REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission by Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on tourism
Date: 2016-01-20
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU statistics, European Commission, data collection, data transmission, delegated legislation, delegated regulation, tourism statistics, transfer of competence

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 20.1.2016  
COM(2016) 4 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission by 
Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning 
European statistics on tourism  

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 

THE COUNCIL 

on the exercise of the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on the Commission by 
Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
concerning European statistics on tourism 

1.  

INTRODUCTION 

Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council1 established a 
common  framework  for  the  systematic  development,  production  and  dissemination  of 
statistics  on  tourism  in  the  European  Union.  It  reflected  the  changes  in  the  nature  of  the 
tourism  economy  and  of  tourist  behaviour  that  had  occurred  since  the  entry  into  force  of 
Council Directive 95/57/EC2, and responded to the ensuing changes in user needs. 

Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts: 

•  amending the definitions to reflect changes to international definitions (Article 2(2)); 

•  amending the deadlines for data transmission to take account of economic, social and 

technical developments (Article 9(5)); and 

•  adapting the Annexes to take account of economic, social and technical developments. 
The Commission may not, however, change provisions in the Annex on the optional 
nature of the required data and the limitation of the scope (Article 3(2)). 

Furthermore,  Regulation  (EU)  No  692/2011  emphasises  the  importance  of  the  Commission 
carrying out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, 
before exercising the empowerment. 

2.  

LEGAL BASIS 

This  report  is  required  under  Article  11(2)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  692/2011.  Under  this 
provision, the Commission is granted the power to adopt delegated acts for a period of five 
years from 11 August 2011, and is required to prepare a report on the delegation of power not 
later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. 

3. 

EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION 

1 Regulation (EU) No 692/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2011 concerning 
European statistics on tourism and repealing Council Directive 95/57/EC (OJ L 192, 22.7.2011, p. 17). 

2 Council Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 on the collection of statistical information in the field of 
tourism (OJ L 291, 6.12.1995, p. 32). 

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Since the entry into force of Regulation (EU) No 692/2011, the Commission has adopted one 
delegated act, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 253/20133. This amended certain 
definitions  relating  to  educational  attainment,  to  reflect  changes  made  to  the  International 
Standard Classification of Education (ISCED).  

The  exercise  of  the  empowerment  was  deemed  necessary  as  a  result  of  the  revision  of  the 
International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) adopted by UNESCO (the United 
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) at its 36th General Conference in 
November 2011. Pursuant to Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) No 692/2011, the Commission 
may adopt delegated acts to adapt the definitions used in EU statistics on tourism to changes 
in international definitions. 

Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  No  253/2013  makes  the  following  amendments  to 
Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 692/2011: 

•  all  references  to  the  variable  or  socioeconomic  breakdown  ‘educational  level’  were 

replaced with ‘educational attainment level’; 

•  all  references  to  the  categories  ‘lower  (ISCED  0,  1  or  2),  middle  (ISCED  3  or  4), 
higher (ISCED 5 or 6)’ were replaced with ‘at most lower secondary, upper secondary 
and post-secondary (non-tertiary), tertiary’. 

The amendments apply from 1 January 2014. 

The  Commission  consulted  experts,  including  national  experts  on  tourism  statistics,  on  the 
draft delegated act at technical level (in June 2012) and at director level (in July 2012). The 
draft  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  was  presented  to  the  Directors-General  of  the  EU 
national statistical institutes in November 2012. 

The  Commission  adopted  the  Delegated  Regulation  on  15  January  2013  and  notified  the 
European  Parliament  and  the  Council.  Neither  the  European  Parliament  nor  the  Council 
issued  any  objection  to  the  Delegated  Regulation  within  the  two  months  allowed.  On  the 
expiry  of  the  two-month  period,  the  Delegated  Regulation  was  published  in  the  Official 
Journal  of  the  European  Union  on  21  March  2013  and  has  been  in  application  since  1 
January 2014. 

Although in the five years following its entry into force, no need occurred to adopt delegated 
acts  regarding  amendment  of  the  deadlines  for  data  transmission  or  regarding  adapting  the 
Annexes  in  order  to  take  account  of  economic,  social  and  technical  developments,  the 
empowerments remain relevant. 

4.  

CONCLUSION 

3 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 253/2013 of 15 January 2013 amending Annex II to Regulation 
(EU)  No  692/2011  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council,  as  regards  adaptations  following  the 
revision  of  the  International  Standard  Classification  of  Education  ISCED  in  relation  to  the  variables  and 
breakdowns to be submitted (OJ L 79, 21.3.2013, p. 5). 

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The  Commission  has  exercised  its  delegated  powers  correctly  and  invites  the  European 
Parliament and the Council to take note of this report. 

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