Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on quarterly financial accounts for general government
Date: 2004-01-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: data collection, data transmission, financial statistics, public accounting, public administration

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 14.1.2004
COM(2004) 25 final

2003/0095 (COD)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty

concerning the

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European
Parliament and of the Council on quarterly financial accounts for general government

EN

  EN

2003/0095 (COD)

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty

concerning the

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European
Parliament and of the Council on quarterly financial accounts for general government

1.

BACKGROUND

Proposal submitted to the European Parliament and to the
Council (COM(2003) 242 - 2003/0095 (COD)) :

8 May 2002

Opinion of the European Parliament (first reading) :

21 October 2003

Adoption of the common position by the Council :

22 December 2003

2.

AIM OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

The report of the Monetary Committee on statistical requirements in EMU, endorsed
by the Ecofin Council of 18 January 1999, stressed the need – amongst others – to
make  available  for  various  policy  purposes  quarterly  accounts  for  the  general
government sector, as defined in ESA95. Two regulations were adopted in 2000 and
2002 as regards non-financial data.

The  proposed  Regulation  deals  with  financial  transactions,  financial  assets  and
liabilities. As a result, the intention of the Commission was to require Member States
to be providing a full set of accounts at the horizon of June 2005.

The Regulation was then prepared according to the normal procedure, that is in close
cooperation  with  experts  from  Member  States.  This  Regulation  has  needed  more
time  than  the  non-financial  second  Regulation  (2002)  because  of  certain  specific
requirements.

3.

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION

3.1.

General

At  first  reading,  the  European  Parliament  approved  the  Commission's  proposal
subject to  an amendment  that, firstly,  shifts  the  date  for  the  first  transmission  from
30 June 2003 to 31 December 2003 and, secondly, introduces the possibility that the
Commission  may  grant  derogations,  not  exceeding  two  years,  exclusively  for  the
information on the counterpart sector, as defined in an Annex to the proposal.

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3.2.

Decisions on the European Parliament's amendment after first reading

The Commission has agreed to the amendment proposed by the Parliament, notably
because  the  collection  of  information  on  the  counterpart  sector  raises  specific
difficulties  in  some  countries  and  may  need  rather  significant  adaptations.  The
Council has endorsed this amendment in substance, as regards the information on the
counterpart sector, within its common position.

3.3.

New provisions introduced by the Council and the Commission's position.

Seven new provisions have been incorporated (Article 6) into the Council's common
position and are fully supported by the Commission:

– 

Shifting the date of the first transmission from 31 December 2003 to 30 June
2004.

The  Commission  recognises  that  the  adoption  of  the  proposal  took  more  time  than
was expected and, therefore, this change is necessary.

– 

Changing the extent of derogations from 2 years to 18 months.

The  Commission  had  indicated  that  the  date  of  31  December  2005  was  absolutely
imperative and is satisfied by this amendment.

– 

Adding  a  possibility  of  derogation  (18  months)  for  the  starting  date  of
transmission  of  “some  data”  for  the  sub-sector  central  government  (S.1311)
and  social  security  funds  (S.1314)  that  shall  be  transmitted  no  later  than
30 June 2004.

The  Commission  is  aware  that  the  national  statistical  systems  require  major
adaptations on which work began late and in some cases has not yet begun, and that
some  of  these  adaptations  have  turned  out  to  need  more  time  than  previously
expected.  However,  as  the  Commission  has  been  insisting  for  several  years  on  the
priority  given  to  these  sub-sectors  (notably  following  the  recommendations  of  the
ECB),  such  additional  derogations  should  cover  only  certain  financial  instruments
(and most likely relating to transactions in financial assets and to financial assets).

– 

Adding  a  possibility  of  derogation  (18  months)  for  the  starting  date  of
transmission of transactions in liabilities and liabilities for the sub-sector state
government (S.1312) and the sub-sector local government (S.1313) that are to
be transmitted no later than 30 June 2004.

The  Commission  is  fully  aware  of  the  difficulties  in  some  countries.  The  great
number of local units and/or, in some cases, the  need to  change the  legislation, are
such  that  the  adaptations  require  delays  that  were  under-estimated  by  experts  from
Member States when preparing the Regulation.

– 

Adding  a  possibility  of  derogation  (6  months)  for  the  starting  date  of
transmission of transactions in  financial  assets  and  financial  liabilities  for  the
sub-sector  state  government  (S.1312)  and  the  sub-sector  local  government
(S.1313) that are to be transmitted no later than 30 June 2005.

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The  Commission  agrees  to  examine,  on  a  case-by-case  basis,  the  requests  for
derogation that could stem from the need of “testing” the reporting system before any
official transmission.

– 

Adding  a  possibility  of  derogation  (6  months)  for  the  starting  date  of
transmission of data for the general government sector (S.13) to be transmitted
no later than 30 June 2005.

This change is the logical consequence of the above-mentioned amendments.

– 

Adding  a  possibility  of  derogation  (6  months)  for  the  starting  date  of
transmission of data for other  accounts receivable/payable  (F.7  and  AF.7)  for
the  general  government  sector  (S.13)  and  its  sub-sectors  to  be  transmitted  no
later than 30 June 2005.

In the course of the discussion within the Expert Group in Council, the Commission
was  informed  that  some  Member  States might  not  have achieved  full  adaptation  of
the  reporting  system  for  these  specific  items.  The  Commission  accepts  this  new
provision as  it is  aware of some severe  difficulties  in  the  collection  of  these  items,
notably for local units.

4.

CONCLUSION

The  common  position  adds  some  flexibility  to  the  requirements  established  in  the
Regulation but as such the common position still fully addresses the objectives of the
Regulation  proposed  by  the  Commission.  It  respects  specific  national  situations
without  a  negative  effect  on  the  needs  of  users.  The  Commission  will  be  open-
minded to all requests for derogations, provided that the Member States can justify
that the implementation of the effective adaptation of the national statistical systems
has begun, as required by the usual rules for granting such derogations. Under these
conditions  and  for  the  reasons  set  out  above,  the  Commission  hereby  expresses  a
favourable opinion on the common position of the Council adopted unanimously.

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