COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on European business statistics amending Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics
Date: 2017-03-06
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU statistics, data collection, economic statistics, exchange of information, financial statistics, information system, production statistics, statistical method, trade statistics, type of business

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 6.3.2017  SWD(2017) 99 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Accompanying the document Proposal for a  REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on European business statistics amending Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics {COM(2017) 114 final} {SWD(2017) 98 final}  
 
 
Executive Summary Sheet 

Impact assessment on the Proposal for a Regulation Of The European Parliament And Of The Council 

on European Business Statistics ("FRIBS"). 

A. Need for action 

Why? What is the problem being addressed?  
The  growing  information  needs  for  policymaking  and  other  purposes  increasingly  confront  Eurostat  and  the 
National Statistical Authorities (NSAs) with additional requirements for high quality statistics. The current system 
for European business statistics is fragmented into 10 separate domain-specific legal acts, which inflexibly fix the 
contents  and  the  technical  requirements  of  the  data  production.  The  resulting  fragmented  and  inflexible  legal 
system contributes to the following key problems: (1) lack of consistent and streamlined legal framework; (2) lack 
of flexibility; (3) little support to the use of innovative methods and data sources; (4) quality issues in particular 
with regard to consistency across different domains of business statistics; (5) high burden on data providers. The 
ultimate  consequence  of  these  problems  is  that  the  production  of  European  business  statistics  is  increasingly 
inefficient and rigid while its users are dissatisfied. 

What is this initiative expected to achieve?  
The  initiative  aims  to  enhance  the  flexibility  and  responsiveness  of  European  business  statistics  to  changing 
user  needs;  to  increase  their  consistency  and  quality.  The  initiative  supports  the  main  priorities  of  the 
Commission  by  providing  more  consistent  and  relevant  data 
job  creation, 
competitiveness,  research  and  innovation,  the  digital  single  market,  the  impact  of  globalisation  and  the 
functioning  of  the  internal  market.  The  initiative  facilitates  more  cost-efficient  and  modern  data  production  and 
provides the means for a significant reduction of administrative burden on data providers (businesses).   

to  monitor  e.g.  growth, 

What is the value added of action at the EU level?  
Under Article 338 TFEU of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the EU legislators shall 
have competence to adopt measures for the production of statistics where necessary for the performance of the 
activities of the Union. There is a whole range of EU policy areas (activities) whose development and monitoring 
relies  on  data  covered  by  business  statistics:  e.g.  -  employment,  competitiveness,  innovation,  trade,  industry, 
regional,  economic  and  monetary  policy.  Thus,  the  data  collections  considered  in  this  IA  are  inputs  for  the 
performance of the Union’s activities. The essential need for international comparability makes EU intervention 
indispensable. 

B. Solutions 

What  legislative  and  non-legislative  policy  options  have  been  considered?  Is  there  a  preferred 
choice or not? Why?  
A range of options has been considered and stakeholders extensively consulted. The preferred choice (Option 
C4 - Modernisation of business statistics in a single framework (FRIBS) using a mix of measures (combination of 
sub-options  SIMSTAT  and  Revised  Intrastat)  responds  best  to  the  policy  objectives  and  the  goals  of  the 
Regulatory  Fitness  and  Performance  programme  (REFIT)  by  simplifying  and  streamlining  the  heterogeneous 
and  inconsistent  legislation  currently  governing  business  statistics  into  one  single  legal  framework.  It  has  the 
highest potential for reducing regulatory burden. This option makes the European business statistics system fit 
for the future by facilitating the use of modern, cost-effective data production methods, by improving the flexibility 
and  responsiveness  to  policy  user  needs,  by  increasing  the  analytical  value  and  the  quality  of  the  data  and  it 
maximises the EU-value added. 

Who supports which option?  
Any  revision  of  data  production  methods  or  data  requirements  involves  costs  for  NSAs  in  the  short  term,  but 
potential  decreases  of  costs  in  the  longer  run  are  recognised.  Data  users  support  improved  timeliness, 
coherence  and  comparability  of  data  as  well  as  responsiveness  to  their  needs.  Data  providers  support  and 
benefit  from  the  maximum  response  burden  reduction  potential  of  Option  C.  More  specifically,  data  compilers 
(NSAs)  support  the  preferred  policy  option  C4  -  Modernisation  of  business  statistics  in  a  single  framework 
(FRIBS)  using  a  mix  of  measures  (combination  of  sub-options  SIMSTAT  and  Revised  Intrastat)  for  the 
modernisation of Intrastat. 

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C. Impacts of the preferred option 

What are the benefits of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?                                    
Besides  the  qualitative  advantages  mentioned,  Option  C4  has  the  potential  for  reducing  the  burden  on  data 
providers  (13.5  %  burden  reduction)  while  maintaining  high  quality  of  the  produced  statistics.  The  streamlined 
and  simplified  legal  framework  would  achieve  the  objectives  of  the  REFIT  programme  and  create  improved 
flexibility. This in turn would benefit data users – including producers of macro-economic indicators such as the 
GDP-  by  improving  timeliness  and  responsiveness,  data  quality  and  by  guaranteeing  consistency  of  business 
statistics also in the long term.  
The  national  data  compilers'  production  processes  would  benefit  from  improved  access  to  administrative  and 
other data sources as well as from the possibility to use and exchange micro-data. More integrated processes 
should also facilitate long term overall cost savings for them. 

What are the costs of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?  
The preferred option faces initial implementation costs for data compilers, due to revisions in the data production 
processes and due to new data requirements. The impact assessment shows that the additional implementation 
costs for NSAs in the short term are outweighed by the efficiency gains at the system-level in the longer term. 
The  estimated  one-off  investment  costs  per  Member  State  would  be  between  EUR  1.25  million  and  EUR  1.9 
million and the initial additional operating costs between EUR 691 000 and EUR 700 000 annually per Member 
State. The expected longer term effects at the EU-level are estimated to be between maximum net cost savings 
of EUR 10 million and maximum net cost increase of EUR (+) 9 million over a ten year implementation period (in 
present value terms, depending on the final implementation modalities in the individual Member States). 

How will businesses, SMEs and micro-enterprises be affected? 

On the one hand, the additional data requirements might result in limited burden for SMEs especially as regards 
the increased information on the services sector. In the qualitative consultation responses provided by the data 
compilers  the  NSAs  have  assured  that  the  utmost  care  is  taken  to  ensure  that  the  burden  on  the  SMEs  is  as 
limited  as  possible  by  e.g.  using  administrative  data  or  advanced  statistical  methods.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
modernisation of intra-EU trade in goods statistics would also significantly reduce the burden of SMEs (involved 
in intra-EU trade in goods). Any possible burden increases on SMEs would be kept limited also because many 
countries  will  use  administrative  data  (combined  with  model-based  estimation  methods)  for  fulfilling  new  data 
requirements. 

Will there be significant impacts on national budgets and administrations?  
The implementation costs have an impact on the budget of NSAs, and therefore indirectly on national budgets. 
The  statistical  regulatory  framework  foresees  safeguards  that  would  limit  as  much  as  possible  the  costs.  The 
Commission has already contributed around EUR 13 million in the form of grants to fund the additional costs that 
NSAs  face  to  adapt  their production  processes  to  the  changes  that  would  be  introduced  by  FRIBS.  Additional 
financial  resources  will  be  deployed  in  the  future  –  depending  on  budget  availability  -  in  order  to  facilitate  the 
implementation of FRIBS. Due to the efficiency gains from other provisions of FRIBS which do not result in quick 
cost reductions, but will take more time, the initial cost increases are expected to be compensated in the medium 
and long run. 

Will there be other significant impacts?  
No other significant impacts have been identified.  

D. Follow up 

When will the policy be reviewed?  
The initiative foresees regular quality reporting by Member States which contain relevant monitoring information 
on the various elements targeted. The European Statistical Programme – including European business statistics - 
currently  covering  the  period  2013-2017  (to  be  extended  to  2020)  is  assessed  at  mid-term  and  when  it 
terminates. Key performance indicators are followed-up annually. 

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