Opinion of the European Central Bank of 27 July 2009 on public access to information on officials’ wealth (CON/2009/64)
Date: 2009-07-27
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Slovenia, access to information, central bank, civil servant, national law, wealth

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 27 July 2009  

on public access to information on officials’ wealth 

(CON/2009/64) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 1 July 2009 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the President of the Slovenian 

Parliament for an opinion on a draft law on public access to information on officials’ wealth (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 the duty of officials to declare information on their wealth and public access to such 

information.  

1.2  The purpose of the draft law, as stated in its explanatory memorandum, is to ensure transparency in 

the conduct of public officials and take precautionary measures in the field of corruption.  

2. 

General observations 

2.1  The ECB welcomes this consultation by the Slovenian Parliament. As the term ‘officials’, which is 

defined in Article 2 of the draft law, explicitly includes the Governor of Banka Slovenije and other 

high-ranking officials of Banka Slovenije, the draft law should 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. 

2.2  The ECB has previously considered a similar draft law in Opinion CON/2008/432. 

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2  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
All ECB opinions are available on the ECB website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
3. 

Declaration of wealth  

3.1  Under the draft law, all officials, including the President of the Republic, Prime Minister, members 

of  Parliament,  ministers  and  judges  are  obliged  to  periodically  provide  the  Slovenian  Court  of 

Audit  with  information  on  their  personal  wealth,  e.g.  income,  real  estate,  securities  and  cash 
holdings3. In addition, they have to explain any increase in their wealth that exceeds the net salary 
payments they received since their previous declaration4. Such information will be made publicly 

available on the Court of Audit’s website notwithstanding any restrictions as regards personal data 
protection and tax secrets5. 

3.2 

If an official fails to provide information on their wealth and income, the Court of Audit has the 

power to impose a fine under Article 13 of the draft law and order, under Article 8 of the draft law, 

that  such  official’s  salary  is  gradually  reduced  every  month  by  one  tenth,  to  the  level  of  the 

minimum  salary,  until  the  official  provides  the  requested  information.  Such  Court  of  Audit’s 

decision  will  be  executed  by  the  respective  official’s  employer.  Pursuant  to  Article  13(4)  of  the 

draft law, a fine will be imposed on an official in the amount of the value of undeclared wealth or 

of the wealth from unexplained sources, respectively, in addition to any fine imposed in accordance 

with Article 13(1) of the draft law. 

3.3  The ECB understands that the possibility to reduce the salaries of members of Banka Slovenije’s 

Governing Board will apply as a general sanction, equivalent to a fine, under the Slovenian legal 

system  and  will  not  interfere  with  the  legal  relationship  between  the  central  bank  and  its 

independent  decision-making  officials.  Under  this  assumption,  the  sanction  of  salary  reduction 

would  not  jeopardise  the  personal  independence  of  Banka  Slovenije  officials  as  provided  for  in 

Article 108 of the Treaty and Article 7 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and 

of  the  European  Central  Bank  (hereinafter  the  ‘Statute  of  the  ESCB’),  despite  the  fact  that  the 

sanction is linked to the salary of the Governor and the members of Banka Slovenije’s Governing 

Board,  provided  that  the  ECB’s  understanding  as  follows  is  correct.  The  sanction  of  salary 

reduction is understood to be used to speed up the provision of information requested by the Court 

of Audit and it applies to all relevant officials in Slovenia, including the President of the Republic, 

the  Prime  Minister  and  members  of  the  Slovenian  parliament.  Moreover,  the  sanction  will  be 

imposed by the Court of Audit, which is an independent body, and the conditions for the decision 

on the salary reduction (i.e. the grounds, amount and duration) as well as the legal remedy against 

such decision are clearly provided for in the draft law. Pursuant to Article 6(2) of the draft law, the 

Court  of  Audit  shall  communicate  findings  on  unjustified  increases  of  wealth  to  the  body 

competent for electing or appointing the relevant official. In this respect, the ECB recalls that the 

dismissal  of  central  bank  Governors  and  other  members  of  central  bank  decision-making  bodies 

who  are  involved  in  the  performance  of  ESCB-related  tasks  is  subject  to  the  provisions  of 

Article 14.2 of the Statute of the ESCB. On the basis of the above assumptions and understanding, 

3  
4  
5  

See Article 4 of the draft law. 
See Article 6 of the draft law. 
See Article 7 of the draft law. 

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the ECB is of the opinion that the provisions of the draft law on wealth declarations and the related 

sanctions would not be incompatible with the principle of personal independence. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 27 July 2009. 

[signed] 

The Vice-President of the ECB 

Lucas D. PAPADEMOS 

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