Opinion of the European Central Bank of 29 August 2013 on a new statistical task of the Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique (CON/2013/68)
Date: 2013-08-29
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Belgium, central bank, competence of the institution, national law, statistics

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 29 August 2013 

on a new statistical task of the Nationale Bank van België/Banque Nationale de Belgique  

(CON/2013/68) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 29 July 2013, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Vice Prime Minister and 

Minister  for  Economy,  Consumers  and  North  Sea,  for  an  opinion  on  a  draft  law  entrusting  a  new 

statistical  task  to  the  Nationale  Bank  van  België/Banque  Nationale  de  Belgique  (NBB)  (hereinafter  the 

‘draft law’).   

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

Functioning of the European Union and the fourth 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,  since  the  draft  law  relates  to  the  collection,  compilation  and  distribution  of 

monetary statistics. 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  law2  relates  to  the  allocation  of  statistical  tasks  between  the  National  Institute  of 

Statistics, the National Accounts Institute and the NBB. In this respect: (a) the National Institute of 

Statistics is the national statistical authority in Belgium in accordance with Article 5(1) of Council 

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on 
European  statistics3;  (b)  the  NBB  collects  and  compiles  statistics  in  its  fields  of  competence  in 

accordance  with  Article  5  of  the  Statute  of  the  European  System  of  Central  Banks  and  of  the 

European  Central  Bank  and  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2533/98  of  23  November  1998 
concerning  the  collection  of  statistical  information  by  the  European  Central  Bank4;  and  (c)  the 

National Accounts Institute is an independent body endowed with legal personality and subject to 

oversight  by  the  Ministry  of  Economic  Affairs  which  is  responsible  for  providing  government 

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4 

  OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  

Article  2  of  the  draft  law,  amending  Article  108  of  the  Law  of  21  December  1994  on  social  and  other  provisions 
(hereinafter the ‘Law of 21 December 1994’) with regard to the creation of the National Accounts Institute.   
OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164.  
OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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finance statistics5 with the support of the NBB and the Federal Office for Planning. Since 1994, the 

NBB has compiled the national, regional and public sector accounts, which serve as a basis for the 
production of excessive deficit procedure (EDP) statistics by the National Accounts Institute6. The 

NBB  has  therefore  developed  specific  expertise  in  EDP  statistics,  which  is  complementary  to 

financial banking statistics and the compilation of annual accounts of Belgian undertakings by the 

NBB central balance sheet office. 

1.2  The  draft  law  formally  recognises  these  existing  arrangements  by:  (a)  entrusting  the  National 

Accounts  Institute  with  responsibility  for  providing  EDP  statistics;  and  (b)  providing  that  the 

National Accounts Institute will be assisted in the compilation of these EDP statistics by the NBB, 

which  will,  for  this  purpose,  rely  on  data  collected  by  the  National  Institute  of  Statistics  and 

compiled  by  the  National  Accounts  Institute  as  well  as  on  data  transmitted  by  entities  subject  to 

reporting obligations  to the National Accounts Institute or via the general database established on 
1 October 19917. It is proposed that the Belgian State will compensate the NBB in advance and on 

an  annual  basis  in  respect  of  additional  costs  directly  related  to  the  compilation  of  the 

abovementioned statistics in accordance with an agreement to be entered into between the Belgian 
State and the NBB8.  

1.3  The explanatory memorandum states that the abovementioned amendments are designed to reflect 

the  fact  that  the  provision  of  EDP  statistics  is  now  a  stand-alone  task  under  Council 

Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 of 25 May 2009 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive 
deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community9. Carrying out this 

new  task  requires  additional  financial  and  human  resources,  as  the  European  Commission 
(Eurostat)10 has recommended improving the coverage, timing and accuracy of EDP statistics. 

2.   General observations 

2.1  The  ECB  notes  that,  in  compliance  with  Regulation  No  479/2009,  the  draft  law  vests  statutory 

responsibility for EDP statistics with the National Accounts Institute, which will be assisted in the 

task of compiling such statistics by the NBB. The ECB considers that entrusting the NBB with this 

new  statistical  task  is  compatible  with  its  European  System  of  Central  Banks  (ESCB)  tasks.  The 

ECB  welcomes  the  fact  that  the  draft  law  formalises  a  pre-existing  practical  arrangement,  thus 

improving  the  transparency  of  institutional  arrangements  and  the  division  of  responsibilities  with 

respect to the compilation and provision of EDP statistics. 

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10 

By  virtue  of  Article  108  of  the  Law  of  21  December  1994,  the  National  Accounts  Institute  provides  the  National 
Accounts,  the  Financial  Accounts,  the  annual  and  quarterly  accounts  of  General  Government,  the  quarterly  national 
accounts and the gross regional products. 
Article 109, third paragraph, of the Law of 21 December 1994. 
Article 3 of the draft law amending the third paragraph of Article 109 of the Law of 21 December 1994.   
Article 4 of the draft law amending Article 118 of the Law of 21 December 1994. 
OJ L 145, 10.6.2009, p. 1. 
European Commission (Eurostat), Final Findings, EDP dialogue visit to Belgium, 27 June 2012, available at the Eurostat 
website at http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu.  

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2.2  The  ECB  notes  that  the  assumption  of  new  tasks  by  a  national  central  bank  (NCB)  in  the  ESCB 

should  generally  not  infringe  upon  the  NCB’s  independent  execution  of  tasks  within  the  ESCB 
framework and the NCB’s existing tasks11. The ECB considers that the draft law raises no concerns 

regarding  the  financing  of  the  performance  of  this  task  by  the  NBB,  since  it  provides  for  the 

compensation  of  the  NBB  in  advance,  on  an  annual  basis,  in  respect  of  additional  costs  directly 

related to the compilation of EDP statistics.  

2.3  The ECB notes that, as the statistical authority bearing the ultimate responsibility for the provision 

of EDP statistics, the National Accounts Institute shall be responsible for the permanent dialogue 

with  the  Commission  in  accordance  with  Articles  11  to  13  of  Regulation  No  479/2009.  In 

accordance with Article 12.2 of Regulation 479/2009, the NBB shall, in respect of services directly 

or indirectly involved in the production of government accounts, provide Commission officials with 

the assistance necessary to carry out their duties, including making documents available to justify 
the  reported  actual  deficit  and  debt  data  and  the  underlying  government  accounts12.  As  the 

Commission (Eurostat) has the right to access the accounts of all government entities in the context 

of its methodological visits, this may require the assistance of other national authorities who have a 

functional responsibility for the control of public accounts. As EDP statistics do not fall within the 

ambit  of  ESCB  tasks,  the  ECB  considers  that  the  NBB’s  assumption  of  this  new  statistical  task, 

along  with  the  conduct  of dialogue  and  methodological  visits  by the  Commission,  in  conjunction 

with the National Accounts Institute, raises no concerns as regards the functional independence of 

the NBB, which is safeguarded under the Treaty and the Organic Statute of the NBB in respect of 
the ESCB tasks performed by the NBB13.  

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 29 August 2013. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI  

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13 

See paragraph 2 of Opinion CON/2013/56. 
OJ L 145, 10.6.2009, p. 1.  
See Article 22.1 of the Law of 22 February 1998 establishing the Organic Statute of the NBB.  

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