1995R2494 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No2494/95
of23October1995
concerningharmonizedindicesofconsumerprices
(OJ L 257, 27.10.1995, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 29 September 2003L 284 1 31.10.2003
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COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No2494/95
of23October 1995
concerningharmonizedindicesofconsumerprices
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 MemberStatesin the fulfilment of their obligationsregarding the achievementof economic and monetary union in respect of a high degree of pricestability;
WhereasArticle 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 Statess hould be in termsof inflation
measured by means of the consumer price index on a comparable basis,taking into account differences in national definitions; whereas existingconsumer price indices are not compiled on a directly comparablebasis;
Whereasthere isa need for the Community and particularly itsfis cal
and monetary authoritiesto have regular and timely cons umer price
indices for the purpose of providing comparisons of inflation in the
macro-economic and international context asdis tinct from indicesfornational and micro-economic purposes;
Whereasit isrecognized that inflation isa phenomenon manifes ting
itself in all forms of market transactions including capital purchases,government purchases, payments to labour as well as purchases byconsumers; whereas it is recognized that a range of statistics, of which
consumer price indices from an essential part, is relevant for an under-
standing of the inflationary process at national level and between theMember States;
Whereascomparable indicesof cons umer pricesmay be produced
instead of or in addition to similar indices of consumer prices alreadyproduced or to be produced in future by Member States;
Whereasthe production of comparable indiceswill involve cos tsto 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 thatcan be dealt with effectively only at Community level and whereas
the collection of data and compilation of comparable consumer price
indiceswill be implemented in each Member State under the aegisofthe organizations and institutions responsible for compiling officialstatistics 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 awhole;1995R2494 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 84, 6. 4. 1995, p. 7.
(2) OJ No C 249, 25. 9. 1995.
(3) Opinion delivered on 31 March 1995 (OJ No C 236, 11. 9. 1995, p. 11).
(4) OJ No C 236, 11. 9. 1995, p. 11.
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Whereas the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC), established by
Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (1), hasgiven 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 indicesof cons umer 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 MonetaryUnion by the Commission (Eurostat) based on the HICPs ofMember Stateswithout a derogation under Article 109k of theTreaty, aslong ass uch derogationsexis t.
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 thepurposes of directly satisfying consumer needs. Questions concerningweighting shall be decided on by the Commission under the procedurelaid down in Article 14.
Article 4
Comparability
HICPs shall be considered to be comparable if they reflect only differ-
ences in price changes or consumption patterns between countries.
HICPswhich differ on account of differencesin 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 HICPsunder the procedure laid down in Article
14.
Article 5
Timetableandderogationstherefrom
1. The measures necessary to achieve comparable indices of
consumer prices shall be implemented in stages, as follows:
(a)StageI:
By March 1996 at the latest, the Commission (Eurostat), shall, in
collaboration with Member States, produce for the purposes of thereport referred to in Article 109j of the Treaty (‘convergence1995R2494 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 3
(1) OJ No L 181, 28. 6. 1989, p. 47.
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criteria’) an interim set of indices of consumer prices for each
Member State. These indices shall be based wholly on data under-lying existing national consumer price indices, adjusted in
particular asfollows :
(i) to exclude owner-occupied housing;
(ii) to exclude health and educational services;
(iii) to exclude certain other itemsnot covered or treated differ-
ently by a number of Member States.
(b)StageII:
The HICP shall start with the index for January 1997. The common
index reference period shall be the year 1996. The estimates of
price changesfor the twelve monthsprior to January 1997 and
subsequent months shall be established on the basis of the indicesfor 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 yearwhere the Member State concerned has to make significant adjustmentsto its statistical system in order to fulfil its obligations under this Regu-lation.
3. The implementing measures for this Regulation which are neces-
sary for ensuring the comparability of HICPs and for maintaining andimproving their reliability and relevance shall be adopted, after consul-tation of the EMI, in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 14.
Article 6
Basicinformation
The basic information shall be those prices and weightings of goods
and services which it is necessary to take into account in order toachieve comparability of indicesasdefined 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 statis-tical units for the observation and analysis of the production system inthe Community (
1) or from other sources, provided that the compar-
ability requirementsfor indicesreferred 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 obser-
vation of the pricesactually charged and to give hones t and complete
information at the time it isreques ted.
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 anHICP which meetsthe comparability requirementsreferred to inArticle 4, the Commission (Eurostat) may allow exceptions to monthlycollection. Thisparagraph s hall not preclude more frequent price
collection.
3. The weightingsof the HICP s hall be updated with a frequency
sufficient to meet the comparability requirement laid down in Article4. This paragraph shall not require family budget surveys to be carried1995R2494 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 4
(1) OJ No L 76, 30. 3. 1993, p. 1.
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out more frequently than once every five years, except in Member
Stateswhich, under the procedure in Article 14, are acknowledged asexperiencing changes in consumption patterns such as to make more
frequent surveys necessary.
Article 9
Productionofresults
Member States shall process the data collected in order to produce the
HICP, which shall be a Laspeyres-type index, covering the categoriesof the Coicop international classification (classification of individualconsumption by purpose) (
1), which shall be adapted under the proce-
dure in Article 14 to establish comparable HICPs. The methods,proceduresand formulae to ens ure that the comparability requirements
are met shall be determined by the same procedure.
Article 10
Transmissionofresults
Member States shall transmit the HICPs to the Commission (Eurostat)
within a period which shall not exceed thirty days from the end of thecalendar month to which the indicesrelate.
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 theprocedure laid down in Article 14, shall be published by the Commis-sion (Eurostat) within a period which shall not exceed five workingdaysfrom the end of the period referred to in Article 10.
Article 12
Comparabilityofdata
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 comparabilityrequirementsand 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 nomajor additional resources are needed in a Member State, unless theCommission (Eurostat) bears two-thirds of the additional costs untilthe 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. Where reference ismade to thisArticle, Articles5 and 7 of Deci-
sion 1999/468/EC (
2) shall apply, having regard to the provisions of
Article 8 thereof.1995R2494 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 5
(1) Published by the United Nations, series F No 2, revision 3, table 6.1,
amended by the OECD (DES/NI/86.9), Paris1986.
(2) Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures
for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (OJ
L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23).▼M1
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The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be
set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 15
Review
After consulting the Committee, the Commission (Eurostat) shall,
within two yearsof the date of entry into force of thisRegulation and
again within two yearsthereafter, s ubmit a report to the Council on theHICPs established pursuant to this Regulation and in particular on theirreliability 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 amend-mentsit cons idersappropriate.
Article 16
Entryintoforce
ThisRegulation s hall enter into force on the twentieth day following its
publication in the Official JournaloftheEuropeanCommunities .
ThisRegulation s hall be binding in itsentirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1995R2494 — EN — 20.11.2003 — 001.001 — 6
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