Proposal for a Council Decision on the Community position on a Decision of the Joint Committee established under the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on cooperation in the field of statistics, amending Annex B to the Agreement
Date: 2009-07-31
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Switzerland, cooperation agreement (EU), disclosure of information, statistical method, statistics

EN 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 31.7.2009 
COM(2009) 413 final 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the Community position on a Decision of the Joint Committee established under the 
Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on 
cooperation in the field of statistics, amending Annex B to the Agreement  

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss  Confederation  on 
cooperation in the field of statistics1 (‘the Agreement’) entered into force on 1 January 2007. 
The Community is represented by the Commission. 

Article  3  of  the  Agreement  establishes  a  ‘Community/Switzerland  Statistical  Joint 
Committee’ (‘the Joint Committee’) responsible for the administration of this Agreement and 
for ensuring its proper implementation.  

Article 2 of Decision 2006/233/EC stipulates that the Community is to be represented by the 
Commission and that the position to be taken by the Community on the Joint Committee is to 
be adopted by the Council for matters relating to the financial contribution of Switzerland. 

Article 4 of the Agreement provides that the Joint Committee may decide to revise Annex B 
to the Agreement concerning the rules governing Switzerland’s financial contribution. 

The  experience  gained  since  the  start  of  implementation  of  the  Agreement  in  2007  has 
demonstrated  the  need  to  adapt  Annex  B  in  order  to  simplify  its  application  and  reduce  the 
corresponding administrative burden.  

This  proposal  has  financial  implications  for  the  Community  budget,  since  it  provides  for 
simplification  of  the  method  for  calculating  the  Swiss  contribution.  This  change  does  not 
entail any immediate change in revenue, which is foreseen to stay at a similar level.  

The Decision of the Joint Committee is to be published in the Official Journal of the European 
Union. 

1 

OJ L 90, 28.3.2006, p.2. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

on the Community position on a Decision of the Joint Committee established under the 
Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on 
cooperation in the field of statistics, amending Annex B to the Agreement  

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 

Having regard to Council Decision 2006/233/EC2 of 27 February 2006 on the conclusion of 
an Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on cooperation 
in the field of statistics (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’), and in particular Article 2 
thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission3, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

Article  3  of  the  Agreement  establishes  a  Committee  composed  of  representatives  of 
the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss  Confederation,  to  be  known  as  the 
‘Community/Switzerland  Statistical  Committee’  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  ‘the  Joint 
Committee’). 

Article  2  of  Decision  2006/233/EC  stipulates  that  the  position  to  be  taken  by  the 
Community as regards decisions of the Joint Committee is be adopted by the Council, 
acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, for matters relating 
to the financial contribution of Switzerland. 

In  order  to  cover  the  entirety  of  the  costs  of  its  participation,  Switzerland  is  to 
contribute financially to the Community Statistical Programme on an annual basis. 

Article  4  of  the  Agreement  provides  that  the  Joint  Committee  may  decide  to  revise 
Annex  B  to  the  Agreement  concerning  the  rules  governing  Switzerland’s  financial 
contribution. 

The  experience  gained  since  the  start  of  the  implementation  of  the  Agreement 
demonstrated  the  need  to  simplify  its  financial  application  and  reduce  the 
corresponding  administrative  burden  while  maintaining  the  Switzerland's  financial 
contribution  at  a  similar  level.  Consequently  Annex  B  to  the  Agreement  should  be 
revised, 

2 
3 

OJ L 90, 28.3.2006, p. 1. 
OJ C , , p. . 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
                                                 
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:  

Article 1 

The  position  to  be  adopted  by  the  European  Community  on  a  Decision  by  the  Joint 
Committee amending Annex B to the Agreement shall be based on the draft Joint Committee 
Decision annexed to this Decision. 

Article 2 

The  Joint  Committee  Decision  shall  be  published  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the  European 
Union. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX  

- D R A F T - 

Decision of the Community/Switzerland Statistical Committee 

No 1/2009 of …. 2009 

amending Annex B to the Agreement between the  
European Community and the Swiss Confederation on cooperation in the field of 
statistics 

THE COMMUNITY/SWITZERLAND STATISTICAL COMMITTEE, 

Having  regard  to  the  Agreement  between  the  European  Community  and  the  Swiss 
Confederation on cooperation in the field of statistics4, and in particular Article 4 (4) thereof, 

Whereas: 

(1)  The  Agreement  between 

the  Swiss 
Confederation  entered  into  force  on  1  January  2007  and  contains  Annex  B 
concerning the rules governing Switzerland's financial contribution. 

the  European  Community  and 

(2)  The experience gained since the start of the implementation of the Agreement 
has demonstrated the need to simplify its financial application and reduce the 
corresponding  administrative  burden.  Consequently,  Annex  B  should  be 
revised, 

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

Article 1 

Annex B to the Agreement is replaced by the Annex to this Decision. 

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption. 

Article 2 

Done at Luxembourg,  

For the Joint Committee 

The Head of the EC Delegation 

The Head of the Swiss Delegation 

4 

OJ L 90, 28.3.2006, p. 2. 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
ANNEX B 

FINANCIAL RULES GOVERNING THE CONTRIBUTION OF SWITZERLAND 
REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 8 

1. Determination of financial participation 

1.1. Switzerland shall contribute financially, on an annual basis, to the Community Statistical 
Programme. 

1.2. This contribution shall be based on two elements: 

— The total cost of Eurostat [Cost] 

— The number of Member States in the European Union [# Members] 

1.3. The financial contribution shall be: [Cost] /[# Members] 

1.4. These elements shall be defined as follows: 

1.4.1.  The  total  cost  of  Eurostat  shall  be  defined  as  85%  of  the  amount  of  commitment 
appropriations in the Statistics Policy Area (Title 29) of the Budget of the European Union, 
according  to  the  Activity  Based  Budgeting  nomenclature.  This  shall  comprise  Management 
and  Support  Expenditure  of  Policy  Area  Statistics  (Expenditure  related  to  staff  in  active 
employment,  External  Staff  and  other  management  expenditure,  Buildings  and  related 
expenditure and Support expenditure for operations) and the Financial Interventions in respect 
of the Production of Statistical Information. [Cost] 

1.4.2. The number of Member States shall be defined as the number of Member States of the 
European Union on 1 January of the year on the year in question. [# Members] 

1.5.  A  draft  calculation  of  this  financial  contribution  shall  be  made  immediately  after  the 
adoption of the Preliminary Draft Budget of the European Union for the year in question. The 
final calculation shall be made immediately after the adoption of the Budget for that year. 

2. Payment procedures 

2.1. The Commission shall issue, at the latest on 15 June each financial year, a call for funds 
to  Switzerland  corresponding  to  its  contribution  under  this  Agreement.  This  call  for  funds 
shall  provide  for  the  payment  of  its  contribution  not  later  than  15  July.  Any  delay  in  the 
issuance  of  the  call  for  funds  shall  give  rise  to  a  corresponding  deferral  of  the  scheduled 
payment date, to allow for a payment period of at least thirty days. 

2.2. The contribution of Switzerland shall be expressed and paid in euro. 

2.3.  Switzerland  shall  pay  its  contribution  under  this  Agreement  in  accordance  with  the 
schedule in point 2.1. Any delay in payment shall give rise to the payment of interest at the 
rate applied by the European Central Bank to its principal refinancing operations, as published 
in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union, in force on the first calendar day 
of  the  month  in  which  the  due  date  falls,  increased by 1.5 percentage  points. The increased 
rate shall be applied to the entire period of delay. However, the interest shall be due only in 

EN 

6 

   EN 

 
respect  of  any  contribution  paid  more  than  thirty  days  after  the  scheduled  payment  date 
mentioned in point 2.1. 

2.4. Costs incurred by Swiss representatives and experts participating in meetings convened 
by  the  Commission  under  this  Agreement  shall  not  be  reimbursed  by  the  Commission.  As 
stated in Article 6(2), the costs associated with the secondment of Swiss national officials to 
Eurostat shall be borne entirely by Switzerland. 

Subject  to  an  agreement  between  Eurostat  and  the  Swiss  Federal  Statistical  Office, 
Switzerland may deduct from its financial contribution the cost for seconded national experts. 
The  maximum  amount  to  be  deducted  for  each  official  shall  not  exceed  the  maximum 
deducted for officials from EEA-EFTA countries being seconded to Eurostat under the EEA 
Agreement. This sum shall be agreed on an annual basis by the Joint Committee. 

2.5.  Payments  effected  by  Switzerland  shall  be  credited  as  budgetary  revenue  earmarked  to 
the  corresponding  budget  line  of  the  statement  of  revenue  of  the  General  Budget  of  the 
European Union. The Financial Regulation5 applicable to the General Budget of the European 
Communities shall apply to the management of appropriations. 

3. Conditions for implementation 

3.1  The  financial  contribution  of  Switzerland  in  accordance  with  Article  8  shall  normally 
remain unchanged for the financial year in question. 

3.2. The Commission, at the time of the closure of the accounts relating to each financial year 
(n), within the framework of the establishment of the revenue and expenditure account, shall 
proceed to the regularisation of the accounts with respect to the participation of Switzerland, 
taking into consideration modifications resulting from transfers, cancellations, carry-overs, or 
by supplementary and amending budgets during the financial year. This regularisation shall be 
made in  the  framework  of  the  establishment of the budget for the following year (n+2) and 
should be reflected in the call for funds. 

4. Information 

4.1  At  the  latest  on  31  May  of  each  financial  year  (n+1),  the  statement  of  appropriations 
corresponding to Eurostat's operational and administrative financial obligations, related to the 
previous financial year (n), shall be prepared and transmitted to Switzerland for information, 
according to the format of the Commission's revenue and expenditure account. 

4.2.  The  Commission  shall  communicate  to  Switzerland  all  other  general  financial  data 
relating to Eurostat which is made available to EEA-EFTA States. 

5 

Council  Regulation  (EC,  Euratom)  No  1605/2002  of  25  June  2002  on  the  Financial  Regulation 
applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ L 248, 16.9.2002 p. 1). 

EN 

7 

   EN 

 
                                                 
LEGISLATIVE  FINANCIAL  STATEMENT  FOR  PROPOSALS  HAVING  A 
BUDGETARY IMPACT EXCLUSIVELY LIMITED TO THE REVENUE SIDE 

1. 

NAME OF THE PROPOSAL: 

Decision  amending  Annex  B  to  the  Agreement  between  the  European  Community 
and the Swiss Confederation on cooperation in the field of statistics. 

2. 

BUDGET LINES: 

Chapter and Article: 29.0203 ‘Community Statistical Programme 2008-2012’ 

Amount budgeted for the year concerned: €3.8m  

3. 

FINANCIAL IMPACT  

(cid:133) 

Proposal has no financial implications 

X 

Proposal has no financial impact on expenditure, but has a financial impact on 
revenue – the effect is as follows: 

(€ million to one decimal place)  

Budget line 

Revenue6 

12 month period, 
starting 01/01/2009 

Article 29.0203 

Impact on own resources 

3.8 

Article … 

Impact on own resources 

Situation following action 

[n+1] 

[n+2] 

[n+3] 

[n+4] 

[n+5] 

Article 29.0203 

3.8 

3.8 

3.9 

3.9 

3.9 

6 

Regarding  traditional  own  resources  (agricultural  duties,  sugar  levies,  customs  duties)  the  amounts 
indicated must be net amounts, i.e. gross amounts after deduction of 25 % collection costs. 

EN 

8 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
4. 

OTHER REMARKS 

The  objective  of  this  proposal  is  to  simplify  the  method  of  calculating  the 
contribution of Switzerland to the Community Statistical Programme. 

This  contribution  will  not  be  dependent  on  the  establishment  of  a  specific  annual 
work  programme  between  the  Community  and  Switzerland  but  will  be  a  fixed 
percentage. 

This proposal has financial implications for the Community budget since it provides 
for simplification of the method for calculating the Swiss contribution. This change 
does  not  entail  any  immediate  change  in  revenue,  which  is  foreseen  to  stay  at  a 
similar  level.  The  fixed  percentage  (85%)  corresponds  to  the  usual  level  of 
participation  by  Switzerland  in  the  Community  Statistical  Programme  and  the 
estimation  until  2013  is  that  the  financial  amount  for  the  Programme  will  remain 
more or less the same. 

Switzerland’s  financial  contribution  since  the  start  of  implementation  of  the 
Agreement  has  varied  between  €3.6m  a nd  €3.8m  per  year,  which  corresponds  to 
about 85 % of the Statistical Programme. 

It should be noted that entities established in Switzerland can participate in specific 
Community programmes managed by Eurostat, with the same contractual rights and 
obligations  as  those  of  entities  established  in  the  Community.  However,  entities 
established  in  Switzerland  are  not  entitled  to  receive  any  financial  contribution 
from Eurostat. 

The  costs  associated  with  the  secondment  of  Swiss  national  experts  to  Eurostat, 
including  salaries,  social  security  costs,  pension  provision,  and  daily  and  travel 
allowances, are borne entirely by Switzerland. 

EN 

9 

   EN