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European system of national and regional accounts in the Community

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European system of national and regional accounts in the Community

Outline of the Community (European Union) legislation about European system of national and regional accounts in the Community

Topics

These categories group together and put in context the legislative and non-legislative initiatives which deal with the same topic.

Budget

European system of national and regional accounts in the Community

Document or Iniciative

Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community [See amending acts].

Summary

The European system of national and regional accounts (“ESA 1995”) makes it possible to describe the total economy of a region, country or group of countries, its components and its relations with other total economies.

The ESA is focused on the circumstances and needs of the EU. It can therefore serve as the central framework of reference for the social and economic statistics of the European Union and its Member States.

Content of the ESA

The ESA 1995 comprises two sets of tables:

  • the sector accounts *;
  • the input-output framework * and the accounts by industry *.

The purpose of this Regulation is to set up the ESA 1995 by providing for:

  • a methodology on common standards, definitions, classifications and accounting rules, that is intended to be used for compiling accounts and tables on comparable bases between the Member States for the purposes of the Community;
  • a programme, Eurostat, for transmitting on precise dates the accounts and tables compiled according to the ESA 1995.

Use

The Commission uses the national accounts aggregates for Community administrative and budgetary calculations. The ESA applies to all Community acts in which reference is made to it or to the definitions it lays down.

Key terms used in the act
  • Sector accounts: these provide, by institutional sector, a systematic description of the different stages of the economic process: production, generation of income, distribution of income, redistribution of income and use of income, as well as financial and non-financial accumulation; they also include balance sheets to describe the stocks of assets, liabilities and net worth at the beginning and at the end of the accounting period.
  • Input-output framework and accounts by industry: these describe in more detail the production process (cost structure, income generated and employment) and the flows of goods and services (output, imports, exports, intermediate consumption and capital formation by product group).

References

Act Entry into force Deadline for transposition in the Member States Official Journal
Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 20.12.1996 – OJ L 310 of 30.11.1996
Amending act(s) Entry into force Deadline for transposition in the Member States Official Journal
Regulation (EC) No 2516/2000 7.12.2000 – OJ L 290 of 17.11.2000
Regulation (EC) No 359/2002 20.3.2002 – OJ L 58 of 28.2.2002
Regulation (EC) No 1392/2007

30.12.2007

–

OJ L 324 of 10.12.2007
Regulation (EC) No 400/2009

10.06.2009

–

OJ L 126 of 21.5.2009
Regulation (EC) No 715/2010

31.08.2010

–

OJ L 210 of 11.8.2010

Subsequent amendments and corrections to Regulation 2223/96 have been incorporated in the basic text. This consolidated version  is for reference purpose only.

Related Acts

Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1150/2000 of 22 May 2000 implementing Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom on the system of Community own resources [Official Journal L 130 of 31.5.2000].
See consolidated version

Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 of 25 May 2009 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community [Official Journal L 145 of 10.6.2009].
See consolidated version

Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1553/89 of 29 May 1989 on the definitive uniform arrangements for the collection of own resources accruing from value added tax [Official Journal L 155 of 7.6.1989].
See consolidated version

Council Directive 89/130/EEC, Euratom of 13 February 1989 on the harmonisation of the compilation of gross national product at market prices [Official Journal L 49 of 21.2.1989].
See consolidated version consolidated version

Common classification of territorial units for statistical purposes

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Common classification of territorial units for statistical purposes

Outline of the Community (European Union) legislation about Common classification of territorial units for statistical purposes

Topics

These categories group together and put in context the legislative and non-legislative initiatives which deal with the same topic.

Regional policy > Management of regional policy

Common classification of territorial units for statistical purposes

Document or Iniciative

Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) [See amending acts].

Summary

Regional statistics are one of the pillars of the Community statistical system. They form the basis for defining regional indicators. They were introduced at the beginning of the 1970s following negotiations between the national statistics offices in the Member States and Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

Users of statistics have expressed an increasing need for harmonisation at Community level in order to have data that are comparable across the whole of the European Union. In order to enable the collecting, compiling and disseminating of harmonised regional statistics, the EU has introduced the NUTS classification. It replaces the classification set up by Eurostat.

The single legal framework means that regional statistics can become stable over time. The Regulation specifies a procedure for later amendments.

Common classification of territorial units for statistics – NUTS

The NUTS classification divides up the economic territory of the Member States, including their territory outside regions as such. The latter comprises parts of the economic territory that cannot be assigned to a given region such as air space, territorial waters and the continental shelf, territorial enclaves (embassies, consulates and military bases), or resource deposits located in international waters and exploited by units residing in their territory.

If regional statistics are to be comparable, the geographical areas need to be of comparable size in population terms. Their political, administrative and institutional arrangements should also be specified. Where applicable, non-administrative units must reflect economic, social, historical, cultural, geographical and environmental considerations.

The NUTS classification is hierarchical in that it subdivides each Member State into three levels: NUTS levels 1, 2 and 3. The second and third levels are subdivisions of the first and second levels respectively. Member States may decide to go further still in terms of hierarchical levels by subdividing NUTS level 3.

Classification criteria

Territorial units are defined in terms of the existing administrative units in the Member States. An ‘administrative unit’ marks out a geographical area for which an administrative authority has power to take administrative or policy decisions in accordance with the legal and institutional framework of the Member State.

The NUTS level to which an administrative unit belongs is determined on the basis of population thresholds as follows:

Level Minimum population Maximum population
NUTS 1 3 million 7 million
NUTS 2 800 000 3 million
NUTS 3 150 000 800 000

Where the population of a Member State as a whole is below the minimum threshold for a given NUTS level, the Member State itself constitutes a NUTS territorial unit of that level.

If, for a given level in the classification, there are no administrative units of an adequate size in a Member State, that level is to be established by aggregating an adequate number of smaller neighbouring administrative units. The resulting aggregated units are to be known as “non-administrative units”.

Administrative units in the Member States

The Regulation classifies the various administrative units of the Member States before the enlargement of 1 May 2004 (EU-15) according to their level in the classification:

  • NUTS 1: “Gewesten/Regions” in Belgium; “Länder ” in Germany; “Continente”, “Região dos Açores” and “Região da Madeira” in Portugal; “Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland” and “Government Office Regions of England” in the United Kingdom.
  • NUTS 2: “Provincies/Provinces” in Belgium; “Regierungsbezirke” in Germany; “Periferies” in Greece; “Comundidades y ciudades autonomas” in Spain; “Régions” in France; “Regions” in Ireland; “Regioni” in Italy; “Provincies” in the Netherlands; “Länder” in Austria.
  • NUTS 3: “arrondissements” in Belgium; “amtskommuner” in Denmark; “Kreise/kreisfreie Städte” in Germany; “nomoi” in Greece; “provincias” in Spain; “départements” in France; “regional authority regions” in Ireland; “provincie” in Italy; “län” in Sweden; “maakunnat/landskapen” in Finland.

Small administrative units

Within six months following the entry into force of the Regulation, the Commission was to publish the composition of each NUTS level 3 territorial unit in terms of small administrative units of EU-15 listed in the Regulation: “Gemeenten/Communes” in Belgium; “Kommuner” in Denmark; “Gemeinden” in Germany; “Demoi/Koinotites” in Greece, “Municipios” in Spain; “Communes” in France; “Counties/County boroughs” in Ireland; “Comuni” in Italy; les “Communes” in Luxembourg; “Gemeenten” in the Netherlands; “Gemeinden” in Austria; “Freguesias” in Portugal; “Kunnat/Kommuner” in Finland; “Kommuner” in Sweden and “Wards” in the United Kingdom.

Amendments to NUTS

Changes to the NUTS classification are to be made in the second half of each calendar year. There is to be a minimum of three years between changes. The Member States are to inform the Commission of all changes to administrative units or similar changes that may have an impact on the NUTS classification (such as changes to constituent elements which may affect the borders of NUTS 3 regions).

Adjustments to small administrative units modify the NUTS classification only if they entail a transfer of more than 1% of population out of the NUTS level 3 territorial units concerned.

In the case of non-administrative units in a Member State, the NUTS classification may be amended if the change reduces the standard deviation in terms of demographic size of all the territorial units in the European Union.

References

Act Entry into force Deadline for transposition in the Member States Official Journal
Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 11.07.2003 – OJ L 154 of 21.06.2003
Amending act(s) Entry into force Deadline for transposition in the Member States Official Journal
Regulation (EC) No 1888/2005 26.11.2005 – OJ L 309 of 25.11.2003
Regulation (EC) No 105/2007 2.3.2007 – OJ L 39 of 10.2.2007

Related Acts

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 11/2008 of 8 January 2008 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) on the transmission of the time series for the new regional breakdown [Official Journal L 5 of 9.1.2008].

Decision No 1578/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2007 on the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012 [Official Journal L 344 of 28.12.2007].

Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council setting up a European Advisory Committee on Community Statistical Information Policy [COM(2006) 653 final – Not published in the Official Journal].

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council of 6 October 2005 on the appropriatenessof establishing rules on a Europe-wide basis for more detailed levels in the NUTS classification (COM(2005) 473 final – not published in the Official Journal)

Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community Statistics [Official Journal L 52 of 22.02.1997]
The purpose of this Regulation is to set up a framework for the production of Community statistics with a view to the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Community policies.

Euratom: Council Decision of 19 June 1989 establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities [Official Journal L 181 of 28.6.1989].

Structural indicators

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Structural indicators

Outline of the Community (European Union) legislation about Structural indicators

Topics

These categories group together and put in context the legislative and non-legislative initiatives which deal with the same topic.

Regional policy > Management of regional policy

Structural indicators

Document or Iniciative

Communication from the Commission of 8 October 2003. Structural indicators [See amending acts].

Summary

In March 2000, the Lisbon European Council invited the European Commission to present an annual report on progress achieved in the areas of employment, innovation, economic reform, social cohesion and the environment. Structural indicators allow quantative evaluation and comparison of performances of the Member States in these areas.

These structural indicators are extremely useful. They give an essential statistical foundation to political messages. Member States use them for their national reports. This sort of information is very often requested by the public.

With regard to structural indicators, the European Commission:

  • has drawn up a shortlist of 14 indicators;
  • has put a complete online database at the public’s disposal;
  • wants to improve existing indicators and finalise new ones.

A shortlist of 14 structural indicators

The number of structural indicators has risen greatly in the last three years, to as many as 42 in 2003. The Commission would like to reduce this number to 14 in order to facilitate communication of its policy messages at the Spring European Council. The list of the 14 indicators, as amended by the Council, is as follows:

Structural Indicators Definition Overall policy objective Country coverage
Per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Per capita GDP in Purchasing Power Standard (PPS).
EU15 = 100		 Standard of living.
Social and environmental welfare.		 15 Member States (MS) + 12 acceding or candidate countries (ACC) + United States, Japan, Iceland, Norway.
Labour productivity. Work productivity per person employed GDP in PPS per person employed.
EU15=100		 Overall efficiency of the economy. Ditto
Employment rate. Employed persons aged 15-64 as a percentage of the total population of the same age group. Full employment.
Combating social exclusion.		 15 MS + 12 ACC + Iceland, Norway.
Employment rate of older workers. Employed persons aged 55-64 as a percentage of the total population of the same age group. Full employment.
Combating social exclusion.		 Ditto
Education level of young people (aged 20-24). Percentage of young people aged 20-24 having reached at least higher secondary education or training, expressed as a percentage of the total population of the same age group. National education systems performance. 15 MS + 12 ACC
Research and technological development (R&TD). Gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) as a percentage of GDP. R&D effort. 15 MS + 12 ACC (except Malta) + United States, Japan, Iceland, Norway.
Comparative price levels. Ratio between purchasing power parities (PPP) and market exchange rates for each country. Price convergence. Ditto
Business investment. Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) in the private sector as a percentage of GDP. Business confidence in the economic situation. 15 MS + Norway.
At-risk-of-poverty rate after social transfers. Percentage of persons with an equivalised disposable income below the risk-of-poverty threshold after social transfers.
The threshold is set at 60 % of the national median equivalised disposable income (after social transfers).		 Combating poverty and social exclusion. 15 MS + 12 ACC
Dispersion of regional employment rates. Coefficient of variation of employment rates across regions (NUTS 2 level) within countries. Economic and social cohesion 15 MS (except Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg) + Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, |Romania, Slovakia.
Long term unemployment. Total long-term unemployed (over 12 months) as a percentage of the total active population aged 15-64. Full employment.
Combating social exclusion.		 15 MS + 12 ACC + United States, Japan, Iceland, Norway.
Greenhouse gases emissions. Percentage change in aggregated emissions of 6 main greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs and SF6) expressed in CO2-equivalents. The base year for the Kyoto Protocol objectives and the Decision of the EU Council Decision is 2008-2012. Index base year = 100 Climate change and implementation of Kyoto Protocol. 15 MS + 12 ACC + United States, Japan, Iceland, Norway.
Energy intensity of the economy. Gross domestic consumption of energy divided by GDP (at constant prices, 1995 = 100). More efficient energy use. 15 MS + 12 ACC + United States, Japan, Iceland, Norway.
Freight transport volume. Index of freight transport volume relative to GDP. Measured in tonne-km/GDP and indexed on 1995. Decouple transport development from economic growth. 15 MS + 12 ACC (except Malta) + United States, Japan, Iceland, Norway.

These structural indicators have several advantages. As they are generally available for an EU of 25, these indicators make it possible to present a clear annual picture of the Member States. The list of indicators is updated every three years in order to guarantee a certain stability over time. But the database is regularly updated.

A publicly-accessible online database and website

The 14 structural indicators and the extended database are accessible online, free of charge. When drawing up the Spring report, the Commission will use this statistical information to support its key findings and policy directions. The database also serves to establish other Commission reports, such as the Broad Guidelines for Economic Policy (BGEP), the European employment policy guidelines and the internal market strategy.

Constant improvement of indicators

The Commission and the European statistical system are working together to improve the indicators. This collaboration made it possible both to extend country coverage to the acceding countries and candidate countries, and to refine time series and the quality of data and indicators.

The decision to include indicators or remove them will be based on technical criteria, taking policy relevance into account. In order to offer a more coherent analysis, the focus can be placed on stability. The most recent additions to the database concern unemployment traps, business demography and e-commerce.

The Commission has established a list of indicators to be developed.

Area Indicator Characteristics
General economic background. Potential output. –
Total factor productivity. –
Employment

 Vacancies. Indicates bottlenecks and labour shortages.
Quality of work. Develop indicators other than ‘life-long learning’ and ‘accidents at work’.
Marginal effective tax rate. Unemployment trap indicator.
Childcare facilities. The Barcelona European Council set the target of increasing capacity in all Member States.
Innovation and research.

 Composite indicators on the knowledge-based economy. This concerns investments in the knowledge-based economy.
Public and private expenditure on human capital. Improve specific time series.
Online public services (e-government). Update currently available data. Calculate the average percentage of public services available on-line between October 2001 and April 2002.
IT expenditure. Build a coherent framework to measure expenditure, define variables and identify the means for collecting the data.
Broadband internet access. Under development. This is one of the aims of the eEurope 2005 action plan.
Economic reform Business demography. Harmonising existing data on business ‘birth rates’, ‘survival rates’ and ‘deaths’.
Cost of capital and financial integration. Evaluate market efficiency, mergers and acquisitions and financial stability indicators.
Social cohesion Regional GDP per capita. Improve the development of regional price indices.
Environment

 Consumption of toxic chemicals. Currently being prepared. Evaluate the risk linked to the use of these chemicals in society. This is linked to the Reach authorisation system.
Health expectancies. Collection of data will begin in 2004 for the MS and in 2005 for the ACCs.
Biodiversity index. Currently being prepared. These are linked to the Community Biodiversity Action Plans (BIO-IMPS projects).
Resource productivity. Data already available for certain resources such as electricity generation. A study is currently being carried out on indicators which evaluate the Integrated product policy.
Recycling rate of selected materials. Harmonise this rate through the recent adoption of specific rules on recycling.
Generation of hazardous waste. Ditto.

References

Act Entry into force Deadline for transposition in the Member States Official Journal
COM(2003) 585 final – – Not published in the OJ
Amending act(s) Entry into force Deadline for transposition in the Member States Official Journal
Brussels European Council conclusions of 8 December 2003 – – Not published in the OJ

Related Acts

Communication from the Commission – Structural Indicators [COM(2002) 551 final].

Communication from the Commission – Structural Indicators [COM(2001) 619 final].

Communication from the Commission – Structural Indicators [COM(2000) 594 final].

Transparency of gas and electricity prices

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Transparency of gas and electricity prices

Outline of the Community (European Union) legislation about Transparency of gas and electricity prices

Topics

These categories group together and put in context the legislative and non-legislative initiatives which deal with the same topic.

Energy > Internal energy market

Transparency of gas and electricity prices

Document or Iniciative

Directive 2008/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 concerning a Community procedure to improve the transparency of electricity and gas prices charged to industrial end-users (recast) (Text with EEA relevance).

Summary

This Directive aims at establishing a European procedure to ensure transparency of gas and electricity prices charged to end-users.

The procedure is necessary, insofar as this information enables consumers to choose between different energy providers and also between energy sources.

Information provided

The Member States shall ensure that the undertakings that provide industrial end-users with gas and electricity communicate the following information to Eurostat:

  • the prices and terms of sale of gas and electricity to industrial end-users;
  • the price systems in use;
  • the breakdown of consumers and the corresponding volumes by category of consumption to ensure the representativeness of these categories at national level.

Procedures framing gas and electricity prices

Prices reported must be the prices paid by industrial end-users buying natural gas distributed through mains, and buying electricity, for their own use. They are to be expressed in national currency per gigajoule (for gas) and per kilowatt-hour (kWh) (for electricity).

These prices must include all charges payable, such as network charges and energy used, rebates or premiums. Initial connection charges are not to be included.

Three levels of price are to be provided:

  • prices excluding taxes and levies;
  • prices excluding VAT and other recoverable taxes;
  • prices including all taxes, levies and VAT.

These prices are collected twice per year (January and July) whereas the method of calculation and a description of the taxes levied on sales of gas and electricity to end-users are to be transmitted once per year (in January).

Information on the procedures framing gas and electricity prices is to be communicated by an independent statistical body.

This Directive repeals Directive 90/377/EEC.

Reference

Act Entry into force Deadline for transposition in the Member States Official Journal
Directive 2008/92/EC

27.11.2008

–

OJ L 298 of 7.11.2008

This summary is for information only. It is not designed to interpret or replace the reference document, which remains the only binding legal text.

European statistics

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European statistics

Outline of the Community (European Union) legislation about European statistics

Topics

These categories group together and put in context the legislative and non-legislative initiatives which deal with the same topic.

Internal market > Free movement of goods: general framework

European statistics

Document or Iniciative

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 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 (Text with relevance for the EEA and for Switzerland).

Summary

This Regulation aims to establish a legal framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics in compliance with the following principles:

  • professional independence;
  • impartiality;
  • objectivity;
  • reliability;
  • statistical confidentiality;
  • cost effectiveness.

How is statistical governance exercised?

Eurostat is the European authority responsible for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics. It coordinates the statistical activities of the institutions and bodies of the European Union (EU).

The national statistical institutes (NSIs) are designated by each Member State to coordinate all activities related to the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. They are a contact point for Eurostat.

The (ESS) is the result of a partnership between Eurostat and the NSIs, as well as other national authorities in each Member State.

This Regulation also establishes the European Statistical System Committee (ESS Committee), which shall be composed of representatives of the NSIs and chaired by Eurostat. The ESS Committee shall be consulted by the Commission on the following questions:

  • the development, production and dissemination of European statistics;
  • the European statistical programme;
  • issues concerning statistical confidentiality;
  • the further development of the Code of Practice.

The ESS shall cooperate closely with the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). It shall also be responsible for updating the European statistics Code of Practice. This Code of Practice aims at ensuring public trust in European statistics.

European statistics must be developed, produced and disseminated according to harmonised methods which, in particular, apply criteria of relevance, accuracy, accessibility and coherence.

How are European statistics produced?

European statistics are produced as part of the European statistical programme for a period of five years. This programme sets priorities as to information needs in relation to the activities of the European Union (EU).

Before finalising the statistical programme, the European Commission shall submit a draft to the ESS Committee.

Implementation of the European statistical programme shall be decided by:

  • the European Parliament and the Council;
  • the Commission;
  • a written agreement between the NSIs, other national authorities and Eurostat.

The Commission shall also submit an annual work programme to the ESS Committee for the following year, based on the European statistical programme.

How are European statistics disseminated?

European statistics shall be disseminated by Eurostat, the NSIs, and other national authorities. Such data may be disseminated in the form of a public file which shall nevertheless be anonymous.

Where the data have been transferred to Eurostat, the NSI or the national authority which provided the data must give its explicit approval before dissemination takes place.

What are the parameters of statistical confidentiality?

Confidential data shall only be accessed by Eurostat officials. Such data must be used exclusively for statistical purposes and must not be disclosed unlawfully.

However, there are exceptional cases in which statistical units may be disseminated, where:

  • specific conditions and modalities are determined by an act of the European Parliament and of the Council;
  • the statistical unit itself authorises the disclosure of its data.

Confidential data may be transmitted by an authority of the ESS to another authority as long as this act is recognised as being necessary to the development, production or dissemination of European statistics. The national rules of a Member State alone shall not be sufficient to justify such transmission.

NSIs, Eurostat and other national authorities may have access to sources of administrative data using their public administration system.

This Regulation repeals Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008, Regulation (EC) No 322/97 and Decision 89/382/EEC.

Reference

Act Entry into force Deadline for transposition in the Member States Official Journal

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009

1.4.2009

–

OJ L 87 of 31.3.2009