No C 31/22 Official Journal of the European Communities 6. 2. 91 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision establishing a committee on monetary, 
financial and balance of payments statistics (1) 
(91/C 31/06) 
On 23 August 1990 the Council decided, in accordance with Article 198 of the EEC Treaty, 
to ask the Economic and Social Committee for an Opinion on the abovementioned proposal. 
The Committee instructed its Section for Economic, Financial and Monetary Questions to 
prepare its work on the matter. During its work the Committee appointed Mr Giacomelli 
Rapporteur-General. 
At its 280th plenary session (meeting of 18 October 1990), the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted unanimously the following Opinion. 
1. Introduction and preliminary remarks 
1.1. The ESC thanks the Commission for having 
asked it for an Opinion on the proposal for a Council 
Decision establishing a committee on monetary, finan­
cial and balance of payments statistics; it appreciates 
this request all the more because it was not consulted 
at the time on the proposal which became the Council 
Decision of 19 June 1989 setting up a statistical pro­
gramme Committee of the European Communities. The 
ESC would certainly have liked to have stated its views 
on this subject, as the European Parliament was able 
to do(2), even though the text of the Decision hardly 
seems to call for any comments after the event. The 
ESC was not consulted either on the Council Resolution 
of 19 June 1989 on the setting-up of a statistical pro­
gramme of the European Communities for the period 
1989-1992. But reference is made both in the explana­
tory memorandum and the recitals of the present pro­
posal to both the statistical programme committee and 
to the multiannual statistical programme of the Com­
mission, of which the 'multiannual work programme 
in the domain of monetary, financial and balance of 
payments statistics' will be one aspect. As there is no 
body at present responsible for ensuring close cooper­
ation in this area between the Member States and the 
Commission, this aspect is due to be covered by the 
committee to be set up by the present proposal. 
1.2. Having said that, the Economic and Social Com­
mittee is pleased to have been consulted at the time on 
the proposal for a Council Decision on the achievement 
of continuing economic convergence during the first 
stage of economic and monetary union and on the 
Recommendation for a Decision amending Decision 
No 64/300/EEC on collaboration between the central 
banks of the EEC Member States. While the ESC wel­
comed the two proposals in its Opinion adopted at its 
271st plenary session on 16 November 1989 (3), it did make some comments or criticisms and approved the 
philosophy behind these texts, which were designed to 
organize the process, which had finally been triggered 
by the liberalization of capital movements, of achieving 
economic and monetary union; this process will involve 
the convergence of economic and budgetary policies, 
the creation of EUROFED and, finally, the fixing of 
exchange parities between the Member States and the 
introduction of a single currency, which will probably 
be the ECU. 
1.3. It is in this same basically positive spirit which 
was the basis of the groundbreaking Opinions on the 
creation of a European financial area(4), the Delors 
report on economic and monetary union (5) and on 
economic convergence and collaboration between the 
central banks of the Member States (3) that the ESC 
welcomes the proposal for a Council Decision establish­
ing a committee on monetary, financial and balance of 
payments statistics. 
2. General comments: the risk of deterioration in stat­
istical quality 
2.1. The setting-up of a committee on monetary, 
financial and balance of payments statistics forms a 
logical part of the measures which must accompany the 
gradual achievement of Economic and Monetary Union 
(EMU). 
2.2. The management of statistics in most areas and 
the production of statistical data are at present the 
responsibility of specialist national bodies; however, 
these bodies have for many years had close relations 
with the Commission through the statistical office of 
the European Communities (EUROSTAT) and there is 
cooperation in certain technical areas through meetings 
between the directors of national institutes, a system 
which is rounded off by the statistical programme com-
(*) OJ No C 212, 25. 8. 1990, p. 5. 
(2) OJ No C 158, 26. 6. 1989. 
(3) OJ No C 56, 7. 3. 1990. (4) OJ No C 175, 4. 7. 1988. 
(5) OJ No C 329, 30. 12. 1989. 
6. 2. 91 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 31/23 
mittee recently set up by the Council (see point 1.1 
above) and made up of these same directors. 
2.3. As the situation is different in the Member States 
of the Community as regards the monetary and finan­
cial areas, and in the field of the balance of payments, 
where statistics are drawn up sometimes by the central 
banks and sometimes by other institutions, it is essential 
that, in the interests of the cooperation which is necess­
ary and for the effective coordination of work, a com­
mittee should be set up at Community level for monet­
ary, financial and balance of payments statistics, made 
up of delegates from the various national bodies which 
are competent in these areas. Therefore the setting-up 
of such a committee is considered as desirable by all the 
parties concerned, both Member States and Community 
bodies. 
2.4. The changes which European integration will 
entail—liberalization of capital flows and abolition of 
exchange controls, the gradual achievement of the 
EMU—will have a major impact on the structure of 
statistical systems; some will disappear, like the stat­
istics connected with exchange controls, while statisti­
cal assessment in the fields of the balance of payments 
and other financial and monetary matters will, of 
necessity, undergo major developments. 
2.5. The ESC, in its Opinions (j) on the introduction 
of the INTRASTAT system for intra-Community trade 
in goods, was concerned that if the statistical infor­
mation and the data to be provided was too com­
pressed, there would be such a deterioration in the 
quality of statistics that they would no longer fulfil the 
needs of users, the Member States and firms. It cannot 
help, therefore, but be pleased to see that its fears in 
this context are this time shared by the authors of 
the two proposals. The deterioration of the quality of 
statistical information in the areas concerned, the 
decline in the data produced and the problems of insuf­
ficient comparability with previous statistics, the grow­
ing irrelevance of the definitions used in measuring 
money supply at a time when new concepts will call 
for statistical back-up will come when the need for 
information will be increasing; the disappearance of 
barriers within the financial area and the increasingly 
unrestricted switching of financial flows may under­
mine the relevance of the statistical information gath­
ered to date and the use of current concepts, which will 
become inadequate, may make it more difficult in the 
future to interpret monetary statistics. As far as balance 
of payments statistics are concerned, the abolition of 
frontier checks and exchange controls will bring about 
a change in the system for collecting statistics. Finally, the quality of statistics will deteriorate when capital 
circulates freely and financial transactions between 
non-residents within the Community become common­
place. 
2.6. The concern to preserve the statistical quality 
of the data on trade in goods between Member States 
is also something to be borne in mind by the present 
proposals, as such trade is at the origin of capital 
flows and is an essential component of the balance of 
payments. This is another element which justifies the 
concerns expressed by the ESC in its Opinions on the 
INTRASTAT system. 
2.7. One cannot be unaware that, for a certain period 
which it is not possible to specify with any accuracy, 
the European Community will be made up of sovereign 
states, each of which will draw up its own balance of 
payments, a valuable tool if ever there was one for 
pursuing a monetary and economic policy aimed at 
achieving the convergence desired for bringing about 
EMU. Moreover, during this same period the drawing-
up of the Community's balance of payments with non-
EEC countries will be based on the consolidation of the 
balances of the Member States, which presupposes the 
existence of comparable and consistent data of extra-
and intra-Community flows and, hence, greater cooper­
ation between the Member States. 
2.8. Finally, pending the achievement of EMU, the 
Member States cannot do without data on their balance 
of payments, as the creation of a European financial 
area has involved a number of safeguard measures, 
including the setting-up of a single medium-term finan­
cial support mechanism for the balance of payments of 
Member States; this is due to come into operation 
when large capital flows set off major imbalances, and 
obviously these can only be noted by means of balance 
of payments statistics. 
3. Establishment of a committee on monetary, finan­
cial and balance of payments statistics 
3.1. As there is no authority at present capable of 
ensuring close cooperation in the field of monetary, 
financial and balance of payments statistics between the 
Commission and the competent bodies in the Member 
States, the committee to be set up looks like becoming 
the ideal body for controlling the emerging trend, ensur­
ing the necessary consultation between Member States 
and their statistic-producing bodies (central banks, stat­
istical offices, etc.) and seeing that there is the maximum 
degree of consistency in the data provided. 
(!) OJ No C 159, 26. 6. 1989. 3.2. As the proposal's explanatory memorandum 
states, the committee to be formed should serve the 
needs and interests of both users and producers 
No C 31/24 Official Journal of the European Communities 6. 2. 91 
(central banks, statistical offices and the other insti­
tutions involved). It will serve as a forum for dialogue 
between the various parties, some of which will make 
their needs known, while others will try to coordinate 
their actions. The statistical needs of central bank 
governors will be given special attention because of 
their key role in the move towards economic and monet­
ary union. 
4. Specific comments 
4.1. The sixth recital in the proposal implies that 
there is a need to set up a body, i.e. the committee on 
monetary, financial and balance of payments statistics, 
on which the principal national institutions concerned 
are represented. It must be understood that there are at 
least two institutions which, depending on the Member 
State represented, are responsible for such statistics, i.e. 
the central bank, or the body which has the attributes 
of one, and the national statistical office or institute. 
4.2. No Member State, therefore, should have its 
representation cut down, especially as the last recital 
notes that there is an interdependence between monet­
ary, financial and balance of payments statistics on the 
one hand and other economic statistics—such as those 
on the trade in goods between Member States—on the 
other. 
4.3. Article 4—Composition of the committee 
First paragraph 
Given the links between the two domains of monetary, 
financial and balance of payments statistics and other 
economic statistics which are connected with or which 
Done at Brussels, 18 October 1990. influence them, it should be laid down that each Mem­
ber State should have at least two representatives, one 
of whom should be chosen by the central bank or the 
equivalent body and the other by the national statistical 
institute; this would be consistent with the numerous 
passages in the explanatory memorandum confirming 
the dual nature of the committee's brief in those areas 
where it has to coordinate things at Community level 
on the basis of national approaches and situations 
which are often divergent. Reference is particularly 
made here to point 21 in the explanatory memorandum, 
which states that the objective is 'to bring together 
officials from central banks, national statistical insti­
tutes and possibly from other bodies ....'. It is certain 
that in no Member State are these powers combined in 
one person! 
The first paragraph of Article 4 should therefore be 
amended accordingly. 
For the rest, the composition of the Committee as 
explained in detail in points 20 to 25 of the explanatory 
memorandum do not give grounds for any criticism. 
The ESC also approves the wish to have the secretariat 
of the Committee provided by EUROSTAT, in conjunc­
tion with DG II and DG XV. 
5. Conclusion 
Subject to the comments above, and notably those 
concerning the first paragraph of Article 4, the ESC is 
in agreement with the Commission's proposal seeking 
to establish a committee on monetary, financial and 
balance of payments statistics as one of the instruments 
for bringing about the achievement of EMU. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francois STAEDELIN