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Vol.1976/0147

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(76)497 final
Brussels,28September 1976
\''
\
\
DRAFT
COUNCILDIRECTIVE
i !
concerning coordinated statistics onthebusiness
cycleinbuildingandcivilengineering
/
i
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)
C0M(76)497final

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1«Foritscurrentwork,particularly inthefieldof"businesscyclepolicy,
theCommissionrequiresquantitativestatisticaldataenablingittofollow
short-term economictrendsineachoftheMemberStatesandintheCom­
munityasawhole*
2*Inordertoeliminateatleastthemostseriousdeficiencies inthefield
ofshort-term economicdataandobtaininformation whichisoosarableas
betweenCommunitycountries,theCounciloftheEuropeanCommunities adopted
on30May1972DirectiveNo»72/211/EEC*ThisDirectivecallsforco­
ordinatedstatisticalinquiriestobeconductedonthebusinesscyclein
allbranchesofindustryandhandicraft,thoughnotinbuildingandcivil
engineering *
3*Asamatteroffact,whenthedraftofthisDirectivewasexaminedbythe
compfetentCouncilauthorities ,severalexpertsconsideredthatthe2istof
variablesselectedtoobtaintheshort-termeconomicinformationrequired,
thoughperfectlysuitablefortheminingandmanufacturing industries,
neededamplification orminoramendmentsforbuildingandcivilengineering
inordertotakeintoaccountcertainfeaturespeculiartothisindustry*
Buildingandcivilengineering wasthusprovisionally excludedfromthe
scopeoftheinquiries,butanadditionalDirectivewasenvisagedtosolve
theproblemofthebusinesscyclestatisticstobeestablishedforthis
industry,asstatedinArticle4ofDirectiveNo*72/211/EEC,whichreads
asfollows:
Article4
"AsubsequentCouncilDirectiveshall,onthebasisofco-ordinated
definitions andmethods,laydownthemeasuresrequiredforthe
drawingupofstatisticsnecessaryforthestudyofeconomicand
business-cycle trendsintheconstruction industry-makinguse,if
necessary,ofvariablesotherthanthosereferredtoinArticle3»
theDirectiveshallalsospecifythefrequency^±'-hwhichthese
statisticsmustbeproduced*"

2-
4.1+is"byvirW.!ofthis"brief-thattheCommission,inco-operationwith
theWorkingPartyonBuildingandCivilEngineeringStatisticsattached
totheStatisticalOfficeoftheEuropeanCommunitiesandconsistingof
expertsfromnationalstatisticaloffices,theresponsibleministries
fromtheMemberStatesandtheemployers'organisations ,hasdrawnup
theencloseddraftdirective.
Thestatisticsto"bedrawnupunderthetermsofthisdraftwouldcomple­
mentthosealreadyobtainedforalltheotherindustries,providing
hencefcr+htheCommissionaswellastheinterested "bodiesintheMember
Stateswithawiderandmoreaccuratestatisticalbasefortheirstudies
ofthebusinesscycleinindustry-
5,Asbuildingandcivilengineeringareanindustryofgreatimportanceand
cannotthereforebeoverlookedinanalysesconcerningtheshort-termtrends
inindustrialactivity,theCommissionconsidersitappropriatetopropose
totheCounciltheadoptionofaDirectiveconformingtotheenclosed
draft.

DRAFT
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
concerning coordinated statistics onthebusiness
cycle inbuilding andcivil engineering
THE COUNCIL OFTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic Community ,
and inparticular Article 213thereof .
Having regard tothedraft submitted bytheCommission inpursuance of
(1)Article 4ofCouncil Directive 72/211/EEC of30May 1972 concerning
coordinated statistics onthebusiness cycle inindustry and small craft
industries ,
Whereas theCommission ,inorder tocarry outthetasks entrusted tDit
under theTreaty ,must have atitsdisposal coherent statistical docu­
mentation ,comparable asbetween States ,ontheshort-term economic
development ofindustry andsmall craft industries inMember States ? .
Whereas thestatistics tobedrawn uppursuant toCouncil Directive
72/221/EECcover only theenergy sector ,mining andquarrying andthe
manufacturing industries ,butnotbuilding and civil engineering ;
Whereas building and civil engineering constitute avery substantial
sector ofindustry holding akeyposition within theeconomic structure ;
Whereas ,inview oftheincreasing international interpenetration and
interdependence ofbusiness cycle andeconomic policies ,itisnecessary
that there beavailable abody ofstatistical data bymeans ofwhich the
short-term development inallsectors oftheeconomy maybefollowed and
appropriate andcoordinated measures may betaken within theframework of
the short andmedium-term economic objectives ;
<)0JNoL128,3.6.1972 ,p.28

-2-
t'herear thedata cobuilding andcivil engineering ought tobesuch as
vomake possible also theanalysis ofdisturbances ordiscrepancies arid
ofintensities c*yrowth orregression inpartial markets ,andthis
requires abreakdown ofcertain statistics bybuilding ontheonehand
arid civil engineering ontheother ;
Whereas the statistics available inthedifferent Member States onshort -
term economic trends inbuilding andcivil engineering areinsufficient
ornotsufficiently comparable tobeable toserve asavalid basis for
the work oftheCommission /
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE :
Article 1
TheMember States ,intechnical cooperation with theCommission ,shall
take allnecessary steps forcollecting ,onthebasis ofcoordinated
definitions andmethods ,thequantitative statistical data required for
thestudy ofthebusiness cycle andeconomic trends ii^building andcivil
engineering . ' .
Article 2
Thestatistics shall cover building andcivil engineering activitis as
listed inDivision 5ofthe General Industrial Classification ofEconomic
Activities within theEuropean Communities (NACE ),1970 edition .
They shall beobtained either from statistical surveys covering atleast
undertakings employing twenty ormore persons ,orfrom administrative
records ,forexample building permits .Inorder that results may be
promptly available ,those data tobesupplied bytheundertakings maybe
collected onarepresentative basis .Thestatistical unit forthese -
statistics shall betheunit ofeconomic activity asdefined inpart I
ofNACE .
Forthepurposes oftheCommunities thepresentation ofthedata shall
bebased onNACE .

Article3
Thestatisticsshallrelatetothefollowingvariablesorindicators:
-monthly:
1.buildingpermits:
1.1Numberofpermitsgrantedforresidentialbuildingswithan
indicationofthenumberofdwellingsandthecorresponding
habitablefloorareaand/orcubiccapacity;
1.2Numberofpermitsgrantedfornon-residential buildingswithan
indicationofthenumberofbuildingsandtheusablefloorarea
and/orthecorresponding cubiccapacity;
Thedataonbuildingpermitsmaybereplacedbythecorresponding
dataonbuildingstarts.
2.index-numbers ofindustrialproduction:
2.1Indexofproductionforbuildingandcivilengineering;
2.11Indexofproductionforbuilding;*
2.12Indexofproductionforcivilengineering;*
3.ordersreceived:
3.1Index-number ofordersreceivedforbuildingandcivilengineering
3.11Ordersreceivedforbuilding,invalue,and/ornumberofbuilding
starts,residential andnon-residential ,withanindicationofthe
habitable/usablefloorareaorthecubiccapacity;
3.12Ordersreceivedincivilengineering,invalue;
-initiallyatleastquarterly,thisfrequencybeingsubjecttom^dificati
bytheCommissioninagreementwiththeMemberStates:
4.numberofemployees,specifyingthenumberofmanualworkers;
5.grosswagesandsalaries;
6.turnoverorvalueofworkdone:
6.1Turnoverorvalueofworkdoneinbuilding;
6.2Turnoverorvalueofworkdoneincivilengineering;
7.volumeofworkdone:
7.1Numberofhoursworkedinbuilding;
7.2Numberofhoursworkedincivilengineering.

-4-
Article4
ThecatashaUbecollectedforthefirsttimenotlaterthaninthecourse
ofthefourthquarterafterthenotification ofthisDirective andshallbe
inrespectofthepreceding monthorquarter.
However,MemberStatesnotyethavingstatistics onbuildingpermitsoron
buildingstartsshallbeallowedaperiodoftwoyearsfromthedateofthe
notification oftheDirectivetointroduceoneorotherofthesetypesof
statistics .
MemberStatesshallbeallowedthesameperiodforthebreakdownofthe
totalindexofproduction (variable2.1)intoanindexofproductionfor
building(variable2.11)andanindexofproductionforcivilengineering
(variable2.12).
Dataonthenumberofbuildingstartsmaybeusedassubstitute dataforone
variableonly,eitherforthenumberofbuildingpermitsgranted(variables
1.1and1.2)orforthenumberofordersforbuildingreceived(variable3.11).
Article 5
MemberStatesshalltakeallappropriate stepstoreducetoaminimumthe
timeneededforcarryingoutsurveysandforprocessing andcalculating
data,inorderthattheresultsofthesurveysmaybemadeavailableto
theCommission assoonaspossible.
Article6
ThecostofcompilingthesestatisticsintheMemberStatesshallbeborne
bythevariousnationalbudgets.
Article7
ThisDirectiveisaddressedtotheMemberStates.
Doneat
FortheCouncil
ThePresident

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
fortheCommunityBudget
oftheCouncil'sapprovalofaDirectiveon
thecompilation ofcoordinated short–term
statisticswithrespecttoconstruction and
civilengineering
Article6ofthedraftDirectiveprovidesthatexpensesincurred
intheMemberStates'assemblyandprocessingofthestatisticsin
questionshallbechargeabletothenationalBudgets.
NoristheCommissionrequiredtopart–financesimilarsurveyson
theextractiveandmanufacturing industriescarrioutbyMember
StatespursuanttoDirectiveNo72/21l/EECof30May1972.