EN Official Journal of the European Union L 340/76

DECISION No 1297/2008/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 16 December 2008

on a Programme for the Modernisation of European Enterprise and Trade Statistics (MEETS)

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 285 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (1),

Whereas:

(1) The Commission made a commitment in its Communications of 16 March 2005 on Better Regulation for Growth and Jobs in the European Union and of 24 January 2007 on an Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the European Union to ensure a better policy on regulation and to cut unnecessary red tape and over-regulation.

(2) On 14 November 2006, the Commission published a Communication on reduction of the response burden, simplification and priority-setting in the field of Community statistics, which sets out a strategic approach to continuing the reduction of the statistical burden on enterprises.

(3) During the last 15 years, a large number of statistical regulations aiming to describe activities of enterprises and containing data provision obligations for enterprises have emerged to meet the statistical information needs of the Community. An overhaul is needed to ensure, inter alia, the consistency of the scope of, and the concepts and definitions in, those statistical regulations. Insofar as possible, simplification and priority-setting should be a feature of all those regulations.

(4) Enterprise and trade statistics are faced with a major challenge in the coming years. To underpin Community policy initiatives, they have to be capable of reflecting phenomena in the changing Community economy such as globalisation, emerging trends in entrepreneurship, the information society, trade in services, innovation, shifting trade patterns, and competitiveness in the light of the renewed Lisbon strategy.

(5) A key element driving the need for enterprise and trade statistics is the renewed Lisbon strategy, the objectives of which are to foster the competitiveness of the European economy and achieve high and sustainable growth.

(6) The deepening of European integration in a number of economic areas, including the European Monetary Union and the European customs system, creates new statistical needs related to the role of the euro in international transactions and leads to the necessity of adjusting the statistical system. Enterprise and trade statistics should meet those needs appropriately and provide, in a timely manner, high-quality statistical information on the structural changes in the European economy and its business sector.

(7) Enterprise and trade statistics comprise several areas to which improvements should be made, such as structural business statistics, short-term statistics, Prodcom statistics, statistics on information and communication technology, and statistics on trade in goods between Member States (Intrastat).

(8) The authorities responsible for enterprise and trade statistics should re-engineer the methods for the production of statistics so that the burden on enterprises can be reduced and all available sources and new technologies can be used in a fully effective way.

(9) The need for new types of indicators may arise as a result of efforts to modernise the statistical production system. New types of indicators providing the information required could be obtained by linking together existing types of business statistics without the need to increase the reporting burden on enterprises. New sources and electronic access are likely to make data collection less burdensome and, at the same time, provide more information. The potential of business statistics should be exploited in a more efficient way and the quality of statistical information should increase.

(10) National statistical institutes should be closely involved in the modernisation of the statistical production system in order to avoid cost duplication and red tape.

(11) The simplification of the Intrastat system is part of the efforts to reduce statistical requirements and minimise the burden on enterprises. The recent decision to reduce the coverage ratio will contribute to that goal in the short term. In the longer term, other means of simplification should be investigated, including the single-flow system. The possible implementation of those means of simplification in the long term depends on feasibility studies and other actions to be carried out in accordance with this Decision. The quality of the statistics as well as the significant costs involved in any transition should, however, be taken into account.

(12) An ex-ante evaluation has been performed in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, in order to focus the programme established by this Decision on the need for effectiveness in achieving the objectives and in order to incorporate budgetary constraints from the design phase of the programme onwards.

(13) This Decision establishes, for the entire duration of the programme, a financial envelope which constitutes the prime reference, within the meaning of point 37 of the Inter-institutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management (2), for the budgetary authority during the annual budgetary procedure.

(14) Since the objective of this Decision, namely to establish a programme for the modernisation of European enterprise and trade statistics, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States because uncoordinated modernisation would lead to duplication of efforts, repetition of mistakes and higher costs, and can therefore, by reason of the scale of the statistics involved, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

(15) The Statistical Programme Committee, established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (3), has been consulted in accordance with Article 3 of that Decision.

(16) Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community Statistics (4) provides a reference framework for the provisions of this Decision.

(17) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (5),

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Establishment of the Programme

1. This Decision establishes a programme for the modernisation of European enterprise and trade statistics (hereinafter referred to as the ‘MEETS Programme’).

2. The MEETS Programme shall start on 1 January 2009 and shall end on 31 December 2013.

Article 2

Scope and general objectives

1. The measures provided for by the MEETS Programme relate to the production and dissemination of enterprise and trade statistics within the Community.

2. The general objectives of the MEETS Programme are as follows:

(a) to review priorities and develop target sets of indicators for new areas (objective 1);

(b) to achieve a streamlined framework for business-related statistics (objective 2);

(c) to support the implementation of a more efficient way of producing enterprise and trade statistics (objective 3); and

(d) to modernise the data collection system on trade in goods between Member States (hereinafter referred to as Intrastat) (objective 4).

Article 3

Actions

To achieve the objectives referred to in Article 2(2), a set of actions shall be implemented, as follows:

(a) to review priorities and develop target sets of indicators for new areas (objective 1): Action 1.1: identifying areas of lesser importance; Action 1.2: developing new areas;

(b) to achieve a streamlined framework for business-related statistics (objective 2): Action 2.1: integrating concepts and methods within the legal framework; Action 2.2: developing statistics on enterprise groups; Action 2.3: conducting Community surveys to minimise the burden on enterprises;

(c) to support the implementation of a more efficient way of producing enterprise and trade statistics (objective 3): Action 3.1: making better use of data that already exist in the statistical system including the possibility of estimates; Action 3.2: making better use of data that already exist in the economy; Action 3.3: developing tools for the more efficient extraction, transmission and treatment of data;

(d) to modernise Intrastat (objective 4): Action 4.1: harmonising methods to improve quality under a simplified Intrastat; Action 4.2: making better use of administrative data; Action 4.3: improving and facilitating data exchange within Intrastat.

The actions referred to in this Article are specified in the Annex and shall be further detailed in the annual work programmes provided for in Article 4.

Article 4

Annual work programmes

Annual work programmes, with the priorities for the actions under each objective referred to in Article 2(2) and the budgetary allocations under this Decision, shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 5(2).

Article 5

Committee

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

Article 6

Evaluation

1. The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Member States, regularly evaluate the activities carried out under the MEETS Programme in order to assess whether the objectives referred to in Article 2(2) have been attained and to provide guidelines for improving the effectiveness of future actions.

2. By 31 December 2010, and thereafter on an annual basis until 2013, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the implementation of the MEETS Programme.

By 31 July 2014, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council a final report on the implementation of the MEETS Programme. That report shall assess, in the light of the expenditure incurred by the Community, the benefits of the actions accruing to the Community, the Member States and providers and users of statistical information, to identify areas for potential improvement.

Article 7

Financing

1. The financial envelope for the implementation of the MEETS Programme for the period 2009-2013 is set at EUR 42 500 000.

2. The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial framework.

Article 8

Entry into force

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

Done at Strasbourg, 16 December 2008. For the European Parliament The President H.-G. PÖTTERING For the Council The President B. LE MAIRE

(1) Opinion of the European Parliament of 9 July 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 18 November 2008.

(2) OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

(4) OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1.

(5) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.