Opinion of the European Central Bank of 21 November 2000 at the request of the German Ministry of Economics and Technology on a draft decree amending the Decree concerning payment statistics data collection in Germany (CON/00/28)

1. On 31 October 2000 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the German Ministry of Economics and Technology for an ECB opinion on a draft decree amending the Decree concerning payment statistics data collection in Germany (hereinafter referred to as the "draft Decree").

2. The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on the fourth indent of Article 2(1) of Council Decision (EC) No 98/415 of 29 June 1998 on the consultation of the European Central Bank by national authorities regarding draft legislative provisions. In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the ECB, this ECB opinion has been adopted by the Governing Council of the ECB.

3. The draft Decree intends to raise the threshold for exemptions from reporting obligations for balance of payments purposes from DEM 5 000 to EUR 12 500 and to repeal the obligation to report import payments to the Deutsche Bundesbank with the objective of fostering the efficient operation of payment systems within the euro area and to reduce the statistical reporting burden of credit institutions and other reporting agents.

4. The ECB welcomes the rise in the threshold for exemption from the obligation to report for balance of payments purposes from DM 5 000 to EUR 12 500 which is in line with the recommendation expressed in the opinion agreed in June 2000 by the Committee for Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics.

5. The ECB has no objection to removing the obligation to report payments for merchandise imports for balance of payments statistics purposes to the Deutsche Bundesbank as foreseen by the draft Decree and assumes that the change will not affect the overall quality of the German contribution to the euro area aggregates.

6. The ECB confirms that it has no objections to this ECB Opinion being made public by the competent national authorities at their discretion. Done at Frankfurt am Main on 21 November 2000. The President of the ECB [Signed] Willem F. DUISENBERG