Opinion of the European Central Bank of 27 January 2009 at the request of the Banque centrale du Luxembourg on the legal framework for the compilation of statistics and the role of the Banque centrale du Luxembourg in the fields of balance of payments and quarterly financial accounts statistics (CON/2009/7)
Date: 2009-01-27
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Luxembourg, balance of payments, central bank, national law, statistics

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 27 January 2009 

at the request of the Banque centrale du Luxembourg 

on the legal framework for the compilation of statistics and the role of the Banque centrale du 

Luxembourg in the fields of balance of payments and quarterly financial accounts statistics 

(CON/2009/7) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 3 December 2008 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Banque centrale 

du Luxembourg (BCL) for an opinion on a draft law on the organisation of the National Institute for 

Statistics and Economic Studies (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, referred 

to by the acronym STATEC) (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 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,  since  the  draft  law  contains  both  provisions  on  the  BCL  and  on  the 

collection,  compilation  and  distribution  of  monetary,  financial,  banking  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  

The  draft  law  sets  up  a  comprehensive  legal  framework  for  STATEC,  to  replace  the  Law  of 

9 July 1962,  which  it  repeals.  Primarily,  it  lists  the  tasks  of  STATEC,  among  which  are  the 

coordination  and  production  of  Community  statistics  as  a  partner  of  Eurostat  and  the  European 

Statistical System. Furthermore, it reinforces the obligations of public authorities, public bodies, legal 

and  natural  persons  to  provide  statistical  information  requested  by  STATEC,  which  may,  in  case  of 

non-compliance  with  such  obligations,  use  its  rights  to  investigate  and  impose  sanctions.  Finally,  the 

draft  law  sets  up  a  comprehensive  regime  on  statistical  confidentiality,  also  providing  for  the 

circumstances in which access to individual statistical data may be granted for scientific purposes. 

More particularly, by virtue of Article 3 of the draft law, one of STATEC’s tasks is to ‘compile, jointly 

with the BCL, the balance of payments and the financial accounts’; the methods of cooperation being 

laid down in an agreement between STATEC and the BCL. This provision complements but does not 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  

 
 
 
 
                                                 
repeal the Law of 28 June 2000 amending the grand-ducal Regulation of 10 November 1944 relating to 

exchange control (hereinafter the ‘Law of 28 June 2000’), which already provided for the distribution 

of powers between STATEC and the BCL in relation to balance of payments statistics. In this respect, 

the additional costs incurred by the BCL are covered by a multi-year, renegotiable agreement between 

the BCL and the Luxembourg Government. While Guideline ECB/2002/7 of 21 November 2002 on the 
statistical  reporting  requirements  of  the  ECB  in  the  field  of  quarterly  financial  accounts2  requires  the 

BCL to submit quarterly financial accounts statistics to the ECB, the ECB understands that under the 

draft law this task will be allocated to the BCL for the first time at national level. 

This opinion focuses on those aspects of the draft law that are directly relevant to the BCL.  

2. 

General observations 

In general, the ECB welcomes the draft law to the extent that it optimises the reliability and efficiency 

of the statistical production process, in line with the recent proposal for a regulation of the European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  European  Statistics3.  In  view  of  the  BCL’s  statistical  reporting 
obligations  in  the  fields  of  balance  of  payments4  and  quarterly  financial  accounts5,  the  ECB  takes 
particular  note  that  the  draft  law  is  in  line  with  its  previous  recommendation6  and  organises  the 

cooperation between STATEC and the BCL in these areas. Ensuring effective cooperation between the 

national central bank (NCB) as a producer of statistics and other statistical authorities is often vital to 

ensure  the  availability,  quality  and  cost-effectiveness  of  the  statistics  required  by  the  ECB.  Specific 

national cooperation arrangements should also fully preserve the NCB’s independence, which derives 

from the NCB’s participation in the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) in general and from its 
duty to collaborate with the ECB on statistical matters in particular7. 

3.  

Specific remarks 

3.1  Adaptation of the Law of 23 December 1998 on monetary status and on the Banque centrale du 

Luxembourg  (hereinafter  the  ‘BCL  Law’)  and  the  Law  of  28  June  2000  to  strengthen  the 

reliability and efficiency of the statistical production process  

The draft law aims to set up a comprehensive framework fostering the production of reliable and 

efficient statistics. However, rules governing the production of statistics in Luxembourg remain 

2  
3  

4   

5 
6 

7  

OJ L 334, 11.12.2002, p. 24.  
See in this respect 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 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European statistics. 
Under  Guideline  ECB/2004/15  of  16  July  2004  on  the  statistical  reporting  requirements  of  the  ECB  in  the  field  of 
balance of payments and international investment position statistics, and the international reserves template, OJ L 354, 
30.11.2004, p. 34. 
Under Guideline ECB/2002/7. 
See ECB Opinion CON/2008/17 of 15 April 2008 at the request of the Luxembourg Minister for the Treasury and the 
Budget on a draft law improving the legislative framework for Luxembourg as a financial centre and on a draft law 
relating to social insurance contributions, in particular, paragraph 4.3. 
See in this respect, 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 

 
 
                                                 
dispersed  between  the  draft  law,  the  BCL  Law  and  the  Law  of  28  June  2000.  There  is  also  a 

partial overlap between the draft law and the Law of 28 June 2000 as both provide for the joint 

compilation of balance of payments statistics by STATEC and the BCL. Furthermore, there is a 

risk  of  inconsistency  between  these  two  texts,  since  the  financial  aspects  of  the  cooperation 
appear to be governed not only by an agreement between STATEC and the BCL8 but also by an 
agreement between the BCL and the Luxembourg Government9. The ECB recommends that the 

draft law should address this overlap and inconsistency and that the Law of 28 June 2000 should 

be amended accordingly.  

Another  issue  to  be  resolved  is  how  the  new  provisions  of  the  draft  law  stipulating  the  BCL’s 

power to compile financial accounts statistics together with the STATEC will fit into the current 

legal framework governing the BCL’s activities. To ensure that the BCL may fulfil its regulatory 

powers and responsibilities in the fields of balance of payments and financial accounts statistics, 
and,  as  already  recommended  on  the  occasion  of  recent  extensions  of  the  BCL’s  powers10,  the 

legislator should consider expressly listing the BCL’s tasks in the BCL Law, along the lines of 

Article 3 of the draft law. 

3.2  Preservation of the BCL’s independence 

The ECB has emphasised that the principle of independence of NCBs is of utmost importance for 
the quality and integrity of statistics, which must not be subject to political considerations11. The 

statistical  framework  set  up  by  the  draft  law  should  be  scrutinised  carefully  in  the  light  of  the 

principle  of  independence.  Institutional  independence  prohibits  NCBs  from  seeking,  taking  or 

receiving instructions from any government body which may affect the fulfilment of the NCB’s 

ESCB-related  tasks.  The  ECB  notes  that  under  the  current  draft  law  the  BCL’s  institutional 

independence may be affected. For that reason, the ECB suggests amending Article 3 of the draft 

law  in  such  a  way  that  STATEC  fulfils  its  statistical  tasks  without  prejudice  to  the  BCL’s 

independence.  A  comparable  safeguard  should  be  introduced  into  Article  10  (obligation  to 

provide  statistical  information),  Article  11(1) (right  of investigation)  and  Article  12  (sanctions) 

of  the  draft  law.  Against  the  above  background,  it  should  also  be  ensured  that  all  cooperation 

mechanisms  between  STATEC  and  the  BCL,  including  the  overall  coordination,  centralisation 

and consultation prerogatives and with the possible participation of the BCL in the ‘Coordination 
Commission’ (Commission de coordination des statistiques publiques)12, and the joint power to 

compile balance of payments and financial accounts statistics, may in no way impair the BCL’s 

independence, as enshrined in Article 108 of the Treaty and reflected in Article 5(2) of the BCL 

Law. The particular stipulation in Article 7(2) of the draft law that prior notification to STATEC 

8  
9  

10  

11  
12  

Under Article 3.3. of the draft law. 
Under Article 1bis (4) of the grand-ducal regulation of 10 November 1944 relating to exchange control, as amended 
by the Law of 28 June 2000.  
See paragraphs 4.2 and 4.8 of ECB Opinion CON/2008/42 of 10 September 2008 at the request of the Banque centrale 
du Luxembourg on amendments to the draft law improving the legislative framework for Luxembourg as a financial 
centre and amending the Law of 23 December 1998 on monetary status and on the Banque centrale du Luxembourg. 
See the ECB’s Convergence Report, May 2008, p. 5.  
See Article 6(2) of the draft law. 

3 

                                                 
of  ‘any  statistical  survey  in  the  general  interest  carried  out  by  a  public  or  private  body’  is 

‘without prejudice to the application of statistical powers conferred upon national or international 

public bodies’ is, in the ECB’s view, insufficient to ensure due compliance with the principle of 

the BCL’s independence. Moreover, the draft law as currently worded does not make it clear in 

connection with the BCL’s new joint prerogatives for balance of payments and financial accounts 

statistics  whether the  BCL  will  benefit  from  the specific  regime  set  up  under  the  BCL  Law,  in 

particular  in  relation  to  its  independence  and  regulatory  powers.  In  this  context,  the  ECB 

recommends  that  the  draft  law  should  provide  that  all  the  abovementioned  cooperation 

mechanisms between the BCL and STATEC are without prejudice to the principle of the BCL’s 

independence.  Moreover,  the  BCL’s  overall  independence  would  be  jeopardised  if  it  could  not 

autonomously avail itself of sufficient financial resources to fulfil its mandate. 

3.3  Reciprocity in the exchange of information between STATEC and the BCL 

The  ECB  notes  that  by  virtue  of  Article  33(2)  of  the  BCL  Law,  statistical  confidentiality 

provisions do not prevent the exchange of information with STATEC, ‘subject to reciprocity to 

the extent necessary to the performance of the BCL’s tasks’. For consistency in the mechanism 

of  statistical  information  exchange,  the  ECB  recommends  that  a  similar  provision  should  be 

inserted in Article 13 of the draft law which sets up STATEC’s statistical confidentiality regime.  

3.4  Right of investigation and sanctions  

The  ECB  notes  that  the  draft  law  gives  STATEC  rights  to  investigate  and  impose  sanctions  to 

ensure  due  compliance  by  public  authorities  and  public  bodies  as  well  as  by  natural  or  legal 
persons to provide the requested statistical information. In line with its previous opinions13, the 

ECB  reiterates  its  recommendation  that  the  BCL  Law  should  be  amended  to  give  the  BCL 

similar powers to impose sanctions. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 27 January 2009. 

[signed] 

The Vice-President of the ECB 

Lucas D. PAPADEMOS 

13  

See ECB Opinion CON/2008/17, in particular paragraph 4.3, and paragraph 4.2 of ECB Opinion CON/2008/42. 

4