WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1887/98 by José GARCÍA-MARGALLO Y MARFIL to the Commission. Convergence report
Date: 1998-06-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European Economic Area, consumer price, economic convergence, goods and services, monetary policy, price index, third stage of EMU

5.2.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 31/95

Can the Commission provide information on the EEAICP for 1997?

(1) OJ L 257, 27.10.1995, p. 1.

(1999/C 31/127)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1886/98

by JosØ Garc(cid:237)a-Margallo y Marfil (PPE) to the Commission

(16 June 1998)

Subject: Convergence report

The Commission(cid:146)s document COM(98) 1999 (report on progress towards convergence and recommendation with
a view to the transition to the third stage of economic and monetary union) states that on 23 October 1995 the
Council adopted Regulation 2494/95 (1) setting the legal base for the establishment of a harmonized methodology
for compiling consumer price indices in the Member States.

This regulation proposed a two-stage harmonization:

1.

the production of a set of interim indices of consumer prices (IICPs), based on existing national CIPs,
adjusted so as to make the coverage of goods and services as similar as possible;

2.

the construction of harmonized indices of consumer prices (HICPs).

The same report states that the HICPs may be used for drawing up the following aggregate indices at European
level: the European Index of Consumer Prices (EICP), the European Economic Area Index of Consumer Prices
(EEAICP) and the future Monetary Union Index of Consumer Prices.

Can the Commission provide information on the EICP for 1997?

(1) OJ L 257, 27.10.1995, p. 1.

(1999/C 31/128)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1887/98

by JosØ Garc(cid:237)a-Margallo y Marfil (PPE) to the Commission

(16 June 1998)

Subject: Convergence report

The Commission(cid:146)s document COM(98) 1999 (report on progress towards convergence and recommendation with
a view to the transition to the third stage of economic and monetary union) states that on 23 October 1995 the
Council adopted Regulation 2494/95 (1) setting the legal base for the establishment of a harmonized methodology
for compiling consumer price indices in the Member States.

This regulation proposed a two-stage harmonization:

1.

the production of a set of interim indices of consumer prices (IICPs), based on existing national CIPs,
adjusted so as to make the coverage of goods and services as similar as possible;

2.

the construction of harmonized indices of consumer prices (HICPs).

Can the Commission state what goods and services have been included in the interim indices of consumer prices
(IICPs)?

(1) OJ L 257, 27.10.1995, p. 1.

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1885/98, E-1886/98 and E-1887/98
given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission

(30 July 1998)

The Commission has calculated the European economic area index of consumer prices (EEAICP) since January
1995 and the requested information for 1997 is available on a monthly basis via both electronic (New Cronos
database) and printed (Statistics in Focus: Economy and Finance) media.

Mutatis mutandis the Commission has calculated the European index of consumer prices (EICP) also
since January 1995 and the requested information for 1997 is available on a monthly basis in precisely the
same manner as for the EEAICP.