Guideline (EU) 2025/603 of the European Central Bank of 7 March 2025 on government finance statistics (ECB/2025/9) (recast)

This Guideline establishes the reporting requirements for national central banks (NCBs) on statistical information to be reported on government finance statistics (GFS). In particular, this Guideline specifies the information to be reported by the NCBs to the European Central Bank (ECB), the frequency and timing of that reporting and the standards to be applied to that reporting.

For the purposes of this Guideline, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘statistical information’ means statistical information as defined in Article 1(11) of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98; (2) ‘euro area Member State’ means a Member State whose currency is the euro; (3) ‘government finance statistics (GFS)’ means statistical information on revenue, expenditure and deficit/surplus, statistics on deficit-debt adjustment, and statistical information on government debt, as set out in Annex I; (4) ‘general government’ means the sector of general government (S.13) defined in paragraph 2.111 of ESA 2010 established by Regulation (EU) No 549/2013; (5) ‘European institutions’ means European institutions as defined in paragraph 19.08 of ESA 2010; (6) ‘government debt’ means government debt as defined in Article 1(5) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2009.

1 NCBs shall report to the ECB the annual statistical information set out in Annex I in accordance with the methodological definitions of sectors and sub-sectors and the definitions of categories in Annex II. NCBs shall ensure that the statistical information reported pursuant to this paragraph complies with the methodology and definitions of ESA 2010 and of Regulation (EC) No 479/2009.

2 The statistical information to be reported pursuant to paragraph 1 shall cover each calendar year starting from 1995 until the year to which the transmission relates (year t-1).

3 When reporting the statistical information to the ECB in accordance with paragraph 1, NCBs shall flag the confidentiality status indicating to whom it may be made available by using the appropriate values described in the Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) Global Registry.

4 NCBs shall not be required to report to the ECB statistical information available at the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) on the basis of the ESA transmission programme and the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) reporting, as specified in Annex III, where all of the following conditions are met: (a) that statistical information is transmitted by Eurostat to the ECB in accordance with the Service Level Agreement; (b) the transmission from Eurostat referred to in point (a) covers GFS for the period from 1995 until the year to which the transmission relates (year t-1); (c) Eurostat transmits to the ECB the required GFS twice a year, by 15 April and by 15 October each year, and submits to the ECB any revisions thereto. The conditions in points (a) to (c) are deemed to be met unless the ECB notifies NCBs to the contrary.

5 Where Eurostat does not transmit to the ECB the statistical information specified in Annex III or where any of the conditions set out in paragraph 4, points (a) to (c), are not met, the ECB shall inform Eurostat accordingly and notify the relevant NCB thereof within 5 working days following the expiry of the relevant transmission deadline referred to in paragraph 4, point (c). Upon receipt of such notification, that NCB shall report to the ECB the statistical information as specified in the notification no later than 15 working days thereafter.

1 NCBs shall report the GFS to the ECB pursuant to Article 3 twice a year, by 15 April and 15 October of each year.

2 NCBs shall report on their own initiative the GFS referred to in Article 3 at any time where relevant new information becomes available. That statistical information may contain estimates for categories for which no new information is available.

1 NCBs shall revise the statistical information reported pursuant to Article 3 as follows: (a) revisions to the annual statistical information shall be submitted to the ECB twice a year, by 15 April and 15 October of each year; (b) revisions to the annual statistical information shall be submitted to the ECB at any time where statistical information becomes available to the NCB and is considered relevant for the purposes of this Guideline, either on the NCB’s own intiative or upon request by the ECB. That statistical information may contain estimates for categories for which no new information is available.

2 NCBs shall provide explanations to the ECB for revisions referred to in paragraph 1 upon request and where either of the following apply: (a) the revisions to deficit/surplus represent at least 0,3 % of gross domestic product (GDP); (b) the revisions to debt, revenue, expenditure or nominal GDP represent at least 0,5 % of GDP.

1 The ECB shall establish and maintain a database on GFS, which shall include euro area aggregates and national GFS of euro area Member States, and shall be based on the statistical information reported pursuant to Article 3 and revised in accordance with Article 5.

2 The ECB shall transmit to NCBs the euro area aggregates and national GFS of euro area Member States twice a year, in April and October of each year, not later than one ECB working day following the publication of GFS referred to in Article 10(1).

1 Where all or part of the statistical information referred to in Article 3 is collected by competent authorities other than NCBs, NCBs shall establish effective cooperation with those competent authorities, including a regular data transmission mechanism that fulfils the standards and requirements of the ESCB.

2 Where an NCB is unable to comply with the requirements of Article 3 or Article 4 because the competent authority did not provide the NCB with the necessary statistical information, that NCB, with the assistance of the ECB where required, shall cooperate with that authority in order to resolve the matter and to clarify how and by when this information can be made available.

3 Where Eurostat is unable to provide the ECB with the statistical information set out in Annex III because the competent authority did not provide Eurostat with that statistical information, the relevant NCB, with the assistance of the ECB where required, shall cooperate with that competent authority in order to resolve the matter and to clarify how and by when this information can be made available. The obligation to cooperate with that competent authority does not require the NCB to provide the missing statistical information to Eurostat or that authority.

1 NCBs shall transmit the statistical information to be reported pursuant to this Guideline electronically, using the means specified by the ECB. The statistical message format developed for this electronic exchange of statistical information shall be based on the SDMX information model agreed by the ESCB.

2 Where paragraph 1 does not apply, NCBs may use other means of transmitting statistical information with the ECB’s prior consent.

1 Without prejudice to Regulation (EC) No 2533/98, the ECB and NCBs shall monitor and assess the quality and reliability of statistical information reported to the ECB pursuant to this Guideline.

2 The Executive Board shall submit a report every two years to the Governing Council on the quality of the GFS reported to the ECB pursuant this Guideline. That report shall be submitted by 30 June of the year following each relevant two-year period. The first report shall be submitted by 30 June 2027.

3 The report referred to in paragraph 2 shall address at least the following: (a) the coverage and timeliness of the statistical information reported by NCBs; (b) the extent to which that statistical information complies with the relevant definitions set out in Section 2 of Annex II; (c) revisions for which the NCB provides explanations pursuant to Article 5; (d) an analysis of excessive deficit-debt adjustments; (e) the coverage and timeliness of GFS transmitted by Eurostat in accordance with Article 3(4); and (f) whether any NCBs reported statistical information pursuant to a notification by the ECB as referred to in Article 3(5).

4 Where the Executive Board observes severe quality issues in the statistical information reported to the ECB pursuant to this Guideline, it may provide the Governing Council with additional reports as necessary.

1 The ECB shall publish the euro area GFS aggregates and the national GFS, reported pursuant to Article 3, twice a year and where necessary following any revisions made pursuant to Article 5. The ECB shall not publish the euro area GFS aggregates and national GFS before publication by the European Commission of the statistics on government deficit and debt for the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure, which takes place within three weeks following the reporting deadlines referred to in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 479/2009.

2 The ECB shall take into account the confidentiality status of national statistical information as flagged in accordance with Article 3(3).

Taking account of the views of the Statistics Committee, the Executive Board shall make any necessary technical amendments to the Annexes, provided that such amendments neither change the underlying conceptual framework nor affect the reporting burden on NCBs. The Executive Board shall inform the Governing Council of any such amendment without undue delay.

1 Guideline ECB/2013/23 is repealed with effect from 1 April 2025.

2 References to the repealed Guideline shall be construed as references to this Guideline and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex V.

1 This Guideline shall take effect on the day of its notification to national central banks of the Member States whose currency is the euro.

2 The Eurosystem central banks shall comply with this Guideline from 1 April 2025, with the exception of Article 3, paragraphs 4 and 5, with which the Eurosystem central banks shall comply from 1 September 2025.

This Guideline is addressed to all Eurosystem central banks.