Opinion of the European Central Bank of 16 August 2013 on the autonomy of the Banco de España in staff matters and on termination of the office of the Governor (CON/2013/61)
Date: 2013-08-16
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Spain, central bank, dismissal, institutional activity, national law, remuneration of work

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 16 August 2013  

on the autonomy of the Banco de España in staff matters 

 and on termination of the office of the Governor 

(CON/2013/61) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 25 July 2013, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Banco de España for an 

opinion on a partial draft Resolution of the Banco de España’s Governing Council (hereinafter the ‘draft 

resolution’) which will amend the Banco de España’s Internal Rules of 28 March 2000 (hereinafter the 

‘Internal Rules’). 

The  ECB’s  competence  to  deliver  an  opinion  is  based  on  the  last  paragraph  of  Article  127(4)  and  the 

Article 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 resolution relates to the Banco de 

España. 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 resolution 

The draft resolution updates the Internal Rules to incorporate several amendments made to Law 13/1994 

on  the  autonomy  of  the  Banco  de  España  (hereinafter  ‘Law  13/1994’).  The  most  relevant  amendments 

include:  (a)  the  introduction  of  staff  cost-cutting  measures  equivalent  to  those  generally  established  for 

public  sector  employees,  provided  that  the  Banco  de  España’s  ability  to  carry  out  its  functions  on  an 

independent  basis  is  not  impaired,  although  the  Banco  de  España  may  not,  in  any  event,  agree  wage 

increases or decreases beyond the limits generally set for public sector employees; and (b) the deletion of 

the ground for dismissal of the Governor and/or Deputy Governor on the basis that either has reached the 

age of 70 years. The other grounds for dismissal remain unaffected. 

2. 

General observations 

When  Law  13/1994  was  first  amended,  through  Law  17/2012  on  the  State  General  Budget  for  2013 

(hereinafter  ‘Law  17/2012’),  the  ECB  was  consulted  and  issued  Opinion  CON/2012/89.  The  draft 

1 

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
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resolution implements the amendments of Law 13/1994 and takes into account some, but not all, of the 

ECB’s comments.  

3. 

Staffing policy of the Banco de España 

The ECB recommended in its Opinion CON/2012/892 that the Sixth Final Provision of the Law 17/2012 

(which amended Article 6 bis of Law 13/1994) should state that the Banco de España will not be obliged 

to take measures if these interfere with its ability to independently carry out its tasks. The ECB also stated 

that, based on the understanding that the Banco de España will not be obliged to take measures if these 

interfere with its ability to independently carry out its tasks, Article 22 and the Sixth Final Provision of 

Law  17/2012  are  compatible  with  the  principle  of  central  bank  independence.  However,  the 

recommendation made in Opinion CON/2012/89 was not taken into account in this respect as the above 

mentioned  confirmation  was  neither  made  in  the  Sixth  Final  Provision  of  Law  17/2012,  nor  in 
Article 6 bis of Law 13/19943.  

The  ECB  notes  that  the  draft  resolution  incorporates  this  recommendation  in  the  second  paragraph  of 

Article 18 of the Internal Rules. However, the third paragraph of Article 18 of the Internal Rules, which 

mirrors  the  second  sentence  of  Article  6  bis  of  Law  13/1994,  establishes  an  absolute  limit  for 

remuneration  changes,  but  does  not  expressly  safeguard  the  Banco  de  España’s  ability  to  carry  out  its 

tasks  independently.  Thus,  the  concerns  expressed  by  the  ECB  in  Opinion  CON/2012/89  relating  to 

Article  6  bis  of  Law  13/1994  are  also  valid  with  respect  to  Article  18  of  the  Internal  Rules.  The  ECB 

therefore recommends an express provision in the third paragraph of Article 18 of the Internal Rules that 

the  Banco  de  España  will  not  be  obliged  to  take  measures  if  these  interfere  with  its  ability  to 

independently carry out its tasks. 

4. 

Termination of the office of the Governor and/or Deputy Governor 

4.1  The ECB welcomes the deletion of the age limit applicable to the term of office of the Governor 

and/or Deputy Governor from both Law 13/1994 and the draft resolution. 

4.2  The draft resolution still includes the following wording in the context of the grounds for dismissal 

of the Governor and the Deputy Governor: ‘due to permanent incapacity to exercise his/her role, 

serious failure to comply with his/her obligations, professional disqualification or proceedings for a 
wilful offence’. The concerns expressed in Opinion CON/2012/894 relating to Article 25(4) of Law 

13/1994 are also valid with respect to Articles 42 and 50 of the Internal Rules, which  mirror the 

Law. As consistently stated in the ECB’s convergence reports and opinions, the statutes of national 

central  banks  should  either  contain  grounds  for  dismissal  compatible  with  those  laid  down  in 

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4 

See Opinion CON/2012/89, paragraph 6. All ECB opinions are published on the ECB's website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
Article 6 bis of Law 13/1994 reads as follows: ‘Without prejudice to its autonomy in matters of staff policy, the Banco de 
España shall apply to its staff costs-related measures equivalent to those generally established, principally by the State 
budget laws for each year, and may not, under any circumstances, agree remuneration increases that involve an increase 
in the overall wage the limits set for such workers.’ (Unofficial translation) 
See Opinion CON/2012/89, paragraph 7. 

2 

 
 
                                                 
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Article 14.2 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central 

Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statute of the ESCB’), or omit any mention of grounds for dismissal, since 
Article 14.2 is directly applicable5. Accordingly, Articles 42.3 and 50.3 of the Internal Rules should 

be  aligned  with  Article  14.2  of  the  Statute  of  the  ESCB,  or  the  grounds  for  dismissal  should  be 

deleted. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 16 August 2013. 

[signed] 

The Vice-President of the ECB 

Vítor CONSTÂNCIO  

5 

See, for example, the ECB’s Convergence Report 2012, p. 24. 

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