Draft DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE amending Annex XXI (Statistics) to the EEA Agreement - Draft common position of the Community

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. In order to ensure the requisite legal security and homogeneity, the EEA Joint Committee is to integrate all the relevant Community legislation into the EEA Agreement as soon as possible after its adoption.

2. The EEA Joint Committee should therefore adopt the attached decision to amend Annex XXI to the EEA Agreement by adding recently adopted acquis in the field of statistics. The decision concerns:

- 398 D 0715: Commission Decision 98/715/EC of 30 November 1998 clarifying Annex A to Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community as concerns the principles for measuring prices and volumes (OJ L 340, 16.12.1998, p. 33).

3. The proposal includes adaptations to the act to be extended to the EEA which introduce changes that are more than mere technical adjustments.

4. Article 1(3)(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2894/94 concerning the arrangements for implementing the EEA Agreement envisages that the Council establish the Community position for decisions extending Community legislation with substantial changes.

5. The Council is requested to approve the attached draft decision for adoption by the EEA Joint Committee. The Commission would hope to be able to put forward the position of the Community in the EEA Joint Committee in July 2002.

Draft DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE amending Annex XXI (Statistics) to the EEA Agreement

THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as amended by the Protocol adjusting the Agreement on the European Economic Area, hereinafter referred to as 'the Agreement', and in particular Article 98 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Annex XXI to the Agreement was amended by Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No .../... of ... [1].

[1] OJ L ...

(2) Commission Decision 98/715/EC of 30 November 1998 clarifying Annex A to Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community as concerns the principles for measuring prices and volumes [2] is to be incorporated into the Agreement,

[2] OJ L 340, 16.12.1998, p. 33.

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The following point shall be inserted after point 19da (Commission Regulation (EC) No 264/2000) of Annex XXI to the Agreement:

'19db. 398 D 0715: Commission Decision 98/715/EC of 30 November 1998 clarifying Annex A to Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community as concerns the principles for measuring prices and volumes (OJ L 340, 16.12.1998, p. 33).

The Provisions of the Decision shall, for the purposes of the present Agreement, be read with the following adaptation:

Article 3 (classification of methods by product) applies to Iceland and Norway as from 1 January 2006.'

Article 2

The texts of Decision 98/715/EC in the Icelandic and Norwegian languages, to be published in the EEA Supplement of the Official Journal of the European Communities, shall be authentic.

Article 3

This Decision shall enter into force on [...], provided that all the notifications under Article 103(1) of the Agreement have been made to the EEA Joint Committee [3].

[3] [No constitutional requirements indicated.] [Constitutional requirements indicated.]

Article 4

This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Done at Brussels, [...].

For the EEA Joint Committee

The President [...]

The Secretaries to the EEA Joint Committee [...]