Opinion of the European Central Bank of 5 March 2010 on amendments to the Law on and Statute of Eesti Pank (CON/2010/20)
Date: 2010-03-05
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Estonia, central bank, financing method, institutional activity, national law

EN 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 5 March 2010 

on amendments to the Law on and Statute of Eesti Pank 

(CON/2010/20) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  10  February  2010  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  Eesti  Pank  for  an 

opinion on a draft decision of Eesti Pank’s Supervisory Board to amend Eesti Pank’s Statute and on 18 

February 2010 a request for an opinion on a draft law amending the Law on Eesti Pank (hereinafter the 

‘draft provisions’). 

The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the 

Functioning  of  the  European  Union  (TFEU)  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  provisions  relate  to  the  national  central 

bank.  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 provisions 

The  draft  provisions  replace  references  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community  with 

references to the TFEU and include additional references to the TFEU and Union legal acts in articles on 

the competence and meetings of the Supervisory Board. The draft provisions also set Eesti Pank’s capital 

in euro. The provision on a standing Monetary Policy Committee in Eesti Pank’s Statute is repealed, as is 

the provision on the monetary financing prohibition in the Law on Eesti Pank. The draft provisions will 

enter into force on the date of abrogation of Estonia’s derogation pursuant to Article 140(2) TFEU, except 

some minor consistency corrections concerning the Statute which will enter into force upon the adoption 

of the Supervisory Board’s decision. 

1  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
2. 

General observations  

2.1  The  draft  provisions  are  in  line  with  the  ECB  recommendations  for  improving  the  clarity  of 
legislative provisions made in previous convergence reports2. This opinion is without prejudice to 

the assessment of Estonian legislation in the upcoming convergence report. 

2.2  The ECB notes that the draft provisions repeal Article 16 of the Law on Eesti Pank transposing the 

monetary  financing  prohibition  contained  in  Article  123  TFEU.  Article  16  lays  down  that  Eesti 

Pank is prohibited from granting loans to the public sector. However, Article 16 is not fully in line 

with  Article  123  TFEU  for  two  reasons.  First,  it  does  not  extend  the  prohibition  on  monetary 

financing to direct purchases by Eesti Pank of debt instruments from public sector entities. Second, 

it does not exempt publicly-owned credit institutions from the prohibition in the context of supply 

of  reserves  by  national  central  banks.  Provisions  containing  such  imperfections  should  either  be 

amended or repealed, especially as Article 123 TFEU is directly applicable and there is, therefore, 

generally, no reason to transpose it into national legislation. The ECB therefore welcomes the draft 

provisions in this respect.  

2.3  The ECB also notes that after the repeal of the articles on the Monetary Policy Committee by the 

draft  provisions  and  other  changes,  the  scope  of  Eesti  Pank’s  Statute  is  now  largely  limited  to 

repeating the provisions of the Law on Eesti Pank.  

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 5 March 2010. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

2  

See the ECB’s Convergence Report of December 2006, p. 213, and that of May 2008 p. 235. 

2