Opinion of the European Central Bank of 9 July 2008 at the request of the Bulgarian Prime Minister on a draft law amending the Law on statistics (CON/2008/29)
Date: 2008-07-09
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Bulgaria, disclosure of information, national law, statistics

EN 

 OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 9 July 2008 

at the request of the Bulgarian Prime Minister on a draft law amending the Law on statistics  

(CON/2008/29) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 17 June 2008 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Bulgarian Prime Minister 

for an opinion on a draft law amending the Law on statistics (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  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 law relates to the collection, compilation and distribution of 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 

The purpose of the draft law is to provide a clear legal framework for the implementation of the functions 

and tasks of the National Statistical System  as a part of the European Statistical System. Primarily, the 

draft law sets out of the conditions under which the National Statistical Institute (NSI) and the statistics 

bodies are to fulfil their obligations under the annual European statistical programmes. It strengthens the 

requirements  to  protect  statistical  confidentiality,  regulates  the  voluntary  and  mandatory  use  of 

administrative  sources  for  the  production  of  official  statistical  information,  specifies  the  relationships 

between  the  NSI  and  the  statistical  bodies,  and  implements  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  European 

Statistical Code of Practice. 

2. 

General observations  

2.1    The ECB welcomes the draft law which will optimise the reliability and efficiency of the statistical 

production process.  

2.2   

In  that  regard,  it  should  be  emphasised  that  ensuring  effective  cooperation  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 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
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 bank2. 

2.3    Moreover,  the  ECB  notes  that  Article  4(5)  of  the  Law  on  statistics  provides  that  the  NSI  will 

collaborate  closely  with  Българска  народна  банка  (Bulgarian  National  Bank)  by  exchange  of 

individual data for statistical purposes provided it is necessary for the development, production and 

dissemination  of  official  national  or  European  statistical  information  or  statistical  information  of 

the  ECB.  Following  this  principle  of  effective  cooperation,  the  ECB  suggests  clarifying  in 

Article 30(1)  that  the  Българска  народна  банка  (Bulgarian  National  Bank) has  access  to 

the registers mentioned in this Article. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 9 July 2008. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

2  

See  ECB  Opinion  CON/2008/6  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. 

2