I':*. 
*£ COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
COM(92) 352 final 
Brussels,3 September 1992 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) 
on Community coordination 
in drawing up business registers 
for statistical purposes 
(presented by the Commission) 
Explanatory memorandum 
1) All the Member States of the Community have business registers, which may differ widely 
in coverage, scope or quality of information. 
Harmonized registers are essential for the production of comparable statistics in the 
Member States. 
2) Obviously, the establishment of the Single Market from 1993 onwards will further increase 
the need to improve the comparability of statistics produced to meet Community 
requirements and information on the structure of enterprises and groups of enterprises, and 
in particular on mergers, buy-outs or takeovers, will be essential. It should also be stressed 
that certain statistical data are not currently available in sectors with a large number of 
small and medium-sized enterprises, such as services, since such enterprises are not covered 
by a register used for statistical purposes. 
3) The aim of the Community project is to promote in the Member States the introduction of 
national directories managed by the national statistical institute but compiled in an identical 
fashion and thus containing compatible information enabling consistent Community 
statistics to be obtained. 
4) These registers will make it possible to institute and coordinate statistical surveys by 
providing instruments for monitoring the information which enterprises are asked to 
provide. Another important novel feature is that these registers will enable external trade 
data to be integrated into business statistics at intra-Community level by reference to the 
Intrastat file or more generally via links with customs files. 
5) The introduction of this new tool can be expected to ease the administrative burden on 
enterprises substantially since, by linking separate administrative sources, it will make it 
possible to make better use of existing information. 
6) The registers of legal units mentioned in the proposal can be used as a basis for the 
harmonized registers of businesses and local units required for Community statistics. 
7) Council Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 of 11 June 1990 authorizes the 
transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the 
European Communities. The present draft prohibits the transmission of information 
permitting direct identification of units. 
8) The introduction of these registers meets the requirements of the relevant Commission 
departments and the national statistical offices. It will permit harmonious development of 
Community statistics in the Single Market. 
Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) 
on Community coordination 
in drawing up business registers 
for statistical purposes 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 213 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Whereas the Single Market will increase the need to improve statistical comparability in order to 
meet Community requirements and, in order to improve this comparability, common definitions and 
descriptions have to be adopted for the field of enterprises and other relevant statistical units to be 
covered; 
Whereas registers have to be drawn up and updated in order to collect information on these units; 
Whereas there is a growing need for information on the structure of enterprises and current 
Community statistics are not able to meet this need; 
Whereas business registers for statistical purposes are a necessary tool in keeping track of the 
structural changes in the economy brought about by such operations as joint ventures, partnerships, 
mergers, buy­
outs and takeovers; 
Whereas the important role played by public undertakings in the national economies of the Member 
States has been acknowledged, particularly in Commission Directive 80/723/EEC' ', which also 
defines such undertakings in its Article 2, and whereas they should therefore be identified in 
business registers; 
Whereas some statistics are not currently available, particularly in sectors with many SMEs, such 
as services, because a register of these businesses for statistical purposes does not exist; 
Whereas business registers are one element in reconciling the conflicting requirements for increased 
information on businesses and simplifying their administrative procedures, in particular by 
collecting and exploiting existing information in administrative and legal registers, above all in the 
case of SMEs, pursuant to Council Recommendation 90/2467EEO 2'; 
Whereas the business register for statistical purposes represents a basic element of information 
systems on businesses, enabling statistical surveys to be set up and coordinated by providing a 
sampling base, possibilities of extrapolation and means of monitoring the replies from businesses, 
in particular those referred to in Directives 78/660/EEO3' and 83/349/EEC^; 
Whereas the setting up of a new statistical collection system covering trade in goods and services 
between Member States necessitates a list of those persons required to give information, and it is 
desirable to derive this register of persons required to give information from a central business 
register used for statistical purposes; 
(1) OJ No L 195 of 29.7.1980 
m QI No L 141 of 2A9Q, p. 55 
<3> Of No L 222 of 14.8.78, p. 11 
(4) Q* No L 193 of 18.7.83, p. 1 
Whereas the business registers for statistical purposes are at different stages of development in each 
Member State and the long and costly development of these registers can only be carried out in two 
stages, the first of which must relate to harmonizing the basic units used in these registers in 
accordance with an established timetable; 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Article 1 Aims 
1. The Member States shall set up harmonized registers of legal units, local units and 
enterprises which can be used for statistical purposes. The registers of enterprises shall be 
drawn up from those of legal units, and the registers of local units shall be drawn up from 
those of enterprises. 
Article 2 Definitions 
For the purposes of this Regulation, the terms listed below shall be defined as follows: 
1. Legal units include: 
- legal persons whose existence is recognized by law independently of the 
individuals or institutions which may own them or are members of them; 
- natural persons who are recognized as legal units in their own right; 
this regulation applies to legal units that exercise, wholly or partially, a productive activity. 
2. Enterprise: the enterprise is the smallest combination of legal units which is an 
organizational unit producing goods or services and which enjoys a certain degree of 
autonomy in decision-making, especially in the allocation of its current resources. An 
enterprise carries out one or more activities at one or more locations. 
Hereinafter the connection between the enterprise and the legal unit is expressed as follows: 
- the enterprise is attached to one or more legal units; 
- the legal unit(s) is (are) responsible for the enterprise. 
3. Local unit: the local unit is an enterprise or part thereof (e.g. a workshop, factory, 
warehouse, office, mine or depot) situated in a geographically identified place. At or from 
this place economic activity is carried out for which - save for certain exceptions - one or 
more persons work (if only part-time) for one and the same enterprise. 
Hereinafter the connection between the local unit and the enterprise is expressed as follows: 
- the local unit is dependent on an enterprise. 
Article 3 Scope 
1. In accordance with the definitions given in Article 2, and subject to the limitations specified 
in this Article, registers shall be compiled of 
- all enterprises carrying out an economic activity contributing *r fhe ^^oss domestic 
product at market prices (GDP); 
- the legal units responsible for these enterprises; 
- the local units dependent on these enterprises. 
This requirement shall not, however, apply to households 
- insofar as the goods they produce are for own consumption; 
- insofar as the services they produce involve the letting of own or leased property (Group 
70.2 of the General Industrial Classification of Economic Activities within the European 
Community (NACE Rev.l) drawn up by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 of 9 
October 1990<5) 
The inclusion of 
enterprises whose main activity falls within sections A, B or L of NACE Rev. 1, 
the legal units responsible for them, 
the local units dependent on them, 
shall be optional. 
2. The enterprises, legal units and local units referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be 
registered in accordance with the timetable and priorities set out in Annex 2. 
Article 4 Register characteristics 
The units appearing in the register shall be characterized by an identity number and the descriptive 
details specified in Annex 1. 
Articles Updating 
1. The following shall be updated at least once a year: 
a) entries to, and removals from, the register; 
b) the variables of subparagraphs b and f of Annex 1.1; 
c) for units which are the subject of annual surveys, the variables of subparagraphs b, 
c, d, e and h of Annex 1.3. 
(5) OJ No L 293of 24.ia.1990, p. I. 
jr 
s a general rule, information obtained from administrative files or annual surveys shall be 
updated annually, other information being updated every four years. 
2. At the end of the first quarter of each calendar year, the Member States shall make a copy 
of the register as it stands on that date, and keep this copy for ten years for the purpose of 
ani'yr*. 
Article 6 Access to information 
When so requested by the Commission, the Member States shall 
1. carry out statistical analyses of the register and transmit the results to the Commission; 
2. transmit to Eurostat, in accordance with the procedures and limitations laid down in this 
Article, the information contained in the register and referred to in this Regulation, 
excluding information enabling direct identification of the units; 
The information transmitted shall include data which are confidential under national legislation, and 
the fact that they are confidential shall be explicitly mentioned. 
When a majority of Member States so propose, a request to transmit information referred to in 
paragraph 2 of this Article shall be submitted to the Committee referred to in Article 8 according to 
the procedure set out in Article 9. 
Article 7 Access to administrative and legal registers 
Each National Statistical Institute shall be authorized, within its own Member State, to have access 
to those administrative or legal files containing information covered by this Regulation and to 
extract this information for statistical purposes. 
Article 8 Committee 
The rules of application for Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 and for Annexes 1 and 2 of this Regulation, as 
well as the measures required to adapt these rules, shall be decided by the Commission after 
consulting the Statistical Programme Committee set up by Council Decision of 19 June 1989 (OJ L 
181, 28.6.1989, p.47), and in accordance with the procedure set out in the following Article. 
Article 9 Procedure 
1. 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, if necessary by taking a 
vote. 
2. The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member State shall have the 
right to ask to have its position recorded in the minutes. 
3. The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the Commit JC. 
It shall inform the Committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into 
account. 
Article 10 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the 
European Communities. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirely and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 
} 
Annex 1 
1. The record of a legal unit shall contain the following information: 
a. identity number; 
b. name, address (including postcode), and optionally: telephone, electronic mail and 
fax numbers and telex address; 
c. requirement to publish annual accounts (YES/NO); 
d. date of incorporation for legal persons or date of official recognition as an economic 
operator for natural persons; 
e. date on which the legal unit ceases to be legally responsible for an enterprise; 
f. legal form of the unit; 
g. name and address of any non-resident legal unit, other than a natural person, which 
controls the legal unit; 
h. identity number of the legal unit in the register which controls the legal unit; 
i. character of "public undertaking" within the meaning of Commission Directive 
80/723/EEC (YES/NO) (for legal persons only); 
j. reference to other associated files, including customs files, in which the legal unit is 
recorded and which contain information which can be used for statistical purposes; 
k. reference to the INTRASTAT register. 
g" 
The record of a local unit shall contain the following information: 
a. identity number; 
b. name, address and other identifying information as set out in paragraph l.b of this 
Annex; 
c. activity code at the 4-digit (class) level of NACE Rev. 1 ; 
d. secondary activities, if any, at the 4-digit level of NACE Rev. 1 (optional); 
e. size of labour force, as indicated in paragraph 3.e of this Annex; 
f. date of commencement of the activities whose codes are given in c. above; 
g. date of final cessation of activities; 
h. geographical location code (territorial units); 
i. reference to associated registers in which the local unit appears and which contain 
information which can be used for statistical purposes; 
j. identity number in the register of the enterprise on which the local unit is 
dependent; 
k. activity carried out in the local unit constituting an ancillary activity of the 
enterprise on which it depends (YES/NO). 
T 
The record of an enterprise shall contain the following information: 
a. identity number; 
b. identity number(s) of the legal unit(s) legally responsible for the enterprise; 
c. activity code of the enterprise at 4-digit (class) level of NACE Rev. 1.; the 
classification of an enterprise is determined by the class of NACE Rev. 1 in which 
the principal activity, or all the activities, of the enterprise is, or are, included; 
d. secondary activities, if any, at NACE 4-digit level, if they amount to 10% of the 
total for all activities of the gross value added at factor cost for each, or account for 
5% or more of national activity of this type; this point concerns only enterprises 
which are the subject of surveys; 
e. size: measured by the number of persons employed, or failing that by allocation to 
one of the following classes according to the number of persons engaged: 0; 1; 2; 
3-4; 5-9; 10-19; 20-49; 50-99; 100-149; 150-199; 200-249; 250-499; 500-999; 1 
000; 2 000; 3 000 etc.; persons working less than three-fifths of normal hours 
worked by full-time workers should be counted as one-half of a full-time worker; if 
the enterprise's workforce varies seasonally, it shall be allocated to the size class in 
which its annual average employment falls; 
f. date of commencement of activities of the enterprise; 
g. date of final cessation of activities of the enterprise; 
h. net turnover from the sale of goods and services (except for financial 
intermediaries); failing this, allocation to a size class defined as follows (in millions 
of ecus): 0+ -1; 1 + -2; 2+ -4; 4+ -5; 5+ -10; 10+ -20; 20+ -40; 40+ -50; 
50+ -100; 100 + -200; 200+ - 500; 500+ -1000; 1000+ - 5000; 5000+ (optional 
for turnover not exceeding ECU 2 million). 
I. net assets (assets after allowing for depreciation less liabilities - financial 
intermediaries only) (optional). 
to 
Annex 2 
The legal units defined in Article 2 and described in Annex 1 shall be registered in the following 
order of priority: 
priority A: the information shall be entered in the register by 31 December 1993. 
priority B: the information shall be entered in the register by 31 December 1995. 
Enterprises attached to the above legal units, as defined in Article 2 and described in Annex 1, shall 
be allowed an extra year for each level of priority. If an enterprise is attached to more than one 
legal unit, the legal unit with the higest priority shall be taken to calculate the time limit for the 
enterprise and the local units which are dependent on it. 
Local units shall be allowed one year longer than the enterprises on which they are dependent. 
In the table below: 
0< means "employs staff" 
0 means "does not employ staff 
A: Agriculture, hunting and forestry (OPTIONAL) 
B: Fishing (OPTIONAL) 
C: Mining and quarrying 
D: Manufacturing 
E: Electricity, gas and water supply 
F: Construction 
G: Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor véhicules, 
motorcycles and personal and household goods 
H: Hotels and restaurants 
I: Transport, storage and communications 
J: Financial intermediation 
K: Real estate, renting and business activities 
L: Public administration and defence; 
compulsory social security 
M: Education 
N: Health and social work 
O: Other community, social and personal service activities legal natural 
persons persons 
0< 0 
A B B 
A B B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
A A B 
-f"? 
FINANCIAL STATEMENT 
Draft Council Regulation (EEC) on Community coordination in drawing up 
business registers for statistical purposes 
1. Title of operation 
Community support for the setting-up, in the Member States, of 
harmonized business registers for statistical purposes. This 
operation forms part of the pluriannual operations relating to 
statistical information policy. 
2. Budget headings involved 
- Financial prospects - Heading 3. Internal policies. 
- Subsection B-5 - Consumers, internal market, industry and 
innovation. 
- Chapter B5-60 - Statistical information policy connected with the 
completion of the internal market, the economic and monetary 
environment and Community policies. 
Line B5 - 600 - operating appropriations (former B5-6000, 10, 10 
partial, 20, 30) 
3. Legal basis 
Article 213 of the Treaty 
4. Description of operation 
4.1 Specific objectives of operation 
The aim of the Community project is to promote the setting-up, in the 
Member States, of national business registers managed by the national 
statistical institutes, but compiled in an identical way, so that they 
contain data which are compatible and can therefore be used to provide 
meaningful Community statistics. 
These registers will allow statistical surveys to be carried out and 
coordinated, and at the same time will constitute a means of monitoring 
what is required from the enterprises. 
*l 
A new feature, which should be emphasized, is that these registers will 
allow external trade statistics to be incorporated into business 
statistics, either at intra-Community level by reference to the 
INTRASTAT records, or more generally by using customs records. 
This operation will contribute to accommodating the significant 
increase in requirements for harmonized data which the Community must 
meet, with regard to; 
the operation of the Single Market, which calls for a high degree 
of transparency in the structures and flows of industrial and 
service enterprises in all Member States, including the new system 
of statistics on trade in goods and services between the Member 
States after 1992. 
the provision of statistical information to enterprises which will 
enable them to become more competitive both in the internal market 
and vis-à-vis the rest of the world. 
4.2 Duration 
One-off operations 
4.3 Target population 
- The beneficiaries of this operation are: the Community 
Institutions and the governments of the Member States. 
5. Classification of expenditure or of revenue 
5.1 NCE 
5.2 DA 
5.3 Type of income envisaged: NONE 
6. Type of expenditure or revenue 
6.1 100% subsidy 
NO - the Community's contribution represents only a small part 
of the actual cost of collecting the data, i.e. some 1 to 
5%, since the Community's statistical activities are 
decentralized to a very large extent. Nevertheless, the 
expenditure is essential to provide an incentive for 
standardizing the data collected, processing them and 
forwarding them to Eurostat. 
6.2 Subsidy for cofinancing with other sources in the public and/or 
private sector 
YES - cofinancing from the public sector (budgets of the national 
statistical services). 
Al 
6.3 Interest subsidy 
NO 
6.4 Other 
NONE 
6.5 Should the operation prove an economic success, is there provision 
for all or part of the Community's financial contribution to be 
reimbursed? 
NO 
6.6 Hill the proposed operation cause any change in the level of 
revenue? 
Indirectly, the statistical work on the own resources indicators (GDP 
in this case) may, through its results, reduce the general level of the 
budget. 
7. Financial impact 
7.1 Method of calculating total cost of operation: 
- 1992 Budget: ECU 200.000 
- 1993 PDB: ECU 800.000 
- Total ECU 1.000.000 
7.2 Breakdown of operation - operating appropriations 
B5-60 
The details of appropriations by policy are given in Annex 4 
BREAKDOWN 1992 BUDGET 1993 PDB 
1. The single market ECU 200 000 ECU 800.000 
TOTAL ECU 200.000 ECU 800.000 
7.3 Administrative expenditure directly linked to this operation 
NONE 
7.4 Indicative schedule of commitment appropriations 
Operating appropriations and support appropriations - Chapter B5-60 4*f 
INDICATIVE 
BUDGET 
1992 
ECU 200.000 PDB 
1993 
ECU 800.000 1994 
ECU 800.000 • • 
PROGRAMMING 
1995 1996 
ECU 800.000 ECU 800.000 
8. What anti-fraud measures are planned in the proposal for the 
operation? 
a) For the contracts and agreements entered into by the Commission, 
payment is solely on results. 
b) The statistical information is considered to be an objective 
instrument for evaluating Community action programmes and thus 
contributes to consolidating the anti-fraud provisions. 
9. Elements of cost/efficiency analysis 
9.1. Objectives 
The specific objectives mentioned in 4.1. are linked to the provisions 
of the Treaty relating to: operation of the Single Market. 
9.2. Grounds for the operation 
1 to improve the balance between the demand for new statistics and 
budgetary resources by counting on gains in productivity and 
developing tools which will allow the same volume of data to be 
obtained with fewer resources; 
2 to reduce the time required to draw up the data and forward them to 
the Commission, thus increasing their usefulness to policy makers; 
AS 
3 to improve the quality and reliability of the data produced by the 
Member States, so as to provide users with top-quality statistics 
on which they can take appropriate policy decisions. 
4 to reduce the workload on the units under survey, and in particular 
the enterprises which have to reply to the statistical 
questionnaires. 
As regards the operation of the Single Market, the Commission 
proposes that a network of harmonized Community business registers 
should be set up to serve as a basis for all business statistics in 
the Commumity. This harmonized register could be used to prepare 
the sampling bases for surveys without the need to transpose the 
national tools, which are not always completely suitable for 
collecting Community statistics. In this way, the national systems 
will be able to use the same system for all Community surveys, 
which will save time in drawing up the data and prdoduce more 
reliable Community statistics. Lastly, this project will yield 
considerably more information on enterprises, without the need for 
new surveys, thus reducing the burden placed on enterprises by the 
obligation to reply to statistical questionnaires. 
9.2.1. Cost: 
This operation will be financed mainly by the Member States 
(Section 1, item 6.1), which have a well-established structure for 
collecting and processing data. If the Commission had to finance 
this programme in full, the cost would be extremely high for a less 
reliable product. The Community's contribution covers only a small 
proportion of the real cost. 
The number of surveys and compilations from administrative 
registers and files has grown considerably in recent years. 
9.2.2. Spin-off effect: 
the results of this operation will contribute to improving the 
statistical information used in work on the gross national product 
(GNP) of the Member States; 
the system for collecting statistical information is very 
decentralized, the national systems having a responsibility within 
each Member State. The Community statistical programme is becoming 
an integral part of the national statistical programmes, thereby 
contributing to the establishment of a European statistical area; 
the spin-off effect towards a European statistical area will lead 
to further integration of the national statistical systems at 
Community level. 
9.2.3. Multiplier effects: 
/iG 
the Community statistical programme generates an impetus within the 
budgets of the national statistical systems, which make a great 
contribution to implementing it; 
benefits for the world of research and the universities, which gain 
unique scientific data for socio-economic studies and analyses. 
9.3. Monitoring and evaluation of the operation 
9.3.1. Performance indicators selected: 
The performance indicators selected for evaluating progress are of two 
kinds, viz.: 
budgetary: comparing the plan with the execution of the budget. 
programming: to compare the statistical output with the existing 
programme and with the estimated budget for its execution. 
A. execution of the budget 
Appropriations Appropriations 
committed paid 
1992 200 000 100 000 
1993 800.000 500.000 
1994 800.000 800.000 
1995 800.000 800.000 
1996 800.000 300.000 
Following years - 400.000 
9.3.2. Procedures and frequency of evaluation 
The statistical programme is continuously monitored by a TBPS 
(Statistical Programme Monitoring File), which lays down for each 
operation (219), and in particular the present one, the operational 
objectives and resources required on the basis of the 
programming/execution principle. At the beginning of each year 
Eurostat produces a report on the progress of its programme during the 
preceding year. This report falls into three parts, as follows: 
the first summarizes, for each policy, the main achievements in the 
year; 
the second describes, for each operation, the objective laid down 
and the results achieved; 
the third gives statistics on the utilization of human, budgetary, 
computer and administrative resources during the preceding year. 
qjft 
1* 
The Council Resolution of 19 June 1989 on the Statistical programme of 
the European Communities (1989 to 1992) requests the Commission to 
submit a final report on the implementation of the Statistical 
programme by June 1993. The Commission intends to have this report 
drawn up by leading representatives of socio-professional, scientific 
and government circles in order to ensure a high degree of objectivity. 
9.4. Consistency with the financial programme 
9.4.1. Is the operation included in the financial progamme of the DG 
for the years concerned? 
YES: financial programme 1993-1997 - DG34 
9.4.2. To which more general objective laid down in the DG's financial 
progamming does the aim of the proposed operation correspond? 
The single general aim represented by the implementation of the 
Statistical Programme of the European Communities (1993 to 1997) 
(currently being drawn up). 
10. Administrative expenditure (Part A of the Budget) 
10.1. Will the proposed operation involve an increase in the number of 
Commission staff? 
NO 
0% 
IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL ON ENTERPRISES 
and particularly on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) 
Proposal for a Council Regulation on Community coordination of the development of business 
registers for statistical purposes. 
Reference number (Register): 
The proposal 
1. Administrative burden and information requirements 
Although differing from one Member State to another, national legislation generally 
restricts the access by the National Statistical Institutes to national administrative and legal 
files containing information which could be used for statistical purposes. This results in a 
costly administrative burden on enterprises, and particularly SMEs, to which they often 
object since questionnaires from a variety of sources cover similar subjects. Thus, the 
information requested from enterprises is often redundant at national level and at the same 
time disparate at Community level, which means that it is impossible to draw up statistics 
which are comparable and, above all, can be integrated at this level. 
The need for harmonized information on enterprises, which can be used for statistical 
purposes, will increase still further with the establishment of the single market. 
The Commission has frequently mentioned the need to lighten the administrative burden on 
SMEs, and in particular Council Recommendation No 90/246/EEC relates to the 
implementation of a policy of administrative simplification in favour of small and medium-
sized enterprises in the Member States. 
Harmonized business registers are one way of lightening the administrative burden. They 
can only be produced under Community legislation guaranteeing the statistical authorities 
access to the relevant information already contained in national administrative and legal 
files and defining the contents of such registers with a view to harmonizing them. 
2. The enterprises concerned 
The proposal is aimed at listing in due course all enterprises established on the economic 
territory of the Member States, covering all sectors of activity corresponding to the 4-digit 
NACE codes with the following exceptions: 
1) households as regards both production which does not form the subject of market 
transactions and renting, leasing and hiring activities; 
2) extra-territorial bodies; 
3) agriculture, hunting, forestry, fishing, public administration and defence: these 
sectors are optional. 
3. The administrative burden on enterprises 
The proposed Regulation does not recommend any specific survey and would thus not 
increase the administrative burden if it came into force. 
i9 
The registers, drawing on information in existing administrative and legal registers, would 
obviate the need for enterprises to answer the same questions several times. They would 
become sources of statistical information in turn and would permit the use of high-level 
techniques such as panels, which, through judicious extrapolation, substantially reduce the 
volume of surveys. 
The European dimension of these registers, which use the same units, have the same 
characteristics and refer to a common classification of activities, would make it possible to 
provide enterprises with results which cannot at present be obtained by comparing non-
harmonized national statistics. 
This would give enterprises a better insight into the European market as a whole and 
provide them with an overview of national markets in their sector. 
4. Economic impact on employment, investment, the establishment of enterprises and 
competitiveness 
It is very difficult to evaluate the possible effects which an improved knowledge of the 
market resulting from harmonized statistics together with a simplification of administrative 
procedures would have on the establishment of enterprises or on employment. Any such 
influence could only be indirect. 
5. Provisions specific to SMEs 
The item "turnover" would be optional for turnover not exceeding ECU 2 million. 
6. Concertation with the two sides of industry 
On 28 November 1991, at one of the meetings arranged by DG XXIII for consultations 
with the professional organizations representing SMEs at Community level, a Eurostat 
representative presented the draft Regulation to the main organizations (listed in the 
Annex). Questions were raised about a possible new data collection, but when this was 
discounted, the draft Regulation was approved by the professional organizations. 
Although, broadly speaking, it approves the general thrust of the draft Regulation, the 
UNICE sent DG XXIII and Eurostat comments about the contents of the registers (cf. 
ZT/BV/nm/1.6.C.l. of 11 March 1992). The Director-General of Eurostat emphasized in 
his reply that the objective was to harmonize concepts already used by the Member States 
and not to demand new types of data which would be used for purposes other than statistics 
(cf. DG34-8788 of 9 April 1992). 
-2 
2-o 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(92) 352 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 17 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-92-366-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-47007-0 
( office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
lv-2985 Luxembourg