Resolution of the ECSC Consultative Committee on statistical instruments in the coal and steel sectors (adopted unanimously during the 338th session of 18 December 1997)
Date: 1997-12-18
Institutions: Consultative Committee of the European Coal and Steel Community
Subjects: ECSC, EU statistics, energy market, industrial statistics, statistics

C  40/2

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

7.2.98

RESOLUTION  OF  THE  ECSC  CONSULTATIVE  COMMITTEE  ON 

STATISTICAL

INSTRUMENTS  IN  THE  COAL  AND  STEEL  SECTORS

(adopted  unanimously  during  the  338th  session  of  18  December  1997)

(98/C  40/02)

1. THE  ECSC  CONCULTATIVE  COMMITTEE,

1.1.(cid:217)recalls 

its 

previous 

positions 

the  other  departments  of 

on  matters
connected  with  the  expiry  of  the  ECSC  Treaty  in
2002  and  the  future  of  statistical  instruments(cid:216)(˛).
It  has  noted  that  the  ECSC  statistical  instruments
relating  to  the  industrial,  economic,  commercial
and  social  fields,  as  developed  by  the  Statistical
Office  and 
the
European  Commission  in  cooperation  with  the
coal  and  steel  industries,  have  proved  successful
from  the  point  of  view  of  all  the  parties  involved.
It  has  expressed  a  wish  for  continuity  beyond
2002,  mentioning  in  particular  the  usefulness  for
investment  decisions  of  the  transparency  resulting
investment  and  capacity
from 
development  programmes  while 
the  rules  of
competition  continue  to  be  respected;

information  on 

1.2.(cid:217)is  mindful  of  the  disappearance  of  the  ECSC
Treaty,  which  has  been  the  legal  basis  defining
the  Commission’s  responsibility  for  making  stat(cid:220)
istical  data  available  and  for  the  collection  of
those  data  by  the  undertakings  covered  by  that
Treaty;

1.3.(cid:217)is  aware  of  the  need  to  base  the  statistical
instruments  for  the  coal  and  steel  sectors  on  the
provisions  of  the  Treaty  on  European  Union  as
from  2002;

1.4.(cid:217)fully  supports  the  desire  of  the  undertakings,
the  Member  States’
the
for  collecting  statistics,  while

their  associations  and 
Governments 
present  system 
assuring  the  relevance  of  the  data.

to  rationalise  and  simplify 

2. POINTS  CONCERNING  COAL

2.1.(cid:217)Statistical  data  on  coal  will  be  needed  after  2002.
They  are  essential  for  analyses  of  the  coal  market
in  the  European  Union,  in  particular  for  the
undertakings  in  the  sector.  Energy  policies,  both
national  and  at  Union  level,  also  depend  on  such
data;

2.2.(cid:217)coal  statistics  have  undergone  successive  changes.
system 
is  a  rational
The  present  collection 
for  meaningful  and
the  need 
to 
response 
comparable  data  for  the  European  Union’s  coal

(˛)(cid:217)OJ  C  206,  11.8.1995,  p.  7.

and  energy  market.  For  the  coal  sector,  coal
statistics  are  valuable  in  their  own  right,  but  they
have  traditionally  been  incorporated  into  energy
statistics  as  well,  where  they  are  firmly  estab(cid:220)
lished;

2.3.(cid:217)this  framework  also  includes  the  other  solid  fuels,

in  particular  lignite,  peat  and  biomass;

2.4.(cid:217)hence  no  substantial  change  would  appear  to  be
necessary  as  regards  the  sector  for  coal,  one  of
the  two  main  products  covered  by  the  ECSC
Treaty.

3. POINTS  CONCERNING  STEEL

3.1.(cid:217)The  statistics  for  steel  are  detailed  and  have  been
adapted  at  regular  intervals  to  keep  pace  with
developments.  By  this  means  a  high 
level  of
transparency  has  been  achieved,  leading  to  an
extremely  useful  instrument  providing  guidance
for  economic  agents,  those  involved  in  politics
and  the  two  sides  of  industry;

access 

3.1.1.(cid:217)it  is  vital  for  the  above  parties  to  have
rapid 
information
to  analyse  and  make
enabling 
decisions  with  full  knowledge  of  the  fact
and  with  future  developments  in  mind;

to  detailed 

them 

rapidly  changing 

3.1.2.(cid:217)the  undertakings  and  their  workers  must
be  able  in  the  future,  as  at  present,  to  find
their  way  around  in  an  environment  which
in  a  climate  of
is 
increasingly 
the
intense  competition.  In 
flexibility  and  adaptability  will
future, 
depend  more  than  ever  on  the  quality  of
the  information  available  and  the  speed
with  which  it  is  made  available;

3.1.3.(cid:217)the  steel  industry  is  subject  to  enormous
fluctuations 
economic
resulting 
cycles.  If  imbalances  between  supply  and
demand  are  to  be  detected  in  good  time,
industry  must  be  able  to  rely  on
the 
detailed  data  referring 
to  all  essential
areas;

from 

3.1.4.(cid:217)if  a  balance  is  to  be  maintained  in  the
medium  and  the  long  term,  data  need  to
be  available  which  provide  a  timely  indi(cid:220)
cation  of  the  risks  of  overproduction  or

7.2.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  40/3

overcapacity.  The 
restructuring  process
under  way  in  the  CEECs  and  the  other
countries  of  Eastern  Europe,  where  there
are  virtually  no  databases  on  this  subject,
will  require  monitoring  for  many  years  to
come;

Communities  and  the  other  departments  of  the
European  Commission, 
the  national  statistical
institutes,  the  professional  associations  and  the
undertakings,  in  order  to  lighten  the  workload  of
both  the  undertakings  and  the  national  auth(cid:220)
orities  and  to  ensure  that  the  data  collected  is
reliable;

3.1.5.(cid:217)the  radical  overhaul  of  the  steel  industries
of  Europle  and  of  the  rest  of  the  world
and  the  trend  towards  market  globalisation
will  continue. 
sound
policies  require  high(cid:220)quality  information;

this  context, 

In 

3.2.(cid:217)the  collection  of  statistical  data  also  represents  a
substantial  workload  for  undertakings.  In  return
for  this  effort,  the  information  made  available  to
the  authorities  and  the  undertakings  must  be
reliable,  timely  and  complete;

3.3.(cid:217)the  steel  industry  should  no  longer  be  seen  as
confined  by  the  ECSC,  but  should  now  include
primary  processing 
tubes,  rerolling,
drawing,  including  wire  drawing,  coating  and
shaping)(cid:216)(˛).

(forging, 

4. CONSEQUENTLY,  THE  CONSULTATIVE  COM(cid:220)
MITTEE  RECOMMENDS  THAT,  AS  REGARDS  THE
FUTURE  OF  STATISTICS  IN  THE  COAL  AND  STEEL
SECTORS,  THE  FOLLOWING  POINTS  SHOULD  BE
TAKEN  INTO  ACCOUNT:

4.1.(cid:217)since  the  ECSC  Treaty  has  now  fewer  than  five
years  left  to  run,  a  new  legal  basis  derived  from
the  Treaty  on  European  Union  must  be  sought
immediately, 
ensure
being 
maximum  compatibility  at  international  level,  in
particular  with  international  organisations  such
as  the  IEA,  the  ECE  and  the  OECD;

taken 

care 

to 

4.2.(cid:217)the  ECSC  field  needs  to  be  extended  to  include
primary  processing  and,  if  possible,  other  basic
industries  (such  as  ferro  alloys,  foundries)  that
are  frequently  faced  with  problems  similar  to
those  of  steel,  as  happened  with  coal,  which  was
incorporated  into  energy  statistics;

4.3.(cid:217)the  collection  and  processing  of  data  must  be
organised  in  the  best  possible  way  by  agreement
between  the  Statistical  Office  of  the  European

(˛)(cid:217)Chapters  27.1,  27.2  and  27.3  of  the  NACE,  corresponding
roughly  to  Chapters  72  and  73  of  the  Harmonised  System
for  the  classification  of  products.

4.4.(cid:217)the 

should  provide 

instruments  retained 

the
transparency  which  the  undertakings  require  to
enable  them  to  take  well(cid:220)founded  short(cid:220)term
commercial  decisions  and  long(cid:220)term  decisions  on
investment  strategy.  They  should  also  provide  the
social  partners  in  the  sectors  involved  and  the
governments  with  the  information  they  need  to
implement 
social  policies.  The  CEECs
should  begin  straight  away  gradually  to  adopt
the  statistical  instruments  of  the  European  Union
which  relate  to  coal  and  steel.  To  this  end,

their 

should  cover 

4.4.1.(cid:217)detailed  data  on  activity  in  the  industries
concerned  should  be  available  as  quickly
as  possible  after  the  end  of  the  census
the
periods.  The  data 
following  fields:  raw  materials,  energy,
output,  employment,  orders,  deliveries,
external  trade  and  stock  movements.  A
system  of  reasonable  provisional  figures
should,  whenever  necessary,  precede  publi(cid:220)
cation  of  the  definitive  results  to  enable
market  operators  to  see  current  situations
in  terms  of  economic  cycles  and  to  adapt
accordingly  with  full  knowledge  of  the
facts;

4.4.2.(cid:217)a  body  of  meaningful 

and 

technological 

information  on
structural 
changes,
medium  and  long(cid:220)term  market  trends  and
trends 
in  production  capacities  must  be
made  available  to  undertakings  to  assist
them  with  their  long(cid:220)term  investment  and
development  policy  decisions;

4.4.3.(cid:217)as  regards  social  aspects,  information  on
employment  and 
the
the 
workforce,  including  appropriate  data  on
industrial  accidents 
should
inter  alia, 
round  off  the  technical  instruments.

structure  of 

4.5.(cid:217)The  ECSC  Consultative  Committee  calls  on  the
Commission  to  set  about,  in  consultation  with
interested  parties 
in  the  economic  and  social
fields,  reorganising  the  statistical  instruments  for
coal  and  steel,  in  line  with  the  principles  set  out
above.