**Avis juridique important**

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# 31995R2494

**Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995 concerning harmonized indices of consumer prices***Official Journal L 257 , 27/10/1995 P. 0001 - 0004*

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995 concerning  harmonized indices of consumer prices

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 213  thereof,

 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission  (1),

 Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament  (2),

 Having regard to the opinion of the European Monetary Institute  (3),

 Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee  (4),

 Whereas Article 109j of the Treaty requires the Commission and the EMI to report to the Council on  the progress made by the Member States in the fulfilment of their obligations regarding the  achievement of economic and monetary union in respect of a high degree of price stability;

 Whereas Article 1 of the Protocol on the convergence criteria referred to in Article 109j of the  Treaty states that the required sustainable price performance for Member States should be in terms  of inflation measured by means of the consumer price index on a comparable basis, taking into  account differences in national definitions; whereas existing consumer price indices are not  compiled on a directly comparable basis;

 Whereas there is a need for the Community and particularly its fiscal and monetary authorities to  have regular and timely consumer price indices for the purpose of providing comparisons of  inflation in the macro-economic and international context as distinct from indices for national and  micro-economic purposes;

 Whereas it is recognized that inflation is a phenomenon manifesting itself in all forms of market  transactions including capital purchases, government purchases, payments to labour as well as  purchases by consumers; whereas it is recognized that a range of statistics, of which consumer  price indices from an essential part, is relevant for an understanding of the inflationary process  at national level and between the Member States;

 Whereas comparable indices of consumer prices may be produced instead of or in addition to similar  indices of consumer prices already produced or to be produced in future by Member States;

 Whereas the production of comparable indices will involve costs to be allocated between the  Community and Member States;

 Whereas, according to the principle of subsidiarity, the creation of common statistical standards  for consumer price indices is a task that can be dealt with effectively only at Community level and  whereas the collection of data and compilation of comparable consumer price indices will be  implemented in each Member State under the aegis of the organizations and institutions responsible  for compiling official statistics at national level;

 Whereas, with a view to the achievement of economic and monetary union, a consumer price index will  be needed for the Community as a whole;

 Whereas the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC), established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC,  Euratom  (5), has given a favourable opinion on the draft Regulation,

 HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 

Aim 

The aim of this Regulation is to establish the statistical  bases necessary for arriving at the calculation of comparable indices of consumer prices at  Community level.

Article 2 

Definitions 

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall  apply:

 (a)  Harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP): the comparable index of consumer prices produced  by each Member State;

 (b)  European index of consumer prices (EICP): the consumer price index produced for the Community  by the Commission (Eurostat), based on the HICPs of Member States;

 (c)  Monetary Union index of consumer prices (MUICP): the consumer price index produced in the  context of Economic and Monetary Union by the Commission (Eurostat) based on the HICPs of Member  States without a derogation under Article 109k of the Treaty, as long as such derogations exist.

Article 3 

Scope 

The HICP shall be based on the prices of goods and services available for  purchase in the economic territory of the Member State for the purposes of directly satisfying  consumer needs. Questions concerning weighting shall be decided on by the Commission under the  procedure laid down in Article 14.

Article 4 

Comparability 

HICPs shall be considered to be comparable if they reflect only  differences in price changes or consumption patterns between countries.

 HICPs which differ on account of differences in the concepts, methods or practices used in their  definition and compilation shall not be considered comparable.

 The Commission (Eurostat), shall adopt rules to be followed to ensure the comparability of HICPs  under the procedure laid down in Article 14.

Article 5 

Timetable and derogations therefrom 

1.  The measures necessary to achieve comparable  indices of consumer prices shall be implemented in stages, as follows:

 (a)  Stage I:

 By March 1996 at the latest, the Commission (Eurostat), shall, in collaboration with Member States,  produce for the purposes of the report referred to in Article 109j of the Treaty ('convergence  criteria`) an interim set of indices of consumer prices for each Member State. These indices shall  be based wholly on data underlying existing national consumer price indices, adjusted in particular  as follows:

 (i)  to exclude owner-occupied housing;

 (ii)  to exclude health and educational services;

 (iii)  to exclude certain other items not covered or treated differently by a number of Member  States.

 (b)  Stage II:

 The HICP shall start with the index for January 1997. The common index reference period shall be  the year 1996. The estimates of price changes for the twelve months prior to January 1997 and  subsequent months shall be established on the basis of the indices for 1996.

 2.  Where necessary the Commission (Eurostat) may, at the request of a Member State and after  consulting the EMI, grant derogations from the provisions of paragraph 1 not exceeding a period of  one year where the Member State concerned has to make significant adjustments to its statistical  system in order to fulfil its obligations under this Regulation.

 3.  The implementing measures for this Regulation which are necessary for ensuring the  comparability of HICPs and for maintaining and improving their reliability and relevance shall be  adopted, after consultation of the EMI, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14.

Article 6 

Basic information 

The basic information shall be those prices and weightings of goods  and services which it is necessary to take into account in order to achieve comparability of  indices as defined in Article 4.

 That information shall be obtained from statistical units as defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No  696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production  system in the Community  (1) or from other sources, provided that the comparability requirements  for indices referred to in Article 4 of this Regulation are met.

Article 7 

Sources 

The statistical units called upon by the Member States to cooperate in the  collection or provision of price data shall be obliged to allow observation of the prices actually  charged and to give honest and complete information at the time it is requested.

Article 8 

Frequency 

1.  The HICP, EICP and MUICP shall be compiled each month.

 2.  The required frequency of price collection shall be once a month. Where less frequent  collection does not preclude production of an HICP which meets the comparability requirements  referred to in Article 4, the Commission (Eurostat) may allow exceptions to monthly collection.  This paragraph shall not preclude more frequent price collection.

 3.  The weightings of the HICP shall be updated with a frequency sufficient to meet the  comparability requirement laid down in Article 4. This paragraph shall not require family budget  surveys to be carried out more frequently than once every five years, except in Member States  which, under the procedure in Article 14, are acknowledged as experiencing changes in consumption  patterns such as to make more frequent surveys necessary.

Article 9 

Production of results 

Member States shall process the data collected in order to  produce the HICP, which shall be a Laspeyres-type index, covering the categories of the Coicop  international classification (classification of individual consumption by purpose)  (1), which  shall be adapted under the procedure in Article 14 to establish comparable HICPs. The methods,  procedures and formulae to ensure that the comparability requirements are met shall be determined  by the same procedure.

Article 10 

Transmission of results 

Member States shall transmit the HICPs to the Commission  (Eurostat) within a period which shall not exceed thirty days from the end of the calendar month to  which the indices relate.

Article 11 

Publication 

The HICP, the EICP, the MUICP and corresponding subindices for a set of  categories within those referred to in Article 9, selected by the procedure laid down in Article  14, shall be published by the Commission (Eurostat) within a period which shall not exceed five  working days from the end of the period referred to in Article 10.

Article 12 

Comparability of data 

Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) at its  request with information, inter alia that collected pursuant to Article 6, at the level of detail  necessary to evaluate compliance with the comparability requirements and the quality of the HICPs.

Article 13 

Funding 

The implementing measures for this Regulation shall be adopted taking the  greatest account of cost-effectiveness and on condition that no major additional resources are  needed in a Member State, unless the Commission (Eurostat) bears two-thirds of the additional costs  until the end of the second year of implementation of those measures.

Article 14 

Procedure 

1.  The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme  Committee, (hereinafter referred to as 'the Committee`).

 2.  The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to  be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the  Chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the  majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is  required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member  States within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The Chairman  shall not vote.

 The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the  Committee.

 If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, or if no opinion  is delivered, the Commission shall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the  measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.

 If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the date of referral to the Council, the Council  has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission.

Article 15 

Review 

After consulting the Committee, the Commission (Eurostat) shall, within two  years of the date of entry into force of this Regulation and again within two years thereafter,  submit a report to the Council on the HICPs established pursuant to this Regulation and in  particular on their reliability and compliance with the comparability requirements.

 In those reports, the Commission shall state its views on the operation of the procedure described  in Article 14 and shall propose any amendments it considers appropriate.

Article 16 

Entry into force 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day  following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all  Member States.

 Done at Luxembourg, 23 October 1995.

 For the Council The President P. SOLBES MIRA