Council Regulation (EC) No 1222/2004 of 28 June 2004 concerning the compilation and transmission of data on the quarterly government debt
Date: 2004-06-28
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: data transmission, public administration, public debt

2.7.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 233/1

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1222/2004

of 28 June 2004

concerning the compilation and transmission of data on the quarterly government debt

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular
Article 104(14) thereof,

establishing the European
the third subparagraph of

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank (2),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Council Regulation (EC) No 3605/93 of 22 November
1993 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive
deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the
European Community (3)
the definition of
government debt outstanding at
the year
that is relevant for the purpose of the excessive deficit
procedure and lays down a timetable for the reporting to
the Commission of annual government debt and of other
annual government data.

the end of

contains

of

data,

availability

government

The
including
government debt data, with a quarterly frequency is of
the utmost importance for the economic analysis and
the budgetary situation in the
proper monitoring of
Member
(EC) No
States. Commission Regulation
264/2000 of 3 February 2000 on the implementation
of Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 with respect to
short-term public finance statistics (4), Regulation (EC) No
1221/2002 of
the
Council of 10 June 2002 on quarterly non-financial
accounts for general government (5) and Regulation (EC)
No 501/2004 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 10 March 2004 on quarterly financial
accounts for general government (6) cover the compi-
lation and transmission of quarterly data on government
non-financial and financial accounts, but do not extend
to quarterly government debt.

the European Parliament and of

(1) Opinion delivered on 30 March 2004 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(2) Opinion of 19 April 2004.
(3) OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 7. Regulation as last amended by
Commission Regulation (EC) No 351/2002 (OJ L 55, 26.2.2002,
p. 23).

(4) OJ L 29, 4.2.2000, p. 4.
(5) OJ L 179, 9.7.2002, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 81, 19.3.2004, p. 1.

(3)

(4)

(5)

For the sake of clarity, and given the specific role of
Regulation (EC) No 3605/93 in the implementation of
the excessive deficit procedure,
the compilation and
transmission of quarterly government debt data should
be governed by an autonomous legal act.

the

ensures

definition

consistency with

Quarterly government debt should be defined in a way
that
of
government debt outstanding at the end of the year, of
Regulation (EC) No 3605/93. This consistency should be
maintained in the event that the Council amends Regu-
lation (EC) No 3605/93 or the Commission introduces
new references to the European system of accounts (ESA
95) set up by Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25
June 1996 on the European system of national and
regional accounts in the European Community (7)
into
Regulation (EC) No 3605/93.

Regulations (EC) No 264/2000, No 1221/2002 and No
501/2004 state that quarterly data on non-financial and
financial accounts of general government are to be trans-
mitted three months after the end of
the quarter to
which they refer. This transmission lag is also appropriate
for quarterly government debt data,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

‘Government’ means
the sector of general government as
defined in the European system of national and regional
accounts in the Community (hereinafter referred to as ESA
95), adopted by Regulation (EC) No 2223/96. The codes in
brackets refer to ESA 95.

(7) OJ L 310, 30.11.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 1267/2003 of the European Parliament and of the
Council (OJ L 180, 18.7.2003, p. 1.)

L 233/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

2.7.2004

‘Quarterly government debt’ means the total gross debt at
nominal value outstanding at the end of each quarter of the
sector of general government (S.13), with the exception of those
liabilities the corresponding financial assets of which are held by
the sector of general government (S.13).

The quarterly government debt is constituted by the liabilities of
general government in the following categories: currency and
deposits (AF.2); securities other than shares, excluding financial
derivatives (AF.33) and loans (AF.4), as defined in ESA 95.

The nominal value of a liability outstanding at the end of each
quarter is the face value.

The nominal value of an index-linked liability corresponds to its
face value adjusted by the index-related change in the value of
the principal accrued to the end of each quarter.

Liabilities denominated in a foreign currency, or exchanged
from one foreign currency through contractual agreements to
one or more other foreign currencies shall be converted into the
other foreign currencies at the rate agreed on in those contracts
and shall be converted into the national currency on the basis
of the representative market exchange rate prevailing on the last
working day of each quarter.

Liabilities denominated in the national currency and exchanged
through contractual agreements to a foreign currency shall be
converted into the foreign currency at the rate agreed on in
those contracts and shall be converted into the national
currency on the basis of the representative market exchange
rate prevailing on the last working day of each quarter.

Liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and exchanged
through contractual agreements to the national currency shall
be converted into the national currency at the rate agreed on in
those contracts.

Article 2

Timetable

1. Member States
Commission data on the quarterly government debt at

and transmit

compile

to the
the

shall

latest three months after the end of the quarter to which the
data refer.

Any revision of data for previous quarters shall be transmitted
at the same time.

The first

2.
government debt shall take place by 31 December 2004.

the data on the quarterly

transmission of

3.
The Commission may grant a derogation, not exceeding
one year, concerning the first transmission of quarterly data,
insofar as national statistical systems require major change.

Article 3

Back data

Back-data relating to the first quarter of 2000 onwards shall be
transmitted by 31 December 2004. Where necessary, such data
may be provided using a best-estimate approach.

Article 4

Amendments

If

the Council decides to amend Regulation (EC) No
1.
in accordance with the rules on competence and
3605/93,
procedure laid down in the Treaty, the Council shall simulta-
neously amend Article 1 of this Regulation, so that the defi-
nitions contained therein are kept consistent.

If the Commission introduces new references to ESA 95
2.
into Article 1(5) of Regulation (EC) No 3605/93, in accordance
with Article 7 thereof, the Commission shall simultaneously
introduce the same new references into Article 1 of this Regu-
lation,
the definitions contained therein are kept
consistent.

so that

Article 5

Entry in force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
that of
the European
Union.

its publication in the Official

Journal of

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

Done at Luxembourg, 28 June 2004.

For the Council
The President

M. CULLEN