REGULATION (EC) No 1158/2005 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 6 July 2005
amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 concerning short-term statistics
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 285(1) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank (1),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2),
Whereas:
(1)
Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 (3) established a common basic framework for the collection, compilation, transmission and evaluation of Community business statistics for the purpose of the analysis of the economic cycle.
(2)
The implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 effected by Commission Regulations (EC) No 586/2001 (4), (EC) No 588/2001 (5), and (EC) No 606/2001 (6), concerning respectively the definition of Main Industrial Groupings, the definition of variables and the granting of derogations to Member States, has created a body of practical experience that allows measures for further improvements in short-term statistics to be identified.
(3)
In its Action Plan on EMU Statistical Requirements and in subsequent progress reports on the implementation of that plan, the Ecofin Council identified additional fundamental aspects for improving the statistics covered by Regulation (EC) No 1165/98.
(4)
For its monetary policy, the European Central Bank (ECB) needs short-term statistics to be further developed, as is stated in its document ECB Statistical Requirements in the field of General Economic Statistics, and, in particular, it needs timely, reliable and meaningful aggregates for the euro zone.
(5)
The Statistical Programme Committee, established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (7), has identified Principal European Economic Indicators (PEEI) that go beyond the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1165/98.
(6)
It is therefore necessary to amend Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 in areas of particular importance to monetary policy and to the study of the business cycle.
(7)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Statistical Programme Committee.
(8)
The implementation of the Lisbon strategy for growth and employment includes the reduction of unnecessary burdens on businesses and the dissemination of new technologies,
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 shall be amended as follows:
1.
Article 4(2) shall be amended as follows:
(a)
the following point shall be added to the sole subparagraph:
‘(d)
participation in European sample schemes coordinated by Eurostat in order to produce European estimates.
The details of the schemes referred to in the first subparagraph shall be as specified in the Annexes. Their approval and implementation shall be governed by the procedure laid down in Article 18.
European sample schemes shall be established when national sample schemes do not meet the European requirements. Furthermore, Member States may opt to take part in European sample schemes when such schemes create possibilities for substantial reductions in the cost of the statistical system or the burden on business which meeting the European requirements entails. Participation in a European sample scheme shall satisfy the conditions of a Member State for the supply of the variable concerned according to the objective of such a scheme. European sample schemes may target the conditions, the level of detail and the deadlines for data transmission.’;
(b)
the following subparagraph shall be added:
‘Compulsory surveys shall be used to obtain information that is not already available (within the required timelines) in other sources, such as registers. Surveys shall be performed using electronic questionnaires and web-questionnaires where applicable.’;
2.
Article 10 shall be amended as follows:
(a)
paragraph 3 shall be replaced by the following:
‘3.
The quality of the variables shall be tested regularly by comparing them with other statistical information, such comparison to be effected by each Member State and the Commission (Eurostat). In addition they shall be checked for internal consistency.’;
(b)
paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following:
‘4.
Quality evaluation shall be carried out comparing the benefits of the availability of the data with the costs of collection and the burden on businesses, especially on small enterprises. For the purpose of this evaluation, Member States shall transmit to the Commission, at its request, the necessary information according to a common European methodology developed by the Commission in close cooperation with the Member States.’;
3.
Article 12(1) shall be replaced by the following:
‘1.
The Commission, after consulting the Statistical Programme Committee, shall publish by 11 February 2006 an advisory methodological manual which explains the rules set out in the Annexes and also contains guidance concerning short-term statistics.’;
4.
Article 14(2) shall be replaced by the following:
‘2.
The Commission shall, by 11 August 2008 and again every three years thereafter, submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the statistics compiled pursuant to this Regulation and in particular on their relevance and quality and the revision of indicators. The report shall also specifically address the cost of the statistical system and the burden on business arising from this Regulation in relation to its benefits. It shall report on best practices for lessening the burden on business and shall indicate ways of reducing the burden and costs.’;
5.
The following point shall be added to Article 17:
‘(j)
the establishment of European sample schemes (Article 4).’;
6)
Annexes A to D shall be amended as shown in the Annex.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Strasbourg, 6 July 2005.