Opinion of the European Central Bank of 1 February 2008 at the request of the Portuguese Parliament on a draft law on the principles, rules and structure of the National Statistical System (CON/2008/6)
Date: 2008-02-01
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Portugal, central bank, national law, statistics

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 1 February 2008 

at the request of the Portuguese Parliament 

on a draft law on the principles, rules and structure of the National Statistical System 

(CON/2008/6) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  26  November  2007  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the  Parliamentary 

Commission for Budget and Finance for an opinion on a draft law on the principles, rules and structure of 

the National Statistical System (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 on the third and fourth indents 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  and  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. 

1.  

Purpose of the draft law 

1.1  The  draft  law  introduces  substantial  changes  to  the  current  legal  framework  of  the  National 

Statistical  System  (NSS)  and  of  the  National  Statistical  Institute  (INE).  The  Banco  de  Portugal, 

whose role in the statistical field is reinforced by the draft law, is formally incorporated in the NSS 

structure  and,  as  such,  is  designated  as  a  statistical  authority.  It  is  also  entitled  to  have  a 

representative in the Higher Statistical Council, whose composition and powers are revised. 

1.2  Furthermore,  the  new  draft  law  fully  endorses  the  Fundamental  Principles  of  Official  Statistics 

adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission, namely by regulating in Chapter II aspects 

such as technical independence, quality, access to official statistics and individual data protection. 

The  guidelines  contained  in  the  European  Statistics  Code  of  Practice  were  also  adopted  and 

reflected in the fundamental principles of the NSS. With regard to statistical secrecy, the draft law 

regulates  the  circumstances  in  which  access  to  individual  statistical  data  can  be  granted  for 

scientific purposes (Article 6(7) and (8)). 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
2. 

General observations  

2.1  Ensuring effective co-operation between the national central bank, as a producer of statistics, and 

other  statistical  authorities  is  very  important  for  the  quality  and  cost-effectiveness  of  statistics. 

Depending  on  national  circumstances  and  choices,  this  aim  can  be  pursued  through  different 

institutional  settings.  Whatever  the  general  setting,  the  specific  arrangements  should  aim  to 

optimise the reliability and efficiency of the statistical production process, while preserving in all 

respects the independence of the central bank. 

2.2  A  significant  feature  of  the  draft  law  refers  to  the  recognition  of  the  Banco  de  Portugal  as  a 

statistical  authority  (Article  3(1)(c)).  Although  the  statistical  responsibilities  of  the  Banco  de 

Portugal have always been established by its Organic Law, there was no such explicit recognition 

of this function in the Law on the national statistical system. Furthermore, Articles 19 and 20 of the 

draft law are fully in line with the Organic Law, so that both legal acts are consistent with national 

practice,  according  to  which  the  Banco  de  Portugal  has  always  been  the  national  producer  of 

official  statistics  in  the  fields  of  monetary,  financial,  foreign  exchange  and  balance  of  payments 

statistics. The ECB also notes that Article 20 expressly states that the participation of the Banco de 

Portugal  in  the  NSS  shall  not  prejudice  the  guarantees  of  independence  deriving  from  its 

participation  in  the  European  System  of  Central  Banks  (ESCB),  in  particular,  with  regard  to  the 

performance of its duty to collaborate with the ECB on statistical matters. 

2.3  The  new  structure  of  the  Higher  Statistical  Council  now  ensures  a  more  accurate  and  up  to  date 

representation of the producers and users of official statistics (Article 10). This new structure will 

permit the definition of a coordinated and efficient national statistical working plan, including the 

efficient  allocation  of  tasks  on  the  execution  of  statistical  operations;  adoption  of  common 

methodology, concepts and nomenclature (Article 13); and sharing of lists of statistical units and of 

administrative data (Article 8). The new structure of the NSS relies on and promotes coordination 

between statistical authorities (Article 9), in particular between the Banco de Portugal and the INE 

(Article 21). The Banco de Portugal and the INE are party to several agreements for the purpose of 

statistical  production,  e.g.,  financial  and  non-financial  accounts;  government  finance  statistics; 

surveys  of  tourism  expenditure  and  cross-border  movements;  and  the  simplified  corporate 

information  project.  This  is  again  the  case  where  the  new  legal  text  formalises  a  practice  that  is 

already being followed by the producers of official statistics. 

2.4  The  ECB  welcomes  the  new  draft  law  as  it  clarifies  the  division  of  responsibilities  between  the 

various  statistical  authorities  and  formalises  current  best  practices.  The  draft  law  will  make  the 

Portuguese statistical system more integrated and coordinated and will have a positive impact, both 

in terms of the quality of official statistics and with regard to cost savings. The ECB also welcomes 

that this system is more operationally effective and consequently more capable of responding to the 

existing  and  foreseeable  future  needs  for  official  statistical  data  at  both  national  and  Community 

level. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 1 February 2008. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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