NoC19/60 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 25.1.93
Opinionon:
—theproposalforaCouncilRegulation (EEC)onthestatisticalclassificationofproducts
byactivityintheEuropeanEconomicCommunity ,
—theproposalforaCouncilRegulation (EEC)onthestatisticalunitsfortheobservation
andanalysisoftheproductionsystemintheEuropeanCommunity (J),and
—theproposalforaCouncilDecisionontheframeworkprogrammeforpriorityactions
inthefieldofstatisticalinformation1993-1997 (2)
(93/C19/20
On13August,29Septemberand1October1992respectivelytheCouncildecidedin
accordancewithArticles100aand198oftheEECTreatytoconsulttheEconomicandSocial
Committeeontheabovementioned proposals.
TheSectionforEconomic,FinancialandMonetaryQuestions,whichwasresponsiblefor
preparingtheCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon17November1992.
TheRapporteurwasMrGiacomelli .
Atits301stPlenarySession(meetingof24November1992),theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeunanimouslyadoptedthefollowingOpinion.
ProposalforaCouncilRegulation (EEC)onthestatisti­
calclassificationofproductsbyactivityintheEuropean
EconomicCommunityvariousnationalcriteria.Thereareprobablyreasons
forallowingtheMemberStatessuchlatitude,butthe
Committeetakestheviewthatauniformclassification
wouldhavedonemoretopromotetheharmonization
ofstatisticalclassification intheCommunity .
1.Introduction
1.1.Operatorsonthesinglemarketrequirereliable,
comparableandup-to-datestatisticalinformation .2.2.Suchanapproachcouldresultinalltwelve
MemberStatesusingthesameproductdescriptionsbut
twelvecompletelydifferentalphanumeric codes.This
wouldmaketheCPAhardertouseinpractice,aseach
userwouldneedtouseelevenconversiontables.
1.2.Theproposedharmonization ofclassifications
ofproductsbyactivity(CPA)isamilestoneonthepath
towardsaEuropeanstatisticalsystem.2.3.ItwouldthereforebepreferablefortheRegu­
lationtolaydownuniformcodesforalltheMember
States.1.3.TheCPAwillplayacentralroleinthecompari­
sonofstatisticaldataonproductionandforeigntrade
atCommunityandworldlevel.Furtherclassifications
bothatECandworldlevelareinfuturetobederived
fromit.
1.4.TheEconomicandSocialCommitteeaccord­
inglywelcomesthedraftRegulation .2.4.ThedraftRegulationprovidesfortheCom­
missiontobeassistedonlybyanadvisorycommittee .
InlinewithitspreviousOpinionsonstatisticalmatters,
theCommitteetakestheviewthatthemanagement
committeeprocedureismoreappropriate .Inthiscon­
nectiontheCommitteeendorsestherecommendation
oftheSPCNACEworkinggroup(page3ofthe
explanatorymemorandum ).Moreover,amanagement
committeeprocedurewouldtakesubstantiallygreater
accountoftheprincipleofsubsidiarity .2.Qualifyingcomments
2.1.TheCommitteenotesthatauniformclassifi­
cationofproductsisnotprovidedfor,andthatproducts
cancontinuetobeclassifiedinaccordancewiththe3.Conclusions
(!)OJNoC267,16.10.1992,p.3.
(2)OJNoC277,26.10.1992,p.54.3.1.Afinalappraisaloftheproposalisnotyet
possible,assofaronlythetextoftheRegulationis

25.1.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC19/61
theproductionofharmonizeddatacanbeundertaken
efficientlyonlyatCommunitylevel.
Itisaccordinglynecessaryfortheproposedalignments
inthedefinitionsofstatisticalunitsatCommunitylevel
tobelaiddowninaCouncilRegulation,aboveall
becausetheintentionhereistosystematizethevariety
ofrealmanifestations ofeconomicunitsandmakethem
operational .availableandnottheimportantannexescontainingthe
classificationofproductsreferredtoinArticle2(2).
3.2.TheCommitteetakestheviewthattheRegu­
lationcanbeadopted,oratleastenterintoforce,
onlyaftertheseannexeshavebeenmadeavailablefor
detailedscrutinybytheeconomicsectorsconcerned.
3.3.Thiscanhardlybedonebytheendof1992.It
isaccordinglynotacceptablefortheRegulationtoenter
intoforceon1January1993.Postponingentryinto
forceuntil1January1994wouldallowsufficienttime
foranyrewordingoftheannexeswhichmayprove
necessary .2.3.TheproposedRegulationisthereforean
importantbasisforCommunity-wide harmonizedecon­
omicstatisticsandwillmakeitpossibletocomparethe
nationalstatisticsproducedbytheMemberStates.
3.SpecificcommentsProposalforaCouncilRegulation (EEC)onthestatisti­
calunitsfortheobservationandanalysisofthepro­
ductionsystemintheEuropeanCommunity(*)
3.1.TheofficialstatisticsoftheMemberStatesgen­
erallyrefertothreestatisticalunits:theenterprise,the
worksandtheproductionunit.
3.2.TheAnnextothedraftRegulationcontains
definitionsofthesestatisticalunits,whicharereferred
toas'enterprise','localunit'and'kind-of-activity unit'.
Thedefinitionofan'enterprise'isclosertorealitythan
thedefinitionwhichiswidelyusedatnationallevel.1.Introduction
1.1.TheRegulationonstatisticalunitsisintended
toformabasisfortheprogressiveharmonization of
thedefinitionsusedinMemberStates'officialstatistics.
1.2.TheEconomicandSocialCommitteeendorses
theobjectiveofthedraftRegulation .
1.3.Theproposeddefinitionsconstituteanaddition
toCouncilRegulation (EEC)No3037/90(2).Theymeet
therequirementsoftheclassificationofeconomic
activitiesintheEuropeanCommunities (NACERev.1)
providedforthereinandoftheEuropeanSystemof
IntegratedEconomicAccounts(ESA).3.3.Theneedtoharmonizethedefinitionsofthese
threestatisticalunitsisindisputable .Theneedtohar­
monizethedefinitionsof'institutionalunit'and'unit
ofhomogeneousproduction'—statisticalunitsrequired
forthepurposesofnationalaccounts—isalsorecog­
nized.
3.4.Thepurposeservedbytheotherstatistical
units—'enterprisegroup','localkind-of-activity unit'
and'localunitofhomogeneousproduction'—mustbe
questioned,aboveallwithaviewtorestrictingEuro­
peanstatisticstowhatisstrictlynecessary.2.Generalcomments
2.1.Community-wideuniformdefinitionsofecon­
omicunitsareanessentialpreconditionforintegrated
statisticalinformation,notonlyforittobereliable,
up-to-date,flexibleandsufficientlydetailed,butalso
andmoreimportantlybecauseonlyinthiswaycan
nationalstatisticsandthecorresponding Community
statisticsbemadecomparable .Moreover,becausethese
definitionsareinlinewithinternationalclassifications ,
includingtheInternationalStandardIndustrialClassifi­
cation(ISIC,Rev.3)andtheUnitedNationsSystem
ofNationalAccounts (SNA),theycontributetothe
internationalcomparabilityofeconomicstatistics.
2.2.Inaccordancewiththeprincipleofsubsidiarity,
thecreationofcommonstatisticalnormsthatpermit3.5.Thisappliesinparticularwhereagreaternum­
berofstatisticalunitsleadstoanincreasedreporting
burdenonenterprises .Asthemeaningsof'localkind­
of-activityunit'and'localunitofhomogeneous pro­
duction'arenotmadeclearintheAnnextothedraft
Regulationandthe'enterprisegroup'statisticalunitis
ofquestionableeconomicusefulness,theCommittee
urgesthatthesethreestatisticalunitsbedropped.
3.6.Article7ofthedraftRegulationprovidesforan
advisorycommitteetobeconsultedonthe
implementingprovisionsandtheadaptationthereof.
Anadvisorycommitteedoesnothaveagreatenough(!)OJNoC267,16.10.1992,p.3.
(2)OJNoL293,24.10.1990.

NoC19/62 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 25.1.93
paragraph4)toreducetheburdenonenterprisesis
welcomedandwillbecriticallymonitoredwhenthe
individualstatisticalmodulesaretransposed.
2.Generalcommentssaytoensurethatsufficientattentionispaidtothe
variousnationalinterests.Heretoo,asinsimilarcases,
itwouldbedesirablefortheproposedcommitteeto
taketheformofamanagementcommittee,variant(b).
3.7.Thisappearsallthemoreappropriateas
Article6providesforthemeasuresforimplementing
theRegulation,includingthoseforadaptationtoecon­
omicandtechnicaldevelopmentsconcerninginparticu­
larthestatisticalunitsoftheproductionsystem,the
criteriausedandthedefinitionsspecifiedintheannex,
tobedeterminedbytheCommissionafterconsulting
thecommitteeandinaccordancewiththeprocedure
setoutinArticle7.
3.8.Thereisalamentablelackofinformationabout
theimplementing measures,whichusuallyaccompany
alegalinstrument (theproposedRegulationwouldbe
directlyapplicableunderthenationallawoftheMem­
berStates).2.1.TheCommission'sstatisticalprogrammeis
explicitlyjustifiedbyreferencetotheMaastricht
Treaty.TheaimoftheprogrammeistoprovideCom­
missionandGovernment officialswiththeinformation
theyrequireinordertodrawup,monitorandevaluate
Communitypolicyinconnectionwiththeprovisions
oftheTreatyonEuropeanUnion.
3.Criticalcomments
3.1.TheEC'sstatisticalprogrammeisambitious.
Withatotalof35sectoralprogrammesandwellover
200individualmodules,coveringvirtuallyallreporting
areasforofficialstatisticsintheEC,itistobefeared
thatthestatisticalprogrammereflectstheexpecteddata
requirementsofCommissionstatisticiansfollowing
ratificationoftheMaastrichtTreaty.4.Conclusion
4.1.ThedraftRegulationprovidesforthenewly
definedstatisticalunitstoapplyfrom1January1993.
Thiswouldappeartoleaveinsufficienttimeforthe
RegulationtobetransposedintheMemberStates,
particularlyinviewofthefactthattheproposeddefi­
nitionsclearlyexceedtheunitshithertocollected.It
wouldthereforebedesirabletopostponeentryinto
forceuntil1January1994.Thetransitionalperiods
referredtoinArticle4shouldbeadaptedaccordingly .
ProposalforaCouncilDecisionontheframework
programmeforpriorityactionsinthefieldofstatistical
information1993-1997(M3.2.However,alistofdatarequirementsdoesnot
constituteastatisticalprogramme .Amajorcriticism
oftheframeworkprogrammeaspresentedistherefore
therelativeimbalancebetweenpoliticalandmethodol­
ogicalpriorities.AuniformstatisticalsysteminEurope
cannotbecreatedinthespaceoffiveyears.Financial
constraints,theburdenonthoseprovidingthedata,
andtheneedtoensurethequalityofthestatistics
producedmakeitnecessarytoproceedcautiously .The
followingprocedureissuggested :
3.2.1.Thecapacitiesofnationalstatisticalsystems
withintheECstillvaryenormously .Atthebeginning
ofaEuropeanstatisticalsystemabsolutepriorityshould
accordinglybegiventoaligningthecapacitiesof
nationalstatisticalsystemsonthehighestpossiblelevel.
3.2.2.Thefirststepshouldbetostandardizestatisti­
calbases,normsandnomenclatures .
3.2.3.Thereportingofadditionalstatistics—which
arecertainlynecessaryandusefulinsomeareas—
shouldnotbeventuredonuntillater.1.Introduction
1.1.TheCommissionhaspresentedtheframework
programmeforpriorityactionsinthefieldofstatistical
information1993-1997totheCouncilfordecision.This
actionsubstantiallyraisesthesignificanceofstatistics
intheEC.
1.2.TheCommitteeendorsesthebasicobjectiveof
theframeworkprogramme,i.e.toimplementasystem
ofstandards,methodsandorganizedstructureswhichis
capableofproducingcomparable,reliableandrelevant
statisticsthroughouttheCommunity .
1.3.Thepromisegiveninthechapteronstatistics
onenterprises (FinancialStatement,point9.2,3.3.Theconceptionofthestatisticalprogramme
andthedraftRegulationssofarproducedgivethe
impressionthattheCommission isendeavouringtoset
upahighlycomplexanddifferentiatedstatisticalsystem (i)OJNoC277,26.10.1992,p.54.

25.1.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC19/63
extendingtoallareasofofficialstatisticsbeforethe
implementation ofeconomicandmonetaryunion.statisticaldata.Thisisintheendnotonlymore
efficient,butalsoincreasesthedegreeofacceptanceby
thoseconcerned .
4.3.ThedeclarationsfromthespecialSummitmeet­
inginBirmingham,promisinggreatertransparencyand
comprehensive consultationsofthoseaffectedbythe
commoneconomicpolicy,arecauseforoptimism.3.4.Ittranspiresfromthedescriptionofthepro­
grammethatthestatisticsareintendedfirstandfore­
mosttobeaninstrumentfortherealizationofEuropean
Union.Theinformationneedsofthegeneralpublicand
thesignificanceofstatisticalinformationforeconomic
agentsareclearlyrankedfarbehindthepolitically
motivatedinformationrequirements .Thereisreason
tofearthatthisorderofprioritieswillhaveasubstantial
influenceonthepracticalformulationofthemorethan
200statisticalmodulescontainedintheprogramme .
Thiswouldbeparticularlyominousiftheharmoniza­
tionofnorms,methodsandstructuresinEuropean
statisticsweresolelytoreflectpoliticalrequirements ,
whereasbusinessesareanxioustoprovidedataofuse
tothemandtoknowthatthecostisnotoutofpro­
portiontothebenefitstothem.Supplementary remarks
TheCommitteeconsidereditusefultosupplementits
examinationoftheCommunity'sstatisticalprogramme
withbriefcommentsonCommunitycoordinationin
drawingupbusinessregistersforstatisticalpurposes.
1.TheCommissionstatesthatalltheMemberStates
havebusinessregisters,butthatthesedifferwidelyin
coverage,scopeandqualityofinformation .3.5.Theclearconnectionbetweenthestatisticalpro­
grammeandtheMaastrichtTreatyraisesthequestion
ofthekindofeconomicpolicybeingpursued.Itisclear
thatafreeenterpriseeconomicpolicymainlyrequires
macroeconomic data.
2.Businessregistershelpofficialstatisticsdepart­
mentstoplanandimplementthecollectionofstatistics.
Theycanalsohelpreducetheadministrative burden
onthoseobligedtoreportdata,orsharetheburden
evenly.Thusthereisarealneedforabusinessregister
compiledinaccordancewithuniformcriteriainthe
twelveECMemberStates.3.6.Thecompetitiveness oftheEuropeaneconomy
isfundamentally amatterforbusinesses.Theeconomic
policycontributionoftheCommissionshouldbe
restrictedtoestablishing abusinessenvironment
reflectingtheobjectivesbeingpursued.Statisticsmust
provideenterpriseswiththelogisticalaidneededto
developtheirbusinessplans,particularlywiththe
approachofthelargesinglemarket. 3.TheEconomicandSocialCommitteetherefore
basicallyendorsesthedevelopmentofharmonized
registersforthecompilationofcomparablestatisticsin
theCommunity .
4.Conclusions 4.However,theCommissionproposalforaCouncil
RegulationonCommunitycoordinationindrawingup
businessregistersforstatisticalpurposesgoesfar
beyondwhatisnecessary.4.1.ECstatisticsmustnotbetransformedintoan
instrumentforaninterventionist sectoralpolicy.Its
purposemustremainthatofimprovingtheavailability
ofdataandthetransparencyofeconomicandsocial
conditions.Aboveall,statisticsareadiagnostictool,
andfacilitatedecision-making byeconomicagents
withinthecontextofafree-enterprise economicpolicy.5.Abusinessregistershouldcontainonlythosedata
whicharenecessaryfortheidentificationandclassifi­
cationofstatisticalunits.Theseincludeanidentifi­
cationnumber,thenameandaddressoflegalunits,
enterprisesandlocalunits,therelevantNACEcode,
andthesizecategoryoftheenterprise.Thenumberof
employeesshouldbesufficientforthispurpose.Any
otherinformation,includingdataonturnoverandnet
assets,areunnecessaryinabusinessregisterandmust
bejustifiedineachindividualcase.Theirinclusionmay
alsoindicatethattheharmonizedbusinessregisteris
beingusedtopursueotherobjectives.Thisisalso
suggestedbytheproposedreferencestootherregisters.
Overall,onecannothelpthinking—andthisemerges
alsofromtheexplanationsregardingtheimpactofthe
proposalonenterprises—thattheCommissionisusing4.2.Forthesereasonstoo,theconstructionofa
coherent,adaptableandefficientstatisticalsystem
basedonthesamefundamentalprinciplesinallCom­
munitycountriesshouldbelimitedtoessentialdata.
Dataavailableoutsideenterprisescouldalsobeused
whereverpossible.Thequantityofstatisticsdeemed
necessaryandthemethodofcompilingthemshouldnot
beprescribedbypoliticaldecisionsalone,butshouldbe
workedoutjointlywiththesuppliersandusersof

NoC19/64 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 25.1.93
thisproposalandtheburdenitimposesasaway
ofacquiringadditionalstatisticaldataonsmall-and
medium-sizedenterprises,insteadofusingthestatistics
anddatawhicharealreadyavailable.
6.Theargumentthatlinkingvariousregistersand
databasestogetherwillreducetheadministrative bur­
denonenterprisesmaywellholdtrue,but,inviewof
theamountofinformationdemandedoverandabove
whatisstrictlynecessary,theburdenonthebodies
whichcompiletheregisters(includingchambersof
industryandcommerce )willbethatmuchgreater.
7.Moreover,aswithallinstitutionalized database
link-ups,thereistheobjectionthatthereportingenterprisenolongerknowstowhatextentandinwhat
combination thedatawhichithascommunicated will
beusedbythirdparties.Notleasttopreventabuse,
businessregistersshouldcontainonlystrictlyessential
data.
8.Theproposalcontainsnoinformationonthe
deadlinebywhichtheharmonizedbusinessregistersin
theMemberStatesmustbecompiled.
Heretoothetimetableshouldnotbetooshort.As
severalECcountriesstillhavenocomprehensive regis­
ters,generoustransitionalperiodsarerecommended .
DoneatBrussels,25November1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN