Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Council Regulation (EC) N° 2223/96 with respect to the delays of transmission of the main aggregates of national accounts, to the derogations concerning the transmission of the main aggregates national accounts and to the transmission of employment data in hours worked

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. Background of the proposal

The report of the Monetary Committee on statistical requirements in EMU, endorsed by the Ecofin Council of 18 January 1999, stressed the need, amongst others, for reducing the delay of transmission of the main aggregates of quarterly national accounts, for abrogating the specific Member States derogations that prevent the compilation of the main aggregates of quarterly and annual national accounts and for harmonising the national accounts employment data by transmitting such data in the unit "hours worked".

The proposed Regulation is referred to in the "Action Plan on EMU Statistical Requirements" which was endorsed by the Ecofin Council of 29 September 2000: the Regulation is included in the list of modifications to existing Regulations to be submitted by the Commission to the Council by mid 2001 (see Action Plan, point IV).

Finally, the proposed Regulation is referred to in the 3rd progress report on the implementation of the Monetary Committee's report - Information requirements in EMU - which was endorsed by the Ecofin Council of 19 January 2001: the Regulation is included in the list of modifications to existing legislation, Annex IV of the 3rd progress report, to be submitted by the Commission to the Council by mid 2001.

The Regulation was then prepared within the framework of the provisions set out above.

2. Content of the proposal of Regulation

The aim of the Regulation is to:

- reduce the delays of the transmission of the main aggregates of quarterly national accounts;

- to abrogate the derogations accorded to Member States that prevent the compilation of the main aggregates of quarterly and annual national accounts for the euro area and the European Union;

- to implement the transmission of national accounts employment data in the unit "hours worked".

These issues are summarised below.

The delay of transmission of Table 1 of the Annex B of the ESA 95 - Main aggregates, quarterly and annual exercise -is currently fixed for quarterly data at 4 months after the end of the reference period. The Regulation proposes to reduce this delay to 70 days after the end of the reference period.

The compilation of the main aggregates of quarterly national accounts for the euro area and the European Union requires the availability of quarterly and annual main aggregates of national accounts of all Member States. The Regulation proposes to abrogate all the derogations accorded to Member States in Annex B of ESA 95 that prevent the compilation of the main aggregates of quarterly national accounts of the euro-area and the European Union (aggregates included in Table 1 of Annex B of ESA 95). The Regulation refers to both annual and quarterly derogations that prevent such compilations. Annex II of the Regulation specifies country by country the amendments to be made to Annex B of ESA 95.

The unit used in transmitting national accounts employment figures according to Annex B of ESA 95 is "thousands of persons" or "full time equivalent". In order to improve the comparability of national accounts employment data, the Regulation proposes to add the transmission of employment figures in the unit "hours worked" both on annual and quarterly basis. Annex III specifies the amendments to be introduced to Table 1 of Annex B to incorporate this unit within the transmission programme.

2002/0109 (COD)

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Council Regulation (EC) N° 2223/96 with respect to the delays of transmission of the main aggregates of national accounts, to the derogations concerning the transmission of the main aggregates national accounts and to the transmission of employment data in hours worked

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 285 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [1],

[1] OJ C......

Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank [2],

[2] OJ C.....

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty [3],

[3] OJ C.....

Whereas:

(1) Council Regulation (EC) N° 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community [4] (ESA 95), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) N° 995/2001 [5], contains the reference framework of common standards, definitions, classifications and accounting rules for drawing up the accounts of the Member States for the statistical requirements of the Community, in order to obtain comparable results between Member States.

[4] OJ L 310, 30.11.1996, p.1.

[5] OJ L 139, 23.5.2001, p. 3.

(2) The report of the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) on statistical requirements in EMU, endorsed by the Ecofin Council of 18 January 1999, underlined that for the proper functioning of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the Single Market, effective surveillance and co-ordination of economic policies are of major importance and that this requires a comprehensive statistical information system providing policy makers with the necessary data on which to base their decisions. This report outlined the high priority in having such information available for the Community and especially for Member States participating in the euro area.

(3) The report underlined that the cross-country comparison of the labour market will demand more attention in the Economic and Monetary Union.

(4) In order to compile quarterly statistics for the euro area, the delay of transmission of the main aggregates of national accounts should be reduced to 70 days.

(5) Quarterly and annually derogations accorded to Member States that prevent the compilation of the main aggregates of national accounts for the euro area and the Community should be abrogated.

(6) The Action Plan on Economic and Monetary Union Statistical Requirements [6], endorsed by the Ecofin Council of 29 September 2000, identifies as a priority the transmission of national accounts employment data according to the unit "hours worked".

[6] Public Register of Council documents, 11655/00, Action Plan on EMU Statistical Requirements, 27.9.2001

(7) The Statistical Programme Committee (SPC) and the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) have been consulted in accordance with Article 3 of respectively Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom [7] and Council Decision 91/115/EEC [8] ,

[7] OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

[8] OJ L 59, 6.3.1991, p. 19.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex B of Regulation (EC) N° 2223/96 is hereby amended as follows:

1. The text following the title: "Transmission Programme of National Accounts Data" is amended as follows:

(a) The text of the "Overview of the tables" is replaced by the text in Annex I.

(b) The text of Table 1 "Main aggregates - quarterly and annual exercise" is replaced by the text in Annex II.

2. The text following the title: "Derogations concerning the tables to be supplied in the framework of the questionnaire "ESA 95" by country" is replaced by the text in Annex III.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following 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.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

ANNEX I

Amendments to the table "Overview of the tables" of Annex B - Transmission Programme of National Accounts Data - of the Regulation (EC) N° 2223/96, ESA 95

TRANSMISSION PROGRAMME OF NATIONAL ACCOUNTS DATA

Overview of the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

T = Reference period (year or quarter).

(*) The five yearly table for the year 2000 has to be delivered in 2003.

ANNEX II

Amendments to Table 1 - Main aggregates, quarterly and annual exercise - of Annex B - Transmission Programme of National Accounts Data - of the Regulation (EC) N° 2223/96, ESA 95,

Table 1 - Main aggregates - quarterly and annual exercise

>TABLE POSITION>

+ If no breakdown is indicated that means total economy.

** A6 only for self employed and employees in resident production units.

(x) at real terms.

ANNEX III

Amendments to the tables by country of Annex B - Derogations concerning the tables to be supplied in the framework of the questionnaire "ESA 95" by country - of the Regulation (EC) N° 2223/96, ESA 95

DEROGATIONS CONCERNING THE TABLES TO BE SUPPLIED IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE 'ESA 95' BY COUNTRY

1. AUSTRIA

1.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

1.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

2. DENMARK

2.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

2.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

3. GERMANY

3.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

3.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

4. GREECE

4.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

4.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

5. SPAIN

5.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

5.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

6. FRANCE

6.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

6.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

7. IRELAND

7.1 Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

7.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

8. ITALY

8.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

8.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

9. LUXEMBOURG

9.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

9.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

10. NETHERLANDS

10.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

10.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

11. PORTUGAL

11.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

12. FINLAND

12.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

12.2 Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

13. SWEDEN

13.1. Derogations for tables

>TABLE POSITION>

13.2. Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>

14 UNITED KINGDOM

14.1 Derogations for single variables / sectors in the tables

>TABLE POSITION>