the  European  Central 

Bank  provides  that  the  national  central  banks  (NCBs)  shall  carry  out,  to  the  extent  possible,  the 

tasks described in Article 5.1, i.e. the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) tasks defined by 

the Treaty establishing the European Community and the Statute. Article 43.1 of the Statute implies 

that legal instruments adopted by the ECB for the fulfilment of its statistical reporting requirements 

do not confer any rights or impose any obligations on the non-participating Member States. At the 

same time, Article 47.2 of the Statute provides that the ECB’s General Council (of which MNB’s 

Governor is a member) must contribute to the collection of statistical information as referred to in 

Article 5 of the Statute.  

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 

 
 
 
                                                      
5. 

Article  10  of  the  Treaty  requires  that  ‘Member  States  shall  take  all  appropriate  measures  ...  to 

ensure  fulfilment  of  the  obligations  arising  out  of  the  Treaty.’  More  specifically,  Article  4  of 

Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 on the collection of statistical information by the European 
Central Bank2 requires all Member States to ‘organise themselves in the field of statistics … and 

fully  cooperate  with  the  ESCB  in  order  to  ensure  the  fulfilment  of  the  obligations  arising  out  of 

Article 5 of the Statute’. 

6. 

Recital 17 of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 indicates that while it is recognised that the statistical 

information  needed  to  fulfil  the  ECB’s  statistical  reporting  requirements  is  not  the  same  for  the 

participating  as  for  the  non-participating  Member  States,  Article  5  of  the  Statute  applies  to  both 

participating and non-participating Member States; this fact, together with Article 10 of the Treaty, 

implies an obligation to design and implement at the national level all the measures that Member 

States consider appropriate in order to carry out the collection of the statistical information needed 

to  fulfil  the  ECB’s  statistical  reporting  requirements  and  the  timely  preparations  in  the  field  of 

statistics in order for them to become participating Member States. 

7. 

On  the  basis  of  the  above,  the  ECB  welcomes  MNB’s  initiative  to  adopt  a  regulation  on  the 

collection  of  statistical  information.  The  ECB  notes  that  the  NCBs’  reporting  provisions  are  an 

indispensable  component  of  the  national  statistical  collection  systems.  These  national  reporting 

provisions may differ to varying degrees between each Member State, depending on many national 

and external factors. As a result, the ECB’s comments on them are mainly of a general nature and 

intend to draw attention to aspects that may be made more explicit in the proposed draft regulation. 

8. 

The ECB welcomes the core objective of the amendments to be introduced by the draft regulation, 

which  is  to  impose  the  obligation  to  provide  information  to  MNB  on  Hungarian  branches  of 

financial  institutions  and  investment  enterprises  with  headquarters  outside  Hungary.  This  is 

essential  in  order  to  obtain  the  accurate  statistical  information  necessary  for  the  fulfilment  of 

MNB’s tasks. 

9. 

The ECB concludes that the reporting scheme intended to be introduced by the draft regulation, as 

far  as  reporting  agents  residing  in  Hungary  are  concerned,  appears  to  cover  the  ECB’s  statistical 

reporting requirements for the abovementioned institutions located in the euro area. Furthermore, 

the draft regulation appears to be complete and consistent with these requirements.  

10.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  the  task  primarily  of  the  NCBs  to  assess  whether  any  proposed  detailed 

reporting instructions and collection methods at national level are the most efficient, effective and 

the least burdensome for the reporting agents concerned.  

11.  This  opinion  does  not  prejudice  any  later  assessment  by  the  ECB  of  the  Hungarian  reporting 

scheme  and  the  statistical  information  reported  to  it  under  the  ECB’s  statistical  reporting 

requirements. 

2  

OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. 

2 

                                                      
12.  The  ECB  confirms  that  it  has  no  objection  to  the  competent  national  authorities  making  this 

opinion publicly available at their discretion. This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website 

six months after the date of its adoption. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 2 November 2004. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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