Opinion of the European Central Bank of 13 September 2006 at the request of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade on an amendment to the Law on Česká národní banka (CON/2006/47)
Date: 2006-09-13
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Czechia, central bank, consumer protection, financial stability, financial supervision, national law

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 13 September 2006 

at the request of the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade 

on an amendment to the Law on Česká národní banka 

(CON/2006/47) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  18  August  2006  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the  Czech  Ministry  of 

Industry and Trade for an opinion on an amendment to the Law on Česká národní banka (hereinafter the 

‘draft  amendment’),  which  forms  part  of  the  broader  draft  Government  law  amending  certain  laws  in 

connection  with  Regulation  (EC)  No  2006/2004  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on 

consumer protection cooperation and the Law on general product safety (hereinafter the ‘draft law’). 

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

European Community and the third 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 law relates to a national central bank (NCB). 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. 

1.  

Purpose of the draft law 

The purpose of the draft law is to lay down the conditions necessary to ensure the full application in the 

Czech  Republic  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  2006/2004  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on 

cooperation  between  national  authorities  responsible  for  the  enforcement  of  consumer  protection  laws 
(the  Regulation  on  consumer  protection  cooperation)2.  The  consumer  protection  laws  covered  by 

Regulation  (EC)  No  2006/2004  include  Directive  2002/65/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 

Council  of  23  September  2002  concerning  the  distance  marketing  of  consumer  financial  services  and 
amending Council Directive 90/619/EEC and Directives 97/7/EC and 98/27/EC3, as transposed into the 

national  legal  order  of  the Member  States.  In  the  Czech  Republic,  however,  Directive  2002/65/EC  was 

largely  transposed  into  Czech  law  through  amendments  to  the  provisions  on  consumer  contracts  in  the 

1  
2  
3  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
OJ L 364, 9.12.2004, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Directive 2005/29/EC (OJ L 149, 11.6.2005, p. 22). 
OJ L 271, 9.10.2002, p. 16. Directive as amended by Directive 2005/29/EC. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
Civil Code4 without explicitly designating an authority responsible for the enforcement of such consumer 

protection-provisions, as required under Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004. 

In  order  to  ensure  the  application  of  the  Regulation  in  this  area,  the  draft  amendment:  (i)  expressly 

entrusts  Česká  národní  banka  (ČNB)  with  the  task  of  supervising  compliance  with  the  obligations  set 
forth in the Civil Code concerning distance contracts on financial services5 by entities that are subject to 
ČNB’s  supervision6;  (ii)  establishes  ČNB’s  competence  to  act  under  the  Regulation  in  cases  of  cross-

border  cooperation;  and  (iii)  authorises  ČNB  to  prohibit  the  supervised  entities  from  continuing  to 

commit  infringements  of  collective  interests  of  consumers  on  the  territory  of  a  Member  State  of  the 

European Communities or in another state forming part of the European Economic Area. 

2. 

General observations 

2.1  The new tasks entrusted to ČNB under the draft amendment are not listed among the functions of 

the NCBs specified in the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European 

Central Bank. However, without prejudice to the Governing Council’s powers under Article 14.4 of 

the Statute, the ECB does not consider that these new tasks would interfere with the objectives and 
tasks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB)7. It should also be noted that pursuant to 

Article 14.4 of the Statute, these new tasks would have to be performed on the responsibility and 

liability of ČNB, and would not be regarded as being part of the ESCB’s functions. 

2.2 

In  general  terms,  the  ECB  considers  that  the  allocation  of  consumer  protection-related  tasks  to 

ČNB under the draft amendment might helpfully complement ČNB’s existing supervisory powers, 

since  following  the  recent  integration  of  financial  market  supervision  in  the  Czech  Republic,  the 

majority of entities that normally conclude distance contracts on financial services with consumers 

are already subject to ČNB’s prudential supervision. The ECB is therefore of the view that ČNB’s 

new  consumer  protection-related  tasks  might  contribute  to  the  preservation  of  confidence  in  the 

marketplace. 

3. 

Specific observations 

Financial implications for ČNB 

The ECB notes that ČNB will be required to commit additional resources, both human and financial, to 

carrying out the tasks referred to in paragraph 1 above. In this context, the ECB would like to emphasise 

that  ‘Member  States  may  not  put  their  NCBs  in  a  position  where  they  do  not  have  sufficient  financial 

4 
5 

6 

7 

See Articles 54a – 54d, Section Five of the Law No 40/1964 Coll., Civil Code, as amended. 
These  obligations  include  obligations  to  provide  consumers,  well  in  advance  before  concluding  a  distance  contract  on 
financial  services,  with  certain  specific  information  on:  (i)  the  supplier;  (ii)  the  financial  service  provided;  (iii)  the 
distance  contract  on  financial  services,  in  particular  as  regards  the  possibility  of  withdrawing  from  the  contract;  and 
(iv) on possible remedies in cases of breach of the obligations under the distance contract on financial services. 
Pursuant to Article 44 of the Law No 6/1993 Coll., on Česká národní banka, as amended, these entities include banks, 
cooperative banks, electronic money institutions, capital market entities, insurance corporations and pension funds. 
See also ECB Opinion CON/2006/38 of 25 July 2006 at the request of the Bank of Greece on a draft provision on the 
Bank of Greece’s powers in the field of consumer protection. 

2 

 
 
                                                 
resources  to  carry  out  their  ESCB-  or  Eurosystem-related  tasks,  as  applicable.’8.  Therefore,  the  Czech 

Republic  will  need  to  ensure  that  the  performance  of  these  additional  tasks  will  not  affect  ČNB’s 

operational capacity to carry out ESCB-related tasks. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 13 September 2006. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

8  

See the ECB’s Convergence Report of May 2006, p. 65. 

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