Commission Regulation (EC) No 1617/1999 of 23 July 1999 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 - as regards minimum standards for the treatment of insurance in the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices and modifying Commission Regulation (EC) No 2214/96 (Text with EEA relevance)

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1617/1999
of 23 July 1999
laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 - as regards minimum standards for the treatment of insurance in the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices and modifying Commission Regulation (EC) No 2214/96
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995 concerning harmonised indices of consumer price(1), and in particular Article 4 and Article 5(3) thereof,
After consulting the European Central Bank(2),
(1) Whereas, by virtue of Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 2494/95, each Member State is required to produce a Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) starting with the index for January 1997;
(2) Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 1749/96(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1688/98(4), sets down an initial coverage for HICPs that is restricted to those goods and services covered by all or most national Consumer Price Indices (CPIs); whereas Council Regulation (EC) No 1687/98(5), amending Regulation (EC) No 1749/96, defines the coverage of the HICP as those goods and services which are included in household final monetary consumption expenditure; whereas insurances are part of the coverage of the HICP;
(3) Whereas there is considerable scope for procedural differences in the treatment of insurance in the HICP; whereas a harmonised methodology for insurance is necessary to ensure that the resulting HICPs meet the comparability requirement of Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 2494/95; whereas, in practice, it is not possible to observe the service charge for a particular insurance policy on a monthly basis;
(4) Whereas the proposed treatment of insurance is consistent with the definitions laid down in the European System of Accounts (ESA) 1995(6);
(5) Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC),