Recommendation for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (ECB/2008/9)
Date: 2008-09-15
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: EU statistics, European Central Bank, European System of Central Banks, confidentiality, data collection, exchange of information, financial statistics, statistical method

3.10.2008

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Official Journal of the European Union

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I

(Resolutions, recommendations and opinions)

RECOMMENDATIONS

EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Recommendation for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the
collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank

(ECB/2008/9)

(2008/C 251/01)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. INTRODUCTION

statistical

On 23 November 1998, the Council of the European Union
adopted Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection
of
information by the European Central Bank
(ECB) (1). A number of amendments should now be considered
to maintain Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 as an effective instru-
ment to carry out the statistical information collection tasks of
the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).

the Treaty establishing the
In line with Article 107(6) of
European Community,
the ECB previously submitted to the
Council its Recommendation ECB/1998/10 for a Council Regu-
lation (EC) concerning the collection of statistical information
by the European Central Bank (2). It is therefore appropriate to
follow the same procedure to introduce the proposed amend-
ments to Regulation (EC) No 2533/98.

2. COMMENTS ON THE ARTICLES

Article 1

General reference to the ESCB tasks

Article 5.4 of the Statute of the European System of Central
Banks and the European Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘ESCB
Statute’) provides that the Council defines the natural and legal
persons subject to reporting requirements. Article 5.1 of the
ESCB Statute and Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98
information
provide that the ECB may collect the statistical
necessary to carry out the tasks of the ESCB. Article 2(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 identifies the reference reporting
population from which the ECB collects that statistical informa-
tion and lists specific statistical purposes for which the informa-
tion may be collected. However, data are increasingly collected

(1) OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8.
(2) OJ C 246, 6.8.1998, p. 12.

only once and serve multiple statistical purposes, in order to
minimise the reporting burden. As a consequence, a one-to-one
link between the reference reporting population and specific
types of statistics has become ineffective and these provisions
need to be amended.

Notwithstanding this general reference to the ESCB tasks, the
ECB recommends providing an indicative list of the statistical
purposes for which statistics may be collected from the refer-
ence reporting population. These would include the following:

— ‘monetary and financial statistics’: this term is more appro-
priate than the currently used ‘money and banking statistics’,
in view of
financial markets and the
the integration of
increasing complexity of financial instruments,

— ‘payment and payment systems statistics’: replacing ‘payment
systems statistics’ in order to clarify that the purposes for
which statistics may be collected cover payment data as part
of payment systems statistics. Article 105(2) of the Treaty
gives the ESCB a mandate to promote the smooth operation
of payment systems. In this context, comprehensive infor-
mation on both the payments
infrastructures and the
payments carried out via these infrastructures are necessary
for ECB policy-making,
these
market infrastructures,

including the oversight of

— ‘balance of payments and international investment position

statistics’,

— ‘financial stability statistics’: as Article 105(5) of the Treaty
provides that the ESCB contributes to the smooth conduct
of policies pursued by the competent authorities relating to
the prudential supervision of credit
institutions and the
stability of the financial system, this may require the collec-
tion of macro-prudential statistical data.

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Adjustment of the reference reporting population

institutions,

the ECB requires comparable,

The financial markets are becoming increasingly complex, with
steadily growing interlinkages between the financial transactions
and balance sheet positions of different types of financial inter-
mediaries, such as monetary financial
insurance
corporations and financial vehicle corporations. In turn, this
frequent and
may imply that
timely statistics for these subsectors, so that it can continue to
carry out its tasks. Therefore, the ECB should be able to collect
the necessary statistical information if the merits of doing so
this information is not already
outweigh the costs and if
collected by other bodies. As a consequence,
the reference
reporting population must now comprise the financial corpora-
tions sector as a whole. In particular, this must include insur-
ance corporations and pension funds (ICPF), which represent
the second largest financial corporations' sub-sector in the euro
area in terms of financial assets. In addition, the growing aware-
ness of the financial
implications of longevity as well as the
general move towards funded pension schemes are likely to
substantially increase the importance of the ICPF sub-sector for
ECB policy-making. Related to this, these institutions are mana-
ging their portfolios much more actively than in the past, which
further increases their relevance for monetary policy.

In addition, financial auxiliaries play an important role in the
financial markets and in their interactions with other financial
sub-sectors. Therefore, it is important to be able to also collect
statistics from these institutions if deemed necessary.

in view of

the forthcoming amendment

Finally,
to Council
Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European
system of national and regional accounts in the Community (3),
this Regulation could make a dynamic reference to it.

Transitional arrangements to become permanent

The reporting of positions across euro area countries and of the
related transactions should be allowed on a permanent basis.
This is necessary for the compilation of high-quality balance of
payments and financial accounts for the euro area. The current
legal framework set up this reporting for a transitory period
during the early years of the single currency. However, experi-
ence shows that such a reporting remains indispensable to over-
come constraints in the data collection systems and to minimise
the reporting burden.

Statistical principles

Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 should refer to the statistical prin-
ciples that govern the development, production and dissemina-
tion of statistics to carry out the ESCB tasks. Both Article 5 of
the ESCB Statute and Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 are currently
silent on statistical principles, while Article 285(2) of the Treaty,
which governs the statistics of the European Statistical System

(3) OJ L 310, 30.11.1996, p. 1.

(ESS), explicitly sets out the principles that govern the produc-
tion of Community statistics (4). Including the ESCB's statistical
principles in Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 would clarify that the
ESCB's statistical activities are governed by these principles. It
would also underline that the European statistical community
shares the same fundamental convictions, although it is orga-
nised on the basis of two parallel systems and governance struc-
tures.

Confidentiality regime

Exchange of confidential information within the ESCB

In order to minimise the reporting burden and to collect data
only once, as well as to ensure the high quality of the statistics
produced and the proper performance of the ESCB tasks, there
is a need to extend the exchange of confidential statistical infor-
mation within the ESCB. Furthermore, legal clarity is required
for the transmission of confidential
information between the
ECB and the national central banks (NCBs) and between NCBs.
To this end, such a transmission of confidential statistical infor-
the ESCB Statute
mation collected pursuant to Article 5 of
should be made possible, provided that it is necessary to carry
out the ESCB tasks or for the efficient development, production
or dissemination of statistics, or for increasing their quality. For
the same reason, already available information should be used
to the maximum extent, regardless of the purpose for which it
was originally collected, while safeguarding its confidentiality if
so required. In fact, information becomes statistical information
if it is used for the compilation of statistics, irrespective of the
purpose for which it was originally collected.

Exchange of confidential information between the ESCB and the ESS

An extended exchange of confidential information between the
ESCB and the ESS is necessary to minimise the reporting
burden or for the efficient development, production or dissemi-
nation of European statistics, or for increasing their quality.
Such exchange must be organised so as to maintain reporting
agents' confidence in the protection of confidential information.
Mirroring provisions enabling such exchange of confidential
information between the ESS and the ESCB should be embedded
in both Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 and the proposed Regu-
lation on European Statistics. The following guiding principles
should apply:

1. the exchange of confidential data between the ESCB and the
ESS may take place if necessary to minimise the reporting
burden or for the efficient development, production or disse-
mination of European statistics or
increasing their
quality;

for

2. the exchange of confidential data between the ESCB and the
ESS should take place for statistical purposes only: that is,
exclusively for the compilation of statistics in their respective
spheres of competence;

(4) ‘Community statistics’ form part of ‘European statistics’ referred to in

the recitals to Regulation (EC) No [XX] on European Statistics.

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3. confidential data exchanged need to be protected from

unlawful disclosure;

4. the ESCB and the ESS should inform reporting agents that

they may exchange confidential data;

5. for the sake of clarity, uniform confidentiality protection
measures should be applied to the exchange of confi-
dential data between the ESCB and the ESS. These
protection measures are laid down in Article 19 of Regu-
lation (EC) No [XX] on European Statistics.

The proposed legal framework does not affect any agreements
at national level on the exchange of confidential statistical infor-
mation other than information covered in this recommendation.

the corre-
The new confidentiality regime aims to mirror
sponding
ECB Opinion
CON/2007/35 of 14 November 2007 at the request of the
Council of the European Union on a proposal for a regulation

provisions

forward

put

in

of the European Parliament and of the Council on European
Statistics (5), so that the same transmission mechanism is used
for the transfer of data from the ESS to the ESCB and for the
transfer of data from the ESCB to the ESS.

Access to non-directly identifiable confidential statistical
for research purposes

information

information which does not
Access to confidential statistical
allow direct identification is increasingly required for research
purposes, for example to analyse and understand the develop-
ments within sectors and across countries. Currently, the legal
framework provides for mainly decentralised access of scientific
research bodies to such statistical
information at the national
level. Therefore, this must be supplemented by an appropriate
legal
the ESCB level, which allows scientific
research bodies to be granted access to such information, while
maintaining strict confidentiality safeguards.

framework at

Recommendation for a:

amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the
European Central Bank

‘COUNCIL REGULATION

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(2)

Having regard to the Statute of the European System of Central
the
Banks and of
“Statute”), and in particular to Article 5.4 thereof,

the European Central Bank (hereinafter

Having regard to the recommendation of the European Central
Bank (ECB),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Commission,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No [XX] of the European
Parliament and of the Council on European Statistics,

Acting in accordance with the procedure
laid down in
Article 107(6) of the Treaty establishing the European Com-
munity and in Article 42 of the Statute,

Whereas:

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November
1998 concerning the collection of statistical information
by the European Central Bank (1) is a key component in
the legal framework supporting the statistical information
collection tasks of
the ECB assisted by the national
central banks. The ECB has consistently relied on it to
carry out and monitor the coordinated collection of
statistical information necessary to undertake the tasks of
the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).

(3)

(4)

In order to maintain Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 as an
effective instrument for the ECB to carry out the statis-
tical
information collection tasks of the ESCB and to
guarantee the continued availability to the ECB of statis-
information of the necessary quality and covering
tical
the entire range of tasks of the ESCB it is essential to
review the scope of the reporting requirements that this
Regulation imposes. In this context, attention needs to be
paid not only to the performance of the tasks of the
ESCB and to its independence, but also to the statistical
principles provided in this Regulation.

the statistical

It is necessary to amend Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 to
enable the ECB to collect
information
needed to undertake the ESCB's tasks conferred by the
Statute. In line with this, the purposes for which statis-
tical information may be collected need also to include
the
statistics
required for the performance of the ESCB's tasks under
Article 105(5) of the Treaty.

the macro-prudential

compilation of

less

apparent

The scope of the reporting requirements necessary for
the performance of the ESCB tasks should also take into
account structural financial markets developments and
information requirements that
address related statistical
were
time Regulation (EC)
the
at
No 2533/98 was adopted. For that reason, it is necessary
to allow the collection of statistical information from the
entire sector of financial corporations, and in particular
from the insurance corporations and pension funds,
which represent the second largest sub-sector of financial
corporations in the euro area in terms of financial assets.

(1) OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8.

(5) OJ C 291, 5.12.2007, p. 1.

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(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

to allow for

In order
the continued compilation of
balance of payments statistics of sufficient quality, it is
necessary to clarify the reporting requirements imposed
in connection with data on all positions and transactions
between the residents of participating Member States.

Researchers increasingly require access to confidential
statistical information which does not allow direct identi-
fication to analyse and understand developments within
sectors and across countries. Therefore, it is important to
allow the ECB and the NCBs to grant
to scientific
research bodies access to such detailed statistical informa-
tion at the ESCB level, while maintaining strict confiden-
tiality safeguards.

To minimise the reporting burden on reporting agents
and to enable the efficient development, production and
dissemination of high-quality statistics, and the proper
performance of the ESCB tasks, it is necessary to allow
the maximum use of existing information to compile
statistics, including an exchange of confidential statistical
information within the ESCB.

Furthermore, it is important to ensure close cooperation
between the ESCB and the European Statistical System
(ESS), notably to foster exchange of confidential data
between the two systems for statistical purposes, in the
light of Article 285 of the Treaty and Article 5 of the
Statute.

European Statistics are and will be developed, produced
and disseminated by both the ESCB and the ESS but
under separate legal frameworks reflecting their respec-
tive governance structures. This Regulation should there-
fore apply without prejudice to Regulation (EC) No [XX],

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 is amended as follows:

ments including in the area of monetary and financial
statistics, payments and payment systems statistics, finan-
cial stability statistics, balance of payments and interna-
tional investment position statistics.”;

(b) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

To the extent that the statistical information to be
“2.
provided is necessary to fulfil
statistical
reporting requirements, the reference reporting popula-
tion shall comprise the following reporting agents:

the ECB's

(a) legal and natural persons residing in a Member State
and falling within the sector “financial corporations”
as defined in the ESA 95;

(b) post office giro institutions;

(c) legal and natural persons residing in a Member State,
to the extent that they hold cross-border positions or
have carried out cross-border transactions;

(d) legal and natural persons residing in a Member State,
to the extent that they have issued securities or elec-
tronic money;

(e) legal and natural persons residing in a participating
Member State, to the extent that they hold financial
positions vis-à-vis
residents of other participating
Member States or have carried out financial transac-
tions with residents of other participating Member
States.”;

3. Article 3 is amended as follows:

(a) the following sentence is added at the start:

“The principles of impartiality, objectivity, professional
independence, cost-effectiveness, statistical confidentiality,
alongside the principles of minimisation of reporting
burden and high output quality shall govern the develop-
ment, production and dissemination of statistics by the
ESCB.”;

(b) paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

“(a) shall use existing statistics as far as possible.”;

1. Article 1(4) is amended as follows: the words “in Annex A;”
are replaced by the words “in Council Regulation (EC)
No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European system of
national and regional accounts in the Community;”;

4. Article 8 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

2. Article 2 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

“2. Without prejudice to Article 20 of Regulation (EC)
No [XX],

For the fulfilment of the ECB's statistical reporting
“1.
requirements, the ECB, assisted by the national central
banks in accordance with Article 5.2 of the Statute, shall
have the right to collect statistical
information for the
development, production and dissemination of European
the reference reporting
Statistics within the limits of
population and of what is necessary to carry out the
tasks of the ESCB.
information may be
In particular,
collected to fulfil the ECB's statistical reporting require-

(a) transmission within the ESCB of confidential statis-
tical information that has been collected pursuant to
Article 5 of the Statute shall take place: (i) to the
extent and at the level of detail necessary for the
performance of
the ESCB under
Article 105 of the Treaty; or (ii) provided that such
transmission is necessary for the efficient develop-
ment, production or dissemination of statistics under
Article 5 of
increasing their
quality;

the Statute or

tasks of

the

for

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(b) the Governing Council may decide on the collection
and transmission, to the extent and level of detail
necessary, within the ESCB of confidential informa-
than
tion originally collected for purposes other
those of Article 5 of the Statute, provided that this is
necessary for the efficient development or produc-
tion of statistics or for increasing their quality and
that these statistics are necessary for the performance
of the tasks of the ESCB under Article 105 of the
Treaty.”;

(b) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

“3. Without prejudice to Regulation (EC) No [XX],
reporting agents shall be informed of the statistical and
other, administrative, uses, to which statistical informa-
tion provided by them may be put. Reporting agents
shall have the right to obtain information on the legal
basis for the transmission and the protective measures
adopted.”;

(c) paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

“4. Without prejudice to paragraph 12 of this Article,
information
the ESCB shall use confidential statistical
transmitted to it exclusively for the exercise of the tasks
of
the following circum-
stances:

the ESCB except in any of

(a) if

the reporting agent or the other legal person,
natural person, entity or branch which can be identi-
fied, has explicitly given its consent to the use of the
said statistical information for other purposes;

(b) for transmission to the members of the European
in accordance with para-

Statistical System (ESS)
graph 11;

(c) for granting scientific research bodies access to confi-
dential statistical information which does not allow
identification, and with the prior explicit
direct
consent of the authority which provided the informa-
tion;

(d) as regards NCBs, if the said statistical information is
used in the field of prudential supervision or for the
exercise of functions other than those specified in
the Statute, in accordance with Article 14.4 of the
Statute.”;

(d) paragraph 5 is replaced by the following:

statistical

Confidential

“5.
be
exchanged within the ESCB in order to grant scientific
research bodies access to such information, in accordance
with paragraphs 3 and 4(c) of this Article.”;

information may

regard to the processing of personal data by the Com-
munity institutions and bodies and of the free movement
of such data (*).

(*) OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.”;

(f) in paragraph 9, the two last sentences are replaced by

the following sentence:

“The ECB shall define common rules and implement
minimum standards to prevent unlawful disclosure and
unauthorised use of data transmitted under paragraphs 1
and 2.”;

(g) the following paragraphs 11 to 13 are added:

“11. Without prejudice to national provisions on the
exchange of confidential statistical
information other
than information covered in this Regulation, the trans-
mission of confidential statistical information between an
ESCB member that collected the information and an
ESS authority may take place provided that this transmis-
sion is necessary for the efficient development, produc-
tion or dissemination or for increasing the quality of
European Statistics within the respective spheres of
competence of the ESS and the ESCB. Any transmission
beyond the
explicitly
authorised by the ESCB member that collected the infor-
mation.

transmission must be

first

12.
If confidential data are transmitted between an
ESS authority and an ESCB member, these data shall be
used exclusively for statistical purposes and only be
accessible to staff working in statistical activities within
their specific domain of work.

13.
The protection measures referred to in Article 19
of Regulation (EC) No [XX] shall apply to all confidential
data transmitted between an ESS authority and an ESCB
member pursuant to paragraphs 11 and 12 above, and
to Article 20(1a) of Regulation (EC) No [XX]. The ECB
shall publish an annual confidentiality report on the
measures adopted to safeguard the confidentiality of the
statistical data.”;

5. Annexes A and B are deleted.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on [date].

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.’

(e) paragraph 8 is replaced by the following:

“8.
This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to
Directive 95/46/EC and Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of
the European Parliament
the Council of
18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with

and of

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 15 September 2008.

The President of the ECB

Jean-Claude TRICHET