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, data collection, information, market research, statistics

13.2.98

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  48/3

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  48/03)

(Text  with  EEA  relevance)

THE  ECSC  CONSULTATIVE  COMMITTEE

2.2.

1.

1.1.

1.2.

1.3.

1.4.

other 

departments 

recalls  its  previous  positions  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
the 
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  from  information  on
investment  and  capacity  development  programmes
whilst  the  rules  of  competition  continued  to  be
respected;

of 

is  mindful  of  the  disappearance  of  the  ECSC
Treaty,  which  has  been  the  legal  basis  defining  the
Commission’s  responsibility  for  making  statistical
data  available  and  for  the  collection  of  those  data
by  the  undertakings  covered  by  that  Treaty;

the  need 

is  aware  of 
the  statistical
instruments  for  the  coal  and  steel  sectors  on  the
provisions  of  the  Treaty  on  European  Union  as
from  2002;

to  base 

fully  supports  the  desire  of  the  undertakings,  their
associations  and  the  Member  States’  governments
to  rationalise  and  simplify  the  present  system  for
collecting  statistics,  while  assuring  the  relevance  of
the  data.

2.

POINTS  CONCERNING  COAL

2.1.

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

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

coal  statistics  have  undergone  successive  changes.
system 
The  present  collection 
rational
is  a 
response 
for  meaningful  and
the  need 
to 
comparable  data  for  the  European  Union’s  coal
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  established;

2.3.

this  framework  also  includes  the  other  solid  fuels,
in  particular  lignite,  peat  and  biomass;

2.4.

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. 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  trans(cid:220)
parency  has  been  achieved, 
to  an
instrument  providing  guidance
extremely  useful 
for  economic  agents,  those  involved  in  politics  and
the  two  sides  of  industry;

leading 

3.1.1. it  is  vital  for  the  above  parties  to  have  rapid  access
to  detailed  information  enabling  them  to  analyse
and  make  decisions  with  full  knowledge  of  the
facts  and  with  future  developments  in  mind;

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

3.1.3. the  steel  industry  is  subject  to  enormous  fluc(cid:220)
tuations  resulting  from  economic  cycles.  If  im(cid:220)
balances  between  supply  and  demand  are  to  be
detected  in  good  time,  the  industry  must  be  able  to
rely  on  detailed  data  referring  to  all  essential
areas;

C  48/4

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

13.2.98

3.1.4. if  a  balance  is  to  be  maintained  in  the  medium  and
the  long  term,  data  need  to  be  available  which
provide  a  timely  indication  of  the  risks  of  over(cid:220)
production  or  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;

3.1.5. the  radical  overhaul  of  the  steel 

industries  of
Europe  and  of  the  rest  of  the  world  and  the  trend
towards  market  globalisation  will  continue.  In  this
context, 
require  high(cid:220)quality
information;

sound  policies 

4.3.

4.4.

3.2.

3.3.

4.

4.1.

4.2.

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;

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

(forging, 

tubes, 

CONSEQUENTLY,  THE  CONSULTATIVE
COMMITTEE  RECOMMENDS  THAT,
AS  REGARDS  THE  FUTURE  OF  STATISTICS
IN  THE  COAL  AND  STEEL  SECTORS,
THE  FOLLOWING  POINTS  SHOULD  BE
TAKEN  INTO  ACCOUNT:

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,  care  being  taken  to  ensure  maximum
compatibility  at  international  level,  in  particular
with  international  organisations  such  as  the  IEA,
the  ECE  and  the  OECD;

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  incor(cid:220)
porated  into  energy  statistics;

the  collection  and  processing  of  data  must  be
organised  in  the  best  possible  way  by  agreement
between  the  Statistical  Office  of  the  European
Communities  and  the  other  departments  of  the
statistical
European  Commission, 
institutes,  the  professional  associations  and  the
undertakings,  in  order  to  lighten  the  workload  of
both  the  undertakings  and  the  national  authorities
and  to  ensure  that  the  data  collected  are  reliable;

the  national 

the  instruments  retained  should  provide  the  trans(cid:220)
parency  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 
the
sectors 
governments  with  the  information  they  need  to
implement  their  social  policies.  The  CEECs  should
begin  straight  away  gradually  to  adopt  the  stat(cid:220)
istical  instruments  of  the  European  Union  which
relate  to  coal  and  steel.  To  this  end,

involved 

and 

the 

in 

4.4.1. detailed  data  on  activity 

in 

the 

following 

should  cover 

industries
concerned 
should  be  available  as  quickly  as
possible  after  the  end  of  the  census  periods.  The
data 
fields:  raw
the 
materials,  energy,  output,  employment,  orders,
deliveries,  external  trade  and  stock  movements.  A
system  of  reasonable  provisional  figures  should,
whenever  necessary,  precede  publication  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. a  body  of  meaningful  information  on  structural
and  technological  changes,  medium(cid:220)  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. as 

social 

regards 

aspects, 

information  on
employment  and  the  structure  of  the  workforce,
including  appropriate  data  on  industrial  accidents
inter 
technical
alia, 
instruments.

round  off 

should 

the 

(˛)(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.

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