Options and national discretions

• Options and national discretions 2023
• Mutual recognition

There is no generally accepted definition of what constitutes a "national discretion". So the European Banking Authority (EBA) has provided consistent terminology to clarify what is meant by an "option" and a "national discretion" for the supervisory disclosure framework.

• "Option" refers to a situation where competent authorities or Member States are given a choice on how to comply with a given provision selected from alternatives set out in the Directive. For example, national authorities have the option, in determining the risk weights for exposures to institutions, of using either the central government risk-weight method or the credit assessment based method.
• "Discretion" or "National Discretion" refers to a situation where competent authorities or Member States are given a choice as to whether to apply a given provision. For example, Member States may, at national discretion, impose sub-consolidation in cases where it is not required and, if they do so, they may set the conditions.

For an overview regarding the texts of laws, regulations, administrative rules and general guidance adopted in each EU member State see the corresponding section on the EBA's website.