Opinion of the European Central Bank of 23 June 2017 on a law on the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development (CON/2017/26)
Date: 2017-06-23
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: Austria, central bank, foundation, national financing, national law, research and development

EN 

ECB-PUBLIC 

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK 

of 23 June 2017  

on a law on the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development  

(CON/2017/26) 

Introduction and legal basis 

On 7 June 2017, the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Austrian Federal Ministry 

of Finance for an opinion on a draft law amending the Federal Act governing the National Foundation for 

Research, Technology and Development (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 on the third indent of Article 2(1) of Council Decision 98/415/EC1, 

as  the  draft  law  relates  to  the  Oesterreichische  Nationalbank  (OeNB).  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  National Foundation  for  Research, Technology and Development (hereinafter 

the  ‘Foundation’)  is  to  finance  research,  technology  and  development  in  Austria,  especially 

research  activities  that  promise  to  be  of  long-term  benefit,  as  well  as  interdisciplinary  research. 

According  to  the  current  legal  framework  governing  the  Foundation,  the  Foundation  shall  be 
annually  endowed  with,  inter  alia,  a  contribution  from  the  OeNB2.  In  particular,  the  OeNB  is 

authorised to transfer EUR 1.5 billion from its general reserve fund and its free reserves to a fund 

established by the OeNB to sponsor scientific research and teaching tasks, and to make a dividend 
payment of up to EUR 75 million to the Foundation3. 

1.2 

In  November  2016,  the  Austrian  Federal  Government  resolved  that  additional  funds  should  be 

allocated to the Foundation. To this end, the draft law authorises, but does not require, the OeNB, 

over  and  above  the  existing  provisions  laid  down  in  the  Federal  Act  governing  the  National 

foundation  for  Research,  Technology  and  Development  (hereinafter  the  ‘Federal  Act  on  the 

Foundation’), to transfer to the Foundation, in the OeNB’s name, an additional amount to be taken 

from the 90 % share of the OeNB’s net profits to which the Austrian Federation is entitled by virtue 

of  Section  69(3)  of  the  Law  on  the  Oesterreichische  Nationalbank  (hereinafter  the  ‘law  on  the 

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Council  Decision  98/415/EC  of  29 June  1998  on  the  consultation  of  the  European  Central  Bank  by  national 
authorities regarding draft legislative provisions (OJ L 189, 3.7.1998, p. 42). 
See Sections 4(1) and 4(2) of the Federal Act on the Foundation. 
See Section 4(5) of the Federal Act on the Foundation. The ECB has addressed this matter in a previous opinion 
(see Opinion CON/2003/27). All ECB opinions are published on the ECB’s website at www.ecb.europa.eu . 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
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OeNB’)4. The additional amount that is authorised to be paid, including the dividend payment made 

to the Foundation by the OeNB under the Federal Act on the Foundation, shall not exceed a total 

amount of EUR 100 million per annum. The amount to be met from sums paid in under the stability 

fee (see paragraph 1.3) shall form part of this amount of EUR 100 million. The application of this 

provision of the draft law shall be restricted to a period of three years, from 2018 to 2020. 

1.3  According to the draft law, the Foundation shall be endowed with an amount of EUR 100 million, to 

be met from sums paid in under the Federal Stability Fee Act (hereinafter the ‘Stability Fee Act’), 

under which a stability fee is paid by credit institutions authorised under the Banking Act as well as 

by branches of foreign credit institutions providing services in Austria. This endowment related to 

the stability fee is to be limited to a period of three years and may, therefore, result in the payment 

of a sum of EUR 33.33 million per year. 

1.4  Therefore,  during  the  three-year  period  from  2018  to  2020,  the  draft  law  envisages  that  only  the 

residual amount of the additional authorised allocation of EUR 100 million to the Foundation that is 

financed  neither  by  the  additional  endowment  related  to  the  stability  fee  nor  by  the  dividend 

payment made by the OeNB to the Foundation under the Federal Act on the Foundation shall be 

taken from the 90 % share of the OeNB’s net profits to which the Austrian Federation is entitled by 

virtue of Section 69(3) of the law on the OeNB.  

1.5  Finally, the draft law provides that the amounts transferred by the OeNB to the Foundation under 

the  draft  law  shall  cause  the  OeNB’s  corporate  tax  base  for  the  assessment  periods  of  2018  to 

2020 to be reduced. 

2. 

Observations 

2.1.  The ECB understands that although the contribution envisaged by the draft law may be transferred 

to the Foundation by the OeNB in its own name, this contribution does not reduce the OeNB’s total 

annual  income,  and  does  not  therefore  impact  on  its  profit  situation.  Rather,  the  draft  law 

authorises  the  OeNB  to  transfer  a  dedicated  contribution  that  is  deducted  from  its  net  profit  to 

which the Austrian Federation is entitled by virtue of Section 69(3) of the law on the OeNB. In this 

respect, it is noted that Section 69(3) of the law on the OeNB explicitly refers to the distribution of 

the  OeNB’s net  profits and  the  right  of the Austrian Federation to  receive  a share  of 90 %  of  the 

OeNB’s net profits, while Section 69(1) of the law on the OeNB governs the total annual income of 
the  OeNB5  and  lists  specific  amounts  that  have  to  be  deducted  from  this  income6.  The  ECB 

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Under  Section  69(3)  of  the  law  on  the  OeNB,  the  Austrian  Federation  shall  first  receive  90 %  of  the  net  profits 
remaining after certain specified deductions have been made. Of the earnings retained after these deductions have 
been made, the shareholder shall, by decision of the General Meeting, receive a dividend of up to 10 % of its share 
of the capital. The amount remaining shall be transferred as decided by the General Meeting. 
Under Section 69(1) of the law on the OeNB, this income is derived pursuant to Articles 32, 33 and 51 of the Statute 
of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank. 
Pursuant to Section 69(1) of the law on the OeNB, the following sums shall, irrespective of the operating profit, be 
deducted and not recognised as profit:  (1) earnings from the assets  in which  the pension  reserve, i.e.  the reserve 
fund serving to meet the pension claims of the OeNB’s employees, has been invested, and which shall be paid into 
that reserve fund; (2) amounts of interest which, pursuant to the agreement between the OeNB and the European 
Recovery Program Fund concluded in accordance with Section 3(4) of the European Recovery Program Fund Act, 
were credited during the year to the temporary reserve account for European Recovery Program loans extended by 
the OeNB; and (3) earnings from the assets in which the fund for the promotion of scientific research and teaching 
set up by the OeNB is invested, which shall be endowed to this fund. 

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understands  that,  in  contrast  to  the  amounts  listed  in  Section  69(1)  of  the  law  on  the  OeNB  that 

reduce the annual income of the OeNB, the dedicated contribution envisaged by the draft law is to 

be made solely from profits which have been fully realised and accounted for, and only insofar as 

there is in fact a distributable profit of the OeNB within the meaning of Section 69(3) of the law on 

the OeNB. Furthermore, the profits distributed to the Austrian Federation will thus be reduced only 

if the OeNB decides, at its discretion, to make use of its authorisation to contribute the Foundation 

as provided for in the draft law. 

2.2  As regards the endowment to the Foundation to be met from the stability fee, the ECB understands 

that the Stability Fee Act does not provide that the sum of money obtained by levying the stability 

fee should be used for any specific purpose. It does, however, make explicit reference to a special 
contribution7  that  credit  institutions  have  to  pay  in  addition  to  the  stability  fee.  This  special 

contribution is invested in a fund that may only  be drawn upon for the purposes of measures set 

out in the Federal Act on measures for securing the stability of the financial market. This fund was 
established  for  a  limited  period  of  time,  from  2012  until  20178.  However,  according  to  the 
explanatory  note  to  the  Stability  Fee  Act9,  the  stability  fee  shall  ensure  credit  institutions’ 

contribution  to  the  costs  of  the  financial  crisis  and  promote  the  stability  of  the  financial  market. 

Furthermore,  the  fee  shall  constitute  a  general  safeguard  for  the  State’s  contribution  in  times  of 

financial crisis. The wording of the Stability Fee Act as well as the explanatory note thereto indicate 

that the Stability Fee Act does not stipulate the exact use to which the sum of money obtained by 

levying  the  stability  fee  should  be  put.  Therefore,  it  is  assumed  that  this  sum  of  money  does  not 

have to be invested in another specific fund, such as the national resolution fund. 

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

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 23 June 2017. 

[signed] 

The President of the ECB 

Mario DRAGHI 

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9 

See Section 7a(1) of the Stability Fee Act. 

See Section 7a(3) of the Stability Fee Act. 
See the main remarks on the draft law introducing a stability fee in part I of the explanatory note to the Stability Fee 
Act (page 7). 

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