Opinion of the European Central Bank of 17 September 2008 at the request of the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration on a draft law on restrictions and prohibitions for public office holders (CON/2008/43)
Date: 2008-09-17
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Slovenia, central bank, civil servant, conflict of interest, corruption, national law

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 17 September 2008  

at the request of the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration 

on a draft law on restrictions and prohibitions for public office holders 

(CON/2008/43) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  14  July  2008  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  the  Slovenian  Ministry  of 

Public  Administration  for  an  opinion  on  a  draft  law  on  restrictions  and  prohibitions  for  public  office 

holders (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  Banka  Slovenije.  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 falls within the regulatory framework for the prevention of corruption in Slovenia and 

regulates: (i)  restrictions on officials regarding the pursuit of gainful activities; (ii) restrictions on 

officials  regarding  the  acceptance  of  gifts  in  connection  with  discharging  their  office;  (iii) the 

conduct of business by companies and other entities with the public sector in cases where officials 

are connected with both parties; and (iv) the duty of officials to declare information on their wealth 

and the disclosure of such information. 

1.2  The purpose of the draft law, as stated in its explanatory memorandum, is to bring the Law on the 

incompatibility  of  holding  public  office  with  the  pursuit  of  gainful  activities  in  line  with  the 
Slovenian Constitution2, following a decision by the Slovenian Constitutional Court3. Accordingly, 

the draft law, which otherwise reflects the basic contents of the abovementioned Law, assigns the 

role  of  supervising  compliance  with  a  large  part  of  its  provisions  to  the  Court  of  Audit,  an 

independent state body, and limits the  public disclosure of personal data. In addition, pursuant to 

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2  

3  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
Law on the incompatibility of holding public office with the pursuit of gainful activities, adopted on 10 February 2006, 
published in Uradni list Republike Slovenije (Official Gazette) No 20/2006.
Decision  of  the  Constitutional  Court  of  the  Republic  of  Slovenia,  No  U-I-57/06  of  29  March  2007,  published  in  the 
Official Gazette No 33/2007. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
the  draft  law,  the  Court  of  Audit  would  be  able  to  review  the  financial  and  other  operations  of 

officials and notify the competent authorities of its findings. 

2. 

General observations 

The  ECB  welcomes  this  consultation by  the  Ministry of  Public Administration.  As  the  term  ‘officials’, 

which is used for public office holders and is further defined for the purposes of the draft law, explicitly 

includes  the  Governor  of  Banka  Slovenije  and  other  high-ranking  officials  of  Banka  Slovenije 

(Article 2(1)), the draft law should therefore be assessed from the perspective of compatibility with the 

principle  of  personal  independence  of  the  Governor  and  of  other  members  of  the  Governing  Board  of 

Banka Slovenije. 

3. 

Applicability of the draft law to members of the Governing Board of Banka Slovenije 

3.1 

Incompatibility of functions 

Under Article 1(2) of the draft law, the restrictions imposed regarding the acceptance of gifts and 

the pursuit of gainful activities do not apply to those categories of officials for whom these issues 

are regulated by other laws. The issue of gainful activities pursued by members of the Governing 

Board  of  Banka  Slovenije,  including  an  ultimate  sanction  (removal  from  office)  in  the  case  of 
incompatibility  of  functions,  is  regulated  by  the  Law  on  Banka  Slovenije4  (Articles  38  and  39). 

Therefore, the provisions of Article 8 of the draft law governing dismissal of officials who pursue 

gainful  activities  do  not  apply  to  members  of  the  Governing  Board  of  Banka  Slovenije  and 

compliance with the principle of personal independence as laid down in Article 14.2 of the ESCB 

Statute should not be jeopardised by the relevant provisions of the draft law. 

3.2  Acceptance of gifts 

The provisions of the draft law restricting acceptance of gifts by public office holders are similar to 
the  requirements  laid  down  in  the  Code  of  Conduct  for  the  members  of  the  Governing  Council5 

(hereinafter  the  ‘Code  of  Conduct’),  regarding  which  a  declaration  of  compliance  has  also  been 

signed  by  the  Governor  of  Banka  Slovenije.  Although  the  restrictions  in  the  draft  law  are  to  a 

certain  extent  stricter  than  the  corresponding  provision  in  Article  3.3  of  the  Code  of  Conduct 

(regarding  maximum  value,  form  of  gift  and  applicability  of  the  provisions  to  officials’  family 

members),  they  follow  the  same  basic  principles  as  stated  in  Article  2  of  the  Code  of  Conduct, 

while public disclosure of gifts received also serves the principle of transparency. 

4  

5  

Published in the Official Gazette Nos 58/02, 85/02 and 39/06. The relevant provisions of the Law on Banka Slovenije 
were aligned with Article 14.2 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank 
(hereinafter the ‘ESCB Statute’), following ECB Opinion CON/2006/17 of 13 March 2006 at the request of the Slovenian 
Ministry of Finance on a draft law amending the Law on Banka Slovenije. 
Memorandum of Understanding on a Code of Conduct for the members of the Governing Council (OJ C 123, 24.5.2002, 
p.  9), as  amended  by  the  Memorandum  of  Understanding amending  the  Memorandum  of  Understanding  on  a  Code  of 
Conduct for the members of the Governing Council (OJ C 10, 16.1.2007, p. 6). 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 17 September 2008. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

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