Commission Regulation (EC) No 642/2004 of 6 April 2004 on precision requirements for data collected in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2004-04-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: carriage of goods, data collection, road transport, transport statistics

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 642/2004

of 6 April 2004

on precision requirements for data collected in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/
98 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Article 2

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 of 25
May 1998 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of
goods by road (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2),
and in particular Article 4 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

the Commission shall ensure that

In accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) 1172/
the statistical
98,
results transmitted by the Member States meet minimum
standards of precision, taking account of the structural
characteristics of road transport in the Member States.

In accordance with Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) 1172/
98, Member States shall provide Eurostat with informa-
tion each year on sample sizes, non-response rates and,
in the form of standard error or confidence intervals, the
reliability of the main results.

It is necessary to specify the structure and content of the
minimum standards of precision of the statistical results
transmitted by the Member States.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion delivered by the Statistical
Programme Committee, set up by Council Decision 89/
382/EEC, Euratom (3),

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Time periods to be covered in a survey

1. Where the methods used by Member States in compiling
the data involve sample methodology, all time periods shall be
covered by the survey.

2. Where the total stock of goods road motor vehicles in a
Member State that can be included in the survey is less than
25 000 vehicles, or the total stock of vehicles engaged in inter-
national transport is less than 3 000 vehicles, the minimum
number of weeks covered by the survey in a quarter shall be
seven.

(1) OJ L 163, 6.6.1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

Percentage standard error

1. Where the methods used by Member States in compiling
the data involve sample methodology, the percentage standard
error (95 % confidence) of the annual estimates for tonnes
transported, tonne-kilometres performed and total kilometres
travelled loaded for total goods road transport and for national
goods road transport shall not be greater than ± 5 %.

2. Where the total stock of goods road motor vehicles rele-
vant to the survey in a Member State is less than 25 000 vehi-
cles, or the total stock of vehicles engaged in international
transport is less than 3 000 vehicles, the percentage standard
error (95 % confidence) of the annual estimates for tonnes
transported, tonne-kilometres performed and total kilometres
travelled loaded for total goods road transport and for national
goods road transport shall not be greater than ± 7 %.

Article 3

Information to be provided to Eurostat

1. Member States shall provide Eurostat with information
each quarter to permit the calculation of sample size, response
rates and register quality rates. Where the primary sample unit
is the goods road motor vehicle,
the information shall be
provided in the format of Table B1 in the Annex to this Regu-
lation. Where the primary sample unit is not the goods road
motor vehicle, the information shall be provided in the format
of Table B2 in the Annex to this Regulation. The table shall be
provided within the same timescale as for the transmission of
the data set out in Article 5(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1172/98.

For the purposes of this Article, the following definitions shall
apply:

(a) ‘response rate’ means a value, of which the denominator is
the number of sample units to which questionnaires were
despatched to the selected operators, and of which the
numerator is the number of sample units to which ques-
tionnaires were despatched, minus the aggregate of the
number of units refusing to participate and the number of
units for which no information of any kind was received;

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(b) ‘register quality rate’ means a value, of which the denomi-
nator is the number of sample units to which question-
naires were despatched, minus the aggregate of the number
of units refusing to participate and the number of units for
which no information of any kind was received, and of
which the numerator is the number of sample units where
vehicles were working actively during the survey period,
plus the number of units where vehicles were not working
during the survey period but could be considered to be part
of the active stock of vehicles.

2.
If the percentage standard errors of the data provided by
a Member State pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 have
been calculated for a number of years and Eurostat has noted
that these standard errors are within the limits laid down in
Article 2 of this Regulation, Eurostat may release that Member
State from the obligation to provide Table B1 or Table B2 on a
quarterly basis.

3. Where paragraph 2 applies,
the Member State may
provide Eurostat with information for each year to permit the
calculation of response rate and register quality rate. The infor-
mation may be provided in the format of Tables B3 or B4 (as
appropriate) in the Annex to this Regulation. The table shall be
submitted within five months of the end of the last quarterly

period of observation of the relevant year. In addition within
the same timescale, the Member State shall provide Eurostat
with the calculated figures of percentage standard error (95 %
confidence) of the estimates for tonnes transported, tonne-kilo-
metres performed and total kilometres travelled loaded for total
goods road transport, for national goods road transport and for
total international goods road transport.

Article 4

Where the total stock of goods road motor vehicles in a
Member State that are engaged in international transport and
can be included in the survey is less than 1 000 vehicles, the
Member State concerned shall be exempted from the applica-
tion of the present Regulation.

Article 5

into force on the 20th day
This Regulation shall enter
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Union.

Article 1 shall apply from 1 January 2006.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 6 April 2004.

For the Commission

Pedro SOLBES MIRA

Member of the Commission

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