Letter from Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), to Mugur Constantin Isărescu, Governor, Banca Naţională a României, regarding a request for an ECB opinion on a draft law on official statistics in Romania.
Date: 2023-08-04
Institutions: European Central Bank
Subjects: legal basis

Frank Elderson  
Member of the Executive Board 

Mr Mugur Constantin Isărescu 
Governor  
Banca Naţională a României 
25 Lipscani Street, sector 3 
Bucharest, code 030031 
ROMANIA 

ECB-PUBLIC 

Frankfurt am Main, 4 August 2023 

Contact person: Alina Grosu 

alina.grosu@ecb.europa.eu 
tel.: +496913447857 

Request for an ECB opinion on a draft law on official statistics in Romania  

Your reference: G/131/29.06.2023  

Dear Governor, 

Thank you for your letter of 29 June 2023 requesting an opinion of the European Central Bank (ECB) on a 

draft law on official statistics in Romania (hereinafter the ‘draft law’). 

The ECB notes that the main purpose of the draft law is to revise the existing legal framework governing 

the organisation and functioning of official statistics in Romania to develop the ability of the National Institute 

of  Statistics  and  the  national  statistical  system  to  adapt  to  their  current  needs  in  respect  of  national, 

European,  and  global  statistics  and  to  promptly  respond  to  socio-economic  changes.  Apart  from  the 

changes  concerning  the  institutional  framework  of  the  National  Institute  of  Statistics,  the  draft  law  also 

specifies the role of Banca Naţională a României (BNR) within the national statistical system. According to 

the draft law, BNR would be a producer of official statistics on data other than those collected or produced 

as  a  member  of  the  European  System  of  Central  Banks  (ESCB)  or  as  a  competent  national  authority 

designated in accordance with the provisions of specific legislation. BNR would also be the contact point 

and authorised to exchange confidential statistical data with Eurostat on that data. Furthermore, BNR would 

be authorised to establish, keep up to date and maintain statistical registers that are used exclusively for 

statistical purposes, in the areas which it is responsible for according to the law governing its organisation 

and operation.    

Pursuant  to  Articles  127(4)  and  282(5)  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  in 

conjunction  with  the  third  and  the  fourth  indent  of  Article  2(1)  of  Council  Decision  98/415/EC1,  national 

authorities  are  required  to  consult  the  ECB  on  draft  legislative  provisions  on  (1)  national  central  banks 

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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). 

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ECB-PUBLIC 

(NCBs) in the ESCB and (2) the collection, compilation and distribution of monetary, financial, banking and 

payment systems and balance of payments statistics.  

As concerns the impact of the draft law on the BNR, the ECB does not automatically adopt an opinion on 

draft national legislation that relates to NCBs, unless the draft national legislation: (1) impairs the NCB’s 

independence  under  Article  130  of  the  Treaty;  (2)  breaches  the  monetary  financing  prohibition  under 
Article 123 of the Treaty; or (3) is otherwise of non-marginal importance to the ECB’s fields of competence. 

Following careful review of the draft law, it appears that the draft law does not impair BNR’s independence 

or breach the monetary financing prohibition, and is not otherwise of non-marginal importance to the ECB’s 

fields of competence. 

As concerns the impact of the draft law on the collection, compilation and distribution of monetary, financial, 

banking and payment systems and balance of payments statistics, after careful consideration, the ECB has 

decided not to adopt an opinion in the present case, as the draft law only touches marginally on the ECB’s 

fields of competence in this respect. 

Consequently, the ECB has decided not to adopt an opinion in the present case. The ECB appreciates that 

you have sent the draft law to the ECB for consultation and remains confident that BNR will continue to 

consult the ECB on future draft legislative provisions that fall within the ECB’s fields of competence under 

the Treaty and Decision 98/415/EC. 

Yours sincerely, 

[signed] 

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