13.9.2013 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 244/23
COMMISSION DELEGATED REGULATION (EU) No 877/2013
of 27 June 2013
supplementing Regulation (EU) No 473/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on common provisions for monitoring and assessing draft budgetary plans and ensuring the correction of excessive deficit of the Member States in the euro area
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 473/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on common provisions for monitoring and assessing draft budgetary plans and ensuring the correction of excessive deficit of the Member States in the euro area (1), and in particular Article 10(3) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Regulation (EU) No 473/2013 sets up a closer monitoring for Member States whose currency is the euro in excessive deficit procedure by means of additional reporting requirements aiming at ensuring prevention and early correction of any deviations from the Council recommendations or decisions to give notice to correct the excessive deficit.
(2) Such monitoring complements the existing reporting obligations set out in Article 3(4)(a) and Article 5(1)(a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure (2) which require that a Member State in excessive deficit procedure subject to a Council recommendation made in accordance with Article 126(7) of the Treaty or a notice made in accordance with Article 126(9) of the Treaty shall report to the Council and the Commission on action taken to correct the excessive deficit. This report shall include the targets for government expenditure and revenue and for the discretionary measures on both the expenditure and the revenue side consistent with the Council’s recommendation, as well as information on the measures taken and the nature of those envisaged to achieve the targets.
(3) Regulation (EU) No 473/2013 complements this initial reporting requirement by requiring a more frequent reporting from Member States whose currency is the euro which are in excessive deficit. The latter will have to report to the Commission and to the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) every six months if subject to a Council recommendation made in accordance with Article 126(7) and every three months if subject to a Council decision to give notice in accordance with Article 126(9) TFEU on the action taken to correct the excessive deficit. The reporting should contain, for the general government and its sub-sectors, the in-year budgetary execution, the budgetary impact of discretionary measures taken on both the expenditure and the revenue side, targets for the government expenditure and revenues and information on the measures adopted and the nature of those envisaged to achieve the targets. This more frequent reporting will help the Commission and the EFC to continuously monitor whether the Member State concerned is on track to correct its excessive deficit.
(4) According to Article 10(3) of Regulation (EU) No 473/2013, the content of this additional reporting is to be specified by the Commission. This delegated act provides a clear framework for the information to be reported by Member States whose currency is the euro and which are subject to an excessive deficit procedure. The reporting established by this delegated Regulation will provide a structured and harmonised view of the budgetary situation of the Member States concerned. The report should contain annual and quarterly data in order to provide details on the on-going correction. Data should be reported on a cash and accrual basis (according to the European System of National Accounts ESA) in order to allow a better understanding of the dynamics of the budgetary situation. Given that an excessive deficit procedure can be open on the basis of non-compliance with either or both the deficit and the debt-to-GDP Treaty reference values, the evolution of the main components of the general government deficit and debt developments should be reported.
(5) Actual data reported under this delegated act should be consistent with data reported to Eurostat in the context of the excessive deficit procedure,
Subject matter
This Regulation lays down specifications concerning the content of the reports that may be requested by the Commission from Member States whose currency is the euro which are subject to an excessive deficit procedure.
Structure and content of the reporting
1.   The reports referred to in Article 1 shall have the following structure:
— Actual balances, debt developments, and updated budgetary plans for the period of correction for the general government and its sub-sectors;
— Description and quantification of the fiscal strategy in nominal and structural terms (cyclical component of the balance, net of one-off and temporary measures) to correct the excessive deficit by the deadline set by the Council in the view of the latest Council recommendation or decision to give notice in accordance with Article 126(7) or Article 126(9) TFEU, including detailed information on budgetary measures planned or already taken to achieve these targets and their budgetary impact.
2.   The reports shall include tables as indicated in the Annex to this Regulation.
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in accordance with the Treaties.