COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1165/98 of 19 May 1998 concerning short-term statistics
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 draft Regulation submitted by the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Monetary Institute (4),
(1) Whereas Council Directive 72/211/EEC of 30 May 1972 concerning coordinated statistics on the business cycle in industry and small craft industries (5) and Council Directive 78/166/EEC of 13 February 1978 concerning coordinated statistics on the business cycle in building and civil engineering (6) which aimed to provide a body of coherent statistics, have not been able to take account of economic and technical changes;
(2) Whereas the European Union has in the meantime made further progress towards integration; whereas new economic, competition, social, environmental and enterprise policies and guidelines call for initiatives and decisions based on valid statistics; whereas the information provided for under existing Community legislation or available in the various Member States is partly inadequate or insufficiently comparable to serve as a reliable basis for the work of the Communities;
(3) Whereas the future European Central Bank needs rapid short term statistics in order to assess economic development in the Member States in the context of a single European monetary policy;
(4) Whereas standardisation is required to meet Community needs for information concerning economic convergence;
(5) Whereas it is necessary to have reliable and rapid statistics available in order to report on the economic development in each Member State of the Union within the framework of the economic policy of the Union;
(6) Whereas businesses and their professional associations need such information in order to understand their markets and to know their activity and performance relative to their sector, at national and international level;
(7) Whereas the compilation of national accounts according to Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community (7) requires the development of comparable, complete and reliable statistical sources;
(8) Whereas by Decision 92/326/EEC (8) the Council adopted a two-year programme (1992 to 1993) for the development of European statistics on services; whereas this programme includes the compilation of harmonised statistics at national and regional levels, particularly for the distributive trades;
(9) Whereas in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity the creation of common statistical norms that permit the production of harmonised statistics is an action which can only be undertaken efficiently at Community level and whereas they will be applied in each Member State under the authority of the bodies and institutions in charge of compiling official statistics;
(10) Whereas the best method of ascertaining the business cycle consists of compiling statistics which conform to common methodological principles and with common definitions of characteristics; whereas it is only from coordinated compilation that harmonised statistics can be drawn up with reliability, speed, flexibility and the level of detail required to meet the needs of the Commission and of enterprises;
(11) Whereas seasonal adjustment and the calculation of trend-cycle series for national data can best be carried out by the national statistical authorities; whereas the transmission to the Commission (Eurostat) of seasonally adjusted data and trend-cycle series will increase the coherence between data disseminated nationally and at an international level;
(12) Whereas kind-of-activity units (KAU) correspond to one or more operational subdivisions of the enterprise; whereas for a KAU to be observable, the enterprise's information system must be capable of indicating or calculating for each KAU at least the value of production, intermediate consumption, manpower costs, the operating surplus and employment and gross fixed capital formation; whereas KAUs falling within a particular heading in the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev.1) can produce products outside the homogeneous group, on account of secondary activities connected with them which cannot be separately identified from available accounting documents; whereas the enterprise and the KAU are identical when it proves impossible for an enterprise to indicate or calculate information on all of the variables listed in this recital for one or more operational subdivisions;
(13) Whereas the statistical data compiled within the Community system must be of a satisfactory quality and this quality, as well as the burden it entails, must be comparable from one Member State to another, and whereas it is therefore necessary to establish jointly the criteria enabling these requirements to be met; whereas short-term statistics must be consistent with the results transmitted in accordance with Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 58/97 of 20 December 1996 concerning structural business statistics (9);
(14) Whereas Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community statistics (10) constitutes the reference framework for the provisions of this Regulation, in particular those which cover access to administrative data sources and statistical confidentiality;
(15) Whereas it is necessary to simplify the administrative procedures for enterprises, particularly smaller enterprises, including the promotion of new technologies for data collection and compilation; whereas the use of existing administrative data for statistical purposes is one of the measures to decrease the burden on enterprise; whereas if a direct data collection from businesses is indispensable for compiling the statistics, the methods and techniques must ensure that the data are reliable and up to date, without giving rise for the parties concerned, in particular for small and medium sized businesses, to a burden out of proportion to the results which users of the said statistics can reasonably expect;
(16) Whereas it is necessary to have a legal framework common to all business activities and domains of business statistics covering also the activities and domains for which statistics are not yet developed; whereas the scope of the statistics to be compiled can be defined by reference to 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 (11) and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 of 9 October 1990 on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev.1) (12);
(17) Whereas, in order to enable the rules for the collection and statistical processing of data and for processing and transmission of the variables to be clarified further, it is necessary to confer upon the Commission, assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee set up by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (13), the power to adopt measures for the application of this Regulation;
(18) Whereas the Statistical Programme Committee has been consulted in accordance with Article 3 of Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
General aims
1. The objective of this Regulation is to establish a common framework for the production of short-term Community statistics on the business cycle.
2. The statistics comprise information (variables) necessary to provide a uniform basis for the analysis of the short-term evolution of supply and demand, production factors and prices.
Article 2
Scope
1. This Regulation shall apply to all market activities in Sections C to K and M to O of the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev.1) as established by Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90.
2. Statistical units of the types listed in Section I of the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 and classified under one of the activities referred to in paragraph 1 shall be included in the scope of this Regulation. The use of particular units for the compilation of statistics is specified in the Annexes to this Regulation.
Article 3
Annexes
1. The specific requirements for the variables are described in the Annexes.
2. The following information is laid down in each Annex where relevant:
(a) the specific activities for which the statistics are to be compiled;
(b) the types of statistical unit to be used for the compilation of the statistics;
(c) the lists of variables;
(d) the form of the variables;
(e) the reference period of the variables;
(f) the level of detail of the variables;
(g) the deadlines for data transmission;
(h) the list of voluntary pilot studies;
(i) the first reference period;
(j) the length of the transition period which may be conceded.
Article 4
Collection of data
1. Member States shall obtain the necessary data for the compilation of the variables listed in the Annexes.
2. Member States may acquire the necessary data using a combination of different sources specified below, applying the principle of administrative simplification:
(a) compulsory surveys: the legal units as defined in Regulation (EEC) No 696/93, to which the statistical units called upon by the Member States belong or of which they are composed, shall be obliged to give timely, accurate and complete information;
(b) other appropriate sources, including administrative data;
(c) appropriate statistical estimation procedures.
3. Member States and the Commission within their respective fields of competence shall promote the conditions for increased use of electronic data collection and automatic data processing.
Article 5
Periodicity
All variables shall be produced more frequently than annually. The frequency for each variable is specified in the Annexes.
Article 6
Level of detail
The variables shall be produced in accordance with the prevailing classifications at the level of detail specified in the Annexes.
Article 7
Processing
Member States shall process the completed data acquired in accordance with Article 4(2) into comparable variables following the rules laid down in the Annexes. Member States shall also take account of the guidance provided by the advisory methodological manual referred to in Article 12.
Article 8
Transmission
Member States shall transmit the variables provided for in Article 7, including confidential data, to Eurostat by electronic or other appropriate means within a period of time from the end of the reference period which is laid down in the Annexes. In any case, the variables shall be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) not later than the day they are disseminated by the national authority.
Article 9
Treatment of confidential data
The treatment of confidential data and the transmission of such data as provided for in Article 8 shall be carried out in accordance with the existing Community provisions governing statistical confidentiality.
Article 10
Quality
1. Member States shall ensure that the transmitted variables reflect the population of units. For this purpose, the data acquired in accordance with Article 4(2) must cover as many units as necessary to ensure a sufficient degree of representativeness.
2. The quality of the variables shall be measured by each Member State according to common criteria.
3. The quality of the variables shall be tested regularly by comparing them with other statistical information. In addition they shall be checked for internal consistency.
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.
Article 11
Change of weightings and base year
1. Member States shall adapt where necessary the weighting system of composite indices at least every five years. The weights used in the adapted weighting systems shall be transmitted to the Commission within three years after the end of the new base year.
2. Every five years, Member States shall rebase the indices using as base years the years ending with a 0 or a 5. All indices must be rebased on the new base year within three years after the end of this new base year.
Article 12
Methodological manual
1. The Commission, after consulting the Statistical Programme Committee, shall publish an advisory methodological manual which explains the rules set out in the Annexes and also contains guidance concerning short term statistics.
2. The manual shall be revised at regular intervals.
Article 13
Transition period and derogations
1. Transition periods may be conceded, not extending more than five years from the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
2. During the transition periods derogations from the provisions of this Regulation may be accepted by the Commission in so far as the national statistical systems require major adaptations.
Article 14
Reports
1. Member States shall transmit to the Commission, at its request, any relevant information with regard to the implementation of this Regulation in the Member States.
2. The Commission shall, within three years of the date of entry into force of this Regulation 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 burden on business.
Article 15
Coordination in the Member States
In each Member State one national authority shall coordinate:
1. the transmission of variables (Article 8),
2. the quality measurement (Article 10),
3. the transmission of relevant information (Article 14(1)).
Article 16
Pilot studies
1. The Commission shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18, institute a series of voluntary pilot studies to be carried out by Member States. These pilot studies are specified in the Annexes.
2. The pilot studies shall be carried out in order to assess the relevance and feasibility of obtaining data, taking into account the benefits of the availability of the data in relation to the cost of collection and the burden on business.
3. The Commission shall inform the Council of the results of the pilot studies.
Article 17
Implementation
The Commission shall determine, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18, the measures for implementing this Regulation, including the measures to accommodate economic and technical developments concerning the collection and statistical processing of data and the transmission of the variables. In doing so, consideration shall be given to the principle that the benefits of the measure must outweigh its cost, and to the principle that major additional resources are not involved either for Member States or for enterprises as compared with the original provisions of this Regulation. In particular the measures for implementing this Regulation shall include:
(a) the use of particular units (Article 2);
(b) the updating of the list of variables (Article 3);
(c) the definitions and the appropriate forms of the transmitted variables (Article 3);
(d) the frequency of compilation of the statistics (Article 5);
(e) the levels of breakdown and aggregation to be applied to the variables (Article 6);
(f) the transmission deadlines (Article 8);
(g) the criteria for the measurement of quality (Article 10);
(h) the transition periods and derogations granted during the transition period (Article 13);
(i) the institution of pilot studies (Article 16).
Article 18
Committee 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.
3. 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 the referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission.
Article 19
Repealing provisions
Directives 72/211/EEC and 78/166/EEC are hereby repealed.
Article 20
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th 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 Brussels, 19 May 1998.