Opinion of the European Central Bank of 11 July 2005 at the request of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank on a draft regulation on the reporting of cross border services (CON/2005/23)
Date: 2005-07-11
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Austria, balance of payments, data collection, financial services, international investment, national law, statistics

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 11 July 2005 

at the request of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank 

on a draft regulation on the reporting of cross border services  

(CON/2005/23) 

1. 

On 27 April 2005, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Oesterreichische 

Nationalbank (OeNB) for an opinion on a draft regulation on the reporting of cross-border services 

(Entwurf einer Meldeverordnung ZABIL 1/2005 der Oesterreichische Nationalbank betreffend die 

statistische  Erfassung  des  grenzüberschreitenden  Dienstleistungsverkehrs)  (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,  compilation  and  distribution  of  monetary,  financial,  banking,  payment  systems  and 

balance of payments statistics. 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  represents  the  second  step  in  the  phased  introduction  of  a  new  reporting 

system  in  Austria  for  balance  of  payments  and  international  investment  position  statistics 

(hereinafter  ‘cross-border  statistics’),  and  reflects  a  general  change  to  a  system  that  relies 
predominantly on direct reporting by legal entities that conduct cross-border transactions2.  

4. 

In order to compile the balance of payments current account, the reporting requirements defined in 

the  draft  regulation  cover  the  services  that  reporting  agents  provide  to  or  receive  from  non-

residents.  The  collection  of  data  on  cross-border  services  of  reporting  agents  from  almost  all 

economic  sectors  is  entrusted  to  the  Bundesanstalt  StatistikÖsterreich  (Austria’s  central  statistics 

authority). Only the reports on cross-border services of legal entities in the financial sector (‘credit 

institutions’ and ‘insurance undertakings’) are directly sent to the OeNB. 

1  
2  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
ZABIL Regulation 1/2004 on balance of payments was the first step in this adjustment to the reporting system, giving 
rise to ECB Opinion CON/2004/24 of 8 July 2004 and ECB Opinion CON/2004/26 of 30 July 2004.  

 
 
 
 
                                                      
5. 

The  draft  regulation  includes  sector-specific  thresholds  that  determine  the  level  from  which 

reporting on cross-border service transactions becomes mandatory. Reporting agents are in general 

required to report data on their cross-border services on a quarterly or annual basis. 

6. 

The ECB welcomes the draft regulation, which continues the adjustment of the reporting system in 

Austria.  Whilst  reducing  the  reporting  burden  falling  on  the  banking  sector  and  financial 

intermediaries,  the  draft  regulation  should  ensure  the  quality  of  the  data  contributed  to  euro  area 

cross-border statistics. 

7. 

The ECB considers that, notwithstanding the changes proposed to the Austrian reporting system in 

the  draft  regulation,  it  is  for  the  OeNB  to  ensure  that  the  data  will  continue  to  be  collected  and 

compiled in accordance with Guideline ECB/2004/15 of 16 July 2004 on the statistical reporting 

requirements  of the European Central  Bank in the field of balance of payments and international 
investment position statistics, and the international reserves template3. In that light, notwithstanding 

the proposed changes, the ECB takes note that:  

(i) 

the  definition  of  sector-specific 

thresholds  for  statistically-relevant 

transactions 

is 

comprehensive enough to cover all statistically-relevant cross-border services so as to obtain 

sufficiently precise data for euro area cross-border statistics; and 

(ii)  while  data  on  cross-border  services  will  be  collected  on  a  quarterly  or  annual  basis,  the 

OeNB  remains  responsible  for  providing  the  ECB  with  aggregated  data  for  the  euro  area 

monthly balance of payments statistics, which meet the quality standards set out in Guideline 

ECB/2004/15.  

8. 

Both the draft regulation and Regulation ZABIL 1/2004 (Meldeverordnung der Oesterreichischen 

Nationalbank  ZABIL  1/2004)  governing  the  new  reporting  system  in  Austria  for  cross-border 

statistics,  cover  almost  all  items  of  the  current,  capital  and  financial  accounts  of  the  balance  of 

payments, and the international investment position. Nonetheless, the ECB considers that it is for 

the OeNB to ensure that the availability and quality of the data on other cross-border transactions, 

for  example  transactions  in  goods  or  current  transfers  in  all  economic  sectors,  are  in  accordance 

with Guideline ECB/2004/15. 

9. 

The  draft  regulation  provides  that  the  OeNB  shall  entrust  data  collection  to  the  Bundesanstalt 

Statistik Österreich, in this case data on cross-border services. The ECB does not object in principle 

to the OeNB outsourcing specific data collection activities, provided certain legal requirements are 
met4.  In  particular,  the  OeNB  must  retain  full  responsibility  for  all  such  activities,  including  the 

transmission of all relevant data to the ECB. Therefore, the OeNB must also be able to check that 

the ECB’s statistical reporting requirements are being fully met. As far as reporting requirements 

vis-à-vis  the  ECB  are  concerned,  any  cooperation  between  the  OeNB  and  any  other  competent 

3  
4  

OJ L 354, 30.11.2004, p. 34. 
See also ECB Opinion CON/2002/21 of 14 August 2002 at the request of the Sveriges Riksbank on a draft legislative 
proposal to amend the Sveriges Riksbank Act (1988:1385) with regard to the collection of balance-of-payments statistics 
and the liquidity criterion for securities used in monetary policy operations. 

2 

                                                      
authority in Austria is subject to the requirements laid down in Guideline ECB/2004/15. The ECB 

invites the OeNB to consult the ECB on any agreement outsourcing data collection activities that 

the OeNB concludes in this context. 

10.  Finally,  the  ECB  considers  that  Article  1(3)  of  the  draft  regulation,  which  provides  that  the  data 

collected  ‘may  only  be  used  for  statistical  purposes’,  should  not  be  understood  as  denying  the 

OeNB or the ECB access to such data, whether on the grounds of confidentiality or otherwise. In 

particular, it should not be understood as conflicting with Article 8(2) of Council Regulation (EC) 

No  2533/98  of  23 November 1998  concerning  the  collection  of  statistical  information  by  the 
European  Central  Bank5.  Pursuant  to  Article  8(2)  confidential  data  collected  under  the 

responsibility of the national central banks of the Eurosystem, once transmitted to the ECB, may be 

used  to  the  extent  and  in  the  level  of  detail  necessary  to  carry  out  European  System  of  Central 

Banks tasks.  

11.  This opinion will be published on the ECB’s website. 

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 11 July 2005. 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

5  

OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. 

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