Opinion of the European Central Bank of 5 August 2011 on amendments to the Law on prevention of late payments (CON/2011/61)
Date: 2011-08-05
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Slovenia, central bank, deadline for payment, financial supervision, national law, small and medium-sized enterprises

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 5 August 2011  

on amendments to the Law on prevention of late payments 

(CON/2011/61) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 19 July 2011, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Slovenian Ministry of 

Finance for an opinion on a draft law amending the Law on prevention of late payments (hereinafter the 

‘draft law’).  

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 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  amends  the  Law  on  prevention  of  late  payments2  (hereinafter  the  ‘Law’)  that  was 
addressed in Opinion CON/2011/253. The Law, adopted on 4 March 2011, introduced measures to 

prevent  late  payments  as  part  of  the  Slovenian  Government’s  efforts  to  improve  economic  and 

business conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises. It defined the moment of late payment 

and  the  consequences  of  late  payment  for  contracts  entered  into  by  economic  operators  or  by 

economic operators and public authorities where one party provides goods or services and the other 

party provides payment. 

1.2  Since the adoption of the Law, economic operators have raised many issues with the Ministry about 

its proper implementation. The amendment intends to resolve several of these issues. According to 

the consultation request, the draft law primarily amends the Law’s rules on obligatory multilateral 

set-off  of  obligations.  However,  the  draft  law  also  regulates  other  issues,  including  which 

authorities supervise compliance with the Law. 

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3  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
Zakon o preprečevanju zamud pri plačilih, published in Uradni list Republike Slovenije No 18/2011. 
All ECB opinions are published on the ECB's website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
ECB-PUBLIC 

2. 

General observation 

The Law was adopted before the ECB issued its opinion4. The ECB’s observations could therefore not be 

taken into account in the final version of the Law; however, a number of the observations remain relevant.  

3. 

Independence of Banka Slovenije 

3.1  Application of the Law to Banka Slovenije’s contractual relations 

As  noted  in  Opinion  CON/2011/255,  Banka  Slovenije  falls  under  the  definition  of  ‘public 

authorities’,  so  the  Law  applies  to  its  contractual  relations  in  the  area  of  administration,  in 

particular.  However,  Article  2(4)  of  the  Law  exempts  Banka  Slovenije  where  it  exercises  its 

exclusive competences pursuant to the law governing Banka Slovenije or any other laws or Union 

regulations laying down the exclusive competences of Banka Slovenije. The ECB welcomed this 

provision as it ensured that the Law would not interfere with the tasks of the European System of 

Central Banks (ESCB) and the Eurosystem carried out by Banka Slovenije in accordance with the 

Treaty and the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, 

in particular the implementation of the monetary policy of the Union. For the sake of clarity, the 

ECB repeats its proposal to further improve the Law by referring specifically to Banka Slovenije’s 

competences as part of the ESCB and the Eurosystem.  

3.2  Supervision of the implementation of the Law 

3.2.1  Article  9  of  the  draft  law  explicitly  allocates  supervision  of  implementation  of  the  Law  to  the 

Market  Inspectorate  of  the  Republic  of  Slovenia  and  the  Tax  Administration  of  the  Republic  of 

Slovenia.  This  eliminates  concerns  about  a  possible  allocation  of  this  role  to  Banka  Slovenije, 

which was expected under the current wording of the Law, and about related issues regarding the 
allocation of sufficient human and financial resources to Banka Slovenije for such task6. 

3.2.2  Under the Law, Banka Slovenije is subject to supervision. The ECB reiterates that, in order to fully 

respect  central  bank  independence,  it  should  be  made  clear  that  any  supervision  of  Banka 

Slovenije’s compliance with the Law should respect its status as an independent central bank under 

the Treaty.  

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 5 August 2011. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Jean-Claude TRICHET 

4  
5  
6  

For details on the consulting authority’s duty to consult the ECB, see paragraphs 2.1 to 2.5 of Opinion CON/2011/25. 
See paragraph 3.1 of Opinion CON/2011/25. 
See paragraph 3.5 of Opinion CON/2011/25. 

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