Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Audiovisual statistics - Final report on the work undertaken by Eurostat and the Member States concerning the implementation of Council Decision 1999/297 EC of 26 April 1999
Date: 2004-07-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU policy, EU statistics, Eurostat, audiovisual industry, report

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 16.7.2004 
COM(2004) 504 final 

. 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 
AND THE COUNCIL 

Audiovisual statistics 

Final report on the work undertaken by Eurostat and the Member States 
concerning the implementation of Council Decision 1999/297 EC of 26 April 1999 

. 

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I 

INTRODUCTION 

This report refers to the implementation of Council Decision 1999/297/EC1 of 26 April 1999 
establishing a statistical information infrastructure relating to the industry and markets of the 
audiovisual  and  related  sectors.  This  Decision  particularly  underlined  that  a  reliable 
information infrastructure was to be organised by means of individual statistical actions. 

This  Decision  was  designed  after  careful  consideration  of  the  difficulties  present  in  these 
sectors.  In  particular,  the  main  difficulties  in  compiling  and  publishing  statistics  on  the 
audiovisual  sector  at  Community  level  arise  from  the  complexity  and  diversity  of  the 
audiovisual  markets  and  the  fact  that  data  gathered  at  national  level  are  not  entirely 
comparable. This is because the concepts and methods used vary from one Member State to 
another. As a result it is difficult to make use of this information at Community level.  

At  national  level,  statistics  on  audiovisual  services  do  not  always  have  a  high  priority. 
However, the audiovisual sector became of particular interest when audiovisual services were 
incorporated into the GATS basket (General Agreement on Trade in Services).  

The  Commission  stressed  that  statistical  data  on  the  audiovisual  sector  were  required  on  a 
European  level  for  market  observation,  for  the  identification  of  problems,  for  developing 
policies in response to the problems identified and for monitoring the impact of policies.  

The general objective of this Decision was to gain a deeper insight into the industry and the 
various  markets  of  the  audiovisual  and  related  sectors,  their  constituent  parts  and  their 
development.  This  was  to  be  achieved  through  establishing  an  appropriate  statistical 
information infrastructure and developing Community statistics which are essential in order to 
keep  abreast  of  the  developments  in  the  various  Community  policies  in  this  field.  The 
information  acquired  is  used  to  meet  the  statistical  needs  of  the  Commission,  the  Member 
States, industry and a wide range of other users. 

II 

ASSESSMENT OF THE OUTPUTS 

Considering the number of achievements and outputs available, the actions carried out under 
the  measures  implementing  the  Council  Decision  can  be  considered  as  having  been  fairly 
successful. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that these were carried out voluntarily by the 
national authorities and under relatively difficult conditions, in particular as regards the very 
limited  human  resources  available  at  Eurostat.  From  the  Member  States  national  authorities 
side,  a  relatively  low  response  rate,  delays  in  answering  the  questionnaire  and  the  non-
participation  of  some  (although  very  few)  countries  in  the  data  collection  must  also  be 
interpreted as a lack of resources.  

The results of the individual actions can be evaluated as follows: 

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Council  Decision  of  26  April  1999  establishing  a  Community  statistical  information  infrastructure 
relating 
- 
of 
industry 
OJ L 117, 5.5.1999, p. 39-41. 

and  markets 

audiovisual 

related 

sector 

and 

the 

the 

to 

2 

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Article (2)(1)(a): User needs study 

The results of user needs studies stressed the importance of: 

– 

– 

the need for reliable, comprehensive and up-to-date information on audiovisual and 
related  markets  (audiovisual  production  and  distribution,  cinema  exhibition,  video, 
television  broadcasting,  radio  broadcasting,  cable  &  satellite  operating  market  new 
media and video games markets) in the form of structural and functional qualitative 
and  quantitative  indicators  (business  statistics,  supply,  demand,  infrastructure, 
service quality & performance indicators, international trade aspects, etc.). 

the need to acquire and develop expertise on statistical collection in the audiovisual 
sector  in  some  of  the  Member  States  where  existing  systems  are  patchy  or 
inadequate,  as  well  as  the  importance  of  studying  new  aspects  (e.g.  digitalisation, 
new  broadcasting  technologies)  and  new  products  (e.g.  new  media  products  and 
video  games)  to  keep  up  with  ongoing  technological  developments  and  industry 
changes. 

The  substantial  needs  expressed  at  National  level  and  especially  at  Commission  level 
covering  13  sub-sectors  of  audiovisual  markets  formed  an  essential  prerequisite  for  the 
development  and  the  adaptation  of  the  existing  methodological  framework  at  Community 
level  and  the  production  and  dissemination  of  relevant  statistical  information.  Following 
discussion  with  Member  States  national  authorities,  however,  it  was  decided  that  many 
aspects mentioned by the Commission and especially ranked as lower priority could be dealt 
with in the form of ad-hoc studies (proposal for pilot studies and methodological actions to be 
undertaken voluntarily at national level) rather than in a regular statistical survey. 

Article (2)(1)(b): Inventory of existing statistics 

The study undertaken of existing statistical systems and available data at national level (in the 
EU,  EFTA,  Candidate  countries  and  some  non-  OECD  countries)  has  increased  the 
knowledge  at  Community  level  and  among  the  countries  themselves  of  national  statistical 
systems. It provides evidence that differences in methodology and data collection system are 
linked  to  structural  characteristics  and  the  organisation  of  the  audiovisual  sector  and 
monitoring  bodies  at  national  level.  Moreover,  the  heterogeneity  of  the  various  audiovisual 
sub-markets implies a wide range of sources and collection systems: the inventory of sources 
published in 2002 showed that more than 300 primary or secondary sources were indicated to 
cover the audiovisual data collection. 

The inventory  also  showed the lack  of regular information at national level for some of the 
audiovisual sub-markets (e.g. video, radio, radio and TV signal transmission). 

Article (2)(1)(c): Collection of available information at national level 

The  Commission  was  already  carrying  out  this  action  before  1999,  but  in  the  past,  the 
collection was rather irregular and did not cover all the needs expressed by the various users. 

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In  the  framework  of  this  Council  Decision,  the  AUVIS  data  collection  questionnaire  was 
consolidated and restructured to better meet user needs while taking care to limit burden on 
contributors.  A  glossary  of  the  definitions  of  the  variables  was  compiled  and  updated  and 
metadata  collected  to  increase  data  quality.  Electronic  media  for  facilitating  collection  and 
treatment of information were introduced 

The AUVIS data collection has been undertaken annually since 1999. In recent years, all the 
data collection of the previous year has been uploaded into Eurostat’s dissemination database. 

The four national workshops held on a voluntary basis helped to promote greater awareness of 
users needs and of some existing national statistical systems concerning audiovisual statistics. 

Nevertheless, note must be taken of a certain number of considerations which may influence 
future decisions: 

– 

– 

– 

As the audiovisual sector is not homogenous, some delays have been observed in the 
transmission of data by the national authorities to Eurostat. 

Some national authorities do not reply to the annual AUVIS questionnaire. 

Considering  the  substantial  volume  of  information  collected,  there  is  a  need  to 
examine in greater detail the application of definitions and classifications. Due to the 
lack of resources required to assess in-depth the quality of the data communicated by 
the national authorities, it has not been possible so far to complete this assessment. 

Article (2)(1)(d): Pilot actions and methodological studies at national level 

Based  on  the  user  needs  study,  two  rounds  of  voluntary  pilot  surveys  and  methodological 
actions at national level have been launched so far. The first round of eight pilot studies from 
7  countries  was  finalised  in  2003.  A  wide  range  of  aspects  were  chosen:  development  of 
Business  Statistics  surveys  on  audiovisual  activities,  methodological  development  on 
Employment  in  the  audiovisual  sector,  development  of  cinema  production  and  exhibition 
statistics,  pilot  surveys  on  television  broadcasting  activities  and  pilot  studies  on  off-line 
products and video games. 

The  second  round  of  eight  pilot  actions  at  national  level  started  in  2003.  Final  reporting  on 
these  studies  is  not  expected  before  2004/2005.  The  topics  for  the  second  round  of  pilot 
studies, were similar to those of the first round. In addition, two new audiovisual subsectors 
were  investigated:  digital  radio  and  television  broadcasting  and  sound  recording/video 
markets. 

These studies were seen to have several benefits: 

– 

– 

– 

to improve national data collection and data availability in the audiovisual field 

to  develop  statistical  knowledge  at  national  level  and  at  community  level  on 
particular  sub-sectors  or  aspects  not  well  covered  or  not  covered  at  present, 
stimulating exchange of expertise and information. 

to  advance  the  work  on  standards  and  concepts  for  data  collection  and  thus  to 
enhance the conceptual framework already existing at European level. 

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Because  the  topics  of  these  studies  were  based  on  the  results  of  user  needs  studies,  they 
started  later  than  scheduled  in  the  Council  Decision  programme  (these  were  implemented 
only under the second Commission Decision). Nevertheless, the results of the first round of 
pilot studies and methodological actions were assessed as good and useful outcomes. 

Article (2)(2)(a): Development of methodological framework 

The  development  of  a  frame  of  reference  for  audiovisual  statistics  at  Community  level  was 
implemented by several measures with complementary benefits: 

– 

– 

– 

Taking  into  account  the  existing  SBS  framework,  a  Business  Statistics  framework 
specific to audiovisual services was developed. 

Additionally,  an  overall  functional  methodological  framework  for  audiovisual 
statistics  at  Community  level  structuring  all  the  statistical  information  concerning 
functions  and  products.  This  framework  aims  to  ensure  the  comparability  and 
reliability  of  statistical  information  collected  at  Eurostat  level  by  providing 
guidelines  on  definitions,  classifications  and  describing  existing  data  collection 
systems and sources.  

These conceptual frameworks were enhanced by methodological studies on specific 
topics. They referred to main problem-areas, notably: film industry statistics aspects 
(such  as  production,  sources  of  income,  film studios),  main structural indicators on 
TV  and  radio  production,  broadcasting  activities  and  programme  supply,  domains 
not  covered  and  emerging  such  as  new  media  and  video  games  and  study  of  the 
existing sources concerning international trade aspects in audiovisual services. 

The Council Decision provided impetus to significantly accelerate progress in establishing a 
Community  reference  methodological  framework  for  audiovisual  statistics.  Nevertheless  at 
this stage, taking into account the broad number of complex characteristics to be covered by 
the methodological analysis it cannot be considered as exhaustive.  

Article (2)(2)(b): Information system development (data collection and dissemination) 

This was one of the key actions carried out under the Council Decision. It is linked to Article 
(2)(1)(c). Taking into account users’ needs and other statistical actions (inventory of sources, 
methodological  developments),  specific  efforts  were  made  to  improve  data  collection, 
treatment and dissemination of existing data. 

Eurostat  developed  and  consolidated  its  production  database  to  handle  the  available 
information  provided  by  national  authorities.  It  developed  and  adapted  the  dissemination 
database  in  NewCronos  to  disseminate  (on-line)  data.  Finally  it  improved  the  quality  and 
quantity of dissemination through publications. 

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As early as 2000 a production database had been developed able to store, control and compile 
annual  data  provided  mainly  on  electronic  forms  but  also  from  national  publications.  It 
comprises  data  received  from  EU  Member  States,  EFTA  countries  and,  recently,  Candidate 
countries.  To  improve  the  quality  and  timeliness  of  data  treatment,  data  collection  changes 
and developments were regularly integrated into the production database taking into account 
the  results  of  users’  needs,  methodological  developments  and  comments  from  the  national 
authorities on data availability. In recent years, data collection treatment and processing has 
been halved (less than 3 months) compared to 1999 data collection. 

This information system contains mainly structural and functional data (firms, functions and 
products)  covering  14  aspects:  Structural  Business  Statistics  (economic  indicators  on 
audiovisual  services  enterprises),  General  data  (on  households,  advertising  expenditures, 
international  trade,  etc.),  Audiovisual  production  (film  and  TV),  Audiovisual  distribution 
(film  and  video),  Cinema  exhibition,  Video  market,  TV  broadcasting,  Sound  recordings, 
Radio broadcasting, Cable network operating, Radio and TV hertzian transmission, Satellite 
transmission, Video games and Multimedia market. 

An  inventory  of  the  data  received  has  been  continuously  updated  since  1999  in  order  to 
monitor  the  development  within  data  sets  of  each  of  the  reporting  countries.  Since  2002, 
quality  reports  have  been  drafted,  covering  issues  such  as  timeliness  and  punctuality, 
accessibility and clarity, completeness, etc. 

Since 2002, emphasis has been placed on improving the quality of the metadata collection and 
the  quality  control  of  the  statistics  and  also  studying  their  comparability  with  data  gathered 
from international organisations. 

Since 1999, after data collection treatment and processing, the AUVIS annual data collection 
has  been  uploaded  annually  into  Eurostat's  reference  dissemination  database  NewCronos.  A 
section called “AUVIS” was created in 1999. It comprises all data gathered since 1995, in co-
operation  with  national  authorities.  This  means  that  all  Commission  users’  and  NSIs  have 
direct “on-line” access to information on the various audiovisual markets for the EU, EFTA 
and  Candidate  countries.  Since  2002,  adaptations  have  been  undertaken  to  improve 
accessibility and clarity of the information presented. 

Regarding dissemination through publications, since 1999 specific efforts have been made to: 

– 

– 

publish regularly a comprehensive annual statistics report. Since 2000, four general 
comprehensive  publications  have  been  issued  covering  most  of  the  annual  data 
collection areas with long time series. The last publication “Cinema, TV and radio in 
the  EU”  (published  in  December  2003)  contains  information  on  audiovisual 
enterprises,  cinema  market,  DVD  and  video,  TV  broadcasting  including  cable  and 
satellite,  radio  and  video  games  and  include  data  on  audiovisual  markets  up  to 
2001.Special efforts were made to reduce the time taken to release the data after the 
period of reference. 

publish  short  publications  (“Statistics  in  Focus”)  on  specific  areas  comprising  the 
latest trends. Eleven statistics in focus have been produced since 2000, covering most 
of  the  audiovisual  domains  such  as  Cinema  production  &  exhibition,  Video  and 
DVD, TV broadcasting, Sound recordings and Radio broadcasting market. 

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Many improvements have been achieved compared to former years, when both collection and 
dissemination  were  irregular  and  rather  limited  to  basic  indicators  covering  the  main 
audiovisual  markets.  Under 
the  Council  Decision  framework,  data  collection  and 
dissemination have gradually been updated and extended to meet urgent needs expressed by 
the users.  

Article (2)(2)(c): Comparison of existing statistical system in Member States with some 
non Member States and especially Acceding countries. 

Due  to  the  complex  and  patchy  data  collection  structure  in  many  Member  States,  the 
comparison of existing statistical systems in Member States and also Candidate countries was 
a  rolling  process  with  a  view  to  improving  statistical  knowledge  and  information 
comparability. In the framework of the Council Decision, specific actions were undertaken: 

– 

– 

– 

to  extend  the  inventory  of  audiovisual  statistics  and  sources  already  made  for 
Member  States  to  cover  Candidate  countries  and  some  non-European  OECD 
countries (USA, Japan, Canada and Australia). The main objective of the inventory 
of  available  statistics  and  sources  was  to  identify  the  areas  of  audiovisual  data 
collection  where  the  degree  of  availability  (and  to  lesser  extent  comparability) 
matches those of the EU and EFTA countries. 

to  extend  the  collection  and  dissemination  of  information  to  cover  Candidate 
countries including acceding countries in the light of EU enlargement in 2004. This 
action  also  comprises  the  collection  of  historical  data  with  a  view  to  establishing 
time-series for the past. 

to  develop  co-operation  with  international  organisations  to  build  up  a  common 
methodological  framework  and  harmonised  classifications  at  international  level  in 
co-operation  with  the  European  Audiovisual  Observatory.  The  practical  results  of 
this  co-operation  are  visible,  notably  with  the  involvement  of  the  EAO  in  some 
methodological  developments  conducted  by  Eurostat.  A  fruitful  result  of  this  co-
operation was also the joint proposal made in 2002 concerning the update of NACE 
classifications  for  audiovisual  activities  in  advance  of  a  major  revision  of 
classifications  in  2007.  This  on-going  work  may  well  have  an  impact  on  the 
availability  and  comparability  of  structural  business  statistics  applied  to  the 
audiovisual sector. 

Article  (2)(2)(d):  Assessment  of  the  relevance  of  and  future  needs  for  audiovisual 
statistics 

The assessment of the relevance of the statistics in the audiovisual sector and the future needs 
was  carried  out  during  the  consultations  of  users  in  the  Commission,  and  international 
organisations. The summary of the results presented in 2001 clearly suggests that the AUVIS 
collection  system  was  matching  most  of  the  Commission  users’  requirements.  The  AUVIS 
framework was subsequently revised to incorporate additional needs expressed by users. Now 
it  can  be  said  that  the  AUVIS  methodological  framework,  whilst  not  exhaustive,  is  broad 
enough  to  provide  useful  tools  for  monitoring  and  assessing  the  impact  of  the  various 
European Union policies and programmes (Media programmes, Television without frontiers 
Directive, audiovisual policies and trade aspects, Employment policies, Competition policies 
in  the  audiovisual  sector,  convergence  between  the  Communication  and  the  audiovisual 
industry, etc.). 

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However,  the  results  of  recent  annual  AUVIS  data  collections,  show  clearly  that  national 
statistical systems are not sufficiently developed to cover all the needs expressed by the users 
without heavy methodological developments and additional resources. 

In  the  light  of  ongoing  cuts  in  resources  available  in  Member  States  it  is  likely  to  become 
increasingly difficult to obtain satisfactory results from a voluntary data collection. 

III 

CONCLUSIONS 

Evaluation of the past 

In the mid-nineties, and against a background of changing technologies and business models, 
the  demand  from  the  industry  and  from  policy-makers  for  comprehensive  statistical 
information  on  the  audiovisual  sector  began  to  grow.  However,  the  need  could  not  be 
satisfied, due to the objective difficulties in compiling statistics at pan-European level given 
the complexity and diversity of the national audiovisual markets. Moreover, data gathered at 
national level were not entirely comparable and the concepts and methods used varied from 
one Member State to another. 

The  statistical  infrastructure  established  for  the  audiovisual  sector  was  notably  designed  to 
harmonise  existing  statistics  and  improve  their  dissemination,  to  develop  a  common 
methodological framework for the statistics produced by the national authorities, to focus the 
collection  of  information  on  selected  needs  expressed  by  the  different  users  and  to  provide 
adequate  inputs  for  the  definition  of  Community  policies.  The  availability  of  a  full  set  of 
statistics on international trade was one of the major areas of interest. 

The  measures  undertaken  under  the  Council  Decision  1999/297/EC  implementation  have 
produced relevant results in terms of: 

– 

– 

– 

making a step forward to establishing and implementing a common methodological 
framework  for  audiovisual  and  related  markets  at  Community  level,  including  an 
inventory  of  sources  and  better  coverage  of  the  audio-visual  sector  in  the 
forthcoming revised classification NACE 2007, 

contributing to capacity-building in the Member States by supporting the execution 
of pilot actions, 

increasing  the  regularity  and  timeliness  of  the  collection  and  dissemination  of 
statistics  on  the  industry  and  markets  of  the  audiovisual  and  related  sectors  and 
preparing  the  coverage  of  the  audio-visual  sector  in  the  revised  Regulation  on 
Structural Business Statistics, 

– 

improving the degree of comparability and harmonisation. 

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Future outlooks 

However,  the  five  years  this  Council  decision  has  been  in  force  were  characterised  by  a 
shortage of human resources at both Eurostat and the national authorities, a shortage resulting 
mainly from the low priority accorded to statistics on the industry and markets of the audio-
visual and related sectors. Considerable work would thus still be needed to turn audio-visual 
statistics  into  an  area  of  quality  statistics,  especially  as  far  as  the  dimensions  of  timeliness, 
completeness, coherence, comparability and relevance of the data are concerned. In particular, 
the following actions would need to be implemented: 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Member  States  would  need  to  be  put  into  a  position  to  provide  Eurostat  with 
complete  and  timely  data,  respecting  the  concepts  and  definitions  as  set  out  in  the 
methodological  framework.  The  actions  necessary  would  need  to  cover  both 
technical aspects and the availability of a new Community legal framework. 

Eurostat would need to be put into a position to evaluate in detail the quality of the 
data provided by National authorities with a view to improving the comparability and 
coherence at Community level.  

Both  the  methodological  framework  and  the  data  collection  would  need  to  be 
updated in order to improve their relevance by taking into account areas that have not 
yet  been  covered  sufficiently  (such  as  employment  in  the  audio-visual  sector,  and 
trade aspects) as well as the coverage of new audiovisual products and services. 

Moreover,  in  the  context  of  the  current  and  further  EU  enlargements,  specific 
measures  should  be  taken  to  help  the  future  members  to  adapt  their  national 
statistical  system  and  to  facilitate  the  transfer  of  knowledge  and  the  exchange  of 
experience needed to increase the development of their statistics.  

While recognising the relevance of statistics relating to the industry and markets of the audio-
visual and related sectors for certain policy areas, it is obvious that they are of lower relevance 
than other statistics relating to the EMU, to core aspects of EU competitiveness in important 
sectors  of  the  economy  or  the  new  social  agenda.  As  a  result  of  this  priority-setting,  the 
Commission is in the current circumstances not in a position to pursue the work on statistics 
relating to the industry and markets of the audio-visual and related sectors. 

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ANNEX: DESCRIPTION OF THE LEGAL INSTRUMENTS 

I. 

COUNCIL DECISION 1999/297/EC2

 OF 26 APRIL 1999 

The  Council  Decision  1999/297/EC  of  26  April  1999  establishing  a  statistical  information 
infrastructure relating to the industry and markets of the audiovisual and related sectors is set 
to achieve its objective by defining a set of individual statistical actions, in accordance with 
Regulation (EC) No 322/97, to be done by the Member States (national authorities) and by the 
Commission (Eurostat). In particular, Article 2 of the Decision is divided into two parts. The 
first part refers to the individual statistical actions to be undertaken by the national authorities 
and the second part refers to those actions to be undertaken by Eurostat.  

The first part states that the national authorities should: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

analyse and evaluate the demand for statistics (firms, functions and products) on the 
audiovisual  sector  from  users  (Community  institutions,  government  departments, 
national  sectoral  bodies,  international  organisations,  economic  operators)  and  the 
effect  on  businesses,  especially  SMEs,  of  the  collection  of  statistics  in  the 
audiovisual sector; 

analyse the existing statistics (firms, functions and products) and their sources; 

forward  to  Eurostat,  on  an  annual  basis,  statistics  (firms,  functions  and  products) 
already on hand or available from the competent national authorities; 

participate, on a voluntary basis, in pilot studies to test working methods in practice 
and promote the creation of Community statistics (firms, functions and products); 

The second part states that Eurostat should: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

2 

prepare a Community institutional and functional methodological framework (firms, 
functions and products); 

create a database for statistics forwarded by the national authorities, as mentioned in 
paragraph 1(c) above, and data gathered from international organisations; 

compare existing statistical systems in Member States and some non-Member States, 
especially the pre-accession States; 

assess  the  relevance  of,  and  future  needs  for,  statistics  in  the  audiovisual  sector, 
especially  in  terms  of  data  needed  for  the  development  and  follow-up  of 
employment, training and equal opportunities policy. 

Council  Decision  of  26  April  1999  establishing  a  Community  statistical  information  infrastructure 
relating 
- 
of 
industry 
OJ L 117, 5.5.1999, p. 39-41. 

and  markets 

audiovisual 

related 

sector 

and 

the 

the 

to 

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Article 3 of the Decision refers to the implementation of the statistical actions given above. 
Finally, Articles 4 and 5 refer to the procedure that needed to be followed when deciding the 
necessary  measures  of  implementation  as  well  as  to  the  reports  that  should  be  prepared  to 
document  the  progress  of  the  implementation  of  the  Decision,  which  is  also  the  reason  for 
writing this report. 

II 

COMMISSION DECISIONS IMPLEMENTING THE COUNCIL DECISION 

The  Council  Decision  has  been  implemented  through  the  adoption  of  two  Commission 
Decisions:  1999/841/EC  of  24  November  1999  and  2002/591/EC  of  11  July  2002.  Below  a 
description  of  the  individual  measures  adopted  in  each  Commission  Decision  is  given 
together  with  two  tables  illustrating  the  correspondence  between  the  measures  of  each 
Commission Decision and the individual statistical action of the Council Decision.  

II.A 

Commission Decision of 24 November 1999 

A first set of 14 actions was published in December 1999. This specified the work planned for 
1999-2001.  Most  notably  it  allowed  Community  subsidies  for  the  work  done  by  Member 
States on user needs studies, the update of the inventory of sources, and workshops with data 
suppliers. It also asked Member States to fill in and return the annual AUVIS questionnaire. 
These 14 actions were:  

a) 

– 

– 

– 

– 

b) 

– 

– 

4 measures to implement actions to be undertaken by national authorities: 

Studies  by  each  Member  State  of  priorities  concerning  national  user  needs  for 
statistics. (The domains to be studied  were  to  be  those  in  the  AUVIS  classification 
plan) 

Update  of  the  existing  inventory  by  each  Member  State  of  national  statistics  and 
sources 

Optionally, development of the network of contacts between the Member States and 
main data producers by means of workshops held in volunteer Member States 

Forwarding to Eurostat by each Member State during 2000 of audiovisual statistics 
(firms,  functions  and  products)  already  on  hand  or  available  from  the  competent 
national authorities. (The questionnaire, based on the AUVIS classification plan, was 
to be sent to Member States in the second quarter of the year 2000) 

10 measures to implement actions to be undertaken by Eurostat: 

Updating  of  the  chapter  specific  to  audiovisual  services  in  the  Eurostat  Manual  of 
Business Statistics 

Updating  and  publication,  via  the  web,  of  the  general  methodological  manual  on 
audiovisual statistics 

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
– 

Methodological  studies  on  specific  topics  selected  from  within  the  following  broad 
areas: 

– 

– 

– 

structural  business  statistics  for  enterprises  of  the  audiovisual  and  related 
sectors; 

statistics on selected sub-sectors such as film production, TV and radio; 

selected  topics  such  as  international  trade  in  services  of  the  audiovisual  and 
related sectors, international co-productions, new media 

Processing of the data received from the 1999 questionnaire to Member States, and 
making  the  results  available  in  Eurostat's  dissemination  database,  and  via 
publications 

Participation in workshops held in volunteer Member States for the development of 
the network of contacts between the Member States and main data producers 

Processing  the  data  received  from  the  2000  questionnaire  to  Member  States,  and 
making  the  results  available  in  Eurostat's  dissemination  database,  and  via 
publications 

Adaptation  of  an  existing  Eurostat  computerised  system  to  receive,  validate, 
transform  and  store  statistics  gathered  from  Member  States  and  international 
organisations 

Comparison of existing statistical systems in Member States with a view to improved 
harmonisation 

Study of the priorities concerning needs for statistics by the Commission's services 

Study  of  the  priorities  concerning  needs  for  statistics  by  international  organisations 
working in the field 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

EN 

12 

   EN 

 
Table 1: 
1999/841/EC  

Reference  in 
the  Council 
Decision 
1999/297/EC 

Correspondence  between  the  Council  Decision  and  Commission  Decision 

Description  of 
Commission Decision 1999/841/EC 

the  measure 

included 

in 

the 

Date 
scheduled 
for 
completing 
the measure 

A. Measures to implement actions to be undertaken by national authorities 

Article 
2(1)(a) 

Article 
2(1)(b) 

Article 
2(1)(c) 

A 1  Studies  by  each  Member  State  of  priorities  concerning 
national  user  needs  for  statistics.  (The  domains  to  be 
studied were to be those in the Auvis classification plan). 

June 2000 

A 2  Update  of  the  existing  inventory  by  each  Member  State 

of national statistics and sources. 

A 3  Optionally,  development  of  the  network  of  contacts 
between  the  Member  States  and  main  data  producers  by 
means of workshops held in volunteer Member States. 

A 4  Forwarding  to  Eurostat  by  each  Member  State  during 
2000  of  a  questionnaire  on  audiovisual  statistics  (firms, 
functions and products) already on hand or available from 
the  competent  national  authorities.  (The  questionnaire, 
based on the Auvis classification plan, was to be sent to 
Member States in the second quarter of the year 2000). 

December 
2000 

September 
2000 

September 
2000 

B. Measures to implement actions to be undertaken by Eurostat 

Article 
2(2)(a) 

B 1 

B 2 

Updating of the chapter specific to audiovisual services 
in the Eurostat Manual of Business Statistics. 

March 2000 

Updating  and  publication,  via  the  web,  of  the  general 
methodological manual on audiovisual statistics. 

December 
2000 

B 3  Methodological studies on specific topics selected from 

within the following broad areas: 

September 
2001 

—  structural  business  statistics  for  enterprises  of  the 

audiovisual and related sectors; 

—  statistics  on  selected  sub-sectors  such  as  film 

production, TV and radio; 

—  selected topics such as international trade in services 
of  the  audiovisual  and  related  sectors,  international 
co-productions, new media. 

the  data  received  from 

Processing  of 
the  1999 
questionnaire to Member States, and making the results 
available  in  Eurostat's  dissemination  database,  and  via 
publications. 

December 
1999 

Participation  in  workshops  held  in  volunteer  Member 
States  for  the  development  of  the  network  of  contacts 
between the Member States and main data producers. 

September 
2000 

Article 
2(2)(b) 

B 4 

B 5 

EN 

13 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
B 6 

B 7 

B 8 

B 9 

Article 
2(2)(c) 

Article 
2(2)(d) 

the  data 

Processing 
the  2000 
questionnaire to Member States, and making the results 
available  in  Eurostat's  dissemination  database,  and  via 
publications. 

received 

from 

Adaptation of an existing Eurostat computerised system 
to  receive,  validate,  transform  and  store  statistics 
international 
gathered 
organisations. 

from  Member  States  and 

December 
2000 

June 2001 

Comparison  of  existing  statistical  systems  in  Member 
States with a view to improved harmonisation. 

June 2001 

Study of the priorities concerning needs for statistics by 
the Commission's services. 

November 
1999 

B 10 

Study of the priorities concerning needs for statistics by 
international organisations working in the field. 

March 2000 

EN 

14 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
II.B 

Commission Decision of 11 July 2002 

Commission Decision 2002/591/EC was adopted in July 2002 and described a further set of 
11 measures for the implementation of statistical actions to be carried out at Commission and 
Member States level for the period 2002 – 2004. This Commission Decision specified three 
measures  to  be  undertaken  by  Member  States  and  eight  measures  to  be  undertaken  by 
Eurostat to implement actions foreseen in Council Decision 1999/297/EC. 

a) 

– 

– 

– 

b) 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

The three measures to be undertaken by Member States are: 

An  annual  update  of  the  existing  inventory  of  national  statistics  and  sources 
(measure A-1); 

forwarding 

The  annual 
to  Eurostat  by  each  Member  State  of  data 
(via a questionnaire) on Audiovisual Statistics (firms functions and products) already 
at hand or available from competent national authorities. The questionnaire which is 
based on the AUVIS methodology may be revised each year after consultation with 
Member States (measure A-2); 

Voluntary participation in pilot studies to test working methods and nomenclatures. 
The list of topics for pilot studies have been discussed by a Task Force in December 
2000 and take into account the priorities expressed in the user needs studies. Eurostat 
will consult the Member States on the list of studies to be carried out (measure A-3).  

The eight measures to be undertaken by Eurostat are: 

Studies  to  develop  the  Community  institutional  and  functional  methodological 
framework and nomenclatures with emphasis on the priority areas highlighted in the 
user needs studies. The list of studies will be drawn up by Eurostat after Consultation 
with Member States (measure B-1); 

Regular  updating  and  dissemination  of  the  general  methodological  manual  on 
audiovisual statistics (AUVIS methodology) (measure B-2); 

Updating  of  the  chapter  specific  to  Audiovisual  services  in  the  Eurostat  Manual  of 
Business Statistics taking into account the results of the studies to develop enterprise 
statistics for the Audiovisual sector (measure B-3); 

Annual  processing  of  the  data  received  from  the  annual  questionnaire  to  Member 
States  and  dissemination  of  the  results  via  Eurostat  database  and  publications 
(measure B-4); 

Adaptation  of  the  existing  Eurostat  computerised  system  to  receive,  validate 
transform  and  store  statistics  gathered  from  Member  States  and  International 
organisations (measure B-5); 

Comparison  of  existing  statistical  systems  in  Member  States,  and  Candidate  and 
other countries with a view to improve comparability (measure B-6); 

Providing  for  an  interim  report  on  the  progress  made  in  implementing  the  Council 
Decision to the Council and European Parliament (measure B-7); 

EN 

15 

   EN 

 
– 

Providing  for  a  final  report  giving  overall  assessment  of  the  implementation  of 
Decision  1999/297/EC  and  of  the  relevance  of,  and  needs  for,  statistics  in  the 
audiovisual sector (measure B-8). 

Table 2: 
2002/591/EC  

Correspondence  between  the  Council  Decision  and  Commission  Decision 

A. Measures to implement actions to be undertaken by national authorities 

Reference  in 
the  Council 
Decision 
1999/297/EC 

Art. 2 (1)(b) 

1 

Art. 2 (1)(c) 

2 

Art. 2 (1)(d) 

3 

Description  of 
Commission Decision 2002/591/EC 

the  measure 

included 

in 

the 

Date  scheduled 
for  completing 
the measure 

Annual  update  of  the  existing  inventory  by  each 
Member  State  of  national  statistics  and  sources,  2001-
2003. 

September 2003 

April 2004 

April 2004 

Annual  forwarding  to  Eurostat  by  each  Member  State 
during  2001-2003  (via  a  questionnaire)  of  audiovisual 
statistics  (firms,  functions  and  products)  already  on 
hand  or  available 
the  competent  national 
authorities.  The  questionnaire,  which  is  based  on  the 
Auvis  classification  plan,  will  be  drawn  up  each  year 
after consultation with Member States, and sent to them 
by April of each year. Member States will send data by 
November of each year. 

from 

Voluntary  participation  in  pilot  studies  to  test  working 
methods  and  nomenclatures  in  practice  and  promote  the 
creation  of  Community  statistics  (firms,  functions  and 
products)  in  the  audiovisual  and  related  sectors.  The  list 
of  studies  and  the  timetable  for  their  implementation 
will  be  drawn  up  by  Eurostat  after  consultation  with 
Member  States,  and  taking  into  account  the  priorities 
expressed in user needs studies. 

EN 

16 

   EN 

 
 
B. Measures to implement actions to be undertaken by Eurostat 

Reference  in 
the  Council 
Decision 
1999/297/EC 

Art. 2.(2)(a) 

1 

Description of the measure 

functional  methodological 

Studies required to develop the Community institutional 
and 
and 
nomenclatures.  A  list  of  studies  and  their  timetable  for 
implementation will be drawn up by Eurostat each year 
after  consultation  with  Member  States,  and  taking  into 
account the priorities expressed in user needs studies.  

framework 

Date  scheduled 
for  completing 
the measure 

April 2004 

Art. 2.(2)(a) 

2 

Annual  updating  and  publication,  via  the  web,  of  the 
audiovisual 
general  methodological  manual  on 
statistics. 

January 2004 

3 

Updating of the chapter specific to audiovisual services 
in the Eurostat Manual of Business Statistics. 

March 2004 

Art. 2.(2)(b) 

4 

Annual processing of the data received from the annual 
questionnaire to Member States, and making the results 
available  in  Eurostat’s  dissemination  database,  and  via 
publications. 

April 2004 

5 

Adaptation of an existing Eurostat computerised system 
to  receive,  validate,  transform  and  store  statistics 
gathered 
international 
organisations. 

from  Member  States  and 

April 2004 

Art. 2.(2)(c) 

6 

Comparison  of  existing  statistical  systems  in  Member 
States,  Candidate  and  other  countries  with  a  view  to 
improved comparability. 

April 2004 

Art. 2.(2)(d) 

7 

Interim  report  on  the  progress  made  in  implementing 
the Council Decision. 

July 2002 

8 

Final report giving an assessment of the implementation 
of Council Decision 1999/297/EC and of the relevance 
of, and needs for, statistics in the audiovisual sector. 

April 2004 

EN 

17 

   EN