Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) concerning Short-Term Statistics (97/C 267/01) COM(97) 313 final - 97/0171 (CNS)

(submitted by the Commission on 24 June 1997)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 213 thereof,

Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the economic and social committee,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Monetary Institute,

(1) Whereas Council Directive 72/211/EEC (1) and Council Directive 78/166/EEC (2) which aimed to provide a body of coherent statistics, have not been able to take account of economic and technical changes;

(2) Whereas the European Union has in the meantime made further progress towards integration; whereas new economic, competition, social, environmental and enterprise policies and guide-lines call for initiatives and decisions based on valid statistics; whereas the information provided for under existing Community legislation or available in the various Member States is partly inadequate or insufficiently comparable to serve as a reliable basis for the work of the Communities;

(3) Whereas the future European Central Bank (ECB) needs rapid short term statistics in order to assess the economic development in the Member States in the context of a single European monetary policy;

(4) Whereas standardisation is required to meet Community needs for information concerning economic convergence;

(5) Whereas it is necessary to have reliable and rapid statistics available in order to report on the economic development in each Member State of the Union in the framework of the economic policy of the Union;

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

(7) Whereas in its Decision 93/464/EEC (3) the Council adopted a framework programme for priority actions in the field of statistical information for 1993 to 1997;

(8) Whereas the compilation of national accounts according to Council Regulation (EC) No 223/96 of 26 June 1996 concerning the European System of National and Regional Accounts in the European Community (ESA95) (4) requires the development of comparable, complete and reliable statistical sources;

(9) Whereas in Decision 92/326/EEC (5) the Council adopted a two-year program (1992 to 1993) for the development of European statistics on services; whereas this program includes the compilation of harmonized statistics at national and regional levels, particularly for the distributive trades;

(10) Whereas in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity the creation of common statistical norms that permit the production of harmonized statistics is an action which can only be undertaken efficiently at Community level and that they will be applied in each Member State under the authority of the bodies and institutions in charge of compiling official statistics;

(11) Whereas the best method of ascertaining the business cycle consists of compiling statistics which conform to common methodological principles and with common definitions of characteristics; whereas it is only from co-ordinated compilation that harmonized statistics can be drawn up with reliability, speed, flexibility and the level of detail required to meet the needs of the Commission and of enterprises;

(12) Whereas the statistical data compiled within the Community system must be of a satisfactory quality and this quality, as well as the burden it entails, must be comparable from one Member State to another, and whereas it is therefore necessary to establish jointly the criteria enabling these requirements to be met; whereas short-term statistics must be consistent with the results transmitted in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 58/97 (6) concerning structural business statistics;

(13) 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 the use of existing administrative data for statistical purposes is one of the measures to decrease the burden on enterprise; whereas if direct data collection from businesses is indispensable for compiling the statistics, the methods and techniques must ensure that the data are 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;

(14) Whereas it is necessary to have a legal framework common to all business activities and domains of business statistics covering also the activities and domains for which statistics are not yet developed; whereas the scope of the statistics to be compiled can be defined by reference to Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 (7) on the statistical units for the observation and the analysis of the production system in the European Community and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 (8) on the statistical classification of activities in the European Community (NACE Rev.1) amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 761/93 (9);

(15) Whereas, in order to enable the rules for the collection and statistical processing of data and for processing and transmission of the variables to be clarified further, it is necessary to confer upon the Commission, assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee set up by Decision 90/382/EEC (Euratom) (10), the power to adopt measures for the application of this Regulation,

(16) Whereas the Statistical Programme Committee has been consulted in accordance with article 3 of the aforesaid Decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 General aims

1. The objective of this Regulation is to establish a common framework for the production of short-term Community Statistics on the business cycle.

2. The statistics comprise information (variables) which are necessary to provide a uniform basis for the analysis of the short term evolution of output and demand, the production factors and prices.

Article 2 Scope

1. This Regulation shall apply to all market activities in Sections C to K and M to O of the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev.1) as established by Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90.

2. Statistical units of the types listed in Section I of the Annex to Regulation No 696/93 and which are classified under one of the activities referred to in paragraph 1 shall be included in the scope of this Regulation. The use of particular units for the compilation of statistics is specified in the Annexes to this Regulation.

Article 3 Modules

1. The specific requirements for the variables are described in modules set out in the annexes to this Regulation.

2. The following information is laid down in each module where relevant:

(a) the specific activities for which the statistics are to be compiled;

(b) the types of statistical unit to be used for the compilation of the statistics;

(c) the lists of variables;

(d) the form of the variables;

(e) the frequency of the variables;

(f) the level of detail of the variables;

(g) the deadlines for data transmission;

(h) the list of voluntary pilot studies;

(i) the first reference period;

(j) the maximum length of the transition period which may be conceded.

Article 4 Collection of data

1. Member States shall obtain the necessary data for the compilation of the variables listed in the modules.

2. Member States may obtain the necessary data using a combination of different sources specified below, applying the principle of administrative simplification:

(a) compulsory surveys: the legal units, to which the statistical units called upon by the Member States belong or of which they are composed, shall be obliged to give accurate and complete information within the prescribed deadlines;

(b) other sources which are at least equivalent as regards accuracy and quality;

(c) missing data may be estimated if this does not substantially lower the quality of the variables.

3. Member States shall promote conditions which reduce the response burden on the reporting units. For this purpose Member States shall take the necessary measures to allow and facilitate access by the authorities responsible for the collection of data, to administrative sources within their State, in particular periodic information contained in VAT declarations, including information in the tax register.

4. The Member States, in co-operation with the Commission, shall promote the conditions for increased use of electronic data collection and automatic data processing.

Article 5 Periodicity

All variables are provided on a monthly or quarterly base as specified in the modules.

Article 6 Level of detail

The variables are to be supplied in accordance with NACE Rev.1 at the level of detail as set out in the modules.

Article 7 Processing

Member States shall process the completed data collected by means of surveys or obtained from other sources into comparable variables

(a) following the rules laid down in the modules; and

(b) taking account of the guidelines laid down in the methodological manual referred to in Article 11.

Article 8 Transmission

1. Member States shall transmit the variables provided for in Article 7 of this Regulation, including confidential data, to the Statistical Office of the European Communities in accordance with the existing Community provisions on transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality. The existing Community provisions on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality shall apply to the treatment of the variables, insofar as they include confidential data.

2. The transmission to the Statistical Office of the European Communities shall be carried out by electronic or other appropriate means within a period of time from the end of the reference period which is laid down in the modules and which shall be no longer than six months.

3. In any case, the variables shall be transmitted to the Statistical Office of the European Communities not later than the day they are ready for publication in the Member State.

Article 9 Quality

1. The Member States shall ensure that the transmitted variables reflect the true situation of the total population of units. For this purpose the surveys or other sources must cover as many units as necessary to ensure a sufficient degree of representativeness.

2. The accuracy of the variables has to be measured by each Member State according to a common methodology. This methodology will be established by the Commission after consultation of the Committee referred to in Article 17 and will be laid down in the methodology manual referred to in Article 11.

3. The quality of the variables is to be tested regularly by comparing them with other statistical information, notably the variables transmitted in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 58/97. In addition they are to be checked for internal consistency. Deviations between first published data and final data are to be minimised.

4. If any of these tests result in a deviation from the common methodology, the Member States shall remedy the deviation.

Article 10 Change of base year

1. At least every five years, for the years ending with a zero or a five, Member States are obliged to adapt the weighting systems of the composite indices and in the appropriate case the choice of representative products.

2. All variables must be rebased on the new base year within three years after the end of this new base year. The weights used in the adopted weighting systems shall be transmitted to the Commission within three years after the end of the new base year.

Article 11 Methodological manual

In co-operation with the Committee referred to in Article 17, a methodological manual which

(a) explains the rules set up in the modules; and also

(b) contains the necessary recommendations concerning short term statistics,

will be published by the Commission.

This manual will be revised at regular intervals.

Article 12 Transition period and derogations

1. Transition periods may be conceded, not extending more than five years from the beginning of the first reference periods for the compilation of the statistics.

2. During the transition periods derogations from the provisions of this Regulation may be accepted by the Commission insofar as the national statistical systems require major adaptations.

Article 13 Reports

1. Member States shall transmit to the Commission on request any relevant information to evaluate and compare the degree of accuracy and quality of the transmitted variables; in particular they shall notify on request the criteria for the design of the samples and the estimation algorithm.

2. The Commission shall, within three years of the date of entry into force of this Regulation and again every three years thereafter, submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the statistics compiled pursuant to this Regulation and in particular on their quality and the burden on business.

Article 14 Co-ordination in the Member States

In each Member State one national authority shall co-ordinate

- the transmission of variables (Article 8),

- the quality measurement (Article 9), and

- the transmission of relevant information (Article 13 (1)).

Article 15 Pilot studies

1. The Commission will, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17 of this Regulation, institute a series of pilot studies to be completed by the Member States. These pilot studies are specified in the modules.

2. These pilot studies will be carried out in order to assess the feasibility of obtaining more data, taking into account the benefits of the availability of the data in relation to the cost of collection and the burden on business.

3. The Commission will inform the Council of the results of the pilot studies and will if necessary submit to it proposals on new requirements for the modules.

Article 16 Implementation

The Commission shall determine, under the procedure laid down in Article 17, the measures for implementing this Regulation, including measures for adjustment to economic and technical developments concerning the collection and statistical processing of data, and the processing and the transmission of the variables, taking into consideration the principle that the benefits of the measure must outweigh its cost, and provided that major additional resources are not involved either for the Member States or for enterprises as compared with the original provisions of this Regulation, in particular:

(a) the use of particular units (Article 2),

(b) the updating of the list of variables (Article 3),

(c) the definition and the appropriate forms of the transmitted variables (Article 3),

(d) the frequency of compilation of the statistics (Article 5),

(e) the levels of breakdown and aggregation to be applied to the variables (Article 6),

(f) the transmission deadlines (Article 8),

(g) the accuracy of the variables (Article 9),

(h) the transition periods and derogations granted during the transition period (Article 12),

(i) the pilot studies (Article 15).

Article 17 Committee procedure

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee set up by Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom, hereinafter referred to as 'the Committee`.

2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission.

The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The Chairman shall not vote.

3. The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply immediately. However, if these measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they shall be communicated by the Commission to the Council forthwith. In that event:

(a) The Commission shall defer application of the measures which it has decided for a period of three months from the date of communication.

(b) The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different decision within the time limit referred to in the previous paragraph.

Article 18 Repealing provisions

Directives 72/211/EEC and 78/166/EEC shall cease to apply after the transmission of all of the data for the reference periods within 1997.

Article 19 Entering into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

(1) OJ L 128, 3. 6. 1972, p. 28.

(2) OJ L 52, 23. 2. 1978, p. 17.

(3) OJ L 219, 28. 8. 1993, p. 1.

(4) OJ L 310, 13. 11. 1996, p. 39.

(5) OJ L 179, 1. 7. 1992, p. 131.

(6) OJ L 14, 17. 1. 1997, p. 1.

(7) OJ L 76, 30. 3. 1993, p. 1.

(8) OJ L 293, 24. 10. 1990, p. 1.

(9) OJ L 83, 3. 4. 1993, p. 1.

(10) OJ L 181, 28. 6. 1989, p. 47.

ANNEX A

Industry module

(a) Scope

This module is applicable for all activities of mining, manufacturing and energy listed in sections C to E of NACE Rev.1.

(b) Observation Unit

1. The observation unit for all variables in this module is the kind-of-activity unit.

2. For enterprises with few persons employed in secondary activities the National Statistical Offices may use the enterprise as the observation unit.

3. Exceptions for the observation unit can be decided by the Commission after consultation of the Committee referred to in Article 17.

(c) List of Variables

1. The statistics in this module comprise the following variables:

>TABLE>

2. Information on orders (Nos 130, 131, 132) is only required for the following divisions of NACE Rev.1: 17, 18, 21, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35.

3. Information concerning output prices (Nos 310, 311, 312) is not required for the following groups of NACE Rev.1: 12.0, 22.1, 23.3, 29.6, 35.1, 35.3.

(d) Form

1. The variables are to be supplied in the following form:

>TABLE>

2. All variables can be supplied either as an index or as absolute figures.

(e) Frequency

The variables are to be supplied with the following frequency:

>TABLE>

(f) Level of detail

1. All variables are to be supplied at least at 2-digit level of NACE Rev.1.

2. For Section D, the index of production and the index of output prices will be supplied at both the 3 and 4-digit level of NACE Rev.1, with the following exceptions:

(a) If value added in a class of NACE Rev.1 Section D in a given base year represents, in a Member State, less than 3 % of the European Community total, the index of production (No 110) and the index of output prices (Nos 310, 311, 312) need not be supplied for this class.

(b) If value added in a group of NACE Rev.1 Section D in a given base year represents, in a Member State, less than 3 % of the European Community total, the index of production (No 110) and the index of output prices (Nos 310, 311, 312) need not be supplied for this group.

3. If necessary for European Community policy requirements, the Commission may, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17 of this Regulation, request ad hoc collection of the data referred to in paragraph 2.

4. In addition, all variables are to be supplied for main industrial groupings, the definitions of which (with reference to NACE Rev.1 activities) are decided after consultation of the Committee referred to in Article 17.

(g) Deadlines for data transmission

1. The variables shall be transmitted within the following deadlines after the end of the reference period:

>TABLE>

2. The deadline may be up to 15 calendar days longer for those activities where, in a given base year, the value added of the activities in a Member State represents less than 2 % of the Community total.

(h) Pilot Studies

In accordance with Article 15 voluntary pilot studies are launched in the order of priorities on the following subjects:

1. The break-down of export market variables into intra EC and extra EC;

2. short term investment information;

3. short term information concerning birth and death of enterprises;

4. a monthly frequency for employment information;

5. data on stock of orders;

6. data on inventories;

7. order information for more activities than listed in c. (2);

8. the calculation of output prices for the activities excluded in c. (3).

(i) First reference period

The first reference period for which all variables are to be supplied is January 1998 for monthly data and the first quarter 1998 for quarterly data.

(j) Transition period

For production (No 110), new orders received (Nos 130, 131, 132) and domestic output prices (No 311) a transition period of no longer than two years may be conceded by the Commission. For all other variables the transition period may be up to five years.

ANNEX B

Construction module

(a) Scope

This module is applicable for all activities of construction listed in section F of NACE Rev.1.

(b) Observation Unit

1. The observation unit for all variables in this module is the kind-of-activity unit.

2. For enterprises with few persons employed in secondary activities the National Statistical Offices may use the enterprise as the observation unit.

3. Exceptions for the observation unit can be decided by the Commission after consultation of the Committee referred to in Article 17.

(c) List of variables

1. The statistics in this module comprise the following variables:

>TABLE>

2. The information concerning new orders (Nos 130, 135, 136) is not required for groups 45.3 to 45.5 of NACE Rev.1.

3. Approximation for the variables can be defined by the Commission after consultation of the Committee and laid down in the methodological manual referred to in Article 11.

(d) Form

1. The variables are to be supplied in the following form:

>TABLE>

2. All variables except building permits (Nos 411 and 412) can be supplied in the form of indices or in absolute figures.

3. Building permits (Nos 411 and 412) are to be supplied in absolute figures.

(e) Frequency

The variables are to be supplied with the following frequency:

>TABLE>

(f) Level of detail

1. Variables Nos 110, 130, 210, 220 and 230 are to be supplied at least at the 2-digit level of NACE Rev.1.

2. Output prices and construction costs (Variables Nos 310, 320, 321 and 322) are only mandatory for new residential buildings excluding residencies for communities.

3. Following the classification of constructions, the number of dwellings present in building permits (No 411) is to be supplied for:

(i) one dwelling residential buildings;

(ii) two and more dwelling residential buildings.

4. Building permits (No 412) is to be supplied for:

(i) one dwelling residential buildings;

(ii) two and more dwelling residential buildings;

(iii) residencies for communities;

(iv) office buildings;

(v) other buildings.

This is to be compiled using the square metres of useful floor area or an alternative size measure.

5. Building permits (Nos 411 and 412) are not to be supplied for civil engineering.

(g) Deadlines for data transmission

The variables shall be transmitted within the following deadlines after the end of the reference period:

>TABLE>

(h) Pilot Studies

In accordance with Article 15 voluntary pilot studies are launched in the order of priorities on the following subjects:

1. on the possibilities for breaking down production (No 110) into new work and repair & maintenance;

2. on providing new orders information (Nos 130, 135 and 136) and prices (Nos 310, 320, 321 and 322) at a monthly frequency;

3. on the possibilities for breaking down variables Nos 210, 220 and 230 into building and civil engineering;

4. on the possibilities for having price information (Nos 310, 320, 321 and 322) for other types of construction than residential buildings, as well as for repair and maintenance work;

5. on the possibilities for breaking down production, building construction, (No 115) into residential and non-residential buildings;

6. on short term investment information;

7. on short term information concerning the birth and death of enterprises.

(i) First reference year

The first reference period for which all variables are to be supplied is January 1998 for monthly data, and the first quarter 1998 for quarterly data.

(j) Transition period

For variables Nos 110, 130 and 310 a transition period of no longer than two years may be conceded by the Commission. For all other variables the transition period may be up to five years.

For the periodicity of variable No 110 (production index) to be monthly, a transition period of up to five years may be conceded.

ANNEX C

Retail trade module

(a) Scope

This module is applicable for the retail trade sector except trade of motor vehicles and motorcycles, in other words all activities listed in groups 52.1 to 52.6 of NACE Rev.1 (distributive trade).

(b) Observation Unit

1. The observation unit for all variables in this module is the enterprise.

2. The Member States shall also collect, compile and transmit variables for enterprises which, according to their main activity, are not classified in NACE Rev.1 52.1 to 52.6, but which nevertheless carry out significant retail trade activities.

3. The Member States shall determine the appropriate manner for the implementation of paragraph (2). The Member States shall inform the Commission of the action they have taken to meet the requirements of paragraph (2).

(c) List of variables

The statistics in this module comprise the following variables:

>TABLE>

(d) Form

1. All variables are to be sent in the form of indices or absolute figures.

2. The variables are to be supplied in the following form:

>TABLE>

(e) Frequency

The variables are to be supplied with the following frequency:

>TABLE>

(f) Level of detail

The variables are to be supplied according to the regroupings of activities, defined below according to the NACE Rev.1 classification classes and groups:

- class 52.11,

- class 52.12,

- group 52.2,

- group 52.3,

- sum of classes 52.41, 52.42 and 52.43,

- sum of classes 52.44, 52.45 and 52.46,

- sum of classes 52.47 and 52.48,

- class 52.61.

Aggregated variables are required for:

- sum of class 52.11 and group 52.2,

- sum of class 52.12 and groups 52.3 to 52.6,

- sum of groups 52.1 to 52.6.

(g) Deadlines for data transmission

The preliminary variables shall be transmitted within three months after the end of the reference period, the revised variables within six months after the end of the reference period. Special estimated advanced variables shall be transmitted within two months at the aggregated level of retail trade.

(h) Pilot Studies

In accordance with Article 15 voluntary pilot studies are launched on the following subjects:

1. on the possibilities for faster data supply;

2. on the kind-of-activity unit as observation unit;

3. on short term investment information;

4. on short term information concerning the birth and death of enterprises.

(i) First reference year

The first reference period for which all variables are to be supplied is January 1998 for monthly data, and the first quarter 1998 for quarterly data.

(j) Transition period

For aggregated turnover (No 120) a transition period of no longer than two years may be conceded by the Commission. For all other variables the transition period may be up to five years.

ANNEX D

Other Services Module

(a) Scope

1. Pilot studies are to be carried out by the end of 2002 in order to know for which NACE Rev.1 activities short term statistics need to be compiled because a business cycle can be observed.

2. The pilot studies shall be applicable for all activities listed in sections G to K and O of NACE Rev.1, except groups 52.1 to 52.6.

3. The pilot studies will be carried out in order to assess the feasibility of collecting data, taking into account the benefits of the availability of the data in relation to the cost of collection and the burden on business.

4. The specifications laid down in points (b) to (g) below are to be examined in the pilot studies and shall be reviewed after the pilot studies have been completed.

5. After the pilot studies have been completed, the Commission, after consultation of the Committee in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17 of this Regulation, shall determine the NACE Rev.1 activities for which short term statistics are to be completed for the activities covered by this annex.

(b) Observation Unit

The observation unit for all variables in this module should be the enterprise.

(c) List of variables

The statistics in this module should comprise the following variables:

>TABLE>

(d) Form

The variables should be collected in the form of indices, both unadjusted and seasonally adjusted.

(e) Frequency

The variables should be supplied on a quarterly basis.

(f) Level of detail

The variables should be supplied according to the divisions (2-digit level) of NACE Rev.1.

(g) Deadlines for data transmission

Variables should be transmitted to the Commission within six months of the end of the reference period.