Proposal for a Council Regulation on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community (Codified version)
Date: 2008-02-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European accounting system, European treaties, Protocol (EU), codification of EU law, data transmission, loss, public debt

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 13.2.2008 
COM(2008) 73 final 

2008/0034 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the 
Treaty establishing the European Community 

(Codified version) 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

In  the  context  of  a  people’s  Europe,  the  Commission  attaches  great  importance  to 
simplifying  and  clarifying  Community  law  so  as  to  make  it  clearer  and  more 
accessible to the ordinary citizen, thus giving him new opportunities and the chance 
to make use of the specific rights it gives him. 

This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous provisions that have been amended 
several times, often quite substantially, remain scattered, so that they must be sought 
partly  in  the  original  instrument  and  partly  in  later  amending  ones.  Considerable 
research work, comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the 
current rules. 

For  this  reason  a  codification  of  rules  that  have  frequently  been  amended  is  also 
essential if Community law is to be clear and transparent. 

On  1  April  1987  the  Commission  therefore  decided1  to  instruct  its  staff  that  all 
legislative acts should be codified after no more than ten amendments, stressing that 
this  is  a  minimum  requirement  and  that  departments  should  endeavour  to  codify  at 
even  shorter  intervals  the  texts  for  which  they  are  responsible,  to  ensure  that  the 
Community rules are clear and readily understandable. 

The  Conclusions  of 
the  Edinburgh  European  Council 
(December 1992) confirmed this2 stressing the importance of codification as it offers 
certainty as to the law applicable to a given matter at a given time. 

the  Presidency  of 

Codification  must  be  undertaken  in  full  compliance  with  the  normal  Community 
legislative procedure. 

Given  that  no  changes  of  substance  may  be  made  to  the  instruments  affected  by 
codification, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have agreed, 
by  an  interinstitutional  agreement  dated  20  December  1994,  that  an  accelerated 
procedure may be used for the fast-track adoption of codification instruments. 

is 

this  proposal 

to  undertake  a  codification  of  Council 
The  purpose  of 
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 
Community3. The new Regulation will supersede the various acts incorporated in it4; 
this proposal fully preserves the content of the acts being codified and hence does no 
more than bring them together with only such formal amendments as are required by 
the codification exercise itself. 

COM(87) 868 PV. 
See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions. 
Carried out pursuant to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the 
Council – Codification of the Acquis communautaire, COM(2001) 645 final. 
See Annex I to this proposal. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

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2 
3 

4 

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5. 

The codification proposal was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation, 
in  all  official  languages,  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  3605/93  and  the  instruments 
amending  it,  carried  out  by  the  Office  for  Official  Publications  of  the  European 
Communities, by means of a data-processing system. Where the Articles have been 
given new numbers, the correlation between the old and the new numbers is shown 
in a table set out in Annex II to the codified Regulation. 

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(cid:208) 3605/93 (adapted) 

2008/0034 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION  

on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the 
Treaty establishing the European Community 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the third 
subparagraph of Article ⌦ 104(14) ⌫ thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament1, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee2, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank3, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

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 Community4 has been substantially amended several times5. In the interests 
of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified. 

(cid:208)  

(2) 

The  definitions  of  ‘government’,  ‘deficit’  and  ‘investment’  are  laid  down  in  the 
Protocol  on  the  excessive  deficit  procedure  by  reference  to  the  European  System  of 

(cid:208) 3605/93 Recital 1 (adapted) 

1 
2 
3 
4 

5 

OJ C […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], p. […]. 
OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 7. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2103/2005 (OJ L 337, 
22.12.2005, p. 1). 
See Annex I. 

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regional  accounts 

Integrated  Economic  Accounts  (ESA)  ⌦ ,  replaced  by  the  European  system  of 
[Council] 
national  and 
Regulation (EC) No [2223/96] of [25 June 1996] on the European system of national 
and regional accounts in the Community and hereinafter referred to as ‘ESA 95’) ⌫6. 
Precise definitions referring to the classification codes of ESA ⌦ 95 ⌫ are required. 
Those  definitions  may  be  subject  to  revision  in  the  context  of  the  necessary 
harmonisation of national statistics or for other reasons.  

the  Community 

(adopted  by 

in 

(cid:208) 3605/93 Recital 2 and 475/2000 
Recital 2 (adapted) 

(3) 

The definition of ‘debt’ laid down in the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure 
needs to be amplified by a reference to the classification codes of ESA ⌦ 95. In the 
case of financial derivatives, as defined in ESA 95, there is no nominal value identical 
to  that  for  other  debt  instruments.  Therefore,  financial  derivatives  should  not  be 
included  with  the  liabilities  making  up  government  debt  for  the  purposes  of  the 
Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure ⌫ . 

(4)  ⌦ Under  ESA 95, ⌫  interest  flows  under  swap  contracts  and  forward  rate 
agreements  (FRAs)  ⌦ are  to  be  classified  in  the ⌫  financial  account  ⌦ and 
require ⌫  specific  treatment  ⌦ as  regards ⌫  the  data  transmitted  under  the 
excessive deficit procedure. 

(cid:208) 351/2002 recital 3 (adapted) 

(5) 

(6) 

(cid:208) 475/2000 Recital 3 

ESA  95  provides  a  detailed  definition  of  gross  domestic  product  at  current  market 
prices, which is appropriate  for the calculation of the ratios of government deficit to 
gross domestic product and of government debt to gross domestic product referred to 
in Article 104 of the Treaty. 

(cid:208) 475/2000 Recital 4 (adapted) 

Consolidated government interest expenditure is an important indicator for monitoring 
the  budgetary  situation  in  the  Member  States.  Interest  expenditure  is  intrinsically 
linked to government debt. Government debt to be reported to the Commission by the 
Member  States  has  to  be  consolidated  within  the  government  sector.  The  levels  of 
government debt and of interest expenditure should be made mutually consistent. The 
methodology  of  ESA  95  (point  [1.58])  recognises  that,  for  certain  kinds  of  analysis, 
consolidated aggregates are more significant than overall gross figures. 

6 

 ⌦ OJ L [310], [30.11.1996], p. [1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1267/2003 of 
the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 180, 18.7.2003, p. 1).] ⌫ 

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(7) 

Pursuant  to  the  terms  of  the  Protocol  on  the  excessive  deficit  procedure,  the 
Commission is required to provide the statistical data to be used in that procedure. 

(cid:208) 3605/93 Recital 4 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Recital 2 

(8) 

The  role  of  the  Commission,  as  statistical  authority,  in  that  context  is  specifically 
exercised by Eurostat, on behalf of the Commission. As the Commission department 
responsible  for  carrying  out  the  tasks  devolving  on  the  Commission  as  regards  the 
production  of  Community  statistics,  Eurostat  is  required  to  execute  its  tasks  in 
accordance with the principles of impartiality, reliability, relevance, cost-effectiveness, 
statistical  confidentiality  and 
in  Commission 
transparency,  as 
Decision 97/281/EC of 21 April 1997 on the role of Eurostat as regards the production 
of  Community  statistics7.  The  implementation  by  the  national  and  Community 
statistical authorities of the Recommendation of the Commission of 25 May 2005 on 
the  independence,  integrity  and  accountability  of  the  national  and  Community 
authorities  should  enhance  the  principle  of  professional  independence,  adequacy  of 
resources and quality of statistical data. 

laid  down 

(9) 

Detailed  rules  are  required  to  organise  the  prompt  and  regular  reporting  by  the 
Member  States  to  the  Commission  ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫  of  their  planned  and  actual 
deficits and of the levels of their debt, 

(cid:208) 3605/93 Recital 5 (adapted) 

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

(cid:208) 3605/93 

CHAPTER I 

Definitions 

Article 1 

(cid:208) 475/2000 Art. 1 pt. 1 (adapted) 

1. For the purposes of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure and of this Regulation, 
the terms given in paragraphs ⌦ 2 to 6 ⌫ are defined according to the European system of 

7 

OJ L 112, 29.4.1997, p. 56. 

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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. 

(cid:208) 475/2000 Art. 1 pt.1 
(cid:206)1 351/2002 Art. 1 pt. 1 
(cid:206)2 351/2002 Art. 1 pt. 2 

2.  ‘Government’  means  the  sector  of  ‘general  government’  (S.13),  that  is  ‘central 
government’ (S.1311), ‘state government’ (S.1312), ‘local government’ (S.1313) and ‘social 
security funds’ (S.1314), to the exclusion of commercial operations, as defined in ESA 95. 

The exclusion of commercial operations means that the sector of ‘general government’ (S.13) 
comprises only institutional units producing non-market services as their main activity. 

3. ‘Government deficit (surplus)’ means the net borrowing (net lending) ((cid:206)1 EDP B.9 (cid:205)) of 
the sector of ‘general government’ (S.13), as defined in ESA 95. The interest comprised in the 
government deficit is the interest ((cid:206)2 EDP D.41 (cid:205)), as defined in ESA 95. 

4.  ‘Government  investment’  means  the  gross  fixed  capital  formation  (P.51)  of  the  sector  of 
‘general government’ (S.13), as defined in ESA 95. 

5. ‘Government debt’ means the total gross debt  at nominal value outstanding at the end of 
the year 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). 

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 the year 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 the year. 

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 year. 

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 year. 

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. 

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6. ⌦ ‘ ⌫ Gross domestic product ⌦ ’ ⌫ means gross domestic product at current market 
prices (GDP mp) (B.1*g), as defined in ESA 95. 

(cid:208) 475/2000 Art. 1 pt.1 (adapted) 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt.1 

Article 2 

1. Planned government deficit and government debt level figures mean the figures established 
for  the  current  year  by  the  Member  States.  They  shall  be  the  most  recent  official  forecasts, 
taking  into  account  the  most  recent  budgetary  decisions  and  economic  developments  and 
prospects.  They  should  be  produced  in  as  short  a  time  as  possible  before  the  reporting 
deadline. 

2. Actual government deficit and government debt level figures mean estimated, provisional, 
half-finalised or  final results for a past year. The planned  data together with the actual data 
⌦ shall ⌫ form a consistent time series as far as the definitions and concepts are concerned. 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 1 
(adapted) 

(cid:208) 3605/93 

CHAPTER II 

Rules and coverage of reporting 

Article 3 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 2 
(adapted) 

1. Member States shall report to the Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ their planned and actual 
government deficits and levels of government debt twice a year, the first time before 1 April 
of the current year (year n) and the second time before 1 October of year n. 

Member States shall inform the Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ which national authorities are 
responsible for the excessive deficit procedure reporting. 

2. Before 1 April of year n, Member States: 

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(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

shall  report  to  the  Commission  ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫  their  planned  government  deficit 
for year n, an up-to-date estimate of their actual government deficit for year n-1 and 
their actual government deficits for years n-2, n-3 and n-4; 

shall  simultaneously  provide  the  Commission  ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫  with  their  planned 
data  for  year  n  and  the  actual  data  for  years  n-1,  n-2,  n-3  and  n-4  of  their 
corresponding  public  accounts  budget  deficits  in  accordance  with  the  definition 
which  is  given  most  prominence  nationally  and  with  the  figures  which  explain  the 
transition between the public accounts budget deficit and their government deficit for 
the sub-sector S.1311; 

shall simultaneously provide the Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ with their actual data 
for years n-1, n-2, n-3 and n-4 of their corresponding working balances and with the 
figures  which  explain  the  transition  between  the  working  balances  of  each 
government  sub-sector  and  their  government  deficit  for  the  sub-sectors  S.1312, 
S.1313 and S.1314; 

shall report to the Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ their planned level of government 
debt  at  the  end  of  year  n  and  their  levels  of  actual  government  debt  at  the  end  of 
years n-1, n-2, n-3 and n-4; 

shall simultaneously provide the Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ , for years n-1, n-2, 
n-3  and  n-4,  with  the  figures  which  explain  the  contribution  of  the  government 
deficit and other factors relevant to the variation in the level of their government debt 
by sub-sector. 

3.  Before  1  October  of  year  n,  Member  States  shall  report  to  the  Commission 
⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫: 

(a) 

(b) 

their  updated  planned  government  deficit  for  year  n  and  their  actual  government 
deficits  for  years  n-1,  n-2,  n-3  and  n-4  and  shall  comply  with  the  requirements 
ofpoints (b) and (c) of paragraph 2; 

their updated planned level of government debt at the end of year n and their levels 
of actual government debt at the end of years n-1, n-2, n-3 and n-4, and shall comply 
with the requirements of point (e) of paragraph 2. 

(cid:208) 3605/93 (adapted) 

4.  The  figures  for 
the  Commission 
the  planned  government  deficit  reported 
⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫  in  accordance  with  paragraphs  2  and  3  shall  be  expressed  in  national 
currency and in budget years. 

to 

The  figures  for  actual  government  deficit  and  actual  government  debt  level  reported  to  the 
Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫  in  accordance  with  paragraphs  2  and  3  shall  be  expressed  in 
national  currency  and  in  calendar  years,  with  the  exception  of  the  up-to-date  estimates  for 
year n-1, which may be expressed in budget years. 

Where the budget year differs from the calendar year, Member States shall also report to the 
Commission  ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫  their  figures  for  actual  government  deficit  and  actual 

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government debt level in budget years for the two budget years preceding the current budget 
year. 

(cid:208) 3605/93 (adapted) 
(cid:206)1 475/2000 Art. 1 pt. 3 

Article 4 

Member States shall, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 3(1), (2) and (3), 
provide the Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ with the figures  for their government investment 
expenditure (cid:206)1 and interest expenditure (consolidated) (cid:205). 

(cid:208) 3605/93 (adapted) 

Article 5 

Member States shall provide the Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ with a forecast of their gross 
domestic  product  for  year  n  and  the  actual  amount  of  their  gross  domestic  product  for 
years n-1,  n-2,  n-3  and  n-4,  under  the  same  timing  conditions  as  those  indicated  in 
Article 3(1). 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 3 
(adapted) 

Article 6 

1.  Member  States  shall  inform  the  Commission  ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫,  as  soon  as  it  becomes 
available,  of  any  major  revision  in  their  actual  and  planned  government  deficit  and  debt 
figures already reported. 

2.  Major  revisions  in  the  actual  deficit  and  debt  figures  already  reported  shall  be  properly 
documented.  In  any  case,  revisions  which  result  in  the  reference  values  as  specified  in  the 
Protocol ⌦ on the excessive deficit procedure ⌫ being exceeded, or revisions which mean 
that  a  Member  State’s  data  no  longer  exceed  the  reference  values, ⌦ shall ⌫  be  reported 
and properly documented. 

Member States shall make public the actual deficit and debt data and other data for past years 
reported to the Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ in accordance with Articles 3 to 6. 

Article 7 

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(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 

CHAPTER III 

Quality of data 

Article 8 

1. The Commission (Eurostat) shall regularly assess the quality both of actual data reported 
by Member States and of the underlying government sector accounts compiled according to 
ESA  95  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  government  accounts).  Quality  of  actual  data  means 
compliance with accounting rules, completeness, reliability, timeliness, and consistency of the 
statistical  data.  The  assessment  will  focus  on  areas  specified  in  the  inventories  of  Member 
States  such  as  the  delimitation  of  the  government  sector,  the  classification  of  government 
transactions and liabilities, and the time of recording. 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 
(adapted) 

2. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat), as promptly as possible, with the 
relevant statistical information requested for the needs of the data quality assessment, without 
to  statistical  confidentiality  of  ⌦ Council ⌫ 
prejudice 
Regulation (EC) No 322/978. 

the  provisions  relating 

to 

‘Statistical  information’  referred  to  in  the  first  subparagraph  ⌦ shall ⌫  be  limited  to  the 
information strictly necessary to check the compliance to ESA rules. In particular, statistical 
information means: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

data from national accounts; 

inventories; 

EDP notification tables; 

additional questionnaires and clarification related to the notifications. 

The  format  of  the  questionnaires  shall  be  defined  by  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  after 
consultation  of  the  Committee  on  Monetary,  Financial  and  Balance  of  Payments  Statistics 
(hereinafter referred to as ⌦ ‘ ⌫ CMFB ⌦ ’ ⌫) . 

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OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1. 

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(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 

3.  The  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall  report  regularly  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to  the 
Council on the quality of the actual data reported by Member States. The report shall address 
the  overall  assessment  of  the  actual  data  reported  by  Member  States  as  regards  to  the 
compliance with accounting rules, completeness, reliability, timeliness, and consistency of the 
data. 

Article 9 

1.  Member  States  shall  provide  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  with  a  detailed  inventory  of  the 
methods,  procedures  and  sources  used  to  compile  actual  deficit  and  debt  data  and  the 
underlying government accounts. 

2.  The  inventories  shall  be  prepared  in  accordance  with  guidelines  adopted  by  the 
Commission (Eurostat) after consultation of CMFB. 

3.  The  inventories  shall  be  updated  following  revisions  in  the  methods,  procedures  and 
sources adopted by Member States to compile their statistical data. 

4. Member States shall make their inventories public. 

5. The issues referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 may be addressed in the visits mentioned in 
Article 11. 

Article 10 

1.  In  the  event  of  a  doubt  regarding  the  correct  implementation  of  the  ESA  95  accounting 
rules, the Member State concerned shall request clarification from the Commission (Eurostat). 
The  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall  promptly  examine  the  issue  and  communicate  its 
clarification to the Member State concerned and, when appropriate, to the CMFB. 

2. For cases which are either complex or of general interest in the view of the Commission or 
the  Member  State  concerned,  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall  take  a  decision  after 
consultation of the CMFB. The Commission (Eurostat) shall make decisions public, together 
with  the  opinion  of  the  CMFB,  without  prejudice  to  the  provisions  relating  to  statistical 
confidentiality of Regulation (EC) No 322/97. 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 
(adapted) 

Article 11 

1.  The  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall  ensure  a  permanent  dialogue  with  Member  States’ 
statistical  authorities.  To  this  end,  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  ⌦ shall ⌫  carry  out  in  all 
Member States regular dialogue visits, as well as possible methodological visits. 

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2. The dialogue visits are designed to review reported data, to examine methodological issues, 
to  discuss  statistical  processes  and  sources  described  in  the  inventories,  and  to  assess 
compliance  with  the  accounting  rules.  The  dialogue  visits  ⌦ shall ⌫  be  used  to  identify 
risks or potential problems about the quality of the reported data.  

3.  The  methodological  visits ⌦ shall ⌫  not  go  beyond  the  purely  statistical  domain.  This 
⌦ shall ⌫ be reflected in the composition of the delegations referred to in Article 12. 

The methodological visits are designed to monitor the processes and the government accounts 
which  justify  the  reported  actual  data  and  to  draw  detailed  conclusions  as  to  the  quality  of 
reported data, as defined in Article 8(1). 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 
(adapted) 

The methodological visits ⌦ shall ⌫ only be undertaken in cases where substantial risks or 
potential problems with the quality of the data are identified, especially as they relate to the 
methods, concepts and classification applied to the data, which Member States are obliged to 
report. 

4.  When  organising  dialogue  and  methodological  visits,  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall 
transmit its provisional findings to the Member States concerned for comments. 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 

Article 12 

1.  When  carrying  out  methodological  visits  in  Member  States,  the  Commission  (Eurostat) 
may request the assistance of national accounts experts, proposed by other Member States on 
a voluntary basis, and of officials from other Commission departments. 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 
(adapted) 

The  list  of  national  accounts  experts  from  whom  the  Commission  ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫  may 
request  assistance,  will  be  constituted  on  the  basis  of  proposals  sent  to  the  Commission 
⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ by the national authorities responsible for the excessive deficit reporting. 

2.  Member  States  shall  take  all  necessary  measures  to  facilitate  the  methodological  visits. 
These  visits  ⌦ shall ⌫  be  confined  to  the  national  authorities  involved  in  the  excessive 
deficit  procedure  reporting.  Member  States  shall,  however,  ensure  that  their  services  which 
are  directly  or  indirectly  involved  in  the  production  of  government  accounts  and  debt,  and 
where  necessary  their  national  authorities  which  have  a  functional  responsibility  for  the 
control of the public accounts, provide the Commission officials or other experts referred to in 

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paragraph  1  with  the  assistance  necessary  to  carry  out  their  duties,  including  making 
documents  available  to  justify  the  reported  actual  deficit  and  debt  data  and  the  underlying 
government accounts. Confidential records of the national statistical system ⌦ shall ⌫ only 
be provided to the Commission (Eurostat). 

Without  prejudice  to  the  general  obligation  of  the  Member  States  to  take  all  measures 
required to facilitate the methodological visits, the interlocutors of ⌦ the Commission ( ⌫ 
Eurostat  ⌦ ) ⌫  for  the  methodological  visits  referred  to  in  the  first  subparagraph  are,  in 
each Member State, the services responsible for the excessive deficit procedure reporting. 

3.  The  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall  ensure  that  officials  and  experts  participating  in  these 
visits meet every guarantee as regards technical competence, professional independence and 
observance of confidentiality. 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 

Article 13 

The  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall  report  to  the  Economic  and  Financial  Committee  on  the 
findings  of  dialogue  and  methodological  visits,  including  any  comments  on  these  findings 
made by the Member State concerned. Those reports, along with any comments made by the 
Member  State  concerned,  after  having  been  transmitted  to  the  Economic  and  Financial 
Committee,  shall  be  made  public,  without  prejudice  to  the  provisions  concerning  statistical 
confidentiality in Regulation (EC) No 322/97. 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 
(adapted) 

CHAPTER IV 

Provision of data by the Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 

Article 14 

1. The  Commission (Eurostat)  shall provide the actual government deficit and debt data  for 
the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure, within three weeks after the 
reporting deadlines referred to in Article 3(1) or after revisions as referred to in Article6(1). 
This provision of data shall be effected through publication. 

2. The Commission (Eurostat) shall not delay the provision of the actual government deficit 
and debt data of Member States where a Member State has not reported its own data. 

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Article 15 

1.  The  Commission  (Eurostat)  may  express  a  reservation  on  the  quality  of  the  actual  data 
reported  by  the  Member  States.  No  later  than  three  working  days  before  the  planned 
publication  date,  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall  communicate  to  the  Member  State 
concerned and to the  President  of  the Economic and  Financial Committee the reservation it 
intends to express and make public. Where the issue is resolved after publication of the data 
and  the  reservation,  withdrawal  of  the  reservation  shall  be  made  public  immediately 
thereafter. 

2. The Commission (Eurostat) may amend actual data reported by Member States and provide 
the  amended  data  and  a  justification  of  the  amendment  where  there  is  evidence  that  actual 
data reported by Member States do not comply with the requirements of Article 8(1). No later 
than three working days before the planned publication date, the Commission (Eurostat) shall 
communicate  to  the  Member  State  concerned  and  to  the  President  of  the  Economic  and 
Financial Committee the amended data and the justification for the amendment. 

CHAPTER V 

General provisions 

(cid:208) 2103/2005 Art. 1 pt. 4 
(adapted) 

Article 16 

1.  Member  States  shall  ensure  that  the  actual  data  reported  to  the  Commission 
⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫ are provided in accordance with the principles established by Article 10 of 
Regulation  (EC)  No  322/97.  In  this  regard,  the  responsibility  of  the  national  statistical 
authorities  is  to  ensure  the  compliance  of  reported  data  with  ⌦ Article ⌫  1  ⌦ of  this 
Regulation ⌫ and the underlying ESA 95 accounting rules. 

2.  Member  States  shall  take  all  appropriate  measures to ensure that officials responsible for 
the  reporting  of  the  actual  data  to  the  Commission ⌦ (Eurostat) ⌫  and  of  the  underlying 
government  accounts  act  in  accordance  with  the  principles  established  by  Article  10  of 
Regulation (EC) No 322/97. 

Article 17 

In the event of a revision of ESA 95 or of an amendment to its methodology decided on by 
the European Parliament and the Council or the Commission in accordance with the rules of 
competence and procedure laid down in the Treaty and in Regulation (EC) No [2223/96], the 
Commission  shall  introduce  the  new  references  to  ESA  95  into  Articles  1  and  3 ⌦ of  this 
Regulation ⌫. 

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(cid:208)  

Article 18 

Regulation (EC) No 3605/93 is repealed. 

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and 
shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex II. 

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

Article 19 

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

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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(cid:207) 

ANNEX I 

Repealed Regulation with list of its successive amendments 

Council Regulation (EC) No 3605/93 

(OJ L 332, 31.12.1993, p. 7) 

Council Regulation (EC) No 475/2000 

(OJ L 58, 3.3.2000, p. 1) 

Commission Regulation (EC) No 351/2002 

(OJ L 55, 26.2.2002, p. 23) 

Council Regulation (EC) No 2103/2005 

(OJ L 337, 22.12.2005, p. 1) 

_____________ 

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ANNEX II 

CORRELATION TABLE 

Regulation (EC) No 3605/93 

This Regulation 

Section 1 

Article 1(1) to (5) 

Article 2 

Article 3 

Section 2 

Article 4(1) 

Chapter I 

Article 1(1) to (5) 

Article 1(6) 

Article 2 

Chapter II 

Article 3(1) 

Article 4(2) first to fifth indents 

Article 3(2)(a) to (e) 

Article 4(3) first and second indents 

Article 3(3)(a) and (b) 

Article 4(4) 

Article 5 

Article 6 

Article 7 

Article 8 

Section 2a 

Article 8a(1) 

Article 3(4) 

Article 4 

Article 5 

Article 6 

Article 7 

Chapter III 

Article 8(1) 

Article 8a(2) first subparagraph 

Article 8(2) first subparagraph 

Article  8a(2)  second  subparagraph,  first  to 
fourth indents 

Article  8(2)  second  subparagraph,  points  (a) 
to (d) 

Article 8a(2), third subparagraph 

Article 8(2), third subparagraph 

Article 8a(3) 

Article 8b 

Article 8c 

Article 8(3) 

Article 9 

Article 10 

Article  8d  first  paragraph,  first  and  second 
sentences 

Article 11(1) 

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Article 8d first paragraph, third sentence 

Article 11(3) third subparagraph 

Article 8d second paragraph, first and second 
sentences 

Article 11(2) 

Article 8d second paragraph, third sentence 

Article 11(3) second subparagraph 

Article  8d  second  paragraph,  fourth  and  fifth 
sentences 

Article 11(3) first subparagraph 

Article 8d third paragraph 

Article 11(4) 

Article 8e 

Article 8f 

Section 2b 

Article 8g 

Article 8h 

Section 2c 

Article 8i 

Article 8j 

________ 

________ 

________ 

________ 

Article 12 

Article 13 

Chapter IV 

Article 14 

Article 15 

Chapter V 

Article 16 

Article 17 

Article 18 

Article 19 

Annex I 

Annex II 

_____________ 

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