A4-0038/96

Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC/Euratom) on structural business statistics (COM(95)0099 - C4-0109/96 - 95/0076(CNS))

The proposal was approved with the following amendments:

(Amendment 1)

Recital 6

>Original text>

Whereas in its Decision 93/379/EEC of 14 June 1993 the Council adopted a multiannual programme of Community measures to intensify the priority areas and to ensure the continuity and consolidation of policy for enterprise, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, in the Community; whereas statistics are needed to assess the impact of the measures undertaken to achieve the objectives laid down in the Decision, in particular to have statistics which are comparable for businesses of all sectors, statistics on the national and international sub-contracting relations between businesses and improved statistics on small and medium-sized enterprises;

>Text following EP vote>

Whereas in its Decision 93/379/EEC of 14 June 1993 the Council adopted a multiannual programme of Community measures to intensify the priority areas and to ensure the continuity and consolidation of policy for enterprise, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, in the Community; whereas statistics are needed to assess the impact of the measures undertaken to achieve the objectives laid down in the Decision, in particular to have statistics which are comparable for businesses of all sectors, statistics on the national and international sub-contracting relations between businesses and improved statistics on small and medium-sized enterprises; whereas these needs must not lead to the imposition of unreasonably onerous reporting requirements on small and medium-sized enterprises;

(Amendment 2)

Recital 14

>Original text>

Whereas businesses and their professional associations need such information in order to understand their markets and to know their activity and performance relative to competitors in their sector, at regional, national and international level;

>Text following EP vote>

Whereas businesses and their professional associations need such information in order to understand their markets and to know their activity and performance relative to competitors in their sector, at regional, national and international level; whereas businesses and their associations must however be prepared to contribute in a realistic way to the considerable cost of compiling and processing such statistics;

(Amendment 3)

Recital 14a (new)

>Text following EP vote>

Whereas the results of structural statistical surveys must be produced and disseminated in as short a time span as possible;

(Amendment 4)

Recital 18

>Original text>

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 it may still be necessary to collect directly from businesses the data necessary to compile structural business statistics, using methods and techniques which will ensure that they are exhaustive, 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;

>Text following EP vote>

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 it may still be necessary to collect directly from businesses the data necessary to compile structural business statistics, using methods and techniques which will ensure that they are exhaustive, 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; whereas one such technique, sampling, should as a general rule always be applied to enterprises below a certain size threshold, which might vary between the Member States; whereas polling of enterprises is not, or only partially, necessary in cases where the Member States already dispose of data that has been supplied by enterprises to their national administrations by means of tax returns and balance sheets; whereas this will safeguard enterprises against dual data collection, particularly small enterprises for which data collection leads to an administrative and financial burden;

(Amendment 5)

Article 1(2a) (new)

>Text following EP vote>

2a. With a view to the optimal use of the statistics referred to in paragraph 1, the Member States, in cooperation with the Commission, shall, upon the compilation of these statistics, undertake to promote the publication of the results and the accessibility of the documentation related to them to as wide an audience as possible, as quickly and comprehensively as possible, so that all potential users may have available recent, reliable and exhaustive information.

(Amendment 6)

Article 5(3)

>Original text>

3. The burden on enterprises, particularly on small and medium sized enterprises, and the representativeness and quality control requirements (Article 6) shall be fully taken into account by the Member States in their choice and combination of the sources and the use of estimation mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 above.

>Text following EP vote>

3. The burden on enterprises, particularly on small and medium sized enterprises, and the representativeness and quality control requirements (Article 6) shall be fully taken into account by the Member States in their choice and combination of the sources and the use of estimation mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 above. Sampling shall be used wherever practicable in the case of enterprises below a certain size threshold which shall be set by each Member State in accordance with the characteristics of the population.

(Amendment 7)

Article 8(2a) (new)

>Text following EP vote>

2a. The Commission shall make the results available to users within as short a time as possible, and within no more than three months of the end of the period of time specified in paragraph 2 for the transmission of results by the Member States. The results shall be made available in an appropriate technical form, under conditions allowing effective access to the body of documentation via the Commission and the national statistics offices. The Commission shall establish a retail price at which it and the national statistics offices may sell the results of its surveys; this price shall be pitched so as to represent a realistic contribution to the national statistics offices' cost of collecting and processing the data.

(Amendment 8)

Article 11

>Original text>

1. The Council shall re-examine the present Regulation within three years of the date of entry into force, and at least every three years thereafter.

>Text following EP vote>

1. The Council and the European Parliament shall re-examine the present Regulation within three years of the date of entry into force, and at least every three years thereafter. The review procedure shall include the consultation of providers and users of data and statistics.

>Original text>

2. For this purpose the Commission shall submit a report to the Council by the beginning of the year of the review on the experience acquired from the work carried out pursuant to this Regulation, in particular regarding the domains listed in Article 3 and the Annexes referred to in Article 4 paragraph 2. The Commission shall at the same time submit the report to the European Parliament.

>Text following EP vote>

2. For this purpose the Commission shall submit a report to the Council and to the European Parliament by the beginning of the year of the review on the experience acquired from the work carried out pursuant to this Regulation, in particular regarding the domains listed in Article 3 and the Annexes referred to in Article 4 paragraph 2.

(Amendment 9)

Annex I, Section 8

>Original text>

The results shall be transmitted within a delay of 18 months from the end of the calendar year of the reference period.

>Text following EP vote>

The results shall be transmitted within 18 months from the end of the calendar year of the reference period. The Commission shall then make the consolidated results available to users within three months of this deadline, specifying what defects might be due to late reporting by the Member States.

(Amendment 10)

Annex II, Section 7(5)

>Original text>

(5) The results for the regional statistics are to be broken down to the NACE Rev.1 two-digit level (divisions) and the level II of the Nomenclature of territorial units (NUTS). In the case of areas which are eligible for structural funds a more detailed geographical breakdown may be used.

>Text following EP vote>

(5) The results for the regional statistics are to be broken down to the NACE Rev.1 two-digit level (divisions) and the level II of the Nomenclature of territorial units (NUTS). In the case of areas which are eligible for structural funds a more detailed geographical breakdown must be used to enable the results to be differentiated, thereby allowing regions eligible for structural funds to benefit from them under improved conditions.

(Amendment 11)

Annex II, Section 8, first paragraph

>Original text>

The results shall be transmitted within a delay of 18 months from the end of the calendar year of the reference period.

>Text following EP vote>

The results shall be transmitted within 18 months from the end of the calendar year of the reference period. The Comission shall then make the consolidated results available to users within three months of this deadline, specifying what defects might be due to late reporting by the Member States.

(Amendment 12)

Annex III, Section 7(1)

>Original text>

(1) The results shall be transmitted within 18 months from the end of the calendar year of the reference period.

>Text following EP vote>

(1) The results shall be transmitted within 18 months from the end of the calendar year of the reference period. The Commission shall then make the consolidated results available to users within three months of this deadline, specifying what defects might be due to late reporting by the Member States.

(Amendment 13)

Financial statement (4.1), second subparagraph (new)

>Text following EP vote>

The probable growth in costs shall be taken into account and the initial appropriation shall therefore be reviewed.

Legislative resolution embodying Parliament's opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EC/Euratom) on structural business statistics (COM(95)0099 - C4-0109/96 - 95/0076(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council, COM(95)0099 - 95/0076(CNS) ((OJ C 146, 13.6.1995, p. 6.)),

- having been consulted by the Council pursuant to Article 213 of the EC Treaty (C4-0109/96),

- having regard to Rule 58 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy and the opinions of the Committee on Budgets and the Committee on External Economic Relations (A4-0038/96),

1. Approves the Commission proposal, subject to Parliament's amendments;

2. Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, pursuant to Article 189a(2) of the EC Treaty/Article 119, second paragraph of the Euratom Treaty;

3. Calls on the Council to notify Parliament should it intend to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

4. Instructs its President to forward this opinion to the Council and Commission.