Opinion of the European Central Bank of 19 August 2013 on the provision of payment services by Banka Slovenije for budget users (CON/2013/62)
Date: 2013-08-19
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Slovenia, Treasury, budget, central bank, national law

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 19 August 2013 

on the provision of payment services by Banka Slovenije for budget users 

(CON/2013/62) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  5  July  2013,  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 the provision of payment services to budget 

users (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 Law on the provision of payment services to budget users2 (hereinafter the ‘Law’) governs the 

tasks  and  organisation  of  the  Public  Payments  Administration  of  the  Republic  of  Slovenia 
(hereinafter the ‘PPA’) and the provision of payment services to ‘budget users’3. 

1.2  Within this framework, the Law regulates certain aspects of the functioning of the single treasury 

account system as one of the characteristics of the public finance system in Slovenia. There is one 

single treasury account system for the State and one for each municipality, and each system has an 
account with Banka Slovenije4. In order to carry out and record public finance monetary flows and 

to  provide  payment  services  to  budget  users,  the  PPA  maintains  several  types  of  sub-accounts 
within each single State and municipal treasury account system5. In addition, the Law provides that 

budget users may open special-purpose transaction accounts with Banka Slovenije for the separate 

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OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
Zakon o opravljanju plačilnih storitev za proračunske uporabnike (ZOPSPU) (Ur.l. RS No 59/2010). 
‘Budget  users’  include  the  State,  municipal  authorities,  administrations  and  organisations,  public  funds,  institutes  and 
agencies established by the State or a municipality. See Article 1 of the Law in connection with Article 3 of the Law on 
public finance (Zakon o javnih financah (ZJF)) (Ur.l. RS No 11/2011, as amended). 
See Article 61 of the Law on public finance. 
The PPA maintains (a) treasury sub-accounts of the State and of municipalities, intended for the management of funds of 
each single treasury account system; (b) sub-accounts to which fiscal revenues are paid in; (c) sub-accounts maintained 
for  the  provision  of  payment  services  to  budget  users,  (d)  other  types  of  accounts  provided  for  by  laws  and  other 
regulations. See Article 22(1) of the Law. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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management of funds allocated to a specific programme or project. For cash withdrawals and cash 

lodgements, budget users may open special zero balance accounts with commercial banks. Budget 

users  may  not  open  accounts  with  other  payment  service  providers  outside  the  single  treasury 
account system, unless explicitly provided for by the Law or other laws and regulations6. The PPA 

collects  and  distributes  all  relevant  information  on  payments  to  and  from  the  abovementioned 
accounts, maintains a register of budget users and performs other tasks assigned by law7. Further 

detailed rules regarding the PPA and its tasks are laid down in other laws and regulations. Pursuant 

to the explanatory memorandum to the draft law, the existing arrangements have been effective for 

managing  budget  liquidity  and  establishing  a  comprehensive  system  for,  inter  alia,  processing 

relevant  data  for  budget,  tax,  statistical,  analytical  and  other  purposes,  as  well  as  supervising 

monetary flow to and from the budget. 

1.3  The Law is now being amended to: (a) incorporate new services and tasks entrusted to the PPA8; 
(b) define urgent tasks of the PPA which shall be performed during a strike9; (c) lay down further 
requirements with respect to maintaining the budget users register10; (d) provide for the mandatory 
use of electronic invoices in public administration11; (e) further specify certain rules regarding the 
accounts of budget users and how payment services are provided to them12; (f) align the sanctions 
regime with other amendments to the Law13. 

2. 

General observations 

In  the  single  treasury  account  system,  Banka  Slovenije  acts  as  a  payment  services  provider  to  budget 

users. It also maintains special-purpose transaction accounts for them. The provision of such services is in 

line with Article 21.2 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central 

Bank, which provides that the ECB and national central banks (NCBs) may act as fiscal agents for Union 

institutions,  bodies,  offices  or  agencies,  central  governments,  regional  local  or  other  public  authorities, 

other  bodies  governed  by  public  law,  or  public  undertakings  of  Member  States.  This  is  reflected  in 
Article 12  of  the  Law  on  Banka  Slovenije14,  pursuant to  which  Banka  Slovenije  may  act  as  a  payment 

and/or  fiscal  agent  for  the State  and  maintains  accounts  for  the  Republic  of  Slovenia,  State  bodies  and 

public entities. 

The ECB was previously consulted on the Law and issued Opinion CON/2010/5515. With regard to the 

relevant provisions of the Law which (a) require Banka Slovenije to provide to the PPA information on 

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See Article 25 of the Law. 
See Article 4 of the Law. 
See amended Articles 4(1)(16) and 4(1)(7) of the Law and new Article 26.a and new Article 6(2) of the Law. 
See new Article 4.a of the Law. 
See amendments to Articles 10 to 18 of the Law. 
See amended Article 26 of the Law. 
See amended Articles 22 to 25 of the Law. 
See amended Articles 31 and 32 of the Law. 
Zakon o Banki Slovenije (ZBS-1) (Ur.l. RS No 72/2006, as amended). 
All ECB opinions are published on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 

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payments debited and credited to accounts opened with Banka Slovenije and on account balances free of 

charge, and (b) authorise the Minister of Finance to independently prescribe the method and deadlines for 

such provision of information, the ECB drew attention to the principle of central bank independence and 

the  right  of  Banka  Slovenije  to  charge  appropriate  fees  for  opening  these  accounts  pursuant  to 
Article 53 of the Law on Banka Slovenije16. The ECB welcomes that the draft law takes into account the 
ECB’s  observations  in  this  respect.  Amended  Article  22(6)17  explicitly  provides  that  the  Ministry  of 

Finance and Banka Slovenije will agree, in a contract or another legal act, the manner in which the PPA 

and  Banka  Slovenije  exchange  information  with  respect to the  maintenance  of  treasury  single  accounts 

and special-purpose transaction accounts and the provision of payment services through these accounts. 

This  separate  agreement  will  need  to  ensure  that  the  financial  independence  of  Banka  Slovenije  is 

safeguarded. The ECB also welcomes that the sanctions regime in amended Article 31 of the Law does 

not apply to Banka Slovenije. 

3. 

Specific observations 

Pursuant to the draft law, Article 22(7) of the Law provides that the Minister of Finance shall prescribe, 

inter  alia,  the  procedures  and  methods  for  maintaining  the  accounts  of  budget  users,  the  obligatory 

content  of  instructions  for  the  payment  of  fiscal  revenues  as  well  as  rules  on  the  provision  of  other 

information  in  connection  with  the  relevant  payment  transactions.  In  Opinion  CON/2010/55,  the  ECB 

noted  that  it  is  not  clear  whether  these  rules  would  also  apply  to  the  accounts  maintained  by  Banka 

Slovenije  or  otherwise  impose  additional  obligations  on  the  latter  and  that  it  would  be  unusual  for  the 

Minister  of  Finance,  as  a  customer,  to  define  the  terms  and  conditions  for  the  accounts  and  services 

provided by Banka Slovenije. In this connection it was also highlighted that provision by central banks of 

fiscal agency services should comply with the monetary financing prohibition laid down in Article 123 of 

the Treaty by not constituting central bank financing of public sector obligations in regard to third parties 

or central bank crediting of the public. Any remuneration of the account held by the budget users with 
Banka  Slovenije  should  thus  reflect  market  parameters18.  In  particular,  it  is  important  to  correlate  the 
remuneration rate of the deposits with their maturity. As noted in past ECB opinions19, the prohibition on 

monetary  financing  by  central  banks  of  government  activities  is  independent  of  its  form,  i.e.  loans  or 
other  direct  financial  means20  are  covered  by  the  prohibition.  Interest  payments  above  market  rates 

constitute a de facto advance distribution of profits. This, in turn, implies a  de facto provision of  intra-

year credit, contrary to the objective of the monetary financing prohibition. Therefore, the remuneration 

of deposits of public entities should not go beyond the remuneration applied to a similar deposit made by 

market  counterparties.  If  the  remuneration  mechanism  for  deposits  of  public  entities  allows  the 

Government to systematically steer the remuneration by a NCB at a rate above the rate at which a similar 

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See  paragraphs  3.1.1  and  3.1.2  of  Opinion  CON/2010/55  in  connection  with  Article  22(3)  and  third  indent  of 
Article 22(5) of the Law. 
See also the third indent of amended Article 22(7) of the Law. 
See paragraphs 3.2.1 and 3.2.2 of Opinion CON/2010/55. 
See, in particular, Opinions CON/2008/10 and CON/2009/69. 
E.g. the provision of direct, non-reimbursable funding to the public sector. 

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deposit  would  be  remunerated  by  market  counterparties,  this  would  contravene  the  objectives  of  the 

monetary financing prohibition under the Treaty. 

While  the  amendments  to  the  Law  do  not  seem  to  reflect  these  observations,  which  remain  valid  with 

regard to the draft law, the explanatory memorandum to the draft law states that the amendments take into 

account Banka Slovenije’s independence and observations from Opinion CON/2010/55. Pursuant to the 

explanatory memorandum, all of Banka Slovenije’s rights and obligations with respect to: (a) maintaining 

single  treasury  accounts  for  the  State  and  municipalities  and  special-purpose  transaction  accounts,  and 

(b) providing payment services through these accounts, may be regulated with a contract or another legal 

act  between  the  Ministry  of  Finance  and  Banka  Slovenije.  In  line  with  its  previous  observations  in 

Opinion  CON/2010/55,  the  ECB  advises  the  Slovenian  authorities  to  appropriately  incorporate  this 

explanation from the explanatory memorandum into the draft law. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 19 August 2013. 

[signed] 

The Vice-President of the ECB 

Vítor CONSTÂNCIO 

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