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 pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/643 on rail transport statistics
Date: 2021-03-02
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU statistics, European Commission, data collection, delegated legislation, powers of the institutions (EU), rail transport, transport statistics

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 2.3.2021  COM(2021) 98 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 pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/643 on rail transport statistics  
 
 
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  
pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/643 on rail transport statistics 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Article  3(2)  of  Regulation  (EU)  2018/643  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council1 
empowers  the  Commission  to  adopt  delegated  acts  under  Article  10.  The  Commission  can 
exercise  this  power  to  take  account  of  new  developments  and  at  the  same  time  ensure 
harmonisation  of  statistics  by  defining  certain  technical  details.  More  specifically,  the 
Commission can adopt delegated acts in order to: 

-  adapt  the  technical  definitions  set  out  in  points (8),  (9),  (10),  (21),  (22)  and (23)  of 

paragraph 1 of Article 3; 

-  provide for additional technical definitions. 

When  exercising  that  power,  the  Commission  must  ensure  that  the  delegated  acts  do  not 
impose  a  significant  additional  burden  on  the  Member  States  or  respondents.  Furthermore, 
the  Commission  must  justify  the  statistical  actions  for  which  those  delegated  acts  provide, 
using,  where  appropriate,  a  cost-effectiveness  analysis  that  assesses  the  burden  on 
respondents and the production costs. 

As specified in Article 10(4), before adopting a delegated act, the Commission must consult 
experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the 
Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making2.  

2. 

LEGAL BASIS 

Under Article 10(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/643, the power to adopt delegated acts referred 
to in Article 3(2) is conferred on the Commission for a period of 5 years from 13 December 
2016.  The  delegation  of  power  is  to  be  tacitly  extended  for  periods  of  5  years,  unless  the 
European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension. 

The Commission must draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than 9 
months  before  the  end  of  the  5-year  period.  This  report  fulfils  that  obligation  for  the  first 
time. 

1 Regulation (EU) 2018/643 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 April 2018 on rail transport 

statistics (OJ L 112, 2.5.2018, p. 1). 

2 OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1. 

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3. 

EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION 

The Commission has not yet exercised the power to adopt delegated acts conferred on it by 
Regulation (EU) 2018/643. 

The  Commission  regularly  discusses  potential  improvements  to  rail  transport  statistics  with 
the  Expert  Group  on  Rail  Transport  Statistics  and  the  Coordinating  Group  for  Statistics  on 
Transport.  These  discussions  also  take  into  consideration  possible  costs  and  burdens  on 
countries and respondents. 

Statistical  needs  in  the  context  of  the  Sustainable  and  Smart  Mobility  Strategy3 and  policy 
initiatives  set  out  in  the  Commission  Communication  on  the  European  Green  Deal 4 may 
require the Commission to adopt delegated acts regarding technical definitions in Regulation 
(EU) 2018/643. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission has not yet exercised its power to adopt delegated acts as conferred on it by 
Regulation (EU) 2018/643. 

The Commission considers that it should continue to have these delegated powers, as it may 
need to adopt delegated acts in the future to support developments in rail transport statistics. 

3 COM(2020) 789 final. 

4 COM(2019) 640 final. 

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