REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Decision (EC) No 1297/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on a Programme for the Modernisation of European Enterprise and Trade Statistics (MEETS)
Date: 2011-01-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, economic statistics, information system, report, trade statistics, type of business

EN 

EN 

   EN 

 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 11.1.2011 
COM(2010) 813 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation of Decision (EC) No 1297/2008/EC of the European Parliament 
and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on a Programme for the Modernisation of 
European Enterprise and Trade Statistics (MEETS) 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
  
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation of Decision (EC) No 1297/2008/EC of the European Parliament 
and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on a Programme for the Modernisation of 
European Enterprise and Trade Statistics (MEETS)  

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Under the terms of Article 6 of Decision No 1297/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of 
the  Council  of  16  December  2008  on  a  Programme  for  the  Modernisation  of  European 
Enterprise  and  Trade  Statistics  (MEETS),  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  the  MEETS  Decision), 
'by  31  December  2010,  and  thereafter  on  an  annual  basis  until  2013,  the  Commission  shall 
submit  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  a  report  on  the  implementation  of  the 
MEETS Programme'.  

This  report  documents  the  activities  carried  out  by  Member  States  under  the  MEETS 
Programme  together  with  the  Commission  (Eurostat),  with  respect  to  the  provisions  of  the 
MEETS Decision and the associated Commission Decisions on the annual work programmes 
for 2009 and 2010, both adopted in 2009. The MEETS project follows very closely the main 
orientations set out in the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament 
and the Council of 10 August 2009 on the production method of EU statistics: a vision for the 
next decade1. 

2. 

OBJECTIVES, ANNUAL ACTIONS AND PRIORITIES 

The  first  annual  work  programme  (for  2009)  started  all  the  actions  for  a  fundamental  re-
engineering  and  modernisation  of  enterprises  and  trade  statistics  provided  for  in  the  basic 
MEETS  Decision.  The  actions  were  continued  in  the  second  annual  work  programme  (for 
2010) and are still ongoing. Therefore, the focus of this report is on the progress made so far 
in the implementation of the actions, with particular emphasis on the collaborative networks 
in the European Statistical System (ESS), the so-called 'ESSnets', established for a number of 
activities. ESSnets were developed to share expertise and channel knowledge in the ESS and 
encompass  project  work  performed  by  some  Member  States,  with  the  results  being  made 
available for the whole ESS.  

In addition to ESSnets, funding was provided for individual grant agreements concluded with 
National Statistical Institutes (NSIs), and a number of external studies were also contracted. 
Other projects were prepared by Eurostat  and NSIs which have no financial implications as 
yet.  To  assist  in  the  implementation  of  the  programme,  funding  was  used  for  technical  and 
administrative  support,  for  example  to  organise  workshops  and  task  forces  with  national 
experts. In total, EU funding amounted to around € 5 million and € 10 million for the 2009 
and  2010  work  programmes  respectively,  covering  more  than  25  projects.  Grants,  either 

1 

COM(2009) 404. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

                                                 
through  ESSnets  or  individual  grants,  were  the  most  common  instrument  for  financing  the 
actions (around 90%). 

2.1. 

Objective  1:  To  review  priorities  and  develop  target  sets  of  indicators  for  new 
areas 

2.1.1. 

Identifying areas of lesser importance 

The  need  to  reduce  the  burden  on  respondents  as  well  as  to  lower  the  costs  for  producing 
statistics has led to a review of priorities. The aim of this project is to identify those areas and 
characteristics  from  the  legal  requirements  of  business  statistics  which  have  become  less 
important  and  consequently  can  be  removed  from  these  requirements.  This  was  done  via  a 
study ("Inventory of legal acts and methodologies of business and trade statistics") and the so-
called "filter exercise", which was carried out in 2009 by Eurostat in close co-operation with 
NSIs in order to identify which legal acts or parts of legal acts in the area of business statistics 
should be looked at more closely. These priorities (a number of variables) were validated for 
structural business statistics by the  European  Statistical  Advisory Committee (ESAC)  at  the 
beginning  of  2010,  and  were  also  the  subject  of  consultation  with  the  European  Trade 
Associations  (FEBI).  For  short  term  statistics,  the  user  consultation  was  carried  out  in  the 
context of the regular rolling reviews in this area, consisting of a user survey, a survey among 
NSIs and a process review in Eurostat.  

The proposals for both data collections were referred back to the relevant working groups.  

2.1.2.  Developing new areas 

The  most  important  areas  to  be  examined  are  globalisation  and  entrepreneurship.  The  first 
major project to be mentioned in the area of globalisation is the "development of statistics on 
enterprise  groups".  The  aims  of  this  project  are:  a)  to  identify  useful  and  meaningful 
indicators based on enterprise groups as the observation unit, since they are the main drivers 
in  globalisation  and  b)  to  test  the  feasibility  of  collecting  these  indicators.  Following  two 
expert  meetings  held  in  2009,  a  preliminary  identification  of  the  user  needs  and  the  supply 
situation  from  the  angles  of  external  trade  and  business  statistics  was  drawn  up.  In  trade 
statistics, the focus of interest is on the contribution of enterprise groups to international trade, 
and  on  intra-group  trade  and  its  share  in  global  trade.  In  the  context  of  structural  business 
statistics, there is a debate as to whether enterprise groups should be introduced as observation 
units of business statistics and whether the effect of enterprise groups on small and medium-
sized enterprises and business demography statistics should be explored.  

A study was carried out to examine user needs for statistics on enterprise groups, to identify 
possible  synergies  and  to  make  recommendations  on  areas  of  methodological  development. 
The  evaluation  of  the  study  with  experts  from  Member  States  and  Commission  services  is 
currently ongoing, in order to develop a strategy on how to approach this issue in the future. 
Following the first study and the consultation of the main stakeholders, the methodology on 
key areas of statistics on enterprise groups will be further developed. 

Another  important  project  aims  to  develop  economic  indicators  on  globalisation,  mainly 
based  on  the  OECD  Handbook  on  Economic  Globalisation  Indicators.  A  first  set  of 
globalisation  indicators  has  been  put  together  and  made  available  online  on  the  Eurostat 
website. Eurostat set up an internal group to further develop the methodology in this context. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

A  study  on  the  practical  implementation  of  indicators  specified  in  the  OECD  Handbook  on 
Economic  Globalisation  Indicators  is  ongoing,  the  objectives  being  to  calculate  and 
disseminate  indicators  where  possible,  and  to  identify  the  potential  for  collecting  indicators 
that are not yet available.  

To  underpin  policies  related  to  entrepreneurship,  indicators  such  as  business  demography 
and  employer  business  demography  have  been  developed.  Further  examination  of 
entrepreneurship indicators is ongoing with the aim of reaching international agreement on a 
set  of  indicators  in  line  with  the  joint  OECD/Eurostat  Entrepreneurship  Indicators 
Programme,  where  a  joint  Eurostat/OECD  workshop  focusing  on  the  determinants  of 
entrepreneurship, e.g. the regulatory framework, is in preparation.  

2.2. 

Objective 2: To achieve a streamlined framework of business-related statistics 

Business  and  trade  statistics  are  compiled  in  accordance  with  EU  legislation,  which  has 
developed over the years. The project "Improvement of consistency between regulations of 
different areas of business and trade statistics" aims to overhaul this legislation in order to 
provide a methodological, sustainable and cost-effective harmonised framework for different 
areas of business and trade statistics.  

The  project  started  with  several  task  force  meetings,  where  Eurostat  and  the  participating 
Member States discussed the work programme and the implementation of an ESSnet on this 
subject.  The  ESSnet  was  set  up  with  Eurostat  taking  the  coordinating  role,  because  no  co-
ordinator could be assigned in the Member States. The work programme of the ESSnet is due 
to  look  at  statistical  units  used  in  a  first  stage.  Other  aspects  to  be  reviewed  are  target 
population,  frames,  reference  period,  classifications  and  their  applications  (breakdowns, 
special  aggregates)  and  characteristics  and  definitions.  Individual  grants  were  made  to 
improve  the  "consistency  between  balance  of  payments  and  trade  statistics"  and  the 
"consistency between balance of payments and tourism statistics".  

2.2.1.  Developing statistics on enterprise groups 

This action is very closely linked to the project on developing new indicators in the area of 
globalisation  under  objective  1,  but  its  focus  is  on  the  tools  for  producing  statistics  in  an 
increasingly  globalised  world.  The  first  tool  to  be  mentioned  is  the  EuroGroups  Register, 
which  is  a  register  for  statistical  purposes  on  multinational  enterprise  groups  active  in  the 
European  Union.  The  legal  basis  was  established  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  177/2008  of  the 
European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  20 February  2008  establishing  a  common 
framework  for  business  registers  for  statistical  purposes  and  repealing  Council  Regulation 
(EEC) No 2186/932.  

The aim of the EuroGroups Register is to provide the basis for the production of comparable 
statistics on the globalisation of economies and to provide a unique survey frame consisting of 
a network of central and national statistical business registers that supports the production of 
micro based statistics on globalisation.  

The  initial  main  milestones  have  been  achieved:  data  on  5000  multinational  groups  were 
integrated  and  linked  to  the  national  statistical  business  registers;  an  ESSnet  has  been 

2 

OJ L 61, 5.3.2008, p. 6. 

EN 

4 

   EN 

                                                 
established  for  the  further  development  of  the  methodology  of  the  EuroGroups  Registers; 
central  and  national  register  processes  have  been  integrated,  common  tools  to  support  these 
processes have been developed and their quality improved. This was done in workshops with 
NSIs  and  National  Central  Banks  and  by  means  of  grants  for  the  development  and 
implementation of methods and tools for the EuroGroups Register at national level. .  

An  ESSnet  on  'profiling'  has  been  established  in  order  to  develop  and  implement  a 
methodology  for  'profiling'  large  and  complex  multinational  enterprise  groups.  The  ESSnet 
carried  out  a  feasibility  study  and  produced  recommendations  for  a  statistical  unit  model 
which  takes  into  account  the  operational  structure  of  large  and  complex  multinational 
enterprise groups.  

2.2.2.  Conducting Community surveys to minimise the burden on enterprises 

Eurostat launched a project on "EU sampling schemes" to identify areas of business and trade 
statistics where not all information is needed at all levels of detail by all Member States.  

2.3. 

Objective  3:  To  support  the  implementation  of  a  more  efficient  way  of 
producing enterprise and trade statistics 

2.3.1.  Making  better  use  of  data  that  already  exist  in  the  statistical  system,  including  the 

possibility of estimates 

The first project to be mentioned is "data warehousing and data linking in the production 
of  business  statistics”.  The  objective  is  to  support  the  implementation  of  more  integrated 
databases  and  data  production  systems  for  business  statistics  in  Member  States.  There  are 
three main aspects concerning microdata linking and data warehousing that are addressed by 
this project, namely:  

–  Data  integration,  where  more  efficient  use  should  be  made  of  business  statistics  that  are 
available  in  the  NSIs  by  linking  microdata  and  possibly  macrodata  from  different  data 
collections with the aim of making analyses of business data that were not possible before, 
to  respond  to  user  needs  in  a  more  flexible  way  and  to  reduce  the  response  burden  on 
enterprises. 

–  Process  integration,  which  involves  making  the  production  of  business  statistics  more 
efficient by replacing isolated data production systems that are specific to individual data 
collections  with  generic  systems  to  the  largest  extent  possible,  the  aims  of  which  are  to 
enable NSIs to make data production more cost-effective, to increase and standardise the 
quality of the results and to improve statistical data analysis and dissemination. 

–  Organisational change, in particular managing  the introduction and implementation of an 
technical  changes  and 

including  both 

integrated  statistical  production  system, 
organisational changes.  

As several Member States have already introduced data linking and warehousing approaches, 
this project will be based on an ESSnet which will be established from 2010 onwards. A task 
force was set up to discuss the work programme in order to enable the start of the ESSnet.  

Three  specific  projects  were  undertaken  which  aim  to  link  micro-data  for  individual 
statistics:  

–  The first project concerns "linking of micro-data on international sourcing" with structural 
business  statistics  and  statistics  on  foreign  trade  in  goods.  Grants  have  been  provided  to 

EN 

5 

   EN 

support Member States' actions in this area. The aim of the project is to analyse the impact 
of  international  sourcing  on  the  economic  performance,  employment  and  international 
trade in the goods patterns of enterprises.  

–  The  second  project,  “new  statistical 

indicators  on  external 

trade  by  business 
characteristics”, aims to further develop indicators which combine variables from external 
trade and business statistics, and to test the feasibility of collecting new indicators. These 
indicators are intended to provide an overview of the structure of the enterprises that are 
active in international trade and should thus enable users to analyse the impact of trade on 
production, employment and the performance of enterprises. Besides the identification of 
new indicators which provide information on the various aspects of European enterprises 
involved  in  internal  trade,  a  methodological  framework  for  the  compilation  of  new 
indicators is under development. The action is supported by a contract and grants.  

–  The aim of the third project "linking micro-data on ICT usage" is to develop a microdata-
linking approach for a more efficient use of basic microdata that are available in the NSIs 
related  to  the  economic  impact  of  ICT  usage  by  enterprises.  An  ESSnet  was  prepared  in 
order to carry out this work. 

The  aim  of  the  project  "Methodology  for  modern  business  statistics  (optimal  sampling, 
model  based  estimation,  data  integration)"  is  to  establish  and  document  methods  for 
modern business statistics that contribute to the efficient use of resources and a high degree of 
comparability of results across countries and domains. An ESSnet was set up to establish best 
practices in some areas of development (e.g. new data collection tools, modelling, European 
approaches) and to draw up a handbook on methods for European business statistics (update 
of the 1997 handbook) taking into account the results of other (MEETS) projects, as well as 
the methodological recommendations in some specific areas under development.  

2.3.2.  Making better use of data that already exist in the economy 

In  order  to  reduce  the  respondents'  burden,  data  that  are  already  available  in  the  economy 
should be used to compile business statistics, for example data collected by tax authorities and 
data  produced  in  accordance  with  the  accounting  frameworks.  The  Regulation  on  European 
Statistics  (Article  24)3  gives  the  NSIs  the  right  to  access  administrative  data  sources  to  the 
extent  that  these  data  are  necessary  for  the  development,  production  and  dissemination  of 
European  statistics.  However,  there  are  many  methodological  and  practical  difficulties  to 
overcome.  

To tackle this issue an ESSnet on better use of administrative and accounting data for business 
statistics was launched in 2009 and will continue its work until 2013. The main objectives of 
this ESSnet are to investigate the possibilities of wider use of administrative data for business 
statistics,  to  make  best  practices  available  to  NSIs  and  to  prepare  recommendations  in  this 
area. The focus of the work is to assess common problems arising from the use of different 
data sources for producing business statistics.  

3 

Regulation  (EC)  No  223/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  March  2009  on 
European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament 
and  of  the  Council  on  the  transmission  of  data  subject  to  statistical  confidentiality  to  the  Statistical 
Office  of  the  European  Communities,  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  322/97  on  Community  Statistics, 
and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of 
the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164). 

EN 

6 

   EN 

                                                 
2.3.3.  Developing  tools  for  the  more  efficient  extraction,  transmission  and  treatment  of 

data 

One project to be mentioned is "making better use of customs data in external trade statistics 
(Extrastat)". Extrastat is based on information collected from customs declarations and it will 
be  affected  by  the  changes  introduced  by  the  Modernised  Customs  Code4.  The  Extrastat 
Regulation5 has been amended in order to prepare for these changes, and grants are given to 
Member States for actions to support the implementation of the new regulation. 

For  the  project  "facilitating  the  use  of  the  Combined  Nomenclature"  individual  grants  were 
provided  to  National  Statistical  Institutes  to  support  the  preparation  of  Combined 
Nomenclature aids for Intrastat declarants. 

Preparatory  work  started  for  the  project  "facilitation  of  data  transfer  from  enterprises  to 
national  statistical  institutes",  which  aims  to  explore  the  possibilities  of  simplifyingthe 
transmission of data from companies to the national statistical authorities.  

2.4. 

Objective 4: To modernise Intrastat 

2.4.1.  Harmonising methods to improve quality under a simplified Intrastat 
An amendment to the Intrastat Regulation6 was adopted in 2009. This revision simplified the 
Intrastat  system  by  enabling  Member  States  to  exempt  more  traders  from  reporting 
obligations. As this will mean less complete data collection, measures to ensure data quality 
are  needed.  Within  the  action,  two  projects  to  improve  quality  were  launched.  At  the  same 
time, these projects are necessary pre-requisites for possible further simplification measures. 

The first project, "Improvement of data quality under a simplified Intrastat system", seeks to 
improve  data  quality  through  the  development  and  implementation  of  harmonised  methods 
and practices. Methodological guidelines were developed under a service contract and grants 
were provided to implement actions on quality improvement. 

The  aim  of  the  second  project  "Reduction  of  asymmetries  in  Intrastat"  is  the  gradual  and 
permanent  reduction  of  asymmetries  in  intra-EU  trade  at  detailed  and  aggregated  level.  In 
2009,  an  initial  EU-wide  reconciliation  round  was  carried  out.  The  reconciliation  round 
consisted  of  a  series  of  co-ordinated  bilateral  studies  undertaken  by  Member  States  at  the 
most  detailed  level  of  data.  As  a  result  of  the  reconciliation  round,  many  significant 
asymmetries  were  resolved,  and  either  corrected  or  prevented  for  the  future.  Furthermore, 
some  specific  trade  flows  which  need  further  methodological  work  were  identified.  Grants 
were provided to Member States. 

4 

5 

6 

Regulation (EC) No 450/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 laying 
down the Community Customs Code (OJ L 145, 4.6.2008, p. 1). 
Regulation  (EC)  No  222/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11 March  2009 
amending  Regulation  (EC)  No 638/2004  on  Community  statistics  relating  to  the  trading  of  goods 
between Member States (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 160). 
Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 (OJ L 
102, 7.4.2004, p. 1). 

EN 

7 

   EN 

                                                 
2.4.2.  Making better use of administrative data 

The objective of this action is to arrive at an enhanced use of administrative data by Member 
States in the production of Intrastat statistics. Intrastat accounts for about half of the statistical 
burden on enterprises in the EU. The total statistical burden as such is quite small in absolute 
terms  (less  than  1%  of  total  administrative  burden),  but  the  perception  of  burden  remains 
high.  If  the  National  Competent  Authorities  for  Intrastat  were  able  to  make  greater  use  of 
existing administrative data, both the real and perceived burden could be reduced. Grants have 
been  given  to  support  the  linking  of  the  following  databases:  Intrastat,  VAT  and  VAT 
Information Exchange (VIES).  

2.4.3. 

Improving and facilitating data exchange within Intrastat  

Actions  to  modernise  the  data  collection  with  the  use  of  electronic  means  and  internet 
technologies  continued,  and  the  respective  tools  were  further  deployed.  A  major  effort  was 
undertaken  in  the  field  of  data  validation  and  editing  by  means  of  automated  processes,  as 
well as the application of advanced statistical concepts for error detection and auto-correction. 

3. 

CONCLUSION 

Since  the  adoption  of  Decision  No  1297/2008/EC  and  the  adoption  of  the  first  work 
programme  in  April  2009,  more  than  25  projects  have  been  launched  for  the  four  MEETS 
objectives.  Major  progress  has  been  made  in  setting  up  the  collaborative  networks  that  are 
undertaking activities in the following six main areas: consistency of concepts and methods, 
profiling  large  and  complex  multinational  enterprise  groups,  microdata-linking  and  data 
warehousing  in  statistical  production,  linking  micro-data  on  ICT  usage,  methodology  for 
modern  business  statistics  and  the  use  of  administrative  and  accounting  data.  In  addition, 
several  projects  were  launched  to  support  the  development  and  implementation  of  the 
EuroGroups  Register  in  the  Member  States.  It  should  be  mentioned,  however,  that  Member 
States  have  a  limited  absorption  capacity  as  regards  the  additional  co-ordination  activities 
involved in the networks. 

All  the  studies  that  were  carried  out  and  finalised  will  be  evaluated  together  with  the  main 
stakeholders  from  Commission  services  and  the  Member  States.  Developed  methodologies 
will be piloted. The identification of areas of lesser importance will be further integrated into 
the  general  overall  strategy  of  Eurostat  on  priority  setting.  This  strategy  is  based  on  the 
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on priority 
setting, simplification and reduction of response burden in the field of Community statistics7.  

7 

COM(2006) 693 final of 14 November 2006 (OJ C 78, 11.4.2007, p. 8). 

EN 

8 

   EN 

                                                 
Adequate EU funding has been guaranteed by two annual work programmes adopted by the 
Commission in order to help Member States to achieve the goals in respect of the reducing the 
burden on businesses and to help the European Statistical System in responding to new needs 
for statistical information. Thirty-one grants totalling around €13.5m were co-financed and 13 
external studies for a total of around €1.5m we re subcontracted. In addition, workshops and 
task forces were financed to develop the actions. 

Owing to their complexity, all actions will be continued and more detailed information on the 
progress made will be provided in the annual reports, which will continue to be produced until 
2013. 

EN 

9 

   EN