Opinion of the European Central Bank of 29 October 2013 on the transfer of the management of State properties to Banca Naţională a României (CON/2013/74)
Date: 2013-10-29
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Romania, central bank, national law, public property, transfer of property

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 29 October 2013 

on the transfer of the management of State properties to  

Banca Naţională a României 

(CON/2013/74) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On  5  August  2013,  the  European  Central  Bank  (ECB)  received  a  request  from  Banca  Naţională  a 

României  (BNR)  for  an  opinion  on  a  draft  law  on  the  transfer  of  certain  State  properties  from  the 

management of Regia Autonomă ‘Administraţia Patrimoniului Protocolului de Stat’ to the management 

of BNR (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  BNR.  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 

The draft law provides for the transfer of the management of two State-owned properties from the Regia 

Autonomă ‘Administraţia Patrimoniului Protocolului de Stat’(RA-APPS, a financially autonomous body 
with  legal  personality  responsible  for  management  of  the  State  heritage  and  protocol)2  to  BNR 

(hereinafter  the  ‘transfer’)  to  serve  as  its  premises.  According  to  the  explanatory  memorandum  to  the 

consultation request, the transfer is meant to cater for BNR space requirements following changes to its 

organisational  structure,  and  it  includes  the  fixed  assets,  inventory  goods  and  on-going  investments 

related to the properties concerned. 

As  manager  of  these  properties,  BNR  will  be  obliged  to  ensure,  inter  alia,  that  they  are  guarded, 
maintained, preserved and restored3. If used for purposes other than those provided for in the draft law, 
the properties are to be transferred back to RA-APPS4. 

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2 

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4 

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42. 
RA-APPS is established pursuant to Government Decision No 60 of January 21 2005 to manage, preserve the integrity 
of, and protect State property. 
Article 7 of the draft law. 
Article 6 of the draft law. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
ECB-PUBLIC 

One  of  the  properties  concerned  is  a  historical  monument  and  the  other  one  is  located  within  the 

protection  zone  of  a  historical  monument.  Therefore,  Romanian  legislation  on  the  preservation  of 
historical monuments5 is applicable, and BNR  will be obliged to ensure that the properties are guarded 

and  protected,  to  take  all  necessary  measures  to  prevent  or  extinguish  fires  and  to  carry  out  works  of 
preservation, consolidation, restoration, repair and maintenance6. Any works carried out on the properties 
must be authorised by the Ministry of Culture7. 

2. 

Central bank independence 

The  wording  of  the  draft  law  gives  rise  to  concerns  as  regards  central  bank  independence8  under 

Article 130 of the Treaty and Article 7 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the 

European Central Bank (hereinafter ‘the Statute of the ESCB’) as it does not mention whether BNR has 
given  its  prior  agreement9  to  this  transfer.  Overall,  the  ECB  notes  that  the  draft  law  is  silent  on  the 

reasons for the transfer. 

In addition, the scope of the envisaged transfer needs to be clarified as it is not clear whether this transfer 

concerns property rights, management or both with regard to the two buildings. Moreover, the draft law 

only indicates that, if used for purposes other than those provided for in the draft law, management of the 

properties is to be transferred back to RA-APPS. There is no other provision relating to the duration of the 

transfer or a situation where BNR would no longer need the use of the buildings. 

3.   Monetary financing prohibition 

The  wording  of  the  draft  law  also  raises  concerns  regarding  compliance  with  the  monetary  financing 
prohibition  under  Article 123(1)  of the Treaty  and  Article 21.1  of  the  Statute of  the  ESCB  10,  11,  as  the 

draft law contains no reference to the financial aspects of the transfer, except to state the inventory value 

of the two buildings. There is no indication of whether BNR must make any payment for this transfer and 

it  is  not  clear  whether  an  assessment  has  been  carried  out  with  regard  to  the  costs  for  renovating  the 

buildings and their amortisation or the costs to be incurred by BNR for management of these buildings 

and  how  these  costs  will  be  financed.  These  financial  aspects  of  the  envisaged  transfer  need  to  be 

addressed in compliance with the monetary financing prohibition before adoption of the draft law. 

5 

6  
7 
8  
9  

10  

11 

Law 422/2001 on the preservation of historical monuments, published in Monitorul Oficial al României, Part I, No 407 of 
24 July 2001. 
Article 36(1)(b) of Law 422/2001. 
Article 24(1) and (2) of Law 422/2001. 
See the ECB’s Convergence Report, 2013, p. 20. 
Article  55  of  the  BNR  Statute  provides  that:  ‘BNR  may  only  invest  in  real  estate  for  its  own  operating  needs  and  the 
collective needs of its employees, as established by its Board’. 
Further clarified by Council Regulation (EC) No 3603/93 of 13 December 1993 specifying definitions for the application 
of the prohibitions referred to in Articles 104 and 104b(1) of the Treaty (OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 1). Articles 104 and 
104b(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community are now Articles 123 and 125(1) of the Treaty. 
For details see the ECB’s Convergence Report, 2013, p. 27. 

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ECB-PUBLIC 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 29 October 2013. 

[signed] 

The Vice President of the ECB 

Vítor CONSTÂNCIO 

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