Commission Opinion on the Recommendation of the European Central Bank for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank
Date: 2009-01-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, European Central Bank, European System of Central Banks, data collection, exchange of information, financial statistics

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 13.1.2009 
COM(2008) 898 final 

COMMISSION OPINION 

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

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COMMISSION OPINION 

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

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

1.1. 

On  15 September 2008, 
(ECB)  adopted  a 
Recommendation1  (hereinafter  the  “Recommendation”)  for  a  Council  Regulation 
amending  Regulation (EC)  No 2533/98  concerning  the  collection  of  statistical 
information by the European Central Bank (hereinafter the “Regulation”). 

the  European  Central  Bank 

1.2. 

On 13 October 2008, the Council decided to consult the Commission and invited the 
Commission to issue its opinion on the Recommendation as soon as possible. 

2. 

GENERAL REFERENCE TO THE ESCB’S TASKS 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

The  Commission  welcomes  the  Recommendation’s  objective  of  minimising  the 
overall  reporting  burden  and,  in  particular,  the  burden  on  the  reference  reporting 
population,  both  present  and  future.  In  this  respect,  the  ECB’s  mandate  to  impose 
statistical  reporting  requirements  on  the  reference  reporting  population  remains 
generally limited by, inter alia, the EC Treaty and Article 5 of Protocol (No 18) on 
the Statute of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and of the ECB. 

However, in view of the fact that the Recommendation does not specify what kind of 
“information”,  as referred to in Article 2(1) of the Regulation, may  be  collected  by 
the  ECB  from  the  reference  reporting  population,  it  should  be  noted  that  such 
“information”  may  be  collected  by  the  ECB  within  its  competence  as  laid  down  in 
the EC Treaty to the extent strictly necessary to carry out the tasks of the ESCB.  

The  term  “European  Statistics”,  as  used  in  the  recommended  Regulation,  is  not 
defined. In addition, the recommended Regulation could also refer, without affecting 
the  remits  of  the  statistical  systems,  to  “euro  area  statistics”.  In  this  connection,  a 
definition of “European Statistics” and the “euro area statistics” might be included in 
the  text  of  the  recommended  Regulation  which,  while  taking  into  account  the 
respective  fields  of  competence,  mirrors  that  which  appears  in  the  forthcoming 
Regulation  on  European  Statistics,  specifically  in  the  use  of  the  ESCB  statistical 
work programmes to determine the content of European Statistics. 

2.4. 

Effective cooperation between the European Statistical System (ESS) and the ESCB 
is  necessary  in  order  to  ensure  a  coordinated  approach  across  areas  of  European 
statistics, inter alia, within the framework of the European System of Accounts, and 
to avoid potential overlaps of statistical work at European level, particularly, in the 

1 

OJ C 251, 3.10.2008, p. 1. 

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2.5. 

fields of balance of payments statistics, financial accounts and business statistics. In 
that  respect,  it  is  important  that  the  newly  established  ESS  Committee  be 
appropriately  involved  in  the  preparation  process  of  the  ESCB  statistical  work 
programmes.  A  coordinated  approach  would  equally  be  beneficial  in  view  of 
minimisation  of  the  overall  reporting  burden  on  the  respondents.  Furthermore, 
cooperation of the ESS and the ESCB is also to be addressed on the operational level 
through working arrangements. 

indicators,  so  as 

In  view  of  the  importance  of  a  coordinated  approach  across  areas  of  European 
statistics  and  the  need  to  reduce  the  reporting  burden  on  the  reference  reporting 
population, additional clarity in the recommended Regulation might be needed with 
respect  to  the  data  to  be  collected  and  compiled,  inter  alia,  in  the  area  of  financial 
timely 
stability  statistics  and  macro-prudential 
identification  of  potential  risks  across  borders  and  across  sectors.  For  that  purpose 
and to ensure efficiency in the use of the data collected from the reference reporting 
population on the basis of the recommended Regulation, a coordinated exchange of 
information between the ESS and the ESCB is necessary to specifically provide the 
Commission on a regular basis with the statistical data, including country-by-country 
data, necessary for the effective performance of the activities of the Community, as 
laid  down  in  Article 285(1)  of  the  EC  Treaty  and  for  the  fulfilment  of  other  tasks 
linked  to  the  policy  making  process.  To  that  extent,  the  recommended  Regulation 
could  contain  specific  provisions  that  would  ensure  transmission  of  respective  data 
from the ESCB to the ESS. 

to  enable 

3. 

ADJUSTMENT OF THE REFERENCE REPORTING POPULATION 

3.1. 

3.2. 

3.3. 

3.4. 

The Commission recognises the need expressed in the Recommendation to adjust the 
scope of the reference reporting population and, in particular, the ECB’s need to be 
able to collect the necessary statistical information from different types of financial 
corporations, including insurance corporations and pension funds, without extending 
the  scope  of  the  reference  reporting  population  excessively.  Collection  of  the 
statistical  information  by  the  ESCB  would  generally  require  that  the  relevant 
information  is  not  already  being  collected  by  other  bodies,  including  the  ESS 
institutions, and that the benefits outweigh the cost of doing so. 

It may be noted that “post office giro institutions” referred to in Article 2(2)(b) of the 
recommended  Regulation  belong  to  the  category  “Other  monetary  financial 
institutions”  and  are  covered  by  the  “financial  corporations”  sector  referred  to  in 
Article 2(2)(a) of the recommended Regulation. 

Furthermore, Article 2(2)(d) of the recommended Regulation could be more specific 
in  referring  to  “electronic  money  institutions”,  as  defined  in  Article 1(3)(a)  of 
Directive 2000/46/EC  of 
the  Council  of 
18 September 2000  on  the  taking  up,  pursuit  of  and  prudential  supervision  of  the 
business of electronic money institutions (hereinafter the “E-money Directive”). 

the  European  Parliament  and  of 

Since  the  terms  “cross-border  positions”,  “cross-border  transactions”,  “financial 
position”  and  “financial  transactions”  used  in  Article 2(2)(c),  (d)  and (e)  of  the 
recommended  Regulation  are  neither  explicitly  defined  nor  sufficiently  precise  to 
delineate categories of the reference reporting population, additional clarity could be 

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3.5. 

3.6. 

introduced  by  specifying  the  reporting  agents  comprising  the  reference  reporting 
population referred to in Article 2(2)(c), (d) and (e) of the recommended Regulation. 

Should  adjustment  of  the  reference  reporting  population  in  the  Recommendation 
result  in  a  significant  increase  in  the  burden  for  statistical  respondents,  further 
justification  must  be  provided  as  such  adjustment  may  also  have  an  impact  on  the 
collection  of  statistical  data  by  the  ESS.  The  recommended  Regulation  should 
therefore  provide  assurance,  for  example,  that  duplication  of  data  collection  by  the 
ESS and the ESCB will be avoided. 

Regulation  (EC)  No  177/2008  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council 
establishing  a  common  framework  for  business  registers  for  statistical  purposes 
requires  national  authorities  to  report  on  multinational  enterprise  groups  and  their 
constituent  units  to  the  Commission  (Eurostat),  which  will  set  up  a  network  of 
registers  on  multinational  enterprise  groups.  In  this  connection,  since  the  national 
central banks (NCBs) and the ECB may participate in this network, the ESCB could 
be invited to use this network to the fullest possible extent. 

4. 

STATISTICAL PRINCIPLES 

4.1. 

4.2. 

The  Commission  welcomes  the  ECB’s  proposal  to  include  a  reference  in  the 
Regulation  to  the  statistical  principles  governing  the  development,  production  and 
dissemination of statistics by the ESCB. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  ESS  and  the  ESCB  are  organised  on  the  basis  of  two 
parallel  systems  and  governance  structures,  and  since  the  statistical  principles 
governing the ESS might not completely coincide with those governing the ESCB, it 
might  be  advisable  to  define  the  statistical  principles  governing  the  development, 
production and dissemination of statistics by the ESCB. 

4.3. 

In particular, the Commission welcomes the reference in the Recommendation to the 
statistical  principles  which  would  enhance  data  transparency  by  virtue  of  rendering 
publicly available the information on the methods and procedures used by the ESCB. 

5. 

CONFIDENTIALITY REGIME 

5.1. 

The  Commission  generally  welcomes  the  introduction  into  the  recommended 
Regulation  of  confidentiality  provisions  governing  the  exchange  of  confidential 
information  in  the  ESCB  and  between  an  ESCB  institution  and  an  ESS  institution, 
together  with  provisions  mirroring  the  forthcoming  Regulation  on  European 
Statistics to govern the transmission of confidential information by an ESS institution 
to  an  ESCB  institution.  However,  the  recommended  Regulation  could  distinguish 
more clearly between these two regimes in order to avoid possible misinterpretation.  

5.2. 

The parallel co-existence of two confidentiality regimes — that of the ESS and that 
of the ESCB — may give rise to difficulties in operational management, as well as 
potential misunderstandings among respondents. 

5.3. 

To ensure, inter alia, confidence in the protection of confidential information among 
the  reference  reporting  population,  the  ESCB  confidentiality  regime  should  mirror 

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that of the ESS to the fullest possible extent, especially in cases where the data has 
been  collected  not  in  the  field  of  prudential  supervision  but  for  the  purpose  of 
statistical reporting, since in that case the NCBs institutions are acting as statistical 
organisations and are perceived as such by the respondents. 

5.4. 

Additional  clarity  on  the  confidentiality  regime  in  the  recommended  Regulation 
could also help ensure that information transmitted by an ESS institution to an ESCB 
institution is not used for any purposes other than statistical purposes. 

6. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

6.1.  With  regard  to  Article 1(4)  of  the  recommended  Regulation,  Council  Regulation 
(EC)  No 2223/96  of 25 June 1996  on  the  European  system  of  national  and  regional 
accounts in the Community is defined as “ESA 95” (in Recital (7) of the Regulation). 
To  ensure  uniformity  of  terminology  used  in  the  Regulation,  one  might  therefore 
consider  replacing  the  words  “in  Annex  A”  in  Article 1(4)  of  the  recommended 
Regulation with the words “in ESA 95”. 

6.2. 

It  might  also  be  advisable  to  update  the  definition  of  “electronic money”  in 
Article 1(6)  of  the  Regulation  by  reference  to  the  definition  of  “electronic  money” 
provided for in Article 1(3)(b) of the E-money Directive. 

7. 

CONCLUSION 

7.1. 

7.2. 

7.3. 

The recommended Regulation may, in general, be welcomed insofar as it contributes 
to  the  efficient  cooperation  between  the  ESS  and  the  ESCB  in  the  collection  and 
exchange  of  statistical  information  and  the  promotion  of  high-quality,  consistent 
statistics  at  European  level.  It  should  nevertheless  be  pointed  out  that  the 
recommended  Regulation  could  be  more  specific  on  the  issues  relating  to  the 
reference  reporting  population  in  line  with  the  tasks  of  the  ESCB  and  on  the 
confidentiality regime. 

Transparency of the data collected by the ESCB from the financial corporation sector 
should be guaranteed to the maximum extent possible. To enhance transparency, the 
collected  data,  including  the  derived  aggregated  statistical  information,  should  be 
made  publicly  available.  While 
the 
Regulation, the need to maintain a high level of data protection and confidentiality, 
which would not allow for the identification of the economic agents or prejudice the 
stability of the sector, should be taken into account. Based on that, it can be proposed 
to  introduce  in  the  Regulation  provisions  ensuring  transparency  and  public 
availability  of  data  collected  by  the  ESCB  from  the  financial  corporations  sector 
whilst preserving a high level of data protection. 

introducing  additional 

transparency 

in 

Finally, the forthcoming Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council 
on  European  Statistics  and  the  intended  revision  of  Council  Regulation (EC) 
No 2533/98  could  also  provide  new  impetus  to  the  relationship  between  the  ESCB 
and  the  ESS  through,  for  instance,  renewed  efforts  towards  common  programming 
and  strategic  objectives  for  the  production,  development  and  dissemination  of 
European Statistics. 

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