NoC87/10 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 27.3.93
ProposalforaCouncilDecisiononinter-administration telematicnetworksforstatisticsrelating
tothetradingofgoodsbetweenMemberStates—Commerceelectronicdatainterchange
(Comedi)
(93/C87/11)
COM(93)73final—SYN4H
(SubmittedbytheCommissionon15March1993)
Whereasitisnecessarytoeasetheburdenwhichstat­
isticalreturnsplaceonbusinesses,whileatthesametime
improvingthecirculationofstatisticalinformationwitha
viewtothecreationoftheEuropeaninformation
market;
WhereasCouncilRegulation(EEC)No3924/91(2)of
19December1991ontheestablishmentofaCommunity
surveyofindustrialproductionlaysdownthatthe
compilationofharmonizedstatistics,inparticularwitha
linkbetweenproductionstatisticsandstatisticsontrade,
shouldbeensured,asthisconstitutesanessentialelement
inmarkettransparencyandintheevaluationofthe
competitiveness ofbusinesses;
Whereasthepromotionoftheuseofharmonized
standardsandconceptsatEuropeanlevelwillultimately
leadtotheeliminationofduplicationandtoeconomies
ofscale,whilefacilitatingtheemergenceofnewservices
inthefieldofstatisticaltelematics;
Whereastheestablishment ofcommonstatistical
standardsfortheproductionofharmonizedinformation
isanactivitywhichcanonlybecarriedouteffectivelyat
Community level,whilesuchstandardswillbe
implementedineachMemberStateundertheauthority
ofthebodiesandinstitutionsresponsibleforthecompi­
lationanddisseminationofofficialstatistics,
HASDECIDEDASFOLLOWS :THECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
EconomicCommunity ,andinparticularArticle100a
thereof,
HavingregardtotheproposalfromtheCommission,
IncooperationwiththeEuropeanParliament,
HavingregardtotheopinionoftheEconomicand
SocialCommittee,
WhereascompletingtheInternalMarketdependsonthe
eliminationofphysicalfrontiersbetweenMemberStates;
whereasasatisfactorylevelofinformationonthetrading
ofgoodsbetweenMemberStatesmustthereforebe
ensuredbymeansotherthanthoseinvolvingchecks,
evenindirectones,atinternalfrontiers;
Whereasitwillconsequently benecessarytocollect
directlyfromtheconsignorsandconsigneesthedata
necessarytocompilestatisticsrelatingtothetradingof
goodsbetweenMemberStates,usingmethodsandtech­
niqueswhichwillensurethattheyareexhaustive,
reliableanduptodate,withoutgivingrisefortheparties
concerned,inparticularforsmallandmedium-sized
businesses,toaburdenoutofproportiontotheresults
whichusersofthesaidstatisticscanreasonablyexpect;
WhereasCouncilRegulation(EEC)No3330/91of
7November1991onthestatisticsrelatingtothetrading
ofgoodsbetweenMemberStates(')laysdownthatthe
conditionsshouldbecreatedforincreaseduseof
automaticdataprocessingandelectronicdatatrans­
missionforthepurposeoffacilitatingthetaskofthe
partiesresponsibleforprovidinginformation ;
WhereasArticle129boftheTreatyonEuropeanUnion
laysdownthattheCommunityshallcontributetothe
establishment anddevelopment oftrans-European
networksintheareaoftelecommunications ,andthat
actionbytheCommunityshallaimatpromotingthe
interconnection andinteroperability ofnationalnetworks
aswellasaccesstosuchnetworks;Article1
Asetofmeasuresshallbeimplementedtocreatestan­
dardizedinfrastructures atEuropeanlevelforthe
collectionofreturnsonthetradingofgoodsandon
productionfrombusinesses,thevalidationand
pre-processing ofsuchreturnsandthedisseminationof
thestatisticsderivedtherefrom .
Theseinfrastructures shallbelinkedbyasetof
distributeddatabases,theinteroperability ofwhichshall
beguaranteedbythedevelopmentanduseof
harmonizedstandardsandcommunication procedures .
(')OJNoL316,16.11.1991. OOJNoL374,31.12.1991.

27.3.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC87/11
Theseinfrastructures shallbebasedontheuseofelec­
tronicdatainterchange(EDI)forthetransmissionof
statisticalreturnsandoncomputerizedprocedurestobe
madeavailabletothepartiesresponsibleforproviding
information andtotherelevantauthoritiesinthe
MemberStates.
Theseinfrastructures shallbedevelopedinawaywhich
takesaccountoftherequirementsassociatedwith
compilingthestatisticswhicharenecessaryformarket
transparencyandtheevaluationofthecompetitiveness of
businesses .
Article2
Thissetofmeasuresshallcovertheperiod1993to1997.
Article3
Thissetofmeasuresshallcompriseinparticular :
—thedesign,developmentandprovisiontobusinesses
ofsoftwareforthecollection,validationandtrans­
missionofstatisticalinformation ,
—thedesign,development andprovisiontothe
regional,nationalandCommunitybodiesresponsible
forcollectingstatisticalinformation ,ofhardwareand
softwarefortheacceptance,validation,processing
anddissemination ofdata,
—thedesign,developmentandimplementation of
protocolsfortheexchangeofinformation ,onthe
basisofEuropeanandinternationalstandards,
—thedesign,documentation andpromotionof
methods,protocolsandinterfacestobeusedinthe
exchangeofinformation .
Inordertoensurethattheeconomybenefitsfromthis
programme,stepsshallbetakentofavourprivate-sector
suppliersofsoftwareandvalue-addedserviceswhich
meettheneedsofthestatisticalsector.
Article4
Inordertofacilitatetheimplementation anduseofthese
infrastructures ,thecompetentregional,nationaland
Communitybodiesshallundertakepromotionand
awarenesscampaigns,aimedmainlyatbusinessesand
users.
Specialmeasuresshallbeundertakenforthebenefitof
lessdevelopedregionalandnationalbodiestoenable
themtotakepartintheseinfrastructures .Thesemeasuresshallusenewtechnologiesandnew
productsinthefieldoftelecommunications tomeetthe
needsofthestatisticalsystemandshallincorporatethe
resultsintothevariouscomputerenvironmentsofthe
authoritiesconcerned .
Article5
InaccordancewiththeprovisionsofArticle6ofthis
Decision,theCommission,assistedbytheCommitteeon
theStatisticalProgrammeoftheEuropeanCommunities
establishedbyCouncilDecision89/382/EEC,
Euratom('),shalldrawupannuallytheprogrammeof
measuresnecessaryforimplementingthisDecision.
Eachmeasureshalllaydownprecisequantified
objectivesandprovideforanevaluationoftheresults
obtainedinthelightoftheseobjectives.
Eachmeasureshallundergoacost-effectiveness analysis
andbeimplementedinaccordancewithsoundeconomic
principles .
Article6
TherepresentativeoftheCommissionshallsubmittothe
saidCommitteeadraftofthemeasurestobetaken.The
Committeeshallgiveitsopiniononthisdraftwithina
periodoftimedeterminedbythechairmaninthelightof
theurgencyofthematterinquestion.Ifnecessary,the
Committeeshallreachitsopinionbyputtingthematter
tothevote.
TheCommittee'sopinionshallberecordedinthe
minutes.EachMemberStateshall,moreover,beentitled
tohaveitspositionrecordedintheminutes.
TheCommissionshalltakethefullestpossibleaccountof
theCommittee'sopinionandshallinformtheCommittee
ofthewayinwhichithasdoneso.
Article7
Attheendoftheperiod1993to1997,theCommission
shallpresentareportontheimplementation ofthe
programmetotheCouncilandtheEuropeanParliament .
Article8
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheMemberStates.
0)OJNoL181,28.6.1989,p.47.