Opinion of the European Central Bank of 20 January 2014 on public access to information on officials’ wealth (CON/2014/5)
Date: 2014-01-20
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Slovenia, access to information, civil servant, corruption, national law, wealth

EN  

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 20 January 2014 

on public access to information on officials’ wealth 

(CON/2014/5) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 20 December 2013, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the President of the 

Slovenian Parliament for an opinion on a draft law on public access to information on officials’ wealth 

(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 purpose of the draft law, as stated in its explanatory memorandum, is to ensure transparency in 

the conduct of public officials and take precautionary measures in the field of corruption. The draft 

law regulates the duty of officials to declare information on their wealth and public access to such 

information. The main features of the draft law are presented below. 

1.2  Under the draft law, all officials, including the President of the Republic, Prime Minister, members 

of  Parliament,  ministers  and  judges,  as  well  as  the  Governor  of  Banka  Slovenije  and  Banka 

Slovenije officials are obliged to provide annually the Slovenian Court of Audit with information 
on  their  personal  wealth,  e.g.  income,  real  estate,  securities  and  cash  holdings2.  In  addition,  they 

have  to  explain  any  increase  in  their  wealth  since  their  previous  declaration  that  exceeds  the  net 
salary payments they received for fulfilling their duties as officials in this period3. To the extent it 

refers to income and wealth acquired by officials during their term of public office or performance 

of  relevant  activities,  such  information  will  be  made  publicly  available  on  the  Court  of  Audit’s 
website notwithstanding any legal restrictions as regards personal data protection and tax secrets4. 

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3  
4  

OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42.  
See Article 4 of the draft law. 
See Article 6 of the draft law. 
See Article 7 of the draft law. 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
ECB-PUBLIC 

1.3  The draft law envisages several types of sanctions that can be imposed on officials in the event of 

non-compliance with their obligations. If officials fail to provide information on their wealth and 

income, a fine under Article 13 of the draft law is imposed on them. In accordance with Article 8 of 

the draft law, the Court of Audit is to order that such official’s salary is gradually reduced every 

month  by  one  tenth,  to  the  level  of  the  minimum  salary,  until  the  official  provides  the  requested 

information. This order will be executed by the respective official’s employer. In addition to any 

fine  imposed  in  accordance  with  Article  13(1)  of  the  draft  law,  a  fine  under  Article  13(4)  of  the 

draft law will be imposed on an official in the amount of the value of undeclared wealth or of the 

wealth from unexplained sources, as the case may be. 

2. 

General observations 

2.1  The  ECB  welcomes  this  consultation  by  the  Slovenian  Parliament.  The  term  ‘officials’,  which  is 

defined  in  Article  2  of  the  draft  law,  explicitly  includes  the  Governor  of  Banka  Slovenije  and 

Banka  Slovenije  officials.  For  this  reason,  the  draft  law  should  be  assessed  in  terms  of 

compatibility with the principle of personal independence of the Governor and of other members of 

Banka Slovenije’s Governing Board. 

2.2  Most of the draft law’s provisions are identical to the draft legislative provisions on which the ECB 
adopted Opinion CON/2009/645 while the differences are not significant in terms of compatibility 

the  principle  of  personal 

with 
in 
independence.  Therefore, 
paragraph 3.3 of Opinion CON/2009/64 also apply with respect to this draft law6. They refer to the 

the  observations  expressed 

ECB’s  interpretation  on  the  basis  of  which  the  draft  law  provisions  on  wealth  declarations  and 

related sanctions would not be incompatible with the principle of personal independence. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 5 January 2014. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

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All ECB opinions are available on the ECB website at www.ecb.europa.eu. 
The ECB has also considered other similar draft laws in Opinions CON/2008/43 and CON/2010/27. 

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