Report from the Commission to the Council Implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2186/93 of 22 July 1993 on Community co-ordination in drawing up business registers for statistical purposes
Date: 2000-01-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, information system, report, statistical method, type of business

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 14.01.2000
COM(2000) 3 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL

Implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) Nº2186/93 of 22 July 1993
on Community co-ordination in drawing up
business registers for statistical purposes

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY

1.

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Aim and structure of the report

1.2. Background of the Regulation

1.2.1 The need for good national business registers

1.2.2 The need for harmonisation of business registers

2. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGULATION: 1993-1998

2.1. Derogations

2.1.1 The German derogation

2.1.2 The requests of Belgium and the United Kingdom

2.2. Measures facilitating the implementation

2.2.1 Financial support to the Member States of the European Union

2.2.2 Methodological recommendations

2.2.3 Training

2.3. Measurement of the implementation of the Regulation

2.3.1 Surveys on business registers

2.3.2 Coverage of business registers

2.3.3 Units recorded

2.3.4 Variables recorded

2.4. The uses of business registers

2.4.1 Results of the 1996 survey

2.4.2 Intended uses

2

5

7

7

7

7

8

10

10

10

10

11

11

12

13

13

13

14

15

16

17

17

18

2.5. Business registers outside the European Union

2.5.1 The countries of the European Economic Area

2.5.2 Central European Countries

2.5.3 Co-ordination with the UN Economic Commission for Europe

2.6. Conclusions: achievements and work still to be done

3. THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGULATION:

FUTURE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

3.1. The need for and principles of a quality policy

3.2. Quality requirements

3.2.1 Coverage of the business register

3.2.2 Delineation of statistical units

3.2.3 Variables recorded for the units

3.3. Implementation of the quality policy

3.4. Other elements of the quality policy and the need for methodological support

4. BEYOND THE REGULATION:

THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS REGISTERS

4.1. The place of business registers in the European system of business statistics

4.1.1 Present situation

4.1.2 Issues to be solved

4.1.3 Future development

4.2. The use of administrative sources

4.2.1 Administrative sources for business registers

4.2.2 Satellite registers

4.3. Enterprise groups and globalisation

3

18

18

19

19

19

21

21

22

22

22

23

23

24

25

25

25

25

27

28

28

28

28

4.4. The manual of recommendations

4.5. Conclusion: a work plan for the future

5. CONCLUSION

ABBREVIATIONS

REFERENCES

ANNEX 1

Summary data per country

Table 1: Units registered by type of statistical unit

Table 2: Coverage by section of NACE Rev.1 and by type of statistical

Table 3: Variables registered by statistical unit

Table 4: Sources for business registers by type of statistical unit

ANNEX 2

Overview of financial support to Member States, 1993-1997

29

30

32

34

35

37

37

38

40

46

52

53

53

4

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL

Implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) Nº2186/93 of 22 July 1993
on Community co-ordination in drawing up
business registers for statistical purposes

SUMMARY
The Regulation on business registers (BRs)1 for statistical purposes was adopted in 1993.
According to the Regulation, Member States are obliged to set up business registers of
enterprises carrying out economic activities contributing to the gross domestic product, the
legal units responsible for them and their local units (with few exceptions mentioned in the
Regulation). The Regulation also lists compulsory and optional characteristics for the three
types of units, gives specifications for updating of the BR, access to information by the
Commission and the procedures.

The report includes information on the role of BRs in the European system of business
statistics and reasons for the Regulation, it describes the implementation of the Regulation
and it shows the progress made. But
it also shows that the implementation is not yet
completed. The future of BRs in the European system of business statistics is discussed. The
role of BRs in the production of statistics on highly topical issues such as globalisation is
taken into account.

The experiences from the implementation of the BR Regulation have in general been positive,
the convergence and improvements of the totally different BRs from the time before the
Regulation has been enormous. The coverage is greatly improved and more than half of the
MS already include also the non-compulsory NACE Rev.1 sections. The cost-benefit ratio for
BRs can be very good considering the possible benefits through the efficient use of high-
quality BRs. BRs can now be considered as an efficient tool to lower the response burden on
businesses, especially for SMEs.

Even if the results are fairly good, there remain two main issues where a great deal of work is
still needed. These are the harmonisation of statistical units and the quality of BRs. Even
though the improvements concerning these issues have also been extensive, the different
enterprise delineations used in the MS have huge consequences on the comparability of
enterprise statistics. Although the coverage has been highly improved and can be considered
generally good, there are some NACE Rev.1 sections, especially in services, which are not
covered well enough, e.g. concerning small enterprises, non-profit
institutions and
government units.

It is a great challenge for the future to develop BRs as a tool for globalisation statistics. This
means to include the name and address non-resident legal unit, which controls the legal unit
into the BRs, as well as including information on enterprise groups. Studies and extensive
development of methodology is needed and will be carried out in the near future.

1

For an overview of abbreviations see page 34.

5

No changes in the text of the BR Regulation are sought in short or medium term, neither on
compulsory nor on optional parts. In the long term, the initiatives started on, especially on
enterprise groups and globalisation, may lead to a need for changes in the Regulation. In that
connection the role of optional variables must be reconsidered. To be able to prepare for the
second phase of the development of BRs, the implementation phase of the BR Regulation
must be completed rapidly. Some compulsory information is not yet recorded in the BRs of
some MS and these MS will be requested to submit a detailed plan and timetable for their
inclusion.

6

1.

INTRODUCTION

1.1.

Aim and structure of the report

On 22 July 1993 the Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2186/93 on Community co-ordination in
drawing up business registers for statistical purposes was adopted. According to the
Regulation, Member States are obliged to set up for statistical purposes one or more
harmonised registers of all enterprises carrying out economic activities contributing to the
gross domestic product at market prices, the legal units responsible for them and the local
units dependent on them. An exception is made for some activities as defined in the statistical
classification of economic activities in the European Community, NACE Rev.1, namely
fishery and public
sections A, B and L of
administration), of which inclusion is optional, and, under certain conditions, households. It
was stipulated that the enterprises had to be entered in the business registers before 1 January
1996, and the legal units and local units before 1 January 1997.The Regulation also lists a
number of characteristics that have to be registered for each of the three types of units and
some of them are optional. Furthermore, the Regulation gives specifications for updating the
BR, access to information by the Commission, access to administrative or legal registers by
the National Statistical Institutes (NSIs), and procedures, among others for derogations. For
the definition of the terms “enterprise”, “legal unit” and “local unit”, the Regulation refers to
Council Regulation (EEC) No. 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the
observation and analysis of the production system in the Community.

that classification (broadly agriculture,

The objective of this report is to comply with one specific article of the Regulation: article 10,
which reads:

Within four years of the date of adoption of this Regulation, the Commission shall
submit a report to the Council on the implementation of the Regulation which may be
accompanied by suitable proposals taking into account the experience gained.

The structure of this report is as follows. In the rest of this chapter some background
information on the history of the Regulation, the role of BRs in the European system of
business statistics and the main reasons for having such a regulation is given. (When
reference is made to BRs this means business registers for statistical purposes, unless stated
otherwise.) The next chapter describes in detail the implementation of the Regulation up till
now in the EEA, and includes information on developments in Central European Countries
(CEC). Chapter two shows that progress has been made in implementing BRs in the MS, but
it also shows that the quality and harmonisation of the BRs need to be improved in the future.
The way to do this is discussed in chapter three. In chapter four the scope is widened by
looking at the future of BRs in the European system of business statistics, the construction of
which has not yet been completed. The role of BRs in the production of statistics on highly
topical issues such as globalisation is taken into account as well. The report ends with a
concluding chapter.

1.2.

Background of the Regulation

1.2.1 The need for good national business registers

BRs contain lists of businesses including business identification information such as
addresses and variables such as size class and main economic activity. They play an essential
role in any advanced national system of business statistics:

7

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

The businesses recorded are used in business surveys, whether or not sample-based;

BRs make it possible to ensure that business surveys are co-ordinated and do not have
undue overlaps or gaps;

Co-ordination makes it possible to have efficient survey designs;

BRs make it more easy to link results of different business surveys;

They make it possible to monitor and reduce the total response burden at the level of the
individual business;

BRs can possibly be linked to registers of other administrations, thereby allowing the
efficient use of information registered with other administrations;

They can be used as a direct source of information on the total population of businesses
in a country, its characteristics and its evolution over time.

As a consequence of these features, BRs are considered very cost-efficient framework tools
for business statistics.

1.2.2

The need for harmonisation of business registers

Given the importance of BRs for national statistical systems, and the need to build a European
statistical system of good quality with harmonised data on the MS based on common
concepts, definitions and classifications, the question arose in the 1980s whether the BRs of
the MS needed to be harmonised. It was decided to make an inventory of the BRs of the NSIs
before answering that question. This inventory was carried out in 1988/1989.

The inventory clearly established two facts:

- The quality and coverage of the BRs in a number of MS was not a sufficient basis

for the European business statistics envisaged; and

- The BRs of the MS were far too heterogeneous in definitions applied to form the
basis for comparable business statistics. In particular, the recorded statistical units
varied between countries.

Also the inventory led to two conclusions:

- There was a need to establish a common set of definitions of statistical units by

means of a regulation; and

- There was a need to help MS build the necessary infrastructure for recording the
most important of those units with a sufficient coverage and with a number of
standardised variables; again the means chosen was a regulation.

As a consequence, the Regulation on statistical units and the BR Regulation were drafted and
adopted. An additional consideration for the Regulations was that a new statistical collection
system was being set up covering trade in goods and services between MS (Intrastat), and this
system could benefit from improved, harmonised BRs. Furthermore, it was acknowledged
that the use of such BRs would have a positive effect on the response burden on businesses, as
regards statistics surveys.

In view of the fact that BRs were at a different stage of development in the MS, it was neither
considered feasible nor desirable to oblige MS in the short run to administer BRs that cover
all statistical units used or planned to be used in the European system of business statistics.

8

On the contrary, it was decided to develop comprehensive, harmonised BRs in two stages, the
first of which was dealt with in the present Regulation.

As a consequence, the Regulation refers to only two statistical units (the enterprise and the
local unit), and one unit to which the statistical units are related (the legal unit)2. Other
statistical units of the European statistical system such as the kind-of-activity unit, the local
kind-of-activity unit and the institutional unit are not covered by the Regulation. The precise
contents and timetable of the second stage of the development of business registers will be
based on the present evaluation; plans for the future are outlined in chapter four.

2

The legal unit was not itself considered a statistical unit, because this unit is not comparable between
countries. Moreover, it sometimes carries out economic activities in combination with other dependant
legal units, in which case it is better to combine the legal units into the enterprise for statistical purposes
in order to avoid distortion of statistical outcomes.

9

2.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGULATION: 1993-1998

2.1.

Derogations

The Regulation mentions the possibility of derogations from the implementation of the
Regulation in Article 8 and defines the procedure to be followed in Article 9. Derogation has
been granted to the Federal Republic of Germany3. Two other countries, Belgium and the
United Kingdom, submitted a derogation request or sought advice on whether they should
apply for derogation; in both cases derogation was not deemed necessary. No other countries
requested derogations.

2.1.1

The German derogation

for derogation4 concerned the deadlines for
The German request
implementation: an
extension of the deadlines to 31 December 1999 was sought. The reasons for the request can
be summarised as follows:

•

•

•

•

A change of law was needed to get access to legal and administrative files, which would
require time;

The creation of a BR of about 3 million units would mean a great deal of work for the
Statistisches Bundesamt (the German NSI) and for the statistical offices of the Länder;
an immense effort would be needed in terms of technology and manpower;

Carrying out the large number of branch-based surveys necessary and compiling the
corresponding databases could best be done by a sequential approach;

The non-market sector was almost entirely not included in the periodic surveys; the
establishment of a register for this sector would require a considerable development
time.

Together with the request, Germany submitted a timetable for the implementation of the
Regulation within the boundaries set by the requested derogation. After a positive advice of
the Working Group on Business Registers, the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC)
accepted the timetable and granted the German request5.

The requests of Belgium and the United Kingdom

2.1.2
Belgium requested6 derogation for a number of issues concerning coverage, units and
variables to be recorded, updating requirements and the timetable for implementation. The
most important points were differences in the definition of the local unit due to administrative
data availability and switching the order of implementation of the legal unit and the
enterprise. The differences in the local unit definition would be temporary. This would be
solved by 1 January 1998, and in the meantime an approximation for the local unit would be
available.

3

4

5

6

In October 1993 the Federal Republic of Germany also lodged an appeal at the Court of Justice of the
European Communities requesting the annulment of the Regulation (case C-426/93); this appeal was
rejected by the Court in its decision of 9 November 1995.
The Statistisches Bundesamt submitted the request on 17 August 1994.
An analysis of the derogation request and the timetable applicable to Germany can be found in SPC
document 95/16/1.
The request was submitted by the Belgian NSI on 6 February 1995.

10

Switching the order of implementation of the legal unit and the enterprise implied that only
during the year 1996 the legal unit would have to be used as an approximation for the
enterprise.

The Working Group on Business Registers agreed with Eurostat that in this case derogation
would not be needed; the SPC agreed with this view and the derogation procedure was
cancelled. Most points raised were actually a question of clarification of the Regulation.
Moreover, the local unit issue and the switch between the implementation of the legal unit and
the enterprise were considered of little consequence, since the solutions proposed were
adequate.

The United Kingdom informed Eurostat that they were seeking to restrict coverage of the BR
to traders registered for VAT or for PAYE (employers). In this way the smallest businesses
would not be registered, and the United Kingdom requested an opinion from Eurostat on this.

The Working Group on Business Registers observed that agreement existed on the convention
that an enterprise must employ at least one person half time7. An analysis by Eurostat showed
that the threshold for VAT in the United Kingdom was such that conversion to hours worked
implied the inclusion of all half-time businesses. Therefore it was agreed that with the present
threshold there was no reason for the United Kingdom to seek derogation.

2.2.

Measures facilitating the implementation

2.2.1

Financial support to the Member States of the European Union

In view of the different stages of development of BRs in the MS when the Regulation was
adopted and the costs to implement the Regulation, the Commission made funds available to
support the MS with the implementation. In the years 1993 to 1997 the total financial support
amounted to 2.81 million ECU (see Annex 2). During the first four years the support was
given by means of contracts, in which the NSIs agreed to carry out certain specified activities.
In 1997 the support took the form of subsidies to activities carried out by the NSIs; these
activities were agreed on as well. Most of the projects concerned setting up or redesigning
BRs, or improving the coverage of BRs.

The available budget was allocated on the basis of project proposals from the MS. Not all MS
made proposals when the opportunity was given, which is natural considering the different
state of the BR of the MS and the different needs. The budget was not enough to fund or
subsidise all eligible proposed projects. For the allocation of the available budget
the
following criteria were applied8:

•

•

•

7

8

The needs in terms of the discrepancy between the actual situation of the BR and the
situation as required by the Regulation;

The efforts that the MS itself was undertaking to address the needs;

The degree to which the project proposal addressed the needs in terms of:

-

coverage of the mandatory scope of the Regulation,

the publication: Business registers for
See section 6.3 of
recommendations, volume 1, Office for official publications of the European Community.
Of course some formal conditions had to be met as well, for instance the requirement that the costs could
be clearly assigned to the project.

statistical purposes: methodological

11

-

-

-

registration of the three types of unit (enterprise, local unit and legal unit),

registration of the characteristics which are mandatory according to the Regulation,
and

quality improvements

•

•

Cost efficiency of the proposed project;

Country proportionality in terms of relative wealth and size of the business population
of the country.

2.2.2 Methodological recommendations

From the beginning it was clear that the implementation of the Regulation was not an easy
affair in respect of statistical methodology, for two reasons. In the first place, the BR
Regulation and, even more importantly, the Regulation on statistical units to which it refers
for the definition of the units to be registered, cannot be applied without an interpretation of
the concepts, definitions and rules of those regulations, and the expert discussions that
preceded the drafting of both regulations showed that such interpretation would require a
large effort. In the second place, due to the different stage of development of BRs in the MS,
some countries with no or little experience in the field of BRs would need methodological
guidelines in order to set up and develop their BRs.

sufficient

two reasons were

These
the development of methodological
to start
recommendations, but there was an even more compelling reason: It became increasingly
clear that international comparability of business statistics was not feasible if the definitions
of statistical units, particularly the enterprise, were applied differently in the BRs of the MS.
(See also paragraph 3.2. on quality requirements.)

Therefore the derivation of enterprises from legal units is one of the main subjects of the
methodological recommendations that have been developed so far. Other subjects covered
are:

•

•

•

•

•

•

Objectives of BRs;

Principles of maintenance;

Operational rules for the local unit;

Definition of a number of characteristics;

Some principles of register access;

Some quality guidelines.

These methodological recommendations were published in 1996. Further methodological
recommendations are being developed. At present draft recommendations exist on the
treatment of changes in BRs and on special operational rules for the treatment of large and
complex enterprises.

The methodological recommendations have been one of the main factors that have made it
possible to implement the Regulation to the extent described in the next section. It that senses
the achievements are considerable. However, there is still need for further and more detailed
recommendations. This is one of the obstacles to finalise the implementation of the
Regulation. The plans for future additions to the recommendations are described in paragraph
4.4.

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2.2.3

Training

It was clear from the outset that there was a need to provide training in the field of BR.
Therefore courses were organised by the institute TES (Training of European Statisticians),
an institute associated with Eurostat and the NSIs of the MS. The courses were given by staff
from the Norwegian and Danish NSIs and closely co-ordinated with Eurostat.

In parallel with the courses, software has been developed by Statistics Norway on behalf of
Eurostat to demonstrate the management of BRs. The software shows how legal units, which
are the input to the BR from administrative sources such as VAT registers and registers
administered by social security institutions, are processed in order to produce BR output in
the form of statistical units, i.e., enterprises and local units. This software is now being used
in TES courses, and further applications are being considered.

The theory of statistical units can best be demonstrated by practical cases. Therefore Eurostat,
showing how enterprises and local units relate to legal units has developed a set of cases.
These cases are used for training purposes - the training software can handle the cases - but
they are also important as a complement to the methodological recommendations, since they
give the much needed ultimate interpretation of the definitions of statistical units.

2.3.

Measurement of the implementation of the Regulation

2.3.1

Surveys on business registers

After the adoption of the Regulation, Eurostat decided in agreement with the Working Group
on Business Registers,
to hold annual surveys on the state of implementation of the
Regulation in the MS and Norway. So far four surveys have been held, the first survey
referring to the situation on 1 January 1995, the second to 1 January 1996, the third to 1
January 1997 and the latest to 1 January 1998. For this purpose a questionnaire was developed
for the first survey, and modified for the second, third and fourth survey, in order to take into
account experiences with the previous survey(s) and to drop or add questions that need not be
asked every year. The third and fourth questionnaires were electronic ones. All questionnaires
covered:

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

The state of national legislation concerning BRs and access to administrative sources in
the MS;

The sources used to update the business registers;

The types of units registered, in particular the legal unit, enterprise and local unit;

Numbers of units registered;

The coverage in terms of NACE Rev.1;

The registration of characteristics;

Planned changes.

Questions that were asked only in one or two years concerned:

•

•

•

Undercoverage of the BR (estimation of missing units);

Overcoverage of the BR (estimation of inactive units incorrectly registered as active and
units erroneously registered more than once);

The use made of the BR;

13

•

The resources used (including the resources used for the implementation of NACE
Rev.1).

The response to the questionnaires was high: all countries but two responded in 1995, and all
responded in 1996, 1997 and 1998. However, there was significant partial non-response,
especially concerning quantitative data and information concerning the quality of the recorded
data. The results of the surveys are the main source of information on which the following
paragraphs are based; unless indicated otherwise, the results of the last survey have been
taken to describe the present situation. The main survey results themselves are summarised in
Annex 1.

2.3.2

Coverage of business registers

The coverage required according to the Regulation, in term of NACE Rev.1, include all
sections except agriculture, hunting and forestry; fishing; public administration and defence;
and compulsory social security.

The present situation in respect of coverage is the following9. The BRs of all MS include the
areas traditionally covered by business statistics: mining and quarrying; manufacturing;
electricity, gas and water supply; construction; wholesale and retail trade; and hotels and
restaurants. In respect of the services sections of NACE Rev.1, the situation is somewhat less
complete. Almost all countries cover:
transport, storage and communication; financial
intermediation; and real estate, renting and other business activities. Almost all countries also
cover the activities: education; health and social work; and other community, social and
personal service activities. However, it is quite common that although countries may cover all
these sections, they do not include all the classes of which the sections consist. Finally, poorly
covered are the sections: private households with employed persons; and extra-territorial
organisations and bodies due to lack of methodological guidelines and good sources.

The good coverage of the areas of traditional business statistics and the somewhat
less
coverage of services in general and activities of non-profit organisations in particular is
related to two factors. First, obviously the priority in the development of BRs has been those
areas for which statistics exist. The development of BR is closely related to their use.
Whereas at the European level business statistics on industry and trade have an established
history, services statistics have only received due attention relatively recently. In this respect
the recently adopted Regulation on structural business statistics is very important. The
coverage of the BRs in the services sections will certainly improve along with the
implementation of this regulation.

The second factor causing delay in BR coverage of some services sections of NACE Rev.1 is
the need for methodological guidelines. The definition and delineation of the enterprise for
non-profit institutions is problematic; most NSIs do not have much experience in the field, at
least not related to BRs. For Eurostat the development of methodological recommendations in
this area has a high priority (see also paragraph 4.2.); so far
the development of
methodological recommendations were primarily and necessarily aimed at areas already
covered by European statistics.

The poor coverage of private households with employed persons and extra-territorial
organisations and bodies may also have a methodological cause. Some countries have no

9

The coverage examined is the coverage of the enterprise.

14

enterprises in these sections of NACE Rev.1 because of the definition of the enterprise: they
consider the non-existence of enterprises in these sections an implication of the enterprise
definition. This issue needs to be clarified in the future.

Finally it should be noted that the coverage of small units is insufficient in some countries.
This is to some extent linked to the availability and use of administrative files for statistical
purposes. Although Article 7 of the Regulation requires access to administrative and legal
registers,
in paragraph 4.2.
Improvement of the coverage of small units is an important aspect of the quality policy
discussed in chapter three.

their use could be improved. This is discussed further

2.3.3

Units recorded

By far most MS report that they register the required units, as is shown in the first table of
Annex 1. All countries record the enterprise and/or the legal unit. The local unit is recorded
by all countries except one and this is planned to be added to the BR shortly (see also
paragraph 3.3.). The conclusion seems justified that there has been significant convergence in
the registration of statistical units since the Regulation was drafted. The 1989 inventory
showed much more heterogeneity among the twelve MS of the time.

However, despite the progress made, the units as registered in the BRs are still far from
harmonised. There are seven countries that report registering both the enterprise and the legal
unit without in practice making any distinction between the two types of units other than in
their characteristics. That is, whereas the enterprise is defined in the Regulation on statistical
units as consisting of one or more legal units these countries do not have any enterprise in
their BR consisting of more than one legal unit. And those countries that do make a
distinction between the enterprise and the legal unit in their BRs tend to apply the enterprise
definition in different ways in practice.

The importance of the lack of harmonisation of units should not be underestimated. The
question whether in a particular case legal units are combined into one enterprise or are
treated as separate enterprises has an impact on:

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

the number of enterprises measured;

the size of the enterprises, which also influences their selection for surveys;

the classification of enterprises to their main activity, also with an effect on their
selection for surveys;

the measurement of variables (consolidation effects);

the allocation of variables to categories of NACE Rev.1;

economic ratios involving the above data, such as turnover per employee; and

the evolution of the above data over time.

Recently a study was carried out to measure the impact of differences in the application of the
enterprise definition in BRs. This study10, in which three MS were involved, has shown that

10

The impact of diverging interpretations of the enterprise concept on statistical data, a comparison of
enterprise profiling practices in Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Study carried out by
Statistics Netherlands on behalf of Eurostat, May 1998.

15

the effects on statistical variables such as turnover and employment are very important
indeed.

Although more extensive studies would be needed to give a more precise quantification of the
effects of diverging practices, it is clear that international comparability of business statistics
is severely impaired.

The differences between the countries concerning the units registered have several causes.
They reflect different statistical traditions, which cannot be harmonised rapidly. Where
countries were not used to making a distinction between the legal unit and the enterprise, the
methodology to do so needs to be developed. The manual of recommendations on BRs and
other available methodological documents are helpful but do not provide the operational rules
NSIs need because such rules are necessarily country-specific if only because the available
administrative sources differ widely. And in some areas there is a need for further European
guidelines.

Finally it is interesting to note that some countries register more types of units than needed to
comply with the BR Regulation; they also register other statistical units defined in the
Regulation on statistical units. The enterprise group is kept in the BRs of about half of MS
and the local kind-of-activity unit by three MS. No country reported to register the kind-of-
activity unit itself.

2.3.4

Variables recorded

Annex II of the BR Regulation lists the variables to be recorded for the legal unit, the
enterprise, and the local unit. Some of the variables are optional. The situation in respect of
the main variables will be discussed for each of the three units; this is of course restricted to
those countries that do indeed record the unit concerned.

The legal unit

The legal unit is an input unit for BR, not a statistical unit. Statistics refer to enterprises or
other statistical units rather than legal units as such. Therefore the characteristics recorded for
the legal unit are of an administrative nature and do not include economic activity and size-
class11.

The legal form and the date of incorporation of legal persons are quite well recorded; for the
legal form countries use their own classification. The date on which the legal unit ceases to be
legally responsible for the enterprise is missing in most BRs. Whether a legal person has the
character of a “public undertaking” is recorded only for about half of the MS. However, this is
a variable, which is needed for compulsory EU statistics (structural business statistics) and the
situation should be very rapidly improved. The link with the register of so-called Intra-
Community operators (Intrastat) is also recorded only by a small majority of the MS.

Two optional characteristics concerning the control over a legal unit are registered by only a
few countries: the name and address of any non-resident legal unit, which controls the legal
unit; and the identity number of the legal unit in the BR, which controls the legal unit. In the
future these variables may become important; this is further discussed in paragraph 4.4.

11

Most enterprises equal legal units, in which case the NSI may choose to keep the data for the two units on
the same record in the BR.

16

The enterprise

The two main BR variables recorded by all MS, for the enterprise are the economic activity
code and the size or size-class in terms of persons occupied. For both characteristics
harmonised classifications are used: NACE Rev.1 (four-digit level) for the economic activity,
and a size classification specified in the Regulation for the other variable. However, there are
some MS that measure the size-class in terms of employees instead of persons occupied,
because they do not have adequate administrative sources for this variable. Under certain
conditions secondary activities have to be registered as well; this concerns only enterprises
which are the subject of surveys. Most countries do this.

The date of commencement of the enterprise is recorded by almost all countries and the date
of cessation by a great majority. The net turnover from sales of goods and services (if it
exceeds 2 million ECU) is recorded by almost all countries. Only two MS record the optional
variable of net assets.

The local unit

The economic activity code of the local unit is recorded by all MS, and the size-class by all
countries except two. Most countries measure the size-class in terms of persons occupied as
specified in the Regulation, but there are countries that fail to do so because they lack
adequate administrative sources for this variable. The same classifications as mentioned at the
enterprise variables are applied. The registration of secondary activities is optional for the
local unit, but it is still done in six countries. The date of commencement of the local unit is
recorded by almost all countries, but the date of cessation by only about half of the MS, fewer
than the case was for the enterprise. All countries record the geographical location code.
Finally the variable indicating whether or not the activity carried out is an ancillary activity of
the enterprise on which the local unit depends, is recorded by a majority of the countries.

2.4.

The uses of business registers

2.4.1

Results of the 1996 survey

In 1996 the survey on the implementation of the Regulation included one question on the uses
of business registers. The aim of the question was to find out to what extend the BRs were
used for business-demographic statistics12, for other economic statistics and for achieving co-
ordination among surveys.

Seven of the sixteen countries surveyed reported used BRs to produce business demographic
statistics for the enterprise and three for the local unit. Other units were used as well for this
purpose: three made such statistics for the legal unit and two for the local kind-of-activity
unit. All countries except
two used the BR for other economic statistics such as on
turnover, capital expenditure, value added, operating surplus, assets and
employment,
liabilities, and profits and losses. The enterprise was used by ten countries and the local unit
by five countries for any of those variables.

12

Business demography comprises statistics on the number of enterprises and other units, and their
distribution over size classes, sections of NACE Rev.1, etc. It also includes information on changes in
those numbers, such as the number of births of enterprises and their characteristics.

17

Other units were used as well: again three compiled statistics for the legal unit and two for the
local kind-of-activity unit. Ten of the sixteen countries used the BR for the co-ordination of
surveys and sampling frames.

These results have to be interpreted with care. Some countries did not have the enterprise or
the local unit at the time, so they could not use them. In some cases they used the legal unit or
the local kind-of-activity unit instead. Nevertheless it is remarkable that about half of the
countries did not make use of the local unit or a similar unit.

2.4.2

Intended uses

To interpret the results of the 1996, one has to consider what uses of the BRs were and are
required. In fact, strictly speaking there are no requirements. The BR regulation itself does not
specify the statistics for which the BRs are to be used. Other regulations such as the
Regulation on structural business statistics which require specific business statistics to be
compiled do not stipulate that the BRs have to be used. In other words, the BR Regulation
requires MS to have a tool for business statistics, but the actual use of this tool is left to
the MS13.

In practice, of course, the BRs are extensively used in most countries where they are available
and of sufficient quality. In fact, the implementation of the SBS Regulation, which is
currently taking place, would not have been possible without the availability of BRs in the
MS. There is broad consensus that even if there is no formal obligation to use the BRs, their
benefit clearly outweighs their costs. And the reduction of the response burden on enterprises
which follows when BRs are used as a core tool in the production of business statistics is an
important incentive to use them widely.

The fact that the use of BRs is left to the MS is broadly in line with the principle of
subsidiarity. Countries are in the best position to decide where the BR fits in their national
statistical data collection system, how to link data from administrative sources to their
statistical system and how to reduce the response burden on enterprises. However,
harmonising the use that is made of BRs could be beneficial to the European system of
business statistics. If countries use their BRs for all business statistics and use it as a tool for
co-ordination of surveys and sampling frames, the data quality and comparability increase.

Finally it should be pointed out that the use that is made of BRs depends on how well they are
tuned to the requirements of statistics such as specified in the SBS Regulation. The European
system of business statistics is currently being constructed; a number of important statistical
regulations have been adopted in recent years. However, the statistical units of the statistics
with which these regulations are concerned are not always those that are available in the BRs.
This limits the present use of BRs. This issue will be dealt with in chapter 4.

2.5.

Business registers outside the European Union

2.5.1

The countries of the European Economic Area

The BR Regulation also concerns the other EEA countries, Norway,
Iceland and
Liechtenstein. In Norway the situation is very similar to EU and Norway is also surveyed in
the annual inquiry. The results on Norway are annexed to this report along with the results on
the EU countries.

13

This is also the main reason why the question on the uses is not repeated every year.

18

In Liechtenstein a new BR was constructed and Iceland has adapted its BR to the EU
requirements.

2.5.2

Central European Countries

Twelve Central European and Baltic countries, Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Poland, Romania,
Slovakia and Slovenia are participating in PHARE programme that helps them to develop
their BRs and business statistics. This has been done mainly through two CEC pilot projects:
enterprise panels in 1995-1998 and its continuation, demography of SMEs, starting in 1998.
The results of the surveys have been published, e.g. the characteristics of enterprises, the
creation and survival of new enterprises.

The situation of the BRs in these twelve countries is also surveyed in a largely similar way as
for the EU countries. The CEC countries have done and are still doing great efforts to build
their BRs, sometimes totally revising their previous registers. The situation varies: In some
countries the BRs are already approaching the requirements of the BR Regulation, while some
others still have plenty of work to do, especially with local units.

2.5.3

Co-ordination with the UN Economic Commission for Europe

The division of work between Eurostat and UN/ECE on BRs has been agreed upon and
Eurostat is mainly responsible for developing the methodology on BRs and monitoring the
situation in EU, EEA and PHARE countries. UN/ECE monitors the situation in other
European countries, in TACIS countries (former Soviet Union and Mongolia) and non-
European countries participating in the UN/ECE work on BRs (USA, Canada, Japan, etc.).
According to the TACIS programme, EU can also help the TACIS countries. UN/ECE and
Eurostat have joint meetings on BRs annually or every second year.

An important international forum for discussions and exchange of information are the annual
international Roundtable meetings on Business Survey Frames. Roundtable meetings are
mainly attended by OECD countries. The subjects vary from reporting the progress achieved
to BR technology, globalisation, business demography, BR standards, etc.

2.6.

Conclusions: achievements and work still to be done

The overview of the first four years of implementation of the Regulation shows a mixed
picture. Much has been achieved: the MS all operate BRs with the most important economic
units and variables and a good overall coverage.

Terminology has been harmonised. Methodological guidelines have been developed and
training provided. However, much remains to be done. There is a number of cases where MS
have gaps in the coverage of their BRs, do not record all types of units required, or do not
have certain variables. In other cases the quality of parts of the BR is insufficient. Moreover,
countries still have much work to do in harmonising the delineation of the statistical units
recorded. This has considerable effect on the comparability of the business statistics of
the MS.

It is clear that, despite the progress made, the implementation of the Regulation is not
finished. There are two aspects to this:

•

Some countries have not applied elements of the Regulation concerning coverage, units
recorded and variables; and

19

•

Where the Regulation has been applied to create BRs with the required contents, the
quality of the BRs may not be sufficient to provide a tool for good and comparable
European business statistics.

The first point has to be corrected to the extent that the requirements of the Regulations are
clear. This means concretely the following:

•

•

•

Any four-digit group of NACE Rev.1 within the scope of the Regulation that is not
covered by the BR of a MS should be added to the BR immediately. If this is not
possible, the MS will be requested to submit a detailed plan and timetable for their
inclusion. An exception is made for private households with employed persons and
extra-territorial organisations and bodies, because some issues have to be resolved first
at the EU level.

If the BR of a MS presently does not record which large enterprises consist of more
than one legal unit, this should be changed immediately, starting with the simplest
cases. If this is not possible, the MS will be requested to submit a detailed plan and
timetable for the delineation of large enterprises.

Any non-optional variable listed in annex II of the Regulation that is not recorded by the
BR of a MS should be added to the BR immediately. If this is not possible, the MS will
be requested to submit a detailed plan and timetable for their inclusion. Similarly, if the
size-class variable is not based on persons occupied,
this should be changed
immediately or, in case this is not possible, the MS will be requested to submit a
detailed plan and timetable how this can be achieved.

As for the second point, a quality policy is being developed which is outlined in the next
chapter. This policy is based on the assumption that all required types of information are
actually recorded, although possibly not to a sufficient extent and with sufficient quality.

20

3.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGULATION: FUTURE QUALITY
IMPROVEMENT

3.1.

The need for and principles of a quality policy

The first three years after adoption of the Regulation, the efforts of the NSIs of the MS were
aimed at the creation of BRs or the adaptation of BRs to the requirements of the Regulation.
At the same time Eurostat tried to facilitate this by several measures as described in paragraph
2.2, and paid especially attention to methodological issues, since this was recognised as a
potential bottleneck for the implementation of the Regulation. At the beginning the main aim
was that the required types of units and variables were recorded, and that the relevant
economic activities were covered. Given the starting position, ensuring that certain types of
unit and certain economic activities were covered was bound to precede considerations of
quality.

With this pragmatic approach much has been achieved. Paragraph 2.3. showed that generally
speaking the implementation of the Regulation has been a success: the MS (at least the
fourteen to which no derogations apply) all have a BR with the most important economic
units and variables and a good overall coverage. Terminology has been harmonised.
However, it has also become clear that the quality of the BRs is less than perfect in a number
of cases and countries are far from harmonised in the delineation of the statistical units
recorded.

After the initial years of implementation, the time has come to focus on improving the quality
of BRs; in fact, a number of MS have already plans for improvements. Eurostat initiated the
discussion with the MS on a quality policy in June 1997.

The Regulation does not specify quality requirements. Although the requested registration of
units, the variables and coverage are formulated in absolute terms, a 100% quality is clearly
not the objective of the Regulation. Not only is it obvious that such quality would be
extremely cost-inefficient and would cause a huge response burden on businesses, but also
Article 5 of the Regulation gives some very general rules for register updating which imply a
less than perfect quality. According to this article, “As a general rule, information obtained
from administrative files or annual surveys shall be updated annually, other information being
updated every four years”. A procedure for implementing rules is established by the Articles 8
and 9.

is the intention of Eurostat

to reach an agreement with the MS on certain quality
It
requirements and on the way to implement
them. In accordance with the subsidiarity
principle, the MS will remain responsible for designing their own updating strategy taking
into account considerations of cost efficiency, data availability, national needs and business
response burden, provided that the quality requirements are met. Those requirements would
guarantee a sufficient level of quality and data comparability as needed for the European
system of business statistics. This implies that quality requirements would pertain to the
output of BRs rather than to updating procedures; as a consequence, they would focus on
statistical units (enterprises and local units) rather than on BR input units (legal units).

The quality requirements would have to respect the following principles:

•

•

Subsidiarity as just explained;

All quality requirements must be measurable;

21

•

•

The quality requirements must be based on the needs of the European system of
business statistics, in particular data comparability between countries and compar-
ability between different types of business statistics;

The quality requirements will be restricted to the units and variables whose registration
is compulsory according to the Regulation, and to their coverage; there will be no
requirements for optional data.

3.2.

Quality requirements

Quality requirements are presently being developed; only a general idea of what they will
look like can be given for the time being. A distinction is made between requirements
concerning the coverage of the BR, the delineation of statistical units, and the variables
recorded.

3.2.1

Coverage of the business register

The quality requirements concerning the coverage of BR must differentiate between units of
different size, and will depend on the economic activity carried out. Obviously the coverage
of large enterprises has to be more complete than for smaller enterprises, not only because of
their economic significance, but also for reasons to lighten the administrative burden on
SMEs. But for those services industries where small enterprises dominate, the norms have to
take this feature into account as well. The requirements would typically specify a minimum
percentage of coverage for each stratum. This percentage could be expressed in terms of value
added.

The requirements about coverage can not be limited to the areas about which business
statistics are compiled traditionally. The Regulation on structural business statistics has a
much wider scope already (see paragraph 2.3.2.), and the BR Regulation itself stipulates a
wide coverage, which was chosen with an eye on the future. Moreover, BRs are also
important for other statistics than structural business statistics, such as business demography,
employment statistics and, indirectly, national accounts. For similar reasons the coverage
requirements also have to include small units; BRs are a crucial tool for SME statistics.

Although the level of coverage of units is easy to define, it is very difficult to measure,
because this supposes knowledge about the extent to which units are not registered. For this
other data sources are needed, and they may not be readily available.

3.2.2

Delineation of statistical units

The need for quality norms concerning the delineation of statistical units, in the first place the
enterprise, comes from its impact on statistical measurements.

Paragraph 2.3.3. also showed the need for quality norms in this area.

As was the case with coverage, and largely for the same reasons, the quality requirements will
have to differentiate between enterprises of different size, and will depend on the economic
activity of the enterprise; they are meant to specify a minimum degree of correct delineation
for each stratum. Unfortunately, developing quality standards for unit delineation is very
complicated. It is very difficult to define what is a correct delineation and to measure it,
considering the fact that BR updating procedures vary widely among countries and depend on
the use of national data sources. There are also a number of technical problems when this
aspect of quality is to be monitored statistically. And it is clear that in order to formulate

22

quality standards for the delineation of units in some services industries, methodological
recommendations are a prerequisite. It has been proposed to start specific methodological
recommendations with the treatment of holding companies and complex businesses with staff
agencies. This kind of work must be done in co-operation with persons working on
classifications.

3.2.3

Variables recorded for the units

Quality requirements for variables can of course only refer to variables whose registration is
compulsory. The most important requirements will concern the economic activity (NACE
Rev.1 code at four-digit
level) and the size-class in terms of persons occupied, for the
enterprise and the local unit.

Quality standards for the economic activity code can be formulated with relative ease,
although their measurement is not as easy. Quality requirements for economic activity can be
differentiated according to size-class. They would have to apply to the entire BR for the same
reasons as given at the coverage requirements14.

Requirements concerning the correctness of the size-class have to take into account the
specific factors that determine the quality of this variable, in particular the availability of
administrative files. In some countries it is very difficult to obtain data on the number of
persons occupied as distinguished from the number of employees; in some MS data from
social security registers can only be obtained with a long delay. Such factors are bound to
influence the quality requirements; and for reasons of business response burden they should.

3.3.

Implementation of the quality policy

Several steps can be distinguished in implementing the quality policy. The first step is, as
discussed above, to formulate and agree on the quality requirements. These requirements have
to be realistic; the level of ambition must be a feasible aim within a period of five to ten years
for a large majority of the MS. The ambitions cannot take into account only the need for good
quality BRs, but must also be based on the present state of the BRs as described in chapter 2
and improvements that have already been planned. Some of the planned improvements are:

•

•

•

•

Concrete plans to include additional NACE Rev.1 sections to their BRs;

The last missing statistical unit (in one MS) will be added;

Plans to add one or more new variables;

To improve the quality by the use of additional administrative sources.

The second step is monitoring the quality of the BRs; if quality standards are agreed on, their
implementation has to be checked. Ideally the quality of BRs is systematically measured, for
instance by means of a regular quality survey15, but unfortunately this tends to be very costly.

In a number of cases the quality will have to be assessed by indirect methods, such as
comparison with data from other sources or analysis of the way administrative files are
updated. Although measuring the quality of BRs is often problematic, it is important to agree
not only on quality standards, but also on ways to assess the actual quality of BRs.

14

15

Another reason is the fact that classification errors in one area by definition affect other areas.
A quality survey can be defined as a representative sample survey of the BR or a part thereof with the aim
of establishing the degree of correctness of the contents of the BR or the part investigated.

23

The next step is to agree on a procedure of reporting about the quality of the BRs to Eurostat.
they need to be
The contents and frequency of such reports need to be established;
standardised. This, again, may be a complicated and time-consuming affair, as experience
with the Regulation on structural business statistics has shown. Nevertheless, a reporting
arrangement is an essential part of any quality policy.

If there is agreement on quality requirements, the measurement of quality and the reporting
procedure, this should be formalised in accordance with the provisions of the Regulation.
Article 8 of the Regulation stipulates that implementation rules shall be adopted in accordance
with Article 9, which describes the procedure to be followed. As part of this procedure the
SPC will give its opinion before the implementation rules are finally adopted. The
implementation rules, consisting of quality requirements, the quality measurement and the
reporting arrangements, will be subjected to this procedure.

In addition to the formal implementation of the quality policy as described above, there is
more that can be done. Eurostat tries to stimulate the spread of good practices; there are many
things that MS can learn from each other in the field of BR quality improvement, in particular
in making optimal use of administrative files and keeping the administrative burden on
businesses as low as possible. Some current initiatives are described in paragraph 4.2.

3.4.

Other elements of the quality policy and the need for methodological support

In a study on the implementation of enterprises in the business registers in three MS (see also
paragraph 2.3.3), the effects on some key statistical variables were investigated. The study did
not include the most simple cases but there are more complicated cases than those studied.
The study showed that for all 21 enterprise groups investigated, the delineation was done
differently in the three countries according to their profiling rules, resulting in inconsistent
statistics.

The differences in the delineation have a very serious impact on data comparability, and it
urgently calls for standardised application of concepts and definitions in order to reach
harmonised and comparable business statistics.

Between Eurostat and all Member States there is a coherent view on the need for quality
aspects in the Business Registers, but many Member States have also expressed requests for
further guidelines and harmonised definitions.

The first steps have been taken towards collecting documentation on the profiling rules in the
Member States and to develop a “case law” in order to establish methodological support for a
more harmonised European statistics. Other suggested work includes comparing BRs with
exogenous data, for example the labour force survey estimates on employment or other
administrative systems. The need for application of quality standards is recognised and
supported by the Member States.

24

4.

BEYOND THE REGULATION: THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS REGISTERS

4.1.

The place of business registers in the European system of business statistics

4.1.1

Present situation

In recent years much progress has been made in building the European system of business
statistics. The system is rapidly developing. A number of regulations have been adopted that
are relevant to BRs in one way or another, the most important ones being:

•

•

•

•

•

•

the Regulation on the statistical classification of economic activities (NACE
Rev.1,1990, amended in 1993)

the Regulation on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between MS (Intrastat,
1991, amended in 1999)

the Regulation on structural statistics on earnings and on labour costs (1999)

the Regulation on the European System of national and regional Accounts (1996)

the Regulation concerning structural business statistics (1996, amended in 1998)

the Regulation concerning short-term statistics (1998)

The NACE Regulation is relevant because it is directly applied in BRs, for classifying both
enterprises and local units. This includes classifying secondary activities. There is one other
regulation providing standards to be applied in BRs, namely the Regulation on statistical
units, as seen earlier. Both regulations preceded the BR Regulation.

Apart from regulations providing standards, there are also regulations concerning business
statistics to be compiled. MS would need BRs to provide the sampling frames for the
statistical surveys. Probably the most important regulation is the SBS regulation, especially
because it is comprehensive both in coverage and variables. The new STS regulation (the one
on short-term statistics) is also important, for the same reason. Although the statistics
compiled on the basis of the Intrastat Regulation are not “business statistics” as such, this
regulation, which preceded the BR Regulation, is relevant because it requires MS to maintain
lists of Intra-Community operators (article 10), and the BR Regulation itself requires the
registration of the Intrastat number for legal units (variable k).

The ESA Regulation (the one on the European System of Accounts) is only indirectly
relevant. The economic accounts are based largely on business statistics, especially data
collected in the context of the SBS Regulation.

4.1.2

Issues to be solved

There are some problems concerning the place of BRs in the European system of business
statistics in its present stage of development. Some regulations do not match in the statistical
units to which they refer. In many cases there may be good reasons for this, but consistency
should be guaranteed and care should be taken that the BRs can provide the frames needed for
European business statistics.

The core of the problem is the choice of statistical units in the SBS, STS and ESA
Regulations compared with the statistical units registered in the BRs according to the BR
Regulation. The main statistical unit of the SBS Regulation is the enterprise, which can be

25

provided by the BRs. But the SBS Regulation also requires data collection on kind-of-activity
units for five variables16 in industry and construction, and this unit is not recorded in any of
the BRs of the MS according to the annual questionnaire. The kind-of-activity unit is even
more important in the STS Regulation, where it is the observation unit for all variables
collected on industry and construction17. The unit used for short-term statistics on other
activities is the enterprise.

The BRs do register secondary activities, but there is no information on whether or not a
secondary activity corresponds with a kind-of-activity unit. This will often not be the case,
among other things because of the strict data availability requirements for the kind-of-activity
unit. Moreover, as the experience with harmonising the enterprise unit among MS has shown
(see paragraph 2.3.3), it may be assumed that the kind-of-activity unit will not get the same
contents in MS without methodological guidelines and tuning of register practice. For data on
kind-of-activity units it may be feared that they will not at all be comparable, and that
countries may have severe problems in data collection and may incur high costs when they try
to establish the population of kind-of-activity units. There is also high risk of negative effects
on the response burden on enterprises.

The SBS Regulation requires regional data to be compiled as well and in the implementation
local unit is specified as the statistical unit on which these data are to be based. MS can use
the local unit as available in the BRs or some other locally or regionally defined unit, but
some MS may perhaps also choose to use the enterprise for data collection, asking the
enterprise to provide a regional breakdown of the variables. It can be concluded that there are
no matching problems with the BR Regulation for regional SBS data. The STS Regulation
does not require regional data to be compiled.

The statistical units used in national accounts are the institutional unit and the local kind-of-
activity unit. These units are defined in the Regulation on statistical units18. The institutional
unit has a close correspondence with the enterprise, and enterprise statistics are therefore a
good information source for national accounts. The use of the local kind-of-activity unit is
more problematic. There are currently no European statistics that yield data on that unit, so
business statistical data have to be recompiled analytically, for instance by applying output
indicators, in order to produce the accounts concerned. Since most BRs do not have the local
kind-of-activity unit (with the exception of three MS), the BRs can offer no help.

Apart from the practical problems of data collection, accuracy and comparability between
MS, the coherence of the business statistics is also a concern. A number of variables of the
SBS, STS and ESA Regulations are similar, but their values are compiled for different
statistical units. Moreover, this depends on the economic sector concerned.

As far as Intrastat is concerned, the issue is different. The Intrastat Regulation preceded the
BR Regulation. Therefore it could not refer to existing BRs. As a consequence, the Intrastat
Regulation has its own requirement of maintaining a list of units, although the BR Regulation
provides a link via a variable of the legal unit.

16

17

18

Turnover, production value, wages and salaries gross investment in tangible goods and number of
persons employed.
Under certain conditions other types of units may be used.
More precisely, they have been redefined and specified in the ESA Regulation.

26

The issues described above are a natural side effect of the rapid development of the European
system of business statistics. The need to rethink the choice of the statistical units of the
various regulations leads to several possibilities to approach the problems. To mention a few:

•

•

•

•

•

•

Leave things as they are and accept the consequences.

Reduce the need for data on kind-of-activity units by changing the regulations
concerned accordingly; as a compensation information on secondary activities could be
added.

Integrate the register aspects of the Intrastat Regulation with the BR Regulation, and
base the list of Intra-Community traders on enterprises rather than legal units.

Change the national accounts requirements such that they are better tuned to available
sources such as statistics produced in the framework of the SBS and STS Regulations.

Register secondary activities in BRs if and only if they correspond with operational
units for which data are available.

Register kind-of-activity units as separate units in BRs.

4.1.3

Future development

All the options mentioned have advantages and disadvantages, in terms of quality of statistics,
data comparability, coherence, consistency with wider international guidelines such as those
on national accounts, response burden on businesses, costs, etc. The different options have to
be investigated. The question of statistical units in the different regulations has to be answered
in an integral manner in the long-term.

To require a registration of KAUs or local KAUs in the BRs does not seem justified at the
moment. The KAU is used as data collection unit only very rarely (possibly in 1-2 MS),
others use different methods of estimation. KAUs can be built up in an analytical way. They
can be approximated by using local units, or aggregated from local KAUs in those MS, where
these are in the BR. To register local KAUs in the BRs would be very important for national
and regional accounts, but this requires plenty of resources.

The European system of business statistics is under construction and it
is important to
approach the issues in an open and flexible way. When we have more experience of the
implementation of the SBS and STS Regulations, the effects of the inconsistencies can be
studied and the inconsistencies can be revised where necessary.

To continue the harmonisation and delineation of statistical units is a first priority. Having
different profiling rules from country to country has a very serious impact on data
comparability, and it calls urgently for standardised application of concepts and definitions in
order to reach harmonised and comparable business statistics. The documentation within the
MS must be improved, in many cases the national procedures are not well documented. MS
will document their profiling rules where this has not yet been done and keep Eurostat
informed about them. A special group to be set up will deal with statistical unit cases and such
a group would try to develop “case law”. Cases should be based on real examples from the
MS. Eurostat will organise the “case law” group and its procedures.

Enterprise profiling concerns large and complex enterprises. Small units can be left as they
are. Although large enterprises form only a small part (5 % may be a rough estimate) of all
enterprises, they involve large part of the economy. The existing operational rules may need
to be changed, where they are not clear and applicable. An example is the treatment of

27

ancillary legal units. According to the statistical unit Regulation, an ancillary legal unit
serving several enterprises cannot be split.

4.2.

The use of administrative sources

4.2.1

Administrative sources for business registers

As underlined previously in this report Eurostat respects the principle of subsidiarity leaving
to Members States the sources used to update BR as well as their use. The European statistical
system encourages the use of administrative sources for statistical purposes when possible.
Also the BR regulation states in its article 7 that NSIs are authorised to access administrative
sources or legal registers in accordance with the conditions determined by national law. The
annex 3 illustrates that administrative sources such as tax registers, social security registers
and trade registers have been used by a majority of Members States to update the BR,
particularly to compile data at enterprise level.

Eurostat has in the recent years developed work regarding the use of administrative sources
for statistical purposes. A seminar was organised in Luxembourg in January 1997 whose aim
was to encourage the exchange of national experiences. The contributions of the participants
showed the interest to use administrative sources, as well as the difficulties linked to their use
and the possible further developments.

A handbook of national good practices: Use of Administrative Sources for Business Statistics
Purposes (Version 1) has been developed. This will serve as a base to study the possible
contribution of these sources regarding the implementation of the different regulations newly
adopted in the field of business statistics. It has to be underlined that a special attention has
been given to small enterprises having in mind the reduction of the response burden.

This handbook will be a good opportunity to develop ways in which countries can work
together with each other and with Eurostat to exploit administrative sources for business
statistics purposes to the fullest extend possible.

4.2.2

Satellite registers

Satellite registers are not part of the BRs but they are closely linked to it. They are more
limited in scope, e.g. in terms of NACE Rev.1, but they contain one or more characteristics
that are not found in the BR, especially variables for stratification purposes. Having some
additional characteristics for some specific NACE section(s) can make a survey on these
sections more efficient and decrease response burden. The use of satellite registers is entirely
based on subsidiarity, there are neither existing nor planned legal acts.

At the moment satellite registers are mainly used in transport, tourism and trade. Some MS
have plans for several satellite registers in many areas. The use of satellite registers has so far
been studied in two areas, tourism and distributive trade. Work on the general treatment of
satellite registers, to be included as a chapter in the Manual of Recommendations on BRs is
ongoing.

4.3.

Enterprise groups and globalisation

After the BR Regulation has been completely implemented, the need for information on
enterprise groups (EGs) and on globalisation is very probably the greatest challenge for the
development of BRs during the next few years. The information needed concern both EGs
territory only (all-resident EG) and in several countries
operating in single national

28

(transnational EG or TEG), although usually only the part of a TEG operating in national
important
territory (truncated EG) can be observed in the BR of a country. The most
information needed for EGs are demographic (changes in group structure etc.) and financial.
EGs can also be used as a frame for delineation of enterprises.

Although EGs are not in the BR Regulation, they are already included or planned to be
included in the near future in the BRs of about half of EU Member States. This is due to their
great importance at national level. Other countries are planning a stepwise approach by
starting to record links of control between enterprises or considering the use of commercial
sources. The inclusion of EGs has thus advanced well, but the solutions and the recording of
resident and transnational EGs are country-specific and not harmonised. Because the situation
of EGs in BRs is unknown, a feasibility study was started in December 1998. The work will
continue on the operationalisation of the definition of EG and the definition of control.

The development of statistics on globalisation is very much dependent on the central role of
BRs as a framework tool in which much has been invested already. While the information
concerning EGs in BRs has developed rapidly, an optional variable g of legal unit in the BR
Regulation, “name and address of any non-resident legal unit, other than natural person,
which controls the legal unit”, is according to the last inquiry in the BRs of two EU countries.
This situation should be rapidly improved.

The state of art and proposals for development of globalisation statistics is treated in the
report of Globalisation Reflection Group: “The Impact of Globalisation on Statistics –
Summary, Conclusions, Recommendations” and work based on the report has been started.
This includes how to develop BRs, starting with the feasibility study and preparing the
methodology for the treatment of EGs. To develop statistics on globalisation requires work in
important are the development of Foreign
several areas in addition to BRs. The most
Affiliates Trade statistics (developed in the framework of structural business statistics),
External Trade statistics, Foreign Direct Investment and Balance of Payments statistics.

4.4.

The manual of recommendations

The Manual of Recommendations is an important means for harmonising statistics, and it also
has an instructional purpose towards the MS and Applicant countries.

The Eurostat publication ‘Business Registers for Statistical Purposes: Methodological
recommendations, Volume 1’ (1996) includes the first 10 chapters. It has been translated into
11 EU languages and Russian. In these chapters there are already some outdated and
is not always clear which parts of the
incomplete matters and references. Moreover, it
chapters are an interpretation of the BR Regulation and which parts go beyond that. That
needs to be clarified, as well as the first 10 chapters’ relation to the forthcoming additional
chapters, before the Manual can be revised. A revision is therefore foreseen in year 2000.

The following chapters no. 11-16 are close to final. The chapters are being translated into
German and French, finalised and published as volume II in 1999. A future translation into
other EU languages is possible.

For chapters no. 17-19 various levels of drafts exist. There are also some draft outlines and
inputs from MS for new chapters. The schedule for these new chapters depends on their
urgency and on the development of the methodological work needed, e.g. concerning
enterprise groups and quality.

29

A discussion on improving the formal status of the Recommendations has started. This deals
with if the most important parts that can be considered as interpretation of the BR Regulation
should have a more binding status.

4.5.

Conclusion: a work plan for the future

As was explained in paragraph 1.2.2, the adoption of the BR Regulation was meant as a first
step, to be followed by a second stage sometime in the future. Because the implementation
still requires work to be done, the time has not yet come to embark on the second phase in the
evolution of business registers, only to prepare for that.

The most important issues subject for development are listed below, there are also obvious
links between them.

•

•

•

•

•

Quality improvement requirements are treated in item 3. To improve the quality of the
compulsory part of BRs still requires a great deal of work, but the quality of optional
sections and characteristics as well as the new statistical units like EGs also need to be
assessed (later measured where possible). The work on quality will also result into a
new or revised chapter in the Manual of Recommendations.

Manual of Recommendations. Work on the development of the manual shall be
continued. The plan is presented in item 4.4 above. The manual can be continuously
disseminated to the users, mainly in an electronic format (printed when necessary),
giving the status of each chapter (final, first draft, etc.).

Harmonisation of statistical units. This means to develop further the operational rules
for statistical units and making case studies (as presented in 4.1.3 above). The
development of operational rules will result to one or more new chapters for the Manual
of Recommendations and for revising some of the existing chapters. The “case law”
will be a separate (possibly electronic) document.

Research such as developing of a data-model, development of tools such as for
sampling. Technological matters and research and development in the field of BRs are,
as before, done in co-operation with unit “Research and development and statistical
methods”.

Annual reporting and co-ordination. The annual report serves several purposes. It
monitors the implementation of the BR Regulation, it includes information on sources
used and legislation, it includes quality-related issues, which are not proposed to be
included into the quality report (item 3), and it includes data concerning business
demography, which at
the same time have a co-ordination and quality function.
Therefore the annual report must be developed further (development of the annual
report will also be discussed in the future in more detail).
The numbers of enterprises and local units have been collected at NACE Rev.1 section
level as from 1995. According to the SBS Regulation the numbers of enterprises and
local units are also collected, but not for all NACE Rev.1 sections. It is important to
bear in mind, that the SBS Regulation covers market activities, while BRs must,
according to the BR Regulation, in addition cover non-market contributing to the GDP.
Short-term statistics, the SME project, Labour Force Survey, National Accounts etc.
include also relevant information for business demography. This information should be
co-ordinated both in Member States and at European level when the statistics are
produced and especially before they are published.
Because BRs are a central tool for business statistics and have a wider coverage than
SBS, it is the task of BR to work as the co-ordinator of business demography and survey

30

frames, naturally in close co-operation with SBS, STS and other statistics. Therefore is
was discussed at the BR Working Group meeting in June 1998 to include in the annual
report also persons occupied (or the size class) and public enterprises. The inclusion of
employed persons is important firstly due to the co-ordination aspect, especially with
the SBS Regulation and its development. Secondly, it is important due to the slow
process of unit delineation. If the numbers of enterprises are not comparable, the
employment figures give extremely valuable information. Employment of local units
(and enterprise groups, to be included later) is also indispensable. The inclusion of
public enterprises is also connected to the SBS, where this information is collected, but
only for NACE Rev.1 sections Mining and quarrying, Manufacturing and electricity
Gas and water supply and Construction, which cover less than 30 % of public
enterprises. The changing role of public enterprises is equally or even more interesting
for other sectors: transport, telecommunications, community services etc, where over 70
% of public enterprises operate. This change should be monitored. The character of
public undertaking is compulsory according to the BR Regulation.

•

Enterprise groups and globalisation, as presented in 4.3 above. The methodology of EGs
is very complicated and it will be developed during and after the feasibility study. The
result will be presented as a chapter in the Manual of Recommendations. Information on
EGs is also proposed to be included later into the annual report on BRs.

31

5.

CONCLUSION

The experiences from the implementation of the BR Regulation have in general been positive.
The convergence and improvements of the totally different BRs from the time before the
Regulation have been enormous. The coverage is greatly improved and more than half of the
MS already include also the non-compulsory NACE Rev.1 sections. The use of terminology
has
to a large extent been standardised by the Regulations and the Manual of
Recommendations.

The establishing of BRs has involved substantial costs, but also maintaining the BRs is costly.
Nevertheless the cost-benefit ratio for BRs can be very good considering the possible benefits
through the efficient use of high-quality BRs. BRs can now be considered as an efficient tool
to lower the response burden on businesses, especially for SMEs, and for making efficient
surveys that are very cost-effective, compared with enterprise censuses. The cost-
effectiveness has not been fully reached in some MS, where lack of administrative sources
has caused particular difficulties. The financial support given to the MS (annex 4) has been
only a relatively small part of the total costs of revising the BRs. Improving the BR system is
still ongoing and the financial support is still to be continued, but to a minor extent.

Even if the results are fairly good, especially considering the fact that NACE Rev.1 had to be
implemented at the same time, there remains two main issues where a great deal of work is
still needed. These issues are the harmonisation of statistical units and the quality of BRs.
Even though the improvements concerning these issues have also been extensive, the different
enterprise delineations used in different MS have huge consequences on the comparability of
enterprise statistics. Although the coverage has been highly improved and can be considered
generally good, there are some NACE Rev.1 sections, especially in services, which are not
institutions and
covered well enough, e.g. concerning small enterprises, non-profit
government units. In many MS there are also still problems to record certain compulsory
variables. The importance of good quality is not questioned by the MS and the principles on
which good quality should be based on are to a large extent agreed upon. However, the
problems of quality measurements are, due to the use of administrative sources, extremely
difficult and remain to be solved.

The use of business registers is a matter of subsidiarity and there are no plans to regulate it.
The use of BRs, as well as the updating procedures, differ a great deal between MS. Since
BRs have an important place in the European Statistical System, a manual of best practices
has been prepared on the use of administrative sources. BRs are used extensively as survey
frames and co-ordination tools but also as data source for business demography. For business
demography, i.e. the numbers, characteristics, births and deaths of enterprises and local units
(in the future also enterprise groups) there are also other sources and the role of BRs as co-
ordination tool is extremely important. Depending on the legislation in a MS, there may also
be extensive non-statistical use of BRs. It can be used for administrative purposes in some MS
and its non-confidential information may also be used extensively for commercial purposes.

It is a great challenge for the future to develop BRs as a tool for globalisation statistics. This
means to include optional variable g of the BR Regulation, “name and address of any non-
resident legal unit, other than natural person, which controls the legal unit” into the BRs as
well as including information on enterprise groups. Extensive studies and development of
methodology is needed and will be carried out in the near future. In the long term a legal act
may need to be considered in order to achieve a European harmonisation on enterprise
groups.

32

The results obtained in implementing other
regulations may have an effect on the
important business statistics,
development of BRs. This mainly concerns the two most
Structural Business Statistics and Short-term Statistics, where the effects of the inconsistent
use of statistical units can be studied during the next few years. Relations to the use of
statistical units in other statistics like National Accounts and Intrastat is also important. At
this moment no changes for the BR Regulation is foreseen from the requirements of these
other regulations. Nevertheless the methodology needed for the harmonisation of the use of
statistical units and for building up certain units in an analytical way requires extensive work.

To develop methodology on BRs has been, and is furthermore, a focal point and a
responsibility for Eurostat. This does not concern only EU countries but also EEA, CEC and
other European countries, as agreed between Eurostat and UN/ECE. In spite of the huge
improvements on methodology, it is an ever evolving issue, clearly indicated by the need for
new chapters as well as the need to revise old chapters in the Manual of Recommendations.
The Manual is a means of harmonisation as well as an important means of instruction.

The norms for BRs have been firstly developed for areas, where statistics have a long history
(like industry and trade) and the norms still need to be specified for certain services,
especially on the treatment of non-profit institutions and government units.

No changes in the text of the BR Regulation are sought in short or medium term, neither on
compulsory nor on optional parts of the Regulation. In the long term, the initiatives started on,
especially on enterprise groups and globalisation, may lead to a need for changes in the
Regulation. In that connection the role of optional variables must be reconsidered. But, to be
able to prepare for the second phase of the development of BRs, the implementation phase of
the BR Regulation must be completed rapidly. Some compulsory information is not yet
recorded in the BRs of some MS and these MS will be requested to submit a detailed plan and
timetable for their inclusion.

33

ABBREVIATIONS

BR

CEC

EEA

ESA

MS

NSI

SBS

Business Register for statistical purposes

Central European Countries

European Economic Area

European System of national and regional Accounts

Member State(s)

National Statistical Institute

Structural Business Statistics

SME

Small and Medium Enterprises

SPC

STS

TES

Statistical Programme Committee

Short-Term Statistics

Training of European Statisticians

NACE Rev.1 Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community

VAT

Value Added Tax

PAYE

Pay As You Earn

EU

European Union

PHARE

Poland–Hungary: aid for economic restructuring
(Community Aid programme for central and east European countries)

TACIS

Technical assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States

ADSO

Administrative Sources

FATS

Foreign Affiliates Trade Statistics

EG

KAU

GDP

Enterprise Groups

Kind-of-Activity Unit

Gross Domestic Product

34

REFERENCES

(cid:1)

EUROPEAN REGULATIONS

NACE Rev.1

•

•

Council Regulation (EEC) Nº3037/90 of 9 October 1990
on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community

Council Regulation (EEC) Nº761/93 of 24 March 1993
amending Council Regulation (EEC) Nº3037/90
on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community

Statistical Units

Council Regulation (EEC) Nº696/93 of 15 March 1993
on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the
Community

Registers

Council Regulation (EEC) Nº2186/93 of 22 July 1993
on Community co-ordination in drawing up business registers for statistical purposes

ESA

Council Regulation (EC) Nº2223/96 of 25 June 1996
on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community

Structural Business Statistics (SBS)

•

•

Council Regulation (EC, EURATOM) Nº58/97 of 20 December 1996
concerning structural business statistics

Council Regulation (EC, EURATOM) Nº410/98 of 16 February 1998
amending Council Regulation (EC, EURATOM) Nº58/97
concerning structural b business statistics

Short-Term Statistics (STS)

Council Regulation (EC) Nº1165/98 of 19 May 1998
concerning short-term statistics

35

INTRASTAT

•

•

Council Regulation (EEC) Nº3330/91 of 7 November 1991
on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States

Regulation (EC) No 1182/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10
May 1999 amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 on the statistics relating to
the trading of goods between Member States with a view to reducing the data to be
provided

Statistics on the structure and distribution of earnings

Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 of 9 March 1999 concerning structural statistics on
earnings and on labour costs

(cid:1)

OTHER REFERENCES

•

•

•

•

Business registers for statistical purposes: methodological recommendations, volume 1,
Office for official publications of the European Community, 1996.

Statistical Business Registers: Problems and Opportunities. Proceedings of the 82nd
DGINS conference, Vienna 1996.

Enterprises in Europe. Fourth Report. European Commission.

The impact of diverging interpretations of the enterprise concept on statistical data, a
comparison of enterprise profiling practices in Denmark, the Netherlands and the
United Kingdom. Study carried out by Statistics Netherlands on behalf of Eurostat,
1998.

36

ANNEX 1

SUMMARY DATA PER COUNTRY

Table 1: Units registered by type of statistical unit
(absolute and relative figures)

Table 2:

Coverage by section of NACE Rev.1 and by type of statistical unit
(absolute and relative figures)

Table 3: Variables registered by statistical unit

(absolute and relative figures)

Table 4:

Sources for business registers by type of statistical unit

37

Table 1: Units registered by type of statistical unit (absolute and relative figures)

Units registered by type of statistical unit

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

868 518
867 908
-

422 302
422 302
477 196

2 088 000
2 088 000
2 274 000

463 606
463 606
501 457

2 438 786
2 437 944
2 764 715

4 942 943
3 539 686
4 194 967

IRL

-
110 442
116 238

I

3 730 148
3 730 148
4 608 710

L

19 365
19 176
20 232

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

Total EU

906 074
816 737
886 001

244 989
244 011
301 993

1 384 552
1 384 552
1 411 788

315 756
315 756
378 549

662 891
662 485
744 974

1 973 317
1 966 116
2 431 983

446 695
446 695
418 183

20 571 689
19 068 869
21 112 803

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

Total EU

1998

TOTAL
EU + NO
21 018 384
19 515 564
21 530 986

1997

TOTAL
EU + NO

946 308

420 849

1 705 000

466 477

2 384 654

4 587 648

-

3 858 546

Enterprises

751 384

420 849

1 705 000

466 477

2 384 654

3 213 339

101 655

3 858 546

19 257

19 257

843 356

299 850

1 289 858

337 502

661 727

1 952 348

393 762

19 875 035

20 268 797

830 446

299 401

1 289 858

337 502

661 321

1 947 585

346 089

18 287 274

18 633 36

Local units

-

493 147

1 879 000

484 340

2 731 616

3 726 327

110 095

5 247 999

-

905 000

314 506

1 330 355

401 015

743 813

2 395 352

367 373

20 762 565

21 129 93

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

Total EU

1996

TOTAL
EU + NO

821 634

439 750

1 118 000

850 000

2 301 432

4 304 635

-

17 609

1 155 449

262 135

1 193 718

328 000

530 578

1 925 200

442 000

15 248 140

15 690 140

-

-

439 750

1 118 000

700 866

2 301 432

2 353 773

476 627

1 294 000

-

2 719 101

2 672 715

95 530

-

-

262 808

227 170

-

-

-

-

-

758 382

262 080

1 193 718

808 926

325 747

42 651

-

-

-

1 751 500

-

11 142 309

11 142 309

532 568

2 214 000

254 768

11 409 035

11 663 80

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

Total EU

1995

TOTAL
EU + NO

855 827

225 000

771 461

225 000

818 000

285 000

-

-

-

230 000

553 000

1 633 675

-

11 371 306

11 371 306

-

-

--

1 629 917

200 953

9 277 764

9 478 717

637 000

1 800 000

236 809

11 114 322

11 351 13

MS + NO

Stat. Unit
Legal units
Enterprises
Local units

MS + NO

Stat. Unit

Legal units

MS + NO

Stat. Unit

Legal units

Enterprises

Local units

MS + NO

Stat. Unit

Legal units

Enterprises

Local units

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

696 550

441 311

265 000

1 042 558

2 259 000

2 899 385

-

-

441 311

461 247

265 000

1 042 558

2 259 000

2 316 017

279 000

1 077 432

2 638 412

2 652 231

-

57 500

66 000

270 000

270 000

400 000

38

MS + NO

Stat. Unit

Legal units

Enterprises

Local units

MS + NO

Stat. Unit
Legal units

Enterprises

Local units

MS + NO

Stat. Unit

Legal units

Enterprises

Local units

Units registered by type of statistical unit (%)

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

Total EU

91,78

115,51

-

100,35

100,35

96,77

122,46

122,46

121,02

99,38

99,38

103,53

102,27

102,23

101,21

107,74

110,16

112,58

-

108,64

105,58

96,67

96,67

87,82

100,56

99,58

-

107,44

98,35

97,90

81,70

81,50

96,02

107,34

107,34

106,12

93,56

93,56

94,40

100,18

100,18

100,16

101,07

100,95

101,53

113,44

129,07

113,83

103,51

104,27

101,69

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

Total EU

115,17

-

-

95,70

95,70

103,47

152,50

152,50

145,21

54,88

66,56

-

103,62

103,62

100,46

106,57

136,52

139,42

-

-

115,25

1468,20

2310,16

-

109,36

72,99

109,50

111,88

114,39

114,24

96,55

108,05

108,05

3119,16

102,90

124,72

-

-

-

139,67

101,41

111,20

108,19

89,09

-

144,20

130,34

164,12

181,98

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

Total EU

135,01

98,30

98,89

116,50

116,48

114,30

-

-

-

142,61

95,95

-

-

-

83,61

117,84

107,46

123,00

-

0,00

107,58

134,09

120,10

102,65

-

-

-

-

-

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

117,96

-

-

99,65

99,65

103,33

421,89

421,89

463,80

81,53

67,23

0,00

101,88

101,88

103,06

148,47

101,63

100,77

-

-

144,74

-

97,34

56,79

39

1998/1997

TOTAL
EU + NO

103,70

104,7

101,90

1997/1996

TOTAL
EU + NO

129,1

167,2

181,16

1996/1995

TOTAL
EU + NO

137,9

117,55

102,75

Table 2: Coverage by section of NACE Rev.1 and by type of statistical unit (absolute and relative figures)

LEGAL UNIT – Coverage by section of NACE Rev.1

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

MS + NO

Nace Rev.1

A (opt)
B (opt)
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L (opt)
M
N
O
P
Q
Total of
Sections

MS + NO

Nace Rev.1

A (opt)
B (opt)
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L (opt)
M
N
O
P
Q
Total of
Sections

77 790
374
406
56 372
261
83 911
226 552
63 830
24 961
42 139
145 182
3 912
5 367
64 595
70 228
2 319
319

868 518

85 321
3 210
318
29 217
5 218
30 326
79 466
14 341
18 637
6 104
92 116
197
5 609
20 177
31 446
553
46

-
-
2 000
260 000
5 000
323 000
1 107 000
278 000
1 000
-
25 000
6 000
-
1 000
80 000
-
-

-
-
812
64 913
357
39 112
207 512
58 448
29 636
675
41 066
-
1 030
2 207
17 753
77
8

-
-
2 826
241 861
2 642
243 301
804 861
259 600
218 405
34 643
380 856
-
33 517
90 705
125 569
-
-

672 472
10 165
3 115
271 839
5 648
324 918
669 291
227 540
107 802
63 795
1 654 909
55 214
60 340
390 583
424 866
-
446

422 302

2 088 000

463 606

2 438 786

4 942 943

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

87 974
538
599
78 617
336
108 491
291 264
84 507
31 582
10 083
149 905
670
5 789
17 952
74 646
3 107
248

946 308

87 656
3 461
340
30 631
5 104
29 352
80 504
14 188
18 733
6 238
89 535
172
5 186
18 472
31 053
181
43

-
-
2 000
288 000
5 000
387 000
724 000
223 000
-
-
19 000
-
-
-
57 000
-
-

-
-
806
67 714
359
39 887
210 781
56 563
30 192
1 061
38 885
-
1 772
1 242
17 135
80
-

-
-
2 830
243 526
2 589
234 926
800 635
256 094
207 492
33 302
361 714
-
31 812
86 858
122 876
-
-

556 586
9 136
3 364
291 701
6 013
343 060
721 807
244 214
110 900
63 327
1 356 788
54 834
58 915
375 958
390588
-
457

420 849

1 705 000

466 477

2 384 654

4 587 648

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

-

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

-

40

-
-
4 483
542 303
2 470
430 778
1 239 210
212 424
154 951
67 719
640 925
-
12 288
212 853
209 744
-
-

-
-
8
928
47
1 595
6 537
2 306
1 039
878
4 514
-
105
107
961
-
340

3 730 148

19 365

40 728
936
654
67 337
325
71 807
249 571
48 641
36 501
42 033
202 828
1 222
17 280
42 457
83 650
23
81

906 074

-
-
4 968
601 737
2 234
467 629
1 267 190
225 838
183 640
70 103
600 296
-
11 336
191 500
232 075
-
-

-
-
6
901
45
1 539
6 540
2 475
990
842
4 411
-
108
100
960
-
340

3 858 546

19 257

38 080
796
619
59 501
265
63 153
229 097
46 591
33 222
46 622
186 458
1 228
16 977
41 069
79 575
26
77

843 356

1 816
-
321
27 408
696
17 689
70 936
40 605
12 305
3 545
36 190
-
482
16 336
16 660
-
-

128 095
9 807
2 501
135 690
452
208 789
466 592
107 118
28 278
40 823
153 102
6 996
8 576
11 467
76 153
2
111

11 318
1 970
1 636
34 212
1 238
33 121
65 204
11 772
25 318
5 908
66 106
1 582
2 513
19 510
34 298
46
4

160 625
1 027
625
49 134
1 160
50 195
119 828
20 095
32 067
4 612
150 021
867
6 692
14 828
51 066
4
45

183 604
4 689
2 426
186 885
402
196 343
454 674
129 893
83 747
32 463
433 450
2 683
16 526
64 014
181 518
-
-

88 188
10 571
1 189
28 599
984
45 705
84 742
13 806
31 045
2 058
80 310
4 414
4 538
18 868
28 442
3 222
14

244 989

1 384 552

315 756

662 891

1 973 317

446 695

21 018 384

1 894
-
380
34 749
782
20 434
92 849
46 746
15 102
3 850
43 853
-
483
19 848
18 880
-
-

63 599
8 620
3 042
146 768
466
195 161
467 886
101 196
28 732
39 804
135 252
7 010
7 926
9 455
74 822
-
119

11 003
2 461
1 636
36 478
1 260
36 323
70 854
12 183
25 521
10 131
82 272
1 977
2 111
16 359
26 902
28
3

179 425
906
619
47 426
1 165
49 292
117 040
19 360
31 770
4 546
141 535
731
5 805
13 944
48 074
28
61

155 827
4 851
2 463
188 255
331
201 818
457 976
129 042
83 518
32 778
430 887
2 703
14 779
64 978
182 142
-
-

84 266
10 058
1 054
26 762
916
43 194
78 244
12 128
27 324
1 485
65 253
3 864
2 439
12 980
23 565
230
-

299 850

1 289 858

337 502

661 727

1 952 348

393 762

20 268 797

1998

TOTAL
EU + NO

1 449 957
42 749
23 41
2 005 406
26 919
2 111 390
5 886 13
1 506 869
810 42
348 876
4 123 304
83 087
175 464
973 435
1 442 670
6 246
2 03

1997

TOTAL
EU + NO

1 266 310
40 827
24 804
2 150 552
26 884
2 230 109
5 648 43
1 491 886
833 235
325 490
3 721 302
73 189

165 98
874 339

1 389 96

3 680
1 81

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

LEGAL UNIT – Coverage by section of NACE Rev.1 (%)

MS + NO

Nace Rev.1

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

A (opt)
B (opt)
C

D

E

F
G

H

I

J
K

L (opt)

M

N
O

P

Q
Total of
Sections

A (optional)

B (optional)

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L (optional)

M

N

O

P

Q

88,42
69,52
67,78

71,70

77,68

77,34
77,78

75,53

79,04

417,92
96,85

583,88

92,71

359,82
94,08

74,64

128,63

91,78

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

97,34
92,75
93,53

95,38

102,23

103,32
98,71

101,08

99,49

97,85
102,88

114,53

108,16

109,23
101,27

305,52

106,98

100,35

-
-
100,00

90,28

100,00

83,46
152,90

124,66

-

-
131,58

-

-

-
140,35

-

-

-
-
100,74

95,86

99,44

98,06
98,45

103,33

98,16

63,62
105,61

-

58,13

177,70
103,61

96,25

-

-
-
99,86

99,32

102,05

103,56
100,53

101,37

105,26

104,03
105,29

-

105,36

104,43
102,19

-

-

122,46

99,38

102,27

120,82
111,26
92,60

93,19

93,93

94,71
92,72

93,17

97,21

100,74
121,97

100,69

102,42

103,89
108,78

-

97,59

107,74

-
-
-

-

-

-
-

-

-

-
-

-

-

-
-

-

-

-

-
-
90,24

90,12

110,56

92,12
97,79

94,06

84,38

96,60
106,77

-

108,40

111,15
90,38

-

-

96,67

-
-
133,33

103,00

104,44

103,64
99,95

93,17

104,95

104,28
102,34

-

97,22

107,00
100,10

-

100,00

100,56

106,95
117,59
105,65

113,17

122,64

113,70
108,94

104,40

109,87

90,16
108,78

99,51

101,78

103,38
105,12

88,46

105,19

107,44

95,88
-
84,47

78,87

89,00

86,57
76,40

86,86

81,48

92,08
82,53

-

99,79

82,31
88,24

-

-

81,70

201,41
113,77
82,22

92,45

97,00

106,98
99,72

105,85

98,42

102,56
113,20

99,80

108,20

121,28
101,78

-

93,28

107,34

102,86
80,05
100,00

93,79

98,25

91,18
92,03

96,63

99,20

58,32
80,35

80,02

119,04

119,26
127,49

164,29

133,33

93,56

89,52
113,36
100,97

103,60

99,57

101,83
102,38

103,80

100,93

101,45
106,00

118,60

115,28

106,34
106,22

14,29

73,77

100,18

117,83
96,66
98,50

99,27

121,45

97,29
99,28

100,66

100,27

99,04
100,59

99,26

111,82

98,52
99,66

104,65
105,10
112,81

106,86

107,42

105,81
108,30

113,84

113,62

138,59
123,07

114,23

186,06

145,36
120,70

-

-

1400,87

-

101,07

113,44

Agriculture, hunting and forestry

Fishing

Mining and quarrying

Manufacturing

Electricity, gas and water supply

Construction

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods

Hotels and restaurants

Transport, storage and communication

Financial intermediation

Real estate, renting and business activities

Public administration and Defence; compulsory social security

Education

Health and social work

Other community, social and personal service activities

Private households with employed persons

Extra-territorial organizations and bodies

41

1998/1997

TOTAL
EU + NO

114,50
104,71
94,39

93,25

100,13

94,68
104,21

101,00

97,26

107,18
110,80

113,52

105,71

111,33
103,79

169,73

112,41

103,70

MS + NO

Nace Rev.1
A (opt)
B (opt)
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L (opt)
M
N
O
P
Q
Total of
Sections

MS + NO

Nace Rev.1
A (opt)
B (opt)
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L (opt)
M
N
O
P
Q
Total of
Sections

ENTERPRISE – Coverage by section of NACE Rev.1

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

77 740
374
405
56 290
261
83 837
226 436
63 810
24 931
42 111
145 090
3 905
5 341
64 553
70 186
2 319
319

867 908

85 321
3 210
318
29 217
5 218
30 326
79 466
14 341
18 637
6 104
92 116
197
5 609
20 177
31 446
553
46

-
-
2 000
260 000
5 000
323 000
1 107 000
278 000
1 000
-
25 000
6 000
-
1 000
80 000
-
-

-
-
812
64 913
357
39 112
207 512
58 448
29 636
675
41 066
-
1 030
2 207
17 753
77
8

-
-
2 812
241 550
2 624
243 252
804 675
259 574
218 359
34 604
380 748
-
33 512
90 695
125 539
-
-

653 514
9 461
2 921
263 046
5 544
312 578
641 235
217 384
100 600
53 903
464 938
55 079
59 121
309 586
390 378
-
398

-
-
93
8 708
19
10 800
34 162
18 450
4 731
1 481
16 729
-
601
3 728
10 316
-
624

-
-
4 483
542 303
2 470
430 778
1 239 210
212 424
154 951
67 719
640 925
-
12 288
212 853
209 744
-
-

-
-
7
903
47
1 558
6 462
2 293
1 025
875
4 499
-
105
105
957
-
340

422 302

2 088 000

463 606

2 437 944

3 539 686

110 442

3 730 148

19 176

38 452
737
451
56 899
250
64 693
220 984
46 338
32 311
34 936
179 807
1 211
17 003
41 121
81 440
23
81

816 737

1 814
-
317
27 233
695
17 552
70 644
40 533
12 238
3 520
36 004
-
482
16 333
16 646
-
-

128 095
9 807
2 501
135 690
452
208 789
466 592
107 118
28 278
40 823
153 102
6 996
8 576
11 467
76 153
2
111

11 318
1 970
1 636
34 212
1 238
33 121
65 204
11 772
25 318
5 908
66 106
1 582
2 513
19 510
34 298
46
4

160 623
1 027
625
49 025
1 160
50 164
119 689
20 092
32 044
4 608
149 930
867
6 691
14 828
51 063
4
45

183 562
4 687
2 377
185 567
351
195 714
453 220
129 636
83 380
31 492
431 850
2 673
16 450
63 937
181 220
-
-

88 188
10 571
1 189
28 599
984
45 705
84 742
13 806
31 045
2 058
80 310
4 414
4 538
18 868
28 442
3 222
14

244 011

1 384 552

315 756

662 485

1 966 116

446 695

19 515 564

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

80 137
380
385
55 347
277
80 702
221001
62 744
23 333
9 020
128 105
661
5 492
17 374
63 183
3 007
236

751 384

87 656
3 461
340
30 631
5 104
29 352
80 504
14 188
18 733
6 238
89 535
172
5 186
18 472
31 053
181
43

-
-
2 000
288 000
5 000
387 000
724 000
223 000
-
-
19 000
-
-
-
57 000
-
-

-
-
806
67 714
359
39 887
210 781
56 563
30 192
1 061
38 885
-
1 772
1 242
17 135
80
-

-
-
2 830
243 526
2 589
234 926
800 635
256 094
207 492
33 302
361 714
-
31 812
86 858
122 876
-
-

538 421
8 336
2 943
264 676
5 686
313 852
644 328
209 140
97 373
49 618
435 783
54 622
49 497
290 425
248244
-
395

-
-
78
7 786
19
8 850
31 766
17 761
4 517
1 318
15 258
-
545
3 624
9 668
-
465

-
-
4 968
601 737
2 234
467 629
1 267 190
225 838
183 640
70 103
600 296
-
11 336
191 500
232 075
-
-

-
-
6
901
45
1 539
6 540
2 475
990
842
4 411
-
108
100
960
-
340

420 849

1 705 000

466 477

2 384 654

3 213 339

101 655

3 858 546

19 257

38 058
775
527
57 453
217
62 224
225 298
46 311
32 147
45 281
183 341
1 219
17 133
41 067
79 292
26
77

830 446

42

1 894
-
378
34 662
781
20 351
92 705
46 701
15 067
3 841
43 814
-
483
19 847
18 877
-
-

63 599
8 620
3 042
146 768
466
195 161
467 886
101 196
28 732
39 804
135 252
7 010
7 926
9 455
74 822
-
119

11 003
2 461
1 636
36 478
1 260
36 323
70 854
12 183
25 521
10 131
82 272
1 977
2 111
16 359
26 902
28
3

179 423
906
619
47 317
1 165
49 261
116 901
19 357
31 747
4 542
141 444
731
5 804
13 944
48 071
28
61

155 801
4 850
2 438
187 176
310
201 249
456 712
128 760
83 247
32 676
430 067
2 701
14 716
64 931
181 951
-
-

-
-
1 352
30 862
1 400
50 392
91 639
14 794
35 054
3 466
65 888
4 340
3 528
16 667
26 459
232
16

299 401

1 289 858

337 502

661 321

1 947 585

346 089

18 633 363

1998

TOTAL
EU + NO

1 428 627
41 844
22 947
1 984 155
26 670
2 090 979
5 827 233
1 494 019
798 484
330 817
2 908 220
82 924
173 860
890 968
1 405 581
6 246
1 990

1997

TOTAL
EU + NO

1 155 992
29 789
24 348
2 101 034
26 912
2 178 698
5 508 740
1 437 105
817 785
311 243
2 775 065
73 433
157 449
791 865
1 238 568
3 582
1 755

1998/1997

TOTAL
EU + NO

123,58
140,47
94,25
94,44
99,10
95,97
105,78
103,96
97,64
106,29
104,80
112,92
110,42
112,52
113,48
174,37
113,39

104,73

MS + NO

Nace Rev.1

A (opt)
B (opt)
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L (opt)
M
N
O
P
Q
Total of
Sections

A (optional)

B (optional)

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L (optional)

M

N

O

P

Q

ENTERPRISE – Coverage by section of NACE Rev.1 (%)

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

97,01
98,42
105,19
101,70
94,22
103,88
102,46
101,70
106,85
466,86
113,26
590,77
97,25
371,55
111,08
77,12
135,17

115,51

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

97,34
92,75
93,53
95,38
102,23
103,32
98,71
101,08
99,49
97,85
102,88
114,53
108,16
109,23
101,27
305,52
106,98

100,35

-
-
100,00
90,28
100,00
83,46
152,90
124,66
-
-
131,58
-
-
-
140,35
-
-

122,46

-
-
100,74
95,86
99,44
98,06
98,45
103,33
98,16
63,62
105,61
-
58,13
177,70
103,61
96,25
-

99,38

-
-
99,36
99,19
101,35
103,54
100,50
101,36
105,24
103,91
105,26
-
105,34
104,42
102,17
-
-

102,23

121,38
113,50
99,25
99,38
97,50
99,59
99,52
103,94
103,31
108,64
106,69
100,84
119,44
106,60
157,26
-
100,76

110,16

-
-
119,23
111,84
100,00
122,03
107,54
103,88
104,74
112,37
109,64
-
110,28
102,87
106,70
-
134,19

108,64

-
-
90,24
90,12
110,56
92,12
97,79
94,06
84,38
96,60
106,77
-
108,40
111,15
90,38
-
-

96,67

-
-
116,67
100,22
104,44
101,23
98,81
92,65
103,54
103,92
102,00
-
97,22
105,00
99,69
-
100,00

99,58

101,04
95,10
85,58
99,04
115,21
103,97
98,09
100,06
100,51
77,15
98,07
99,34
99,24
100,13
102,71
88,46
105,19

98,35

95,78
-
83,86
78,57
88,99
86,25
76,20
86,79
81,22
91,64
82,17
-
99,79
82,29
88,18
-
-

81,50

201,41
113,77
82,22
92,45
97,00
106,98
99,72
105,85
98,42
102,56
113,20
99,80
108,20
121,28
101,78
-
93,28

107,34

102,86
80,05
100,00
93,79
98,25
91,18
92,03
96,63
99,20
58,32
80,35
80,02
119,04
119,26
127,49
164,29
133,33

93,56

89,52
113,36
100,97
103,61
99,57
101,83
102,38
103,80
100,94
101,45
106,00
118,60
115,28
106,34
106,22
14,29
73,77

100,18

117,82
96,64
97,50
99,14
113,23
97,25
99,24
100,68
100,16
96,38
100,41
98,96
111,78
98,47
99,60
-
-

100,95

-
-
87,94
92,67
70,29
90,70
92,47
93,32
88,56
59,38
121,89
101,71
128,63
113,21
107,49
1388,79
87,50

129,07

Agriculture, hunting and forestry

Fishing

Mining and quarrying

Manufacturing

Electricity, gas and water supply

Construction

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods"

Hotels and restaurants

Transport, storage and communication

Financial intermediation

Real estate, renting and business activities

Public administration and Defence; compulsory social security"

Education

Health and social work

Other community, social and personal service activities

Private households with employed persons

Extra-territorial organizations and bodies

43

MS + NO

Nace Rev.1

A (opt)
B (opt)
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L (opt)
M
N
O
P
Q
Total of
Sections

MS + NO

Nace Rev.1

B

A (opt)
B (opt)
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L (opt)
M
N
O
P
Q
Total of
Sections

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

LOCAL UNIT - Coverage by section of NACE Rev.1

B

DK

D

EL

S

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

87 037
3 349
459
32 697
5 565
31 746
90 809
16 183
21 542
8 959
98 941
2 234
9 079
31 289
36 687
571
49

-
-
2 000
283 000
5 000
351 000
1 207 000
303 000
1 000
-
27 000
6 000
-
1 000
88 000
-
-

-
-
965
71 934
1 018
42 441
219 508
64 705
34 354
702
41 984
-
1 342
3 475
18 936
82
11

-
-
3 637
261 508
3 803
261 368
953 185
279 979
237 387
79 785
407 172
-
40 004
97 410
139 477
-
-

664 275
9 844
4 992
323 536
12 153
332 995
792 271
249 431
140 773
97 237
533 293
179 326
72 625
352 038
429 516
-
662

-
-
164
9 220
115
11 007
36 677
18 848
4 826
1 661
17 423
-
625
4 200
10 848
-
624

-
-
8 051
691 038
7 879
532 986
1 552 510
261 097
209 548
120 093
732 488
-
16 969
234 796
241 255
-
-

-
-
15
1 023
70
1 600
6 760
2 374
1 118
1 234
4 505
-
111
105
977
-
340

477 196

2 274 000

501 457

2 764 715

4 194 967

116 238

4 608 710

20 232

38 588
752
543
63 095
630
67 529
255 245
49 132
37 459
41 300
187 263
1 691
17 854
41 725
83 073
23
99

886 001

1 948
-
670
33 668
1 367
19 639
93 665
45 322
18 742
10 199
39 613
-
602
16 853
19 705
-
-

128 701
9 837
2 734
138 174
625
209 489
481 590
108 788
29 751
42 719
154 371
7 004
9 282
11 965
76 645
2
111

12 187
2 011
1 669
36 698
2 415
34 712
75 040
14 870
29 173
7 924
71 369
9 471
9 561
31 364
40 035
46
4

161 215
1 029
840
53 222
2 301
52 138
130 630
21 223
37 550
7 807
156 174
3 272
11 406
50 136
55 982
4
45

184 638
4 829
4 773
217 064
3 316
205 441
571 235
164 165
103 670
55 596
491 789
28 467
96 201
97 155
203 644
-
-

88 443
10 524
1 163
26 685
1 508
40 819
77 990
11 853
29 294
4 049
58 572
6 207
8 349
24 967
26 624
1 127
9

301 993

1 411 788

378 549

744 974

2 431 983

418 183

21 530 986

DK

D

EL

S

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

93 272
3 749
640
37 933
5 472
32 151
101 482
18 098
21 512
11 676
104 882
472
5 765
21 075
34 722
198
48

-
-
3 000
300 000
9 000
391 000
863 000
237 000
-
-
19 000
-
-
-
57 000
-
-

-
-
937
71 753
966
40 053
217 510
57 331
33 269
2 474
39 461
-
1 842
1 274
17 390
80
-

-
-
4 000
263 829
4 398
273 192
945 348
275 383
226 681
77 960
390 826
-
37 852
93 260
138 887
-
-

544 208
8 535
4 680
312 963
11 494
329 640
766 659
230 969
136 468
90 200
487 594
151 382
58 143
319 506
273 308
-
578

-
-
113
8 205
115
8 867
35 704
18 424
4 826
1 554
16 302
-
569
4 140
10 811
-
465

-
-
9 572
872 000
14 086
659 073
1 728 445
309 022
256 927
131 795
728 794
-
17 433
224 283
296 569
-
-

493 147

1 879 000

484 340

2 731 616

3 726 327

110 095

5 247 999

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

-

38 698
785
617
63 151
575
65 316
261 088
49 973
37 364
52 123
192 158
1 487
17 773
41 519
82 254
26
93

905 000

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

-

44

64 525
8 654
3 369
153 892
1 197
196 934
487 180
102 862
30 496
42 122
137 543
7 709
8 707
10 197
74 849
-
119

11 851
2 507
1 767
38 957
2 346
37 743
80 541
15 513
29 488
12 479
87 652
10 103
9 124
28 173
32 740
28
3

180 337
923
870
51 121
2 978
51 705
128 061
20 815
36 646
7 798
148 134
5 266
12 846
38 439
57 785
28
61

156 939
4 968
4 277
216 786
3 249
213 353
569 454
158 588
103 358
59 334
482 326
25 992
92 822
96 092
207 814
-
-

-
-
1 610
31 439
1 945
49 804
97 073
14 646
36 606
6 048
57 626
6 586
9 003
26 980
27 770
221
16

1 330 355

401 015

743 813

2 395 352

367 373

20 815 432

1998

TOTAL
EU + NO

1 367 032
42 175
32 675
2 242 562
47 765
2 194 910
6 544 115
1 610 970
936 187
479 265
3 021 957
243 672
294 010
998 478
1 471 404
1 855
1 954

1997

TOTAL
EU + NO

1 089 830
30 121
35 452
2 422 029
57 821
2 348 831
6 281 545
1 508 624
953 641
495 563
2 873 298
208 997
271 879
904 938
1 311 899
581
1 383

MS + NO

Nace Rev.1

A (opt)
B (opt)
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L (opt)
M
N
O
P
Q
Total of
Sections

A (optional)

B (optional)

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L (optional)

M

N

O

P

Q

1998/1997

TOTAL
EU + NO

125,44
140,02
92,17
92,59
82,61
93,45
104,18
106,78
98,17
96,71
104,48
116,59
108,14
110,34
112,16
319,28
141,29

103,44

LOCAL UNIT - Coverage by section of NACE Rev.1 (%)

B

DK

D

EL

S

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

93,32
89,33
71,72
86,20
101,70
98,74
89,48
89,42
100,14
76,73
94,34
473,31
157,48
148,47
105,66
288,38
102,08

96,77

-
-
66,67
94,33
55,56
89,77
139,86
127,85
-
-
142,11
-
-
-
154,39
-
-

121,02

-
-
102,99
100,25
105,38
105,96
100,92
112,86
103,26
28,38
106,39
-
72,86
272,76
108,89
102,50
-

103,53

-
-
90,93
99,12
86,47
95,67
100,83
101,67
104,72
102,34
104,18
-
105,69
104,45
100,42
-
-

101,21

122,06
115,34
106,67
103,38
105,73
101,02
103,34
107,99
103,15
107,80
109,37
118,46
124,91
110,18
157,15
-
114,53

112,58

-
-
145,13
112,37
100,00
124,13
102,73
102,30
100,00
106,89
106,88
-
109,84
101,45
100,34
-
134,19

105,58

-
-
84,11
79,25
55,93
80,87
89,82
84,49
81,56
91,12
100,51
-
97,34
104,69
81,35
-
-

87,82

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

-

99,72
95,80
88,01
99,91
109,57
103,39
97,76
98,32
100,25
79,24
97,45
113,72
100,46
100,50
101,00
88,46
106,45

97,90

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

-

199,46
113,67
81,15
89,79
52,21
106,38
98,85
105,76
97,56
101,42
112,23
90,85
106,60
117,34
102,40
-
93,28

106,12

102,84
80,22
94,45
94,20
102,94
91,97
93,17
95,86
98,93
63,50
81,42
93,74
104,79
111,33
122,28
164,29
133,33

94,40

89,40
111,48
96,55
104,11
77,27
100,84
102,01
101,96
102,47
100,12
105,43
62,13
88,79
130,43
96,88
14,29
73,77

100,16

117,65
97,20
111,60
100,13
102,06
96,29
100,31
103,52
100,30
93,70
101,96
109,52
103,64
101,11
97,99
-
-

101,53

-
-
72,24
84,88
77,53
81,96
80,34
80,93
80,03
66,95
101,64
94,25
92,74
92,54
95,87
509,95
56,25

113,83

Agriculture, hunting and forestry

Fishing

Mining and quarrying

Manufacturing

Electricity, gas and water supply

Construction

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods

Hotels and restaurants

Transport, storage and communication

Financial intermediation

Real estate, renting and business activities

Public administration and Defence; compulsory social security

Education

Health and social work

Other community, social and personal service activities

Private households with employed persons

Extra-territorial organizations and bodies

45

MS +NO

Variable

a

b

b (opt)

c

d

e

f

g (opt)

h (opt)

i

j

k

MS +NO

Variable

a

b

b (opt)

c

d

e

f

g (opt)

h (opt)

i

j

k

Table 3: Variables registered by statistical unit (absolute and relative figures)

LEGAL UNIT – Variables of the Regulation

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

1998

868 518

868 518

-

868 518

868 518

868 518

868 518

-

-

868 518

868 518

868 518

422 302

422 302

400 000

-

422 302

422 302

422 302

-

422 302

422 302

422 302

-

2 088 000

2 088 000

-

-

-

-

2 088 000

-

-

-

-

-

463 606

463 606

382 125

463 606

463 606

463 606

462 112

-

-

-

-

-

2 438 786

2 438 786

4 942 943

4 942 943

157 058

4 942 943

2 438 786

4 942 943

2 438 786

4 942 943

-

-

2 438 786

4 942 943

-

-

2 438 786

2 438 786

149 620

-

4 942 943

4 942 943

2 438 786

4 942 943

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

946 308

946 308

-

946 308

946 308

946 308

882 383

-

-

946 308

946 308

946 308

420 849

420 849

400 000

-

420 849

420 849

420 849

420 849

420 849

420 849

420 849

-

1 705 000

1 705 000

-

-

-

-

1 705 000

-

-

-

-

-

466 477

466 477

345 000

466 477

466 477

466 477

450 685

-

-

-

-

-

2 384 654

2 384 654

4 587 648

4 587 648

415 132

4 587 648

2 384 654

4 587 648

2 384 654

4 587 648

-

-

2 384 654

4 587 648

-

-

2 384 654

2 384 654

138 366

-

4 587 648

4 587 648

2 384 654

4 587 648

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

46

3 730 148

3 730 148

1 979 357

-

19 365

19 365

-

-

3 730 148

19 365

-

-

905 215

884 592

757 460

301 443

808 639

-

244 989

244 989

74 539

1 384 552

1 384 552

-

-

12 427

315 756

315 756

284 000

-

662 891

662 891

530 312

1 973 317

1 973 317

-

-

1 973 317

50 005

1 155 197

315 756

-

-

-

3 730 148

19 365

905 111

123 099

1 384 552

315 756

-

-

-

3 730 148

-

-

-

-

-

135 689

-

251

-

19 365

150 742

-

-

3 408

230 248

57 876

100

10 000

-

-

-

-

315 756

662 891

7 376

-

-

1 973 317

662 891

662 891

662 891

-

-

-

1 973 317

1 973 317

1 973 317

-

1 973 317

1 973 317

1 973 317

-
-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1997

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

3 858 546

3 858 546

1 867 536

-

19 257

19 257

-

-

3 258 546

19 257

-

-

3 858 546

19 257

-

-

-

3 858 546

-

-

-

-

-

-

843 356

843 356

757 668

244 436

780 876

780 876

843 201

251

150 742

-

759 020

120 619

269 490

269 490

49 299

-

36 460

29 785

1 289 858

1 289 858

-

9 701

1 036 573

-

114 259

1 279 730

-

-

3 520

193 549

59 032

-

-

-

-

7 376

337 502

337 502

230 000

-

337 502

337 502

337 502

13

4 300

337 502

337 502

-

661 727

661 727

542 616

1 952 348

1 952 348

-

-

1 952 348

661 727

661 727

661 727

-

-

-

-

-

1 952 348

1 952 348

1 952 348

1 952 348

1 952 348

1 952 348

1 952 348

393 762
393 762

-

104 215

393 762

99 438

393 762

-

-

1 465

393 762

-

LEGAL UNIT – Variables of the Regulation (%)

1998/1997

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

91,78

91,78

-

91,78

91,78

91,78

98,43

-

-

91,78

91,78

91,78

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

100,35

100,35

100,00

-

100,35

100,35

100,35

-

100,35

100,35

100,35

-

122,46

122,46

-

-

-

-

99,38

99,38

110,76

99,38

99,38

99,38

102,27

102,27

37,83

102,27

102,27

-

122,46

102,54

102,27

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

102,27

102,27

102,27

107,74

107,74

107,74

107,74

107,74

-

107,74

108,13

-

107,74

107,74

107,74

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

96,67

96,67

105,99

-

114,47

-

96,67

-

-

-

96,67

-

100,56

100,56

-

-

100,56

-

107,33

104,89

99,97

123,32

103,56

-

90,91

90,91

151,20

-

137,15

-

107,34

107,34

-

128,10

111,44

-

100,56

107,34

107,74

108,19

-

-

-

-

-

-

90,01

-

0,03

124,97

-

-

96,82

118,96

98,04

-

-

-

-

100,00

93,56

93,56

123,48

-

93,56

-

93,56

-

232,56

-

93,56

-

100,18

100,18

97,73

-

100,18

100,18

100,18

-

-

-

-

-

101,07

101,07

-

101,07

101,07

101,07

101,07

-

101,07

101,07

101,07

101,07

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

identity number
name, address including postcode
telephone, electronic mail, fax numbers and telex address
requirement for the legal unit to publish its annual accounts (Yes/No)
date of incorporation for legal persons or date of official recognition as an economic operator for natural persons
date on which the LEGAL UNIT ceases to be legally responsible for an enterprise
legal form of the unit
name and address of any non-resident legal unit, other than a natural person, which controls the legal unit
identity number of the legal unit in the register which controls the legal unit
character of 'public undertaking' of the legal unit within the meaning of Commission Directive 80/723/EEC (Yes/No) (for legal persons only)
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
reference to the register of intra-Community operators drawn up in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) Nº3330/91 of 7 November on the statistical relating to the trading of goods
between Member States

MS +NO

Variable

a

b

b (opt)

c

d

e

f

g (opt)

h (opt)

i

j

k

a
b
b (optional)
c
d
e
f
g (optional)
h (optional)
i
j
k

47

ENTERPRISE – Variables of the Regulation

1998

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

867 908

422 302

2 088 000

463 606

2 437 944

3 539 686

110 442

3 730 148

867 908

422 302

-

463 606

2 437 944

3 539 686

110 442

3 730 148

867 908

422 302

2 088 000

382 125

2 072 252

3 539 586

110 442

3 730 148

19 176

19 176

19 176

816 773

244 011

1 384 552

315 756

662 485

1 966 116

396 294

816 773

244 011

1 384 552

-

662 485

1 966 116

-

673 942

236 998

1 384 552

315 756

662 485

1 966 116

372 048

867 908

16 000

522 000

-

246 114

-

110 442

-

-

816 737

11 620

163 699

8 000

662 485

1 966 116

17 741

867 908

422 302

2 088 000

463 606

2 437 944

3 539 586

110 442

3 730 148

19 176

816 772

244 011

434 108

315 756

662 485

1 966 116

139 199

330 518

2 437 944

3 539 586

110 442

3 730 148

-

816 770

5 645

1 155 197

315 756

662 485

1 966 116

396 293

MS + NO

Variable

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

867 908

422 302

867 908

422 302

-

-

463 606

2 437 944

-

110 442

-

867 908

422 302

1 566 000

463 606

2 437 944

2 000 000

92 000

3 167 689

19 176

19 176

i (opt)

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

MS + NO

Variable

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

751 384

420 849

1 705 000

466 477

2 384 654

3 213 339

101 655

3 858 546

751 384

420 849

-

466 477

2 384 654

3 213 339

101 655

3 858 546

751 384

420 849

1 705 000

422 161

1 940 820

3 213 339

101 655

3 858 546

751 384

15 896

426 250

-

210 144

-

101 655

-

751 384

420 849

1 705 000

466 477

2 384 654

3 213 339

101 655

3 858 546

751 384

420 849

751 384

420 849

-

-

233 238

2 384 654

3 213 339

101 655

3 858 546

466 477

2 384 654

-

101 655

-

-

420 849

1 278 750

466 477

2 384 654

2 000 000

84 132

3 140 856

i (opt)

751 384

420 849

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

48

307 973

-

537 958

315 756

662 485

1 966 116

287 100

-

219 315

78 989

-

-

-

315 756

205 600

-

-

1 966 116

163 467

-

104 017

1997

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

830 446

269 165

1 289 858

830 446

269 165

1 289 858

830 446

256 835

1 255 838

16 609

7 960

137 394

830 446

269 165

414 164

671 944

36 460

1 036 573

357 046

29 775

-

148 500

-

840

-

569 049

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

661 321

1 947 585

346 089

661 321

1 947 585

292 512

661 321

1 947 585

292 512

-

1 947 585

-

661 321

1 947 585

158 371

661 321

1 947 585

346 089

661 321

1 947 585

53 577

-

-

1 947 585

170 135

2 000

-

ENTERPRISE – Variables of the Regulation (%)

1998/1997

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

115,51

115,51

115,51

115,51

115,51

115,51

115,51

-

-

100,35

100,35

100,35

100,65

100,35

100,35

100,35

100,35

-

122,46

-

122,46

122,46

122,46

-

-

122,46

-

99,38

99,38

90,52

-

99,38

141,71

99,38

99,38

-

102,23

102,23

106,77

117,12

102,23

102,23

102,23

102,23

110,16

110,16

110,15

-

110,15

110,15

-

100,00

-

108,64

108,64

108,64

108,64

108,64

108,64

108,64

109,35

-

96,67

96,67

96,67

-

96,67

96,67

-

100,85

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

98,35

98,35

81,15

90,65

90,65

92,28

4917,44

145,98

98,35

121,55

86,26

90,65

15,48

-

-

-

26108,93

-

107,34

107,34

110,25

119,15

104,82

111,44

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

100,18

100,18

100,18

-

100,18

100,18

100,18

-

-

100,95

100,95

100,95

100,95

100,95

100,95

100,95

100,95

-

114,51

-

127,19

-

87,89

114,51

535,86

96,08

-

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

identity number
identity number(s) of the legal unit(s) legally responsible for the enterprise
activity code of the enterprise at four-digit (class) level of NACE Rev1 in which the principal activity or all the activities of the enterprise is or are included
secondary activities, if any, at NACE Rev1 four-digit level, if they amount to 10% of the total of all activities
size: measured by the number of persons occupied or, failing that, by allocation to one of the following classes according to the number of persons occupied
date of commencement of activities of the enterprise
date of final cessation of activities of the enterprise
net turnover from sale of goods and services (except for financial intermediaries); falling that, allocation to a size class defined
net assets (assets after allowing for depreciation less liabilities - financial intermediaries only) (optional)

MS + NO

Variable

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i (opt)

a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i (optional)

49

LOCAL UNIT – Variables of the Regulation

1998

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

2 274 000

2 274 000

-

2 274 000

522 000

2 274 000

-

-

2 274 000

-

484 340

484 340

362 863

440 024

-

-

484 340

251 101

484 340

484 340

2 764 715

2 764 715

4 194 967

4 194 967

116 238

116 238

4 608 710

4 608 710

-

4 194 967

65 000

1 979 357

20 232

20 232

-

2 304 918

4 194 967

116 238

4 608 710

20 232

189 150

-

2 764 715

4 194 967

2 764 715

2 764 715

4 194 967

-

2 764 715

4 194 967

2 764 715

4 194 967

-

116 238

116 238

116 238

116 238

116 238

116 238

116 238

-

4 608 710

4 608 710

-

4 608 710

4 608 710

4 608 710

-

886 074

886 074

796 176

864 213

-

852 528

808 450

-

-

19 365

20 232

-

20 232

886 074

20 232

886 074

-

2 274 000

-

2 764 715

4 194 967

-

484 340

2 630 000

7 600

301 993

301 993

72 873

294 866

10 793

301 993

57 286

-

301 993

191 045

301 993

2 464

1 411 788

1 411 788

-

1 411 788

210 359

-

1 155 211

-

1 411 788

378 500

378 500

290 000

378 500

-

378 500

378 500

378 500

378 500

744 974

744 974

595 200

744 974

12 000

744 974

744 974

744 974

744 974

2 431 983

2 431 983

-

2 431 983

-

2 431 983

2 431 983

2 431 983

2 431 983

-

-

8 000

2 431 983

442 723

442 723

418 173

19 615

-

172 204

416 022

273 230

442 652

-

1 411 788

378 500

744 974

2 431 983

441 688

-

1 900

2 500

2 431 983

5 414

1997

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

2 395 352

2 395 352

-

367 370

367 370

-

2 395 352

356 691

905 000

905 000

819 457

882 093

-

857 009

820 911

389 100

905 000

-

905 000

-

314 506

314 506

47 265

314 474

7 499

314 506

39 055

61 284

314 506

192 349

314 506

1 994

1 330 355

1 330 355

-

177 689

5 115

-

1 296 133

-

1 330 355

-

1 330 355

-

401 015

401 015

245 000

390 000

-

401 015

401 015

401 015

401 015

37 000

401 015

1 900

743 813

743 813

595 050

669 432

12 000

743 813

743 813

743 813

743 813

-

2 395 352

2 395 352

2 395 352

2 395 352

8 000

2 395 352

743 813

2 395 352

2 500

1 000

-

171 411

367 370

74 480

367 370

367 370

367 370

7 377

MS + NO

Variable

a

b

b (opt)

c

d (opt)

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

MS + NO

Variable

B

a

b

b (opt)

c

d (opt)

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

-
-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

477 196

477 196

430 000

477 196

20 000

477 196

477 196

477 196

477 196

477 196

477 196

477 196

491 347

491 347

420 000

491 347

20 000

493 147

493 147

493 147

493 147

493 147

493 147

493 147

2 731 616

2 731 616

3 726 327

3 726 327

110 095

110 095

5 247 999

5 247 999

-

3 726 327

55 123

1 867 536

2 194 338

3 726 327

110 095

2 194 338

1 879 000

1 879 000

-

1 879 000

469 750

1 879 000

-

-

1 879 000

-

484 340

484 340

362 863

440 024

-

-

484 340

251 101

484 340

484 340

173 879

-

2 731 616

3 726 327

2 731 616

2 731 616

3 726 327

-

2 731 616

3 726 327

2 731 616

3 726 327

1 879 000

-

2 731 616

3 726 327

-

484 340

2 600 000

7 600

-

110 095

110 095

110 095

110 095

110 095

110 095

110 094

-

5 247 999

5 247 999

-

5 247 999

5 247 999

5 247 999

-

50

MS + NO

Variable

a

b

b (opt)

c

d (opt)

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

a
b
b (optional)
c
d (optional)
e
f
g
h
i
j
k

LOCAL UNIT – Variables of the Regulation (%)

1998/1997

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

97,12

97,12

102,38

97,12

100,00

96,77

96,77

96,77

96,77

96,77

96,77

96,77

121,02

121,02

-

121,02

111,12

121,02

-

-

121,02

-

121,02

100,00

100,00

100,00

100,00

-

-

100,00

100,00

100,00

100,00

-

-

100,00

101,21

101,21

-

105,04

108,78

101,21

101,21

101,21

101,21

101,21

101,21

101,15

112,58

112,58

112,58

112,58

-

112,58

112,58

-

112,58

112,58

112,58

100,00

105,58

105,58

117,92

105,58

-

105,58

105,58

105,58

105,58

105,58

105,58

105,58

87,82

87,82

105,99

210,03

-

87,82

87,82

-

87,82

87,82

87,82

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

97,91

97,91

97,16

97,97

96,02

96,02

154,18

106,12

106,12

94,39

94,39

-

118,37

93,76

794,53

97,05

-

143,93

4112,59

99,48

98,48

-

97,91

-

97,91

96,02

146,68

-

96,02

99,32

96,02

-

89,13

-

106,12

-

106,12

-

94,39

94,39

94,39

94,39

-

-

-

123,57

-

100,00

100,16

100,16

100,03

111,28

100,00

100,16

100,16

100,16

100,16

100,00

100,16

100,00

101,53

101,53

-

101,53

-

101,53

101,53

101,53

101,53

101,53

101,53

101,53

120,51

120,51

-

5,50

-

100,46

113,24

366,85

120,49

-

120,23

73,39

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

identity number
name, address including postcode
telephone, electronic mail, fax numbers and telex address
activity code at the four digit (class) level of NACE Rev1
secondary activities, if any, at the four digit level
size of labour force
date of commencement of the activities
date of final cessation of activities
geographical location code (territorial units)
reference to associated registers in which the local unit appears and which contain information which can be used for statistical purposes
identity number in the register of the enterprise on which the local unit is dependent
activity carried out in the local unit constituting an ancillary activity of the enterprise on which it depends (Yes/No)

51

Table 4: Sources for business registers by type of statistical unit

SOURCES

Legal Unit

MS + NO

Source
Tax registers
Social security registers
Trade registers
Exclusive registers surveys
Feedback from other surveys
Other sources

Other sources:

B

Y
Y
N
Y
N
Y

DK

Y
N
N
N
N
Y

D

N
N
N
N
N
N

EL

Y
N
N
Y
Y
N

E

Y
Y
N
Y
Y
N

F

-
-
Y
Y
Y
Y

IRL

N
N
N
N
N
N

I

Y
Y
Y
N
N
Y

L

Y
N
N
Y
N
Y

NL

N
Y
Y
Y
N
N

A

N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y

English translation

P

Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y

FIN

Y
Y
Y
Y
N
N

S

Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y

1998

UK

NO

Tot " Y "

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y

11
7
7
12
8
10

- Fichier "comptes annuels" de la Centrale des Bilans de la BNB

B
DK - Feed-back from customers and sections in Statistics Denmark producing business statistics
D - Gewerbeanzeigen bei der Gemeindeverwaltung
- les CFE( Centre de Formalités des Entreprises)
F
- Répertoire des unités contrôlés majoritairement par l'Etat,
F
- Enquêtes annuelles d'entreprises,
F
- Istituto Nazionale sulla assicurazione sugli infortuni sul lavoro
I
- Banca d'Italia
I
L
- Service Répertoire national des personnes physiques et morales
A - Mitgliederdatei der wirtschafstkammer Osterreich
P
P
FIN - files from National Board of Customs
S
S
S
UK - Companies House Register
UK - Dun and Bradstreet (World-dbase) - also used for enterprise group
N - Business licences files
N - Register of legal units

- Statistics Sweden.
- PRV, direct information from Swedish Patent and Registration office and annual accounts
- SVAAB (subsidiary to the Swedish Post) which handles change in mailing addresses.

- Quadros de Pessoal - Ministério do Trabalho e Solidariedade
- Banco de Portugal

"Current accounts" file of the BNB financial reporting centre

Job announcements at the Council administration
The CFEs (Centres for Company Compliance)
Register of units under majority State control

INAIL (National Insurance Institute against Accidents at work)
Bank of Italy
National Registry of Persons and Companies
Austrian Chamber of Commerce membership file
Personnel Registry - Ministry of Labour and Solidarity
Bank of Portugal
Files from National Board of Customs

Enterprise

MS + NO

Source
Tax registers
Social security registers
Trade registers
Exclusive registers surveys
Feedback from other surveys
Other sources

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

Tot " Y "

Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y

Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y

N
N
N
N
Y
Y

Y
N
Y
Y
Y
N

Y
Y
N
Y
Y
N

Y
Y
Y
Y
N
Y

Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y

N
N
N
Y
Y
N

N
N
N
N
Y
N

N
Y
Y
Y
Y
N

N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y

Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y

N
N
N
N
N
N

N
N
N
N
N
Y

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
N

Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y

9
7
7
12
13
9

1998

- Enquêtes annuelles d'entreprises,

- Fichier "comptes annuels" de la Centrale des Bilans de la BNB

Other sources:
B
DK - Feed-back from customers and sections in Statistics Denmark producing business statistics
D - Gewerbeanzeigen bei der Gemeindeverwaltung
F
IRL - Public utility listing
IRL - Local Authority and Governemt listings (1997 onwards)
L
A - Mitgliederdatei der wirtschafstkammer Osterreich
P
P
S
N - Business licences files
N - Register of legal units

- Quadros de Pessoal - Ministério do Trabalho e Solidariedade
- Banco de Portugal
- PRV, direct information from Swedish Patent and Registration office and annual accounts.

- Enquêtes structure et activité

Local Unit

MS + NO

Source
Tax registers
Social security registers
Trade registers
Exclusive registers surveys
Feedback from other surveys
Other sources

B

DK

D

EL

E

F

IRL

I

L

NL

A

P

FIN

S

UK

NO

Tot " Y "

N
N
N
N
N
N

Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y

N
N
N
N
Y
Y

Y
N
N
Y
Y
N

Y
Y
N
Y
Y
N

Y
Y
N
Y
N
Y

N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y

N
N
Y
Y
Y
Y

N
N
N
N
Y
N

N
Y
Y
N
N
N

N
N
N
Y
N
N

N
N
N
Y
Y
Y

N
N
N
Y
N
N

Y
N
N
Y
Y
Y

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
N

Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y

7
5
4
12
11
8

1998

Other sources:
DK - Feed-back from customers and sections in Statistics Denmark producing business statistics
D - Gewerbeanzeigen bei der Gemeindeverwaltung
- les CFE( Centre de Formalités des Entreprises)
F
F
- Enquêtes annuelles d'entreprises,
IRL - Public utility listing
IRL - Local Authority and Governemt listings (1997 onwards)
I
L
P
S
S
N - Business licences files
N - Register of legal units

- Ente Nazionale per l'energia elettrica
- Enquêtes structure et activité
- Quadros de Pessoal - Ministério do Trabalho e Solidariedade
- Statistics Sweden.
- SVAAB (subsidiary to the Swedish Post) which handles change in mailing addresses.

52

ANNEX 2

Overview of financial support to Member States, 1993-1997

Country

Austria
Belgium

Germany

Greece

Spain

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Portugal

Finland

United Kingdom

EU total

Year

1997
1993
1994
total
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
total
1995
total
1993
1994
1995
total
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
total
1993
1994
1995
1996
total
1996
total
1997
total
1996
1997
total
1996
1997
total
1996
1997
total
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
Total

Amount
(ECU)

Main area of support

coverage and quality (matching of sources)
coverage and quality (matching of sources)

classifications; quality (variables)

coverage
coverage
system development and coverage

coverage
coverage
coverage
coverage
coverage

system development
system development
system development
system development
system development

31,531
30,000
30,000
60,000
90,000
100,000
150,000
150,000
75,000
565,000
188,172
188,172
260,000
240,000
100,000
600,000
100,000
100,000
150,000
65,400
23,400
438,800
120,000
130,000
238,000
150,000 methods and analysis
638,000
25,000
25,000
30,000
30,000
75,000
30.000
105,000
34,600
31,800
66,400
50,000
40,000
90,000
600,000
600,000
826,172
550,000
261,731
2,837,903

coverage
quality survey

coverage
coverage

coverage

quality (source analysis)

coverage
quality (large enterprises)

coverage
coverage
standards and system development

53