Opinion of the European Central Bank of 5 December 2005 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/2005/52)
Date: 2005-12-05
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Hungary, central bank, data collection, information system, national law, statistics

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 5 December 2005 

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/2005/52) 

1. 

On  11  November  2005,  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  Magyar 

Nemzeti  Bank  (MNB)  for  an  opinion  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 

(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  Regulation  No  8/2004  (XII.19)  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.  The  draft  regulation  relates  to  MNB’s  information  system,  which  collects 

statistical information necessary for its tasks.  

4. 

Article 5.2 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and of the European 

Central  Bank  provides  that  “the  national  central  banks  shall  carry  out,  to  the  extent  possible,  the 

tasks described in Article 5.1”; the tasks there referred to are those of the ESCB as defined by the 

Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community  and  the  Statute  of  the  ESCB  and  the  ECB. 

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 states that the General 

Council (in which the Governor of MNB is a member) of the ECB must contribute to the collection 

of statistical information as referred to in Article 5 of the Statute.  

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” and, more specifically, Article 4 of 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 

 
 
 
                                                      
the Council Regulation No 2533/98 on the collection of statistical information by the ECB requires 

all Member States to “organise themselves in the field of statistics … and fully co-operate in order 

to ensure the fulfilment of the obligations arising out of Article 5 of the Statute”. 

6. 

Recital 17 of Council Regulation No 2533/98 states that “while it is recognised that the statistical 

information  needed  to  fulfil  he  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. 

The  ECB  welcomes  this  initiative  to  regulate  the  collection  of  statistical  information.  The  ECB 

notes  that  the  national  central  banks’  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 national central bank draft statistical reporting provisions are mainly of a 

general nature and are intended to draw attention to those aspects that may be made more explicit 

in the consulted draft legislative proposals. 

8. 

The ECB welcomes the following main objectives of the amendments to be introduced by the draft 

regulation:  

(a) 

the introduction of obligations to supply four new types of data; and  

(b)  modification  of  certain  data  to  be  provided  in  accordance  with  Guideline  ECB/2005/4  of 

15 February  2005  amending  Guideline  ECB  2003/2  concerning  certain  statistical  reporting 

requirements of the European Central Bank and the procedures for reporting by the national 
central banks of statistical information in the field of money and banking statistics2.  

9. 

In addition, the draft regulation introduces the requirement to provide data on securities issued in 

Hungary so that MNB can contribute to a shared securities database within the ESCB for statistical 

purposes.  The  ECB  welcomes  the  requirement  for  security-by-security  reporting  in  order  to 

enhance the portfolio investment account within balance of payments and international investment 

position statistics. Such a reporting system complies 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 

payment  statistics  and  international  investment  position  statistics,  and  the  international  reserves 
template3, and in particular its time limit for implementation of 1 March 2008.  

2  
3  

OJ L 109, 29.4.2005, p. 6. 
OJ L 354, 30.11.2004, p. 34. 

2 

                                                      
10.  These amendments to be introduced by the draft regulation will improve the accuracy of statistical 

information obtained from reporting agents. They also indicate that MNB is preparing adequately 

for the Eurosystem’s requirements.  

11.  The  ECB  concludes  that  the  reporting  scheme  to  be  introduced  by  the  draft  regulation  as  far  as 

reporting agents residing in Hungary are concerned appears to comply with its statistical reporting 

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

requirements.  

12.  At  the  same  time,  the  draft  regulation  provides  that  as  an  NCB  outside  the  euro  area,  MNB  will 

assess whether any proposed detailed reporting instructions and collection methods at the national 

level  are  the  most  efficient  and  effective  and  the  least  burdensome  for  the  reporting  agents 

concerned.  

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

scheme  and  the  statistical  information  reported  to  the  ECB  for  the  fulfilment  of  its  statistical 

reporting requirements. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 5 December 2005. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

3