EN Official Journal of the European Union L 175/16

COMMISSION DECISION

of 6 July 2005

granting derogations to bring Member States' statistical systems into conformity with Regulation (EC) No 501/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quarterly financial accounts for general government

(notified under document number C(2005) 1861)

(Only the Czech, Danish, German, Estonian, Greek, Spanish, French, English, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovenian and Slovak texts are authentic)

(2005/488/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 501/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 on quarterly financial accounts for general government (1), and in particular Article 6(3) and (4) thereof,

Having regard to the requests made by the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic,

Whereas:

(1) The purpose of Regulation (EC) No 501/2004 is to list and define the main characteristics of the ESA 95 categories of financial transactions and of stocks of financial assets and liabilities, for the general government sector and for each of the subsectors within general government. Member States are required to transmit data to the Commission (Eurostat) quarterly following a step-by-step approach.

(2) However, under Article 6(3) and (4) of Regulation (EC) No 501/2004, the Commission is empowered to grant to Member States one or more derogations from the timetable set by the Regulation for the submission of quarterly data. Those derogations are granted for different purposes and are subject to different conditions.

(3) In accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 501/2004, a number of Member States' authorities have asked, by letter, to be granted derogations to enable them to bring their national statistical systems into conformity with the Regulation’s requirements.

(4) According to the information provided to Eurostat, the Member States' requests for derogations are due to the need for major adaptations to national statistical systems in order to comply fully with Regulation (EC) No 501/2004. The requested derogations should therefore be granted in their entirety,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Derogations are hereby granted to the Member States listed in the Annex, on the conditions and subject to the limits set out therein, in order to enable those Member States to bring their respective national statistical systems into conformity with Regulation (EC) No 501/2004.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic.

Done at Brussels, 6 July 2005. For the Commission Joaquín ALMUNIA Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 81, 19.3.2004, p. 1.

ANNEX