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 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union
Date: 2022-12-07
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU statistics, European Commission, European accounting system, data collection, delegated legislation, economic analysis, economic statistics, national accounts, powers of the institutions (EU), statistical method

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 7.12.2022  COM(2022) 694 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 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union  
 
 
1.  

INTRODUCTION 

Regulation  (EU)  No  549/2013  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council1  sets  up  the 
European  System  of  Accounts  2010  (ESA  2010).  ESA  2010  is  a  system  of  national  and 
regional  accounts  designed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  EU’s  economic,  social  and 
regional policy. It contains:   

a)  a  methodology  (Annex  A  of  the  Regulation)  on  common  standards,  definitions, 
classifications  and  accounting  rules  that  must  be  used  for  compiling  accounts  and 
tables on comparable bases for the purposes of the EU; 

b)  a  programme  (Annex  B  of  the  Regulation)  setting  out  the  time  limits  by  which 
Member States must transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) the accounts and tables to 
be compiled in accordance with the methodology referred to in point (a). 

Regulation  (EU)  No 549/2013  empowers  the  Commission  to  adopt  delegated  acts,  in 
accrodance with the conditions laid down in Article 7 of the Regulation: 

  on amendments to the ESA 2010 methodology, set out in Annex A, in order to specify 
and improve its content for the purpose of ensuring a harmonised interpretation or to 
ensure  international  comparability  provided  that  they  do  not  change  its  underlying 
concepts,  do  not  require  additional  resources  for  producers  within  the  European 
Statistical  System  for  their  implementation,  and  do  not  cause  a  change  in  own 
resources (Article 2(2)); 

  and to ensure the reliability and comparability of the ESA 2010 data of the Member 
States  on  research  and  development  recorded  as  gross  fixed  capital  formation.  In 
exercising  its  power  pursuant  to  this  paragraph,  the  Commission  must  ensure  that 
such  delegated  acts  do  not  impose  a  significant  additional  administrative  burden  on 
the Member States or on the respondent units (Article 2(5)). 

A third empowerment, notably on the revision of  the methodology used for the calculation 
and  allocation  of  financial  intermediation  services  indirectly  measured  (FISIM)  in  national 
accounts  in  accordance  with  the  methodology  described  in  Annex  A  was  conferred  on  the 
Commission for a period of two months and had to be exercised before 17 September 20132 
(Article 2(4)); 

Regulation  (EU)  No 549/2013  emphasises  the  importance  of  the  Commission  carrying  out 
appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including with the European Statistical 
System Committee established under Regulation (EC) No 223/20093 (Recital 24). 

1 Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European 

system of national and regional accounts in the European Union (OJ L 174, 26.6.2013, p. 1).  

2  As  indicated  in  the  report  on  the  previous  5  years  period,  this  empowerment  has  not  been  used  by  the 
Commission. 

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 

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2.  

LEGAL BASIS 

This report is required under Article 7(2) of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013, which confers on 
the Commission the power to adopt the delegated acts referred to in Article 2(2) and 2(5) for 
a  period  of  five  years  from  16 July  2013.  The  delegation  of  power  is  tacitly  extended  for 
periods  of  identical  duration,  unless  the  European  Parliament  or  the  Council  opposes  such 
extension  not  later  than  three  months  before  the  end  of  each  period.  The  Commission  is 
required to prepare a report on the delegation of power no later than nine months before the 
end of the five-year period. 

3. 

EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION IN THE CURRENT PERIOD 

The Commission reported on the use of the delegation of powers during the first five years of 
application of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 in 20174.  

During the following five-year period, starting on 16 July 2018 as per the tacit extension of 
the delegation of powers, the Commission did not exercise its power to adopt delegated acts 
as conferred on it by Articles 2(2) and 2(5) of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013.  

4.  

CONCLUSION 

Since  16  July  2018,  the  Commission  has  not  exercised  the  power  to  adopt  delegated  acts 
conferred on it by Regulation (EU) 549/2013.  

However,  the  Commission  considers  that  it  should  continue  to  have  the  delegated  powers 
pursuant  to  Regulation  (EU)  No  549/2013,  as  it  may  need  to  adopt  delegated  acts  in  the 
future to reflect progress in statistical methodologies and with respect to possible adaptations 
of this Regulation. 

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to take note of this report. 

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). 

4 See 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 549/2013 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union. 

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