Italian Presidency of the Council Working Party on Statisticseu2014.istat.it/fileadmin/repository/file/Final Report Italian... · Council Working Party on Statistics . 2 REPORT OF

I talian Presidency of the

Council Working Party on Statistics

2

REPORT OF THE ITALIAN

PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL

WORKING PARTY ON STATISTICS

by Giorgio Alleva, Marina Gandolfo, A lessia Aubert , Crist ina Dell’ Aquila,

Immacolata Fera, Elisabet ta Parente, Paola Vit iello

Special thanks for their contributions go to: Mauro Politi, Laura Leoni, Donatella Berna, Caterina Torelli, Gian Paolo Oneto, Stefano Menghinello, Giovanni Barbieri, Roberto Monducci.

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CONTENTS

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 5

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of Revision of the Regulation

223/2009 on European statistics ....................................................................................................................... 6

Recommendation for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection

of statistical information by the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/13) ....................................................... 20

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No.

471/2009 on Community statistics relating to the external trade with non-member countries as regards

conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain

measures. ........................................................................................................................................................ 28

Proposal for a Regulation of the EP and the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on rail transport statistics, as regards the collection of

data on goods, passengers and accidents ....................................................................................................... 39

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No

1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways as regards conferring of delegated and

implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures -COM (2013) 484 ........ 52

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision and quality of

statistics for the macroeconomic imbalances procedure ............................................................................... 61

Proposal for a Regulation of the European parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No

184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and

foreign direct investment as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the

Commission for the adoption of certain measures. ........................................................................................ 93

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Introduction

The Italian Presidency would like to provide Member States with a clear picture of the results for the statistical dossier dealt with in the second semester 2014.

Eight trilogues – 2 with ECON, 4 with TRAN and 2 with INTA - have been carried out during this semester to find a satisfactory agreement with the EP on the following dossier:

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of Revision of the Regulation 223/2009 on European statistics

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on rail transport statistics, as regards the collection of data on goods, passengers and accidents

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures

The Italian Presidency has also dealt with the ECB Recommendation for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank assuming that it was essential to table this file in the CWPS, establishing a coordinated approach with the Council Working Party on Financial Services (CWPFS).

Moreover, the following dossiers are still under discussion in the CWPS:

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision and quality of statistics for the macroeconomic imbalances procedure

Proposal for a Regulation of the European parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures.

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Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of Revision of the Regulation 223/2009 on European statistics

The Proposal aims at strengthening the legal framework with regard to the independence, reliability and quality management of the statistics provided by Member States and compiled at EU level.

Having a reinforced legal framework means a stronger European Statistical System for the development, production and dissemination of statistics according to common standards guaranteeing compliance with the principles of impartiality, reliability, objectivity, scientific independence, cost-effectiveness and statistical confidentiality.

The dossier has gone through a long process of negotiations with the previous European Parliament and it has been tackled by several presidencies from June 2012 .

Being a priority, the Italian Presidency had resumed the dialogue with the new European Parliament in order to have a positive conclusion on the negotiations on the dossier.

The Italian Presidency strongly believed that reaching a satisfactory conclusion of these negotiations would have conveyed to producers and users, including citizens, a strong message on the value added of this new statistical EU law and positive signal and benefit for the entire European Union, which would have resulted in a clearly defined legal framework. In this respect, any negotiation delay would have resulted in a price to pay in terms of credibility of the ESS. Therefore, an approach based on reasonableness was followed building upon the well balance text achieved so far. On 18 November 2014, a first Trilogue took place. A second and conclusive Trilogue was held on 3 December 2014. The result reached on that occasion constitutes a balanced solution without, however, toughing the essential elements of the February 2014 Coreper mandate.

The Italian Presidency would like to highlight that the trilogues with the new European Parliament have taken place in a positive and constructive atmosphere and have seen a fruitful collaboration with the Commission.

During the trilogues, the approach was to propose as few amendments as possible in order to preserve the well balanced text achieved and facilitate a final compromise to be agreed by all parties involved.

To this end, the still controversial issues were reduced to some key issues for which a positive solution was identified. The compromise had the following main elements:

Director-General of the Commission (Eurostat) – Art 6a– para 4 (new) The Commission has made its utmost effort to accommodate the Parliament's request for an immediate start of a "statistical dialogue" with any new appointee to the Head of Eurostat. Thus she/he will appear before the European Parliament immediate after her/his appointment.

The Head of a NSI - Art 5a –The Heads will be selected on the basis of her/his professional competence and professional independence is ensured. Wording has been added to the effect that when recruiting her/him, regard will be paid to gender balance.

Relations between the ESS and the ESCB, Article 5 –paragraph 1 –subparagraph 2. An effective solution has been found as regards the relations between the two systems; as few amendments as possible have been proposed while ensuring that the legal provision

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recognises the principles of institutional autonomy of the actors involved and the appropriate cooperation between the two Systems as foreseen by art.9 of Reg. 223/2009. Furthermore the relationship between National Statistics Institutes (NSIs) and National Central Banks (NCBs) has been clarified with a clear reference to national arrangements with a view to ensuring that European statistics produced corresponds to the statistical principles as set out in art. 2 of Reg. 223/2009 to which the art 9 refers.

Inspection visits in Member States Article 12(3b) During the trilogies the European Parliament called for their amendment to be reflected in any final compromise stressing that this was regarded as a 'top priority'; the rewording proposed makes it crystal-clear that such enforcement tools like investigations will be envisaged only when they will be subject to, and conditional upon, sectoral legislation being agreed by both co-legislators under the ordinary legislative procedure. Therefore the inspection visits will be possible according to the Treaty rules and, only if sectoral legislation lay down the legal basis for such initiatives.

In the CWPS of 10 December, additional concerns were expressed on some articles which were slightly amended in the spirit of compromise.

Bearing in mind that most MS asked for slightly changes to be made on Art 20(4) in order to be able to support the compromise reached, the Presidency worked closely with the President of EP ECON Committee and the Rapporteur to find a positive solution and achieve a larger consensus among MS.

The Presidency succeeded in drafting a new wording on Art 20(4). The controversial terms ‘uniform implementation’ and ‘uniform conditions of implementation’ were deleted and replaced with the term ‘alignment’, as well as the term ‘harmonization’, which was regarded as not acceptable by the EP.

With reference to some concerns on article 12 (3b), the Italian Presidency reassured MS with the support by the CLS recalling that such initiatives will be possible, only according to the Treaty rules and if sectoral legislation so provides .

The final text endorsed in the Coreper of 19 December 2014 is attached in Annex.

This achievement was possible also thanks to the solid inputs provided by previous presidencies and the good cooperative spirit demonstrated by all parties in this semester.

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EN

ANNEX

Council of the European Union

Brussels, 19 December 2014 (OR. en) 17113/14 STATIS 143 ECOFIN 1218 CODEC 2556

NOTE

From: General Secretariat of the Council

To: Delegations

Subject: Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics

- AGREED TEXT endorsed by Coreper on 19 December 2014

COR 1+ COR 2

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Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND

OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on

European statistics

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article

338(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank,

[...]

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure

(1) The European Statistical System (the ESS), as a partnership, has in general successfully

consolidated its activities to ensure the development, production and dissemination of high-

quality European statistics, including by improving the governance of the system.

(2) Some weaknesses have, however, recently been identified, in particular with regard to the

statistical quality-management framework.

(3) The Commission suggested action to address those weaknesses and to strengthen

governance of the ESS in its Communication of 15 April 2011 ‘Towards robust quality

management for European Statistics’. In particular, it suggested a targeted amendment of

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council

(4) In its conclusions of 20 June 2011, the ECOFIN Council welcomed the Commission’s

initiative and stressed the importance of continuously improving the governance and

efficiency of the ESS.

(5) In addition, the impact on the statistical domain of recent developments in the context of the

economic-governance framework of the Union should be taken into account, in particular

aspects related to professional independence such as transparent recruitment and dismissal

processes, budgetary allocations and [...] release calendars, as laid down in Regulation (EU)

No 1175/2011 of the European Parliament and the Council of 16 November 2011 amending

Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions

and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies,

as well as those related to the requirement for bodies in charge of monitoring the implementation of

national fiscal rules to enjoy functional autonomy, as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 473/2013 of

the European Parliament and the Council on common provisions for monitoring and assessing draft

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budgetary plans and ensuring the correction of excessive deficit of the Member States in the euro

area.

(6) Those aspects that relate to professional independence, such as transparent recruitment and

dismissal processes, budgetary allocations and release calendars should not remain limited to

the statistics produced for the purposes of the fiscal-surveillance system and the excessive-

deficit procedure but should apply to all European statistics developed, produced and

disseminated by the ESS.

(7) Moreover, the adequacy of resources attributed on an annual or a multiannual basis and

available to meet statistical needs is a necessary condition for ensuring professional

independence of statistical authorities and the high quality of statistical data.

(8) To that effect, the professional independence of statistical authorities should be strengthened

and minimum standards, applicable across the Union, should be ensured. Specific guarantees

should be provided to the heads of national statistical institutes (NSIs), in terms of the

performance of statistical tasks, organisational management and resource allocation. The

procedures for recruitment of heads of NSIs should be transparent and based on professional

criteria only. They should ensure that there are equal opportunities, notably as regards

gender.

(8a) While credible European statistics require strong professional independence on the part of

statisticians, European statistics should respond to policy needs and provide statistical support

for new policy initiatives at national and at Union level.

(8b) It is necessary for the independence of Eurostat to be consolidated and guaranteed by means

of effective parliamentary scrutiny and it is necessary for the independence of NSIs to be

consolidated and guaranteed by means of democratic accountability.

(9) Furthermore, the coordinating role already attributed to the NSIs should be clarified as

regards its scope, so as to achieve more efficient coordination of statistical activities at

national level, including quality management, while duly taking into account the statistical

tasks performed by the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). To the extent that

European statistics may be compiled by National Central Banks (NCBs) in their capacity as

members of the ESCB, the NSIs and the NCBs should cooperate closely according to

national arrangements with a view to ensuring production of complete and coherent

European statistics, while ensuring the necessary cooperation between the ESS and the

ESCB as set out in Article 9.

(10) In order to reduce the burden on statistical authorities and respondents, the NSIs and other

national authorities should be able to access and use administrative records, including those filled

electronically, promptly and free-of-charge, as well as to integrate these records with statistics.

(10a) European statistics should be easy to compare and to access and should be updated promptly

and regularly so as to ensure that Union policies and funding initiatives take full account of

developments in the European Union.

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(11) The NSIs should furthermore be consulted at an early stage on the design of new

administrative records that could provide data for statistical purposes and on planned changes

to, or cessation of, existing administrative sources. They should also receive relevant metadata

from the owners of administrative data and coordinate standardisation activities concerning

administrative records that are relevant for statistical data production.

(12) The confidentiality of data obtained from administrative records should be protected under the

common principles and guidelines applicable to all confidential data used for the production

of European statistics. Transparency principles and quality-assessment frameworks

applicable to these data should also be established and published.

(12a) All users should have access to the same data at the same time. NSIs should establish release

calendars for the publication of periodical data.

(13) The quality of European statistics could be strengthened and the confidence of users

reinforced, by involving national governments in the responsibility of applying the European

Statistics Code of Practice. To that end, a ‘Commitment on Confidence in Statistics’

established by a Member State, taking account of national specificities, should include

specific undertakings by its government to improve or maintain the conditions for the

implementation of the Code. That commitment, which should be updated as necessary, could

include national high quality assurance frameworks, including self-assessments, improvement

actions and monitoring mechanisms.

(13a) The Commission (Eurostat) should take all necessary measures to allow easy online access

to complete, user-friendly data series. Where possible, periodic updates should provide

year-on-year and month-on-month information on each Member State.

(14) As the production of European statistics must be based on long-term operational and financial

planning in order to ensure a high degree of independence, the European statistical

programme should cover the same period as the multiannual financial framework.

(15) Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 confers powers on the Commission to implement some of the

provisions of that Regulation in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June

1999. As a consequence of the entry into force of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 which

repeals Council Decision 1999/468/EC, the powers conferred upon the Commission need to

be aligned to this new legal framework.

Those powers should therefore be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011

laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member

States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers. The Commission should ensure that

those implementing acts do not impose a significant additional administrative burden on the

Member States and on the respondent units.

(16) The Commission should have the power to adopt […..] implementing acts in accordance with

Article 291(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in order to ensure

uniform application of quality requirements quality requirements by defining the

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modalities, structure and periodicity of quality reports covered by sectoral legislation, […..]

when sectoral statistical legislation does not provide for these. The Commission should ensure

that these […..] implementing acts do not impose a significant additional administrative

burden on the Member States and on the respondent units.

(17) [...]

(18) There is a need for uniform conditions for implementing access to confidential data for

scientific purposes. Implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission with a

view to establishing the arrangements, rules and conditions governing such access at Union

level, in accordance with the examination procedure laid down in Article 5 of Regulation

(EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and the Council laying down the rules and

general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States of the

Commission’s exercise of implementing powers .

(19) Since the objective of this Regulation cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States

and can be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with

the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In

accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation

does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

(19a) The independence of the ESCB in the performance of their tasks as described in Protocol (No

4) on the Statute of the ESCB and of the ECB should be fully respected in the implementation

of this Regulation, in conformity with Articles 130 and 338 TFEU.

(20) The European Statistical System Committee has been consulted,

(20a) Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 should therefore be amended accordingly,

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 is amended as follows:

(1) In Article 2(1), point (a) is replaced by the following:

‘(a) ‘professional independence’, meaning that statistics must be developed, produced and

disseminated in an independent manner, particularly as regards the selection of techniques,

definitions, methodologies and sources to be used, and the timing and content of all forms of

dissemination, and that the performance of these tasks is free from any pressures from

political or interest groups or from Union or national authorities;’

(2) In Article 5, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

1. The national statistical authority designated by each Member State as the body having the

responsibility for coordinating all activities at national level for the development, production

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and dissemination of European statistics, which are determined in the European statistical

programme in line with Article 1, (the NSI) shall act in this regard as the sole contact point for

the Commission (Eurostat) on statistical matters.

The coordinating responsibility of the NSI shall cover all other national authorities

responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, which

are determined in the European statistical programme in line with Article 1. The NSI shall, in

particular, be responsible at […] national level for coordinating statistical programming and

reporting, quality monitoring, methodology, data transmission and communication on ESS

statistical actions. To the extent that some of the above European statistics may be compiled

by National Central Banks (NCBs) in their capacity as members of the ESCB, the NSIs and

the NCBs shall cooperate closely according to national arrangements with a view to

ensuring production of complete and coherent European statistics, while ensuring the

necessary cooperation between ESS and the ESCB as set out in Article 9.

(3) The following Article 5a is inserted:

"Article 5a

Heads of NSIs and statistical heads of other national authorities

1. Within their national statistical system, Member States shall ensure the professional

independence, as defined in Article 2(1), point (a), of officials responsible for the tasks set out

in this Regulation [...].

2. To this end, the heads of NSIs shall:

(a) have the sole responsibility for deciding on processes, statistical methods, standards and

procedures, and on the content and timing of statistical releases and publications for European

statistics developed, produced and disseminated by the NSI;

(b) be empowered to decide on all matters regarding the internal management of the NSI;

(c) act in an independent manner while performing their statistical tasks; they shall neither

seek nor take instructions from any government or other institution, body, office or entity;

(d) be responsible for the statistical activities and budget execution of the NSI;

(e) publish an annual report and may express comments on budget allocation issues

related to the statistical activities of the NSI;

(f) coordinate the statistical activities of all national authorities that are responsible for the

development, production and dissemination of European statistics, as set out in Article 5,

para 1;

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(g) produce national guidelines, where necessary, for ensuring quality in the development,

production and dissemination of all European statistics within their national statistical

system and monitor (review) their implementation; however, they shall be responsible for

ensuring compliance with these guidelines solely within the NSI; and

(h) represent their national statistical system within the ESS.

3. Member States shall ensure that other national authorities responsible for the development,

production and dissemination of European statistics carry out such tasks in accordance with

the national guidelines produced by the head of the NSI.

4. Member States shall ensure that the procedures for recruitment and appointment of heads of

NSIs and, where appropriate, statistical heads of other national authorities producing

European statistics, are transparent and based on professional criteria only. They shall ensure

that there are equal opportunities, notably as regards gender. The reasons for dismissal of

heads of NSIs or their transfer to another position shall not compromise professional

independence.

4a. Member States may establish a national body for assuring the professional independence of

the producers of European statistics in the Member State. The heads of NSIs and, where

appropriate, the statistical heads of other national authorities producing European statistics

may take advice from such bodies. The procedures for recruitment, transfer and dismissal of

the members of such bodies shall be transparent and based on professional criteria only. They

shall ensure that there are equal opportunities, notably as regards gender.

(4) in Article 6, paragraphs 2 and 3 are replaced by the following:

2. At Union level, the Commission (Eurostat) shall act independently in ensuring the production

of European statistics according to established rules and statistical principles. . [...]

3. Without prejudice to Article 5 of the Protocol on the Statute of the European System of

Central Banks (ESCB) and the European Central Bank, the Commission (Eurostat) shall

coordinate the statistical activities of the institutions and bodies of the Union1, in particular

with a view to ensuring consistency and quality of the data and minimising reporting burden.

To that end, the Commission (Eurostat) may invite any institution or body of the Union to

consult or cooperate with it for the purpose of developing methods and systems for statistical

purposes in their respective field of competence. Any of those institutions or bodies which

propose to produce statistics shall consult the Commission (Eurostat) and take into account

any recommendation that it may make to this effect.

Article 6a

Director-General of the Commission (Eurostat)

1 The paragraph is the existing wording of Article 6(3) in Reg. 223/2009 with only a change

from "Community" to "Union"

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1. Eurostat is the statistical authority of the Union and a Directorate General of the Commission.

It shall be headed by a Director-General.

2. The Commission shall ensure that the procedure for the recruitment of the Director-General of

Eurostat is transparent and based on professional criteria. The procedure shall ensure that

there are equal opportunities, notably as regards gender.

3. The Director-General shall have sole responsibility for deciding on processes, statistical

methods, standards and procedures, and on the content and timing of statistical releases and

publications for all statistics produced by Eurostat. When carrying out these statistical tasks,

the Director-General shall act in an independent manner and shall neither seek nor take

instructions from the Union institutions or bodies, from any government of a Member State or

from any other institution, body, office or agency.

4. The Director-General of Eurostat shall be responsible for the statistical activities of Eurostat.

The Director-General of Eurostat shall appear immediately after his or her appointment by

the Commission, and annually thereafter, in the framework of Statistical Dialogue before the

relevant committee of the European Parliament to discuss matters pertaining to statistical

governance, methodology and statistical innovation and shall publish an annual report.

(5) In Article 11, the following paragraph 3 is added:

3. Member States and the Commission […] shall take all the necessary measures to maintain

confidence in European statistics. To this effect, ‘Commitments on Confidence in Statistics’

by Member States and by the Commission shall further aim at ensuring public trust in

European Statistics and progress in the implementation of the statistical principles

contained in the Code of Practice. These commitments shall include specific policy

commitments to improve or maintain, as necessary, the conditions for the implementation of

the Code of Practice and shall be published with a citizen’s summary.

5 (a) These commitments by Member States shall be regularly monitored by the Commission on

the basis of annual reports sent by Member States and shall be updated as necessary.

In the absence of the publication of a ‘Commitment of Confidence in Statistics’, within 2

years of the entry into force of this Regulation, a Member State shall submit to the

Commission and make public a progress report on the implementation of the Code of Practice

and, where applicable on the efforts undertaken towards the establishment of a ‘Commitment

on Confidence in Statistics’. These progress reports shall be updated periodically, at least

every 2 years following their initial publication.

The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the published

commitments and, where appropriate progress reports, within 3 years of the entry into force of

this Regulation and every 2 years thereafter.

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5(b) This Commitment by the Commission shall be regularly monitored by ESGAB. ESGAB’s

assessment of the implementation of this commitment shall be included in its annual report

submitted to the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with Decision No

235/2008/EC. ESGAB shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the

implementation of this commitment within 3 years of the entry into force of this Regulation.

Article 12 [...] is hereby amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 2 and 3 are replaced by the following "

‘2. Specific quality requirements, such as target values and minimum standards for the

production of statistics, may also be laid down in sectoral legislation.

In order to ensure the uniform application of the quality criteria laid down in paragraph 1 of

this Article to the data covered by sectoral legislation in specific statistical domains, the

Commission shall adopt implementing acts defining the modalities, structure and periodicity

of quality reports covered by sectoral legislation. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in

accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27(2).’

3. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with reports on the quality of data

transmitted, including any concerns they have regarding the accuracy of the data. The Commission

(Eurostat) shall assess the quality of the data transmitted, on the basis of appropriate analysis, and

shall prepare and publish reports and communications on the quality of European Statistics.

(b) the following paragraphs are added:

‘3a. In the interest of transparency, the Commission (Eurostat) shall, where appropriate, disclose

publicly its assessment of the quality of national contributions to European statistics.

3b. Where sectoral legislation provides for fines in cases where Member States misrepresent

statistical data, the Commission may, in accordance with the Treaties and such sectoral

legislation, initiate and conduct investigations as necessary including, where appropriate,

on-site inspections in order to establish whether such misrepresentation was serious and

intentional or grossly negligent.


‘1. The European statistical programme shall provide the framework for the development,

production and dissemination of European statistics, setting out the main fields and the

objectives of the actions envisaged for a period corresponding to that of the multiannual

financial framework. It shall be decided upon by the European Parliament and the Council.

Its impact and cost effectiveness shall be assessed with input from independent experts.’

(8) In Article 14 paragraph 2

(2) The Commission may by means of implementing acts decide on a temporary direct statistical

action provided that:

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(a) the action does not provide for data collection covering more than three reference years;

(b) the data are already available or accessible within the NSIs and other national authorities

responsible, or can be obtained directly, using the appropriate samples for the observation

of the statistical population at European level with the adequate coordination with the NSIs

and other national authorities; and

(c) the Union shall, in accordance with Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 966/2012 of the

European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules

applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC,

Euratom) No 1605/2002 make financial contributions to the NSIs and other national

authorities to cover the incremental costs incurred by them.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure

referred to in Article 27(2).

‘Article 17

Annual work programme"

Each year, before the end of April, the Commission shall submit to the ESS Committee its

work programme for the following year.

In the preparation of the work programme, the Commission shall ensure effective priority

setting, including reviewing, reporting on statistical priorities and allocation of financial

resources. The Commission shall take the utmost account of the comments of the ESS

Committee. That work programmes shall be based on the European statistical programme and

shall indicate, in particular:

(a) the actions which the Commission considers to have priority, taking account of Union

policy needs and both national and Union financial constraints as well as the response

burden;

(b) initiatives regarding the review of priorities, including negative priorities, and the

reduction of the burden on both data providers and producers of statistics; and

(c) the procedures and any legal instruments envisaged by the Commission for

implementation of the programme.


‘Article 17a

Access, use and integration of administrative records"

‘1. In order to reduce the burden on respondents, the NSIs, other national authorities as referred

to in Article 4 and the Commission (Eurostat) shall have the right to access and use, promptly

and free of charge, all administrative records and to integrate these administrative records

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with statistics, to the extent necessary for the development, production and dissemination of

European statistics, which are determined in the European Statistical Programme.

2. The NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) shall be consulted on and involved in the initial

design, subsequent development and discontinuation of administrative records built up and

maintained by other bodies, thus facilitating the further use of these records for the purpose of

producing European statistics. They shall be involved in the standardisation activities

concerning administrative records that are relevant for the production of European statistics.

3. Access by and involvement of the NSIs, other national authorities and the Commission

(Eurostat) pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be limited to administrative records within

their own respective public administrative system.

4. Administrative records made available by their owners to the NSIs, other national authorities

and the Commission (Eurostat) in order to be used for the production of European statistics

shall be accompanied by relevant metadata.

5. The NSIs and owners of administrative records shall establish the necessary cooperation

mechanisms.’

(10) in Article 20(4), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

The NSIs, other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) shall take all necessary

measures to ensure alignment of principles and guidelines with regard to the physical and

logical protection of confidential data. The Commission shall ensure such alignment by

means of implementing acts, without supplementing this regulation. Those implementing

acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article

27(2).

(11) In Article 23, the second sub-paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘The arrangements, rules and conditions for access at Union level shall be established in

accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27(2).’

(12) Article 24 is deleted.

(13) Article 26 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 26

Violation of statistical confidentiality

Member States and the Commission shall take appropriate measures to prevent and sanction

any violations of statistical confidentiality. The penalties provided for must be effective,

proportionate and dissuasive.

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‘Article 27

Committee

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the European Statistical System Committee. That

committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No182/2011 of the

European Parliament and of the Council laying down the rules and general principles

concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States of the Commission’s exercise of

implementing powers shall apply.’

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011[…]

shall apply.’

Article 2

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth 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 all Member States.

________________________________________

20

Recommendation for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/13)

In order to allow the collection of statistical data for prudential supervision, the ECB presented in Spring 2014 a recommendation for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (11200/14 + COR1). The draft recommendation specifies that the ECB, similarly to National Central Banks (NCBs), are allowed to collect confidential data to be used in the field of prudential supervision of credit institutions. Moreover, it stipulates that confidential statistical information can be transmitted between the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and authorities of the Member States and the Union and to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). On 26 November 2014 the EP adopted on 26 November its legislative resolution. The European Parliament adopted a number of amendments to the draft recommendation, which have been considered by delegations within a "silence procedure". The outcome of that procedure showed that delegations considered that most of the EP amendments fell outside the scope of the ECB draft recommendation, except for an amendment on the protection of confidential data transmitted to Member States authorities or to the ESM, which has been taken into account within the Presidency compromise text. Through the process, the Working Party on Statistics has cooperated and coordinated its positions with the Working Party on Financial Services. Thus, working party has examined the draft recommendation, including the Commission Opinion of 13 October 2014 (14345/14), during several meetings. Most recently, the draft recommendation was examined on 31 October 2014. At that meeting, the Presidency presented a compromise text that was supported by a clear majority of delegations. A qualified majority to the Presidency compromise text was reached in November. Some Member States lifted their scrutiny reservations; only few MS were expected to raise their concerns in the Coreper regarding the issue of the proper protection of confidential statistical data.

The final text submitted to the Coreper of 19 December 2014 is attached in Annex.

During the Coreper a number of delegations expressed concern on the wording of article 8 paragraph 4a. The Committee decided to postpone a final decision to a forthcoming meeting.

ANNEX


Brussels, 16 December 2014 (OR. en) 16514/2/14 REV 2 STATIS 133 UEM 396 ECOFIN 1162

Interinstitutional File: 2014/0808 (CNS)

NOTE

From: Presidency

To: Coreper (part 2)

Subject: Recommendation for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (ECB/2014/13)

= Political agreement

Changes to the ECB Recommendation are indicated in bold. New modifications introduced

compared to document 14670/14 are indicated as bold/underlined.

Recommendation for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No

2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European

Central Bank

ECB Recommendation Presidency compromise

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN

UNION,

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN

UNION,

Having regard to the Statute of the European

System of Central Banks and of the European

Central Bank, and in particular to Article 5.4

thereof,

Having regard to the Recommendation of the

European Central Bank,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European

Parliament,

Having regard to the Opinion of the

Commission,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid

down in Article 129(4) of the Treaty on the

Functioning of the European Union and in

Article 41 of the Statute of the European System

of Central Banks and of the European Central

Bank,

Whereas:

Having regard to the Statute of the European

System of Central Banks and of the European

Central Bank, and in particular to Article 5.4

thereof,

Having regard to the Recommendation of the


Having regard to the Opinion of the European

Parliament,

Having regard to the Opinion of the

Commission,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid

down in Article 129(4) of the Treaty on the

Functioning of the European Union and in

Article 41 of the Statute of the European System

of Central Banks and of the European Central

Bank,

Whereas:

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 is

a key component in the legal framework

supporting the statistical information

collection tasks of the European Central

Bank (ECB) assisted by the national

central banks. The ECB has consistently

relied on this Regulation to carry out and

monitor the coordinated collection of

statistical information necessary to

undertake the tasks of the European

System of Central Banks (ESCB),

including the task of contributing to the

smooth conduct of policies pursued by

the competent authorities relating to the

prudential supervision of credit

institutions and the stability of the

financial system, as specified in Article

127(5) of the Treaty.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 is

a key component in the legal framework

supporting the statistical information

collection tasks of the European Central

Bank (ECB) assisted by the national

central banks. The ECB has consistently

relied on this Regulation to carry out and

monitor the coordinated collection of

statistical information necessary to

undertake the tasks of the European

System of Central Banks (ESCB),

including the task of contributing to the

smooth conduct of policies pursued by

the competent authorities relating to the



financial system, as specified in Article

127(5) of the Treaty.

(2) Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013

confers on the ECB specific tasks

concerning policies relating to the



financial system within the Union and

individual Member States.

(2) Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013

confers on the ECB specific tasks

concerning policies relating to the



financial system within the Union and

individual Member States.

(3) To minimise the reporting burden on

reporting agents and to enable proper

performance of supervision of financial

institutions, markets and infrastructures

conferred on all competent authorities as

well as a proper performance of the tasks

conferred on authorities responsible for

the protection of the stability of the

financial system, it is necessary to amend

Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 to enable

the transmission and use of the statistical

information collected by the ESCB

between ESCB members and the relevant

authorities. These authorities should

include the competent authorities

responsible for the supervision of

financial institutions, markets and

infrastructures and macro-prudential

oversight, the European Supervisory

Authorities , the European Systemic Risk

Board as well as authorities authorised to

resolve credit institutions.

3) To minimise the reporting burden on

reporting agents and to enable proper

performance of supervision of financial

institutions, markets and infrastructures

conferred on all competent authorities as well as

a proper performance of the tasks conferred on

authorities responsible for the protection of the

stability of the financial system, it is necessary

to amend Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 to enable

the transmission and use of the statistical

information collected by the ESCB between

ESCB members and the relevant authorities.

These authorities should include the competent

authorities responsible for the supervision of


infrastructures and macro-prudential oversight,

the European Supervisory Authorities, the

European Systemic Risk Board as well as

authorities authorised to resolve credit

institutions.

(3a) This regulation should not apply to

confidential statistical information collected

according to Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of

11 March 2009 on European statistics.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Specific amendments

Article 1

Specific amendments

Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 is

amended as follows:

Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 is

amended as follows:

1. In paragraph 1, point (d) is replaced by

the following text and the following point

(e) is added:

1. In paragraph 1, point (d) is replaced by

the following text and the following point

(e) is added:

“(d) as regards the ECB and national central

banks, if the said statistical information is

used in the field of prudential

supervision,

(e) as regards national central banks in

accordance with Article 14.4 of the

Statute, for the exercise of functions other

than those specified in the Statute.”

“(d) as regards the ECB and national central

banks, if the said statistical information

is used in the field of prudential

supervision,

(e) as regards national central banks in

accordance with Article 14.4 of the

Statute, for the exercise of functions

other than those specified in the

Statute.”

2. In paragraph 4, point (a) is replaced by the

following:

2. In paragraph 4, point (a) is replaced by

the following:

“(a) to the extent and at the level of detail

necessary for the performance of tasks of

the ESCB referred to in the Treaty or

tasks in the field of prudential supervision

conferred on the members of the ESCB;

or”

“(a) to the extent and at the level of detail

necessary for the performance of tasks of

the ESCB referred to in the Treaty or

tasks in the field of prudential

supervision conferred on the members of

the ESCB; or”

3. The following paragraph 4a is inserted: 3. The following paragraph 4a is inserted:

“4a The ESCB may transmit confidential

statistical information to authorities or

bodies of the Member States and the

Union responsible for the supervision of


infrastructures or the stability of the

financial system in accordance with

Union or national law and to the

European Stability Mechanism (ESM)

to the extent and at the level of detail

necessary for the performance of their

respective tasks. Any further

transmission thereafter must be

explicitly authorised by the ESCB

member that collected the confidential

statistical information.”

“4a The ESCB may transmit confidential

statistical information to authorities or bodies of

the Member States and the Union responsible

for the supervision of financial institutions,

markets and infrastructures or the stability of the

financial system in accordance with Union or

national law and to the European Stability

Mechanism (ESM) only to the extent and at the

level of detail necessary for the performance of

their respective tasks. The authorities or

bodies receiving confidential statistical

information shall take all the necessary

regulatory, administrative, technical and

organisational measures to ensure the

physical and logical protection of confidential

statistical information. Any further

transmission thereafter shall be necessary for

the execution of the above mentioned tasks

and explicitly authorised by the ESCB member

that collected the confidential statistical

information. Such authorisation shall not be

required for further transmission from the

ESM members to national parliaments to the

extent required under national law, provided

that the ESM member has consulted the

ESCB member before the transmission, and

that in any event the Member State has taken

all the necessary regulatory, administrative,

technical and organisational measures to

ensure the physical and logical protection of

confidential statistical information in

accordance with this Regulation.

When transmitting confidential statistical

information in accordance with this

paragraph the ESCB shall take all the

necessary regulatory, administrative,

technical and organisational measures to

ensure the physical and logical protection of

confidential statistical information pursuant

to paragraph 3 of this Article.”

Article 2

Final provisions

Article 2

Final provisions

This Regulation shall enter into force on [date].

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety

and directly applicable in all Member States.’

This Regulation shall enter into force on [date].

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety

and directly applicable in all Member States.’

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 21 March 2014. Done at Frankfurt am Main, 21 March 2014.

The President of the ECB

Mario DRAGHI

The President of the ECB

Mario DRAGHI

_________________________________

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No. 471/2009 on Community statistics relating to the external trade with non-member countries as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures.

The proposal is to amend Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries to align it with the new institutional context brought about by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the streamlining of the ESS governance.

On 17 November 2014 the informal trilogue among the EP, the Commission and the Presidency took place in Brussels. Two key issues were on the table: the streamline of the ESS governance and the use of delegated acts where the regulatory procedure with scrutiny was originally used.

As to the first one, the Parliament came out against the proposal to concentrate all comitology powers in the ESS Committee, even if such provision has been already adopted recently (e.g. Intrastat regulation). The EP regards the ‘new comitology’ as detrimental to its co-legislator role with respect to the Council. The second issue concerned the use of delegated acts: the EP was determined to automatically replace any reference to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny with the delegation of powers upon the Commission, regardless the Commission proposal was providing for the use of implementing acts in some articles. In particular, the EP redlines concerned Articles 5 and 6, where the Commission and the Council agreed on the use of implementing acts, since the Parliament should be more demanding on the separation of delegated and implementing acts.

As to the implementing acts, the Presidency firmly reaffirmed CWPS position on their use for all those measures necessary to guarantee the uniform implementation of the Regulation in MSs, in compliance with Article 291 of TFUE, and to deal with concretely identified issues. Moreover, the Presidency defended the Council position regarding the ESSC as the committee assisting the Commission in exercising its implementing powers and replacing the Extrastat Committee.

Following the discussion with the EP, the Commission was invited to draft a new proposal; both the EP and the Presidency agreed on waiting for this new proposal for further assessments with the aim to find an agreement on the dossier.

In the second informal trilogue on 8 December and paying attention to the results of the silent-procedure consultation, the Presidency remarks that, whilst admitting the importance of safeguarding CWPS position, there is a need to bear in mind the EP redlines. As a solution, few concessions were granted in order to reach an agreement with the counterpart. Having said that, the Presidency approach was:

Article 4(5): as suggested by some MSs, this article was used as trade-off to safeguard other articles for which the implementing acts are required by CWPS. Hence, the Presidency supported the use of delegated acts.

Article 5(2): considering the result of the silent-procedure consultation, the Presidency maintained the position agreed at CWPS level on ‘codes and their format’.

Article 6(2): the Presidency maintained the position agreed at CWPS level.

Article 6(3): bearing in mind the MSs position and, at the same time, the need to be flexible to reach an agreement, the Presidency supported the use of the basic act for amending the ‘characteristics of sample’ and the ‘reporting period for partner countries, goods and currencies’, while ‘the level of aggregation for partner countries, goods and currencies’ remains under delegated acts.

Article 8: the Presidency maintained the position agreed at CWPS level.

Article 10a(2): the last subparagraph of Article 10a paragraph 2 and Recital 6 have been amended according to similar provisions contained in Regulation No 659/2014.

As for the streamline of the ESS governance, the Presidency strongly defended the position agreed at CWPS level.

The negotiations with Parliament have been very tough, in particular concerning the formulation on the consultation of experts. The original position of the Parliament was that if Member State experts are referred to, then the same reference should be made to "European Parliament experts". The compromise we have found avoids any obligation for the Commission to consult European Parliament experts and is therefore close to the original Council position.

However in the Coreper of 11 December, a clear reference to a formulation considered a standard has been requested on the consultation of Member States' experts before adopting the delegated acts.

In this respect the Italian Presidency has clearly asked to the INTA Commission to accept a slightly revised text to be consistent with the standard formulation requested on the consultation of Member States' experts before adopting the delegated acts.

The EP, also after bilateral contact, has refused.

The final text as agreed in the trilogue has been submitted to the Coreper of 19 December. It was underlined the relevance of this dossier on the external trade statistics taking into account that Intrastat on the internal trade statistics has been already approved. However several delegations expressed their concerns for the lack of the formulation on the consultation of the experts and the text was not endorsed.

The final text submitted to the Coreper of 19 December is in the Annex (doc No 16787/14).

Delegations will find enclosed the Italian Presidency compromise on the Proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending

Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member

countries as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the

adoption of certain measures


Brussels, 11 December 2014 (OR. en) 16787/14 LIMITE STATIS 138 COMPET 673 UD 282 CODEC 2482

Interinstitutional File: 2013/0279 (COD)

NOTE


To: Permanent Representatives Committee

No. prev. doc.: 10488/14 STATIS 65, COMPET 271, UD 134, CODEC 1472

No. Cion doc.: 13517/13 STATIS 88, COMPET 648, UD 231, CODEC 1991

Subject: Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures

- consideration of final agreement in preparation for political agreement.

ANNEX

2013/0279 (COD)

Proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

amending Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 on Community statistics relating to external trade

with non-member countries as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers

upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article

338(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

Whereas:

(1) As a consequence of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European

Union ('the Treaty'), the powers conferred upon the Commission should be aligned with

Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty.

(2) In connection with the adoption of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament

and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles

concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of

implementing powers2, the Commission has committed itself

3 to reviewing, in the light of the

criteria laid down in the Treaty, legislative acts which currently contain references to the

regulatory procedure with scrutiny.

2 OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p.13.

3 OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 19.

(3) Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009

on Community statistics relating to external trade with non-member countries and repealing

Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/954 confers powers upon the Commission in order to

implement some of the provisions of this Regulation.

(4) In the context of the alignment of Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 with the new rules of the

Treaty, implementing powers currently conferred upon the Commission should be provided

for by conferring powers on the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts.

(5) In order to take into account changes in the Customs Code or provisions deriving from

international conventions, changes necessary for methodological reasons and the necessity to

set up an efficient system for the collection of data and the compilation of statistics, the power

to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty should be delegated to the

Commission in respect of the adaptation of the list of customs procedures or customs-

approved treatment or use, specific goods or movements and different or specific provisions

applicable to them, the exclusion of goods or movements from external trade statistics, the

data collection referred to in paragraphs 2 and 4 of Article 4 of Regulation (EC)

No 471/2009, the further specification of the statistical data, the requirement for limited sets

of data for specific goods or movements referred to in Article 3(3) of that Regulation and data

provided in accordance with Article 4(2) of that Regulation, the level of aggregation for

partner countries, goods and currencies for statistics on trade by invoicing currency.

(6) It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations with

experts during its preparatory work, including Member States' experts, before adopting

delegated acts. The Commission, when preparing and drawing up delegated acts, should

ensure a simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the

European Parliament and to the Council.

(7) The Commission should ensure that the delegated acts provided for in the legislative acts do

not impose a significant additional burden on the Member States or on the respondent and that

they remain as economical as possible.

(8) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EC)

4 OJ L 152,16.6.2009, p.23.

No 471/2009, implementing powers should be conferred upon the Commission enabling it to

adopt measures relating to the codes and their format to be used for data referred to in Article

5(1) of that Regulation, measures relating to the linking of the data on business characteristics

with data recorded in accordance with the same Article and measures relating to the uniform

content and coverage. These powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU)

No 182/2011.

(9) The Committee on statistics relating to the trading of goods with non-member countries

(Extrastat Committee) referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 provides

advice to the Commission and assists it in exercising its implementing powers.

(10) Under the strategy for a new European Statistical System (hereinafter referred to as ‘ESS’)

structure intended to improve coordination and partnership in a clear pyramid structure within

the ESS, the European Statistical System Committee (hereinafter referred to as 'ESSC'),

established by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 11 March 2009 on European statistics5, should have an advisory role and assist the

Commission in exercising its implementing powers.

(11) Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 should be amended by replacing the reference to the Extrastat

Committee with a reference to the ESSC.

(12) To ensure legal certainty, procedures for adopting measures that have been initiated but not

completed before the entry into force of this Regulation should not be affected by this

Regulation.

(13) Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1


5 OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164.

(1) Article 3 is amended as follows:

(a) Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2. In order to take into account changes in the Customs Code or provisions deriving

from international conventions, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt, in

accordance with Article 10a, delegated acts, to adapt the list of customs

procedures or customs-approved treatment or use referred to in paragraph 1.’

(b) In paragraph 3, the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt, in accordance with Article 10a,

delegated acts relating to specific goods or movements and to different or specific

provisions applicable to them.’

(c) In paragraph 4, the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:


delegated acts, relating to the exclusion of goods or movements from external

trade statistics.’



delegated acts relating to the data collection according to paragraphs 2 and 4.’




delegated acts relating to the further specification of the data referred to in

paragraph 1.

2a The Commission shall adopt, by means of implementing acts, measures relating to

the codes to be used for these data and their format.

These implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination

procedure referred to in Article 11(2).’

(b) Paragraph 4 second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘The Commission shall be empowered to adopt, in accordance with Article 10a,

delegated acts relating to these limited sets of data.’


(a) In paragraph 2, the last subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘The Commission shall adopt, by means of implementing acts, measures relating to the

linking of the data and these statistics to be compiled.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination

procedure referred to in Article 11(2).’

(b) In paragraph 3, the last subparagraph is replaced by the following:

'Every two years Member States shall compile annual statistics on trade broken down by

invoicing currency.

Member States shall compile the statistics using a representative sample of records on

imports and exports from customs declarations which contain the data on the invoicing

currency. If the invoicing currency for exports is not available on the customs

declaration, a survey shall be carried out to collect the required data.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt, in accordance with Article 10a,

delegated acts relating to the level of aggregation for partner countries, goods and

currencies.'


Article 8

'Transmission of external trade statistics to the Commission (Eurostat)"


'Member States shall transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) the statistics referred to in

Article 6(1) no later than 40 days after the end of each monthly reference period.

Where the statistics transmitted are subject to revisions, Member States shall transmit

the revised results no later than in the month following the availability of the revised

data.

Member States shall include in the results transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) any

statistical information which is confidential.

The Commission shall adopt, by means of implementing act, measures relating to the

uniform technical specifications for the content and coverage of the transmitted

statistics. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination

procedure referred to in Article 11(2).'

(b) Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

2. The statistics on trade by business characteristics referred to in Article 6(2 ) shall

be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) within 18 months of the end of the

reference year.

2a. The statistics on trade broken down by invoicing currency referred to in Article

6(3) shall be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) within three months of the

end of the reference year.'


‘Article 10a

Exercise of the delegation

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions

laid down in this Article.

2. When exercising the powers delegated in Articles 3(2), (3) and (4), 4(5), 5(2) and (4), and

6(3), the Commission shall ensure that the delegated acts do not impose a significant

additional administrative burden on the Member States and on the respondents.

3. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 3(2), (3) and (4), 4(5), 5(2) and (4),

and 6(3), shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from (Publication

office: please insert the exact date of the entry into force of this Regulation).

The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than

nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly

extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council

opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.

4. The delegation of powers referred to in Articles 3(2), (3) and (4), 4(5), 5(2) and (4), and 6(3)

may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council.

A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the powers specified in that

decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official

Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the

validity of any delegated acts already in force.

5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the


6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Articles 3(2), (3) and (4), 4(5), 5(2) and (4), and 6(3)

shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European

Parliament or the Council within a period of three months of notification of that act to the

European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European

Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object.

That period shall be extended by three months at the initiative of the European Parliament or

the Council.’


‘Article 11

Committee

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the European Statistical System Committee established

by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March

2009 on European statistics (*) This committee shall be a committee within the meaning of

Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February

2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by

Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (*).

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall

apply.

(*) OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164.

(*) OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.’

Article 2

This Regulation shall not affect the procedures for the adoption of measures provided for in

Regulation (EC) No 471/2009 that have been initiated but not completed before the entry into force

of this Regulation.

Article 3




Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

Proposal for a Regulation of the EP and the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on rail transport statistics, as regards the collection of data on goods, passengers and accidents

The Commission proposal for amending Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 (COM 2013)611 aims to update, simplify and optimize the existing legal framework for European statistics on rail transport and to align it with the new institutional context.

The text discussed at a few CWPS meetings reached the negotiation stage. On 25 November 2014 the informal trilogue among the EP, the Commission and the Presidency took place in Strasbourg. The discussion took place in a positive and constructive atmosphere. Five issues were on the table: the EP re-introduction of Annex H on rail accidents that the Commission proposed to delete from the Regulation 91/2003; the introduction of a new Annex ,Ga, on rail infrastructure variables (namely rail vehicles and rail network equipped with ERTMS, abandoned cross-border rail points and accessible ones); the extension of Annex F (namely new variables “tonne-km” and “passenger-km” and “the distance-based modal shares”); the use of delegated acts where the regulatory procedure with scrutiny was originally used and the introduction of the “no-opinion clause”.

According to the CWPS mandate, the Italian Presidency rejected 13 of the EP amendments (namely am. 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22) and stood for the CWPS position on delegated acts [Art 10(1a) new, Art 10(3), Art 10(5)].

The Presidency approach in negotiating with the 2 Institutions aimed at addressing, to the largest extent possible, the major concerns of all the stakeholders involved: on the one hand, Member States’ burden and financial constraints and consequently their current difficulties in providing additional data; on the other, the European Parliament’s strong and urgent need for rail infrastructure data in the interests of EU citizens’ safety.

The President of the EP TRAN Committee was absolutely firm on the need for data on rail infrastructures in order to improve passengers’ safety and European railway interoperability in view of the creation of a single railway market. The variables on rail vehicles and rail network, equipped with ERTMS as well as those on cross-border rail points were deemed as unmovable pillars. The EP left it clear that the Council's position could be accepted provided that the Council is flexible and able to reach a compromise on rail infrastructure data.

In addition, the EP is convinced that most data on infrastructure rail are already available at national level due to the existing European legislation (e.g. Directive on interoperability) and Member States are reluctant to provide them due to competition reasons. The Italian Presidency has made considerable efforts in order to seek an appropriate and viable compromise that could be accepted “as a whole” to each of the parties and has proposed to carry out pilot studies on rail-infrastructure-related variables using financial contribution from the European Commission. The proposal received the support by the Commission which led to the withdrawal of the amendment on the “no-opinion” clause [Art 11.(3)]. Failing to reach an agreement on rail infrastructure variables would have meant for MS to keep on collecting data on rail accidents and for the dossier to go towards the second reading and after that to conciliation Committee, with all the consequences that this involves.

With regard to the first two issues, the Presidency totally rejected the 4 amendments (Am. 5, 6, 15, 19) concerning the reintroduction of annex H on rail accidents, as agreed by the CWPS. The EP

request to introduce a new data collection on rail infrastructure (Am. 7, 22 and the entire annex Ga – Am. 23), in the current Regulation was also rejected. However, as a negotiating tool the Presidency proposed to add a new article on pilot studies [art. 8a] on the above-mentioned variables to be carried out with the financial contribution by the Commission. The Presidency also rejected the extension of Annex F on variables tonne-km, passenger-km and the distance-based modal shares (Am. 16, 17, 18) proposing to use, for the latter, the O/D matrix. Concerning recitals, the EP accepted the CWPS position on amendments 3 and 4 (the view of the rail sector in preparing delegated acts and the reference to examination procedure, respectively) but proposed to add a new recital, 3b, on the cooperation between Eurostat and ERA for data collection on incidents and precursors of accidents. The Presidency accepted the EP proposal as Eurostat stated that ERA’s data, which are collected through the National Security Authorities, can actually be used and published. Moreover, regarding the cooperation between Eurostat and ERA, the EP proposed – and the Presidency accepted - to reformulate Amendment 8 with its corresponding recital 3a in order to “ensure methodological consistency between common safety indicators listed in Annex I to Directive 2009/149/EC on railway safety and the indicators used in other modes of transport” . Following a request from the Commission, Article 10 (1a) has also been slightly amended to be consistent with the standard formulation on the consultation process of experts as its usual practice. After this request the Italian Presidency has contacted again the EP that accepted this slight change. Due to a final request from Parliament, recital 12a was slightly modified as a precondition for the acceptance of the above formulation.

The Coreper meeting was shifted to the 19 December and the file was an item for discussion. Some delegations were not willing to endorse this file (document No 16794/2/14 REV 2) mainly because of the mandatory character of the pilot studies. At the same time, MS supported the proposed standard formulation on the experts’ consultation process to be consistent with the ”standard” wording used in other statistical legal acts. During the Coreper meeting, the final text submitted did not reached the qualified majority and no endorsement was given. Attached is the final consolidated text discussed at the Coreper meeting on 19 December.

.



Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002

on rail transport statistics, as regards the collection of data on goods, passengers and accidents.


Brussels, 19 December 2014 (OR. en) 16794/2/14 REV 2 LIMITE STATIS 140 TRANS 588 CODEC 2485


NOTE



No. prev. doc.: 10860/14 STATIS 67 TRANS 319 CODEC 1472

No. Cion doc.: 16315/13 STATIS 130 TRANS 570 CODEC 2402

Subject: Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on rail transport statistics, as regards the collection of data on goods, passengers and accidents. (early second reading)

- Consideration of final agreement in preparation for political agreement.

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE

COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 16 December 2002 on rail transport statistics, as regards the collection of data on

goods, passengers and accidents.


Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular

Article 338(1) thereof,

having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

after transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments,

acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 16 December 2002 on rail transport statistics6 establishes a common framework for

producing, transmitting, evaluating and disseminating comparable rail transport statistics in

the Union.

(2) Statistics on the transport of goods and passengers by rail are necessary to enable the

Commission to monitor and develop the common transport policy, and the transport elements

of policies on the regions and on trans-European networks.

(3) Statistics on rail safety are also necessary to enable the Commission to prepare and monitor

Union action in the field of transport safety. The European Rail Agency collects data on

accidents under the Statistical Annex to Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament

and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on safety on the Community's railways as regards

common safety indicators and common methods of calculating accident costs.

6 Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 16 December 2002 on rail transport statistics, OJ L 14, 21.1.2003, p. 1.

(3a) Eurostat and the European Railway Agency should closely cooperate in improving statistics

on rail accidents and in particular ensure the methodological consistency with regard to

accident data on other modes of transport.

(3b) Eurostat and the European Railway Agency should cooperate to collect data on incidents and

precursors of accidents.

(4) Most Member States transmitting passenger data to the Commission (Eurostat) under

Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 have regularly provided the same data for both the provisional

and final datasets.

(5) There should be a balance between the needs of the users and the burden on respondents when

producing European statistics.

(6) Eurostat has conducted a technical analysis of the existing data on rail statistics collected

under the Union legislation and of the dissemination policy, within its Working Group and

Task Force on rail transport statistics, to simplify as much as possible the various activities

necessary for producing statistics, while keeping the final output in line with present and

future user needs.

(7) In its report to the European Parliament and the Council on the experience acquired in the

application of the Regulation (EC) No 91/2003, the Commission mentions that long-term

developments will probably mean the suppression or simplification of the data already

collected under the Regulation, and that the intention is to reduce the data transmission period

for annual data on rail passengers. The Commission should continue to provide reports at

regular intervals on the way in which this Regulation is implemented.

(8) Regulation (EC) No 91/2003 confers powers on the Commission to implement some of the

provisions of this Regulation. As a consequence of the entry into force of the Treaty on the

Functioning of the European Union (‘the Treaty’), the powers conferred on the Commission

under this Regulation need to be aligned with Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty.

(9) In order to reflect new developments in the Member States but at the same time to maintain

harmonised rail data collection across the Union and with a view to maintaining the high

quality of the data transmitted by the Member States, the power to adopt acts in accordance

with Article 290 of the Treaty should be delegated to the Commission, with a view to

adapting the technical definitions.

(10) It is particularly important that the Commission carry out the appropriate consultations during

its preparatory work, including with the expert group composed of experts designated by the

Member States. The Commission should, when preparing and drawing up delegated acts,

ensure simultaneous, timely and appropriate submission of the relevant documents to the


(11) The Commission should ensure that these delegated acts do not impose a significant

additional burden on the Member States and on the respondents.

(12) In order to ensure uniform conditions for implementation of Regulation (EC) No 91/2003,

implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission as regards the specification of

information to be supplied for the reports on the quality and comparability of the results, and

on arrangements for the dissemination of results by the Commission (Eurostat). These powers

should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general

principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s

exercise of implementing powers7.

(12a) In view of the importance of data on rail transport infrastructure for Union policies, a

contribution by the Union is to be awarded to finance the implementation of pilot studies on

new variables related to rail infrastructure in accordance with the principle of reasonable

financial-burden-sharing between the budgets of the Union and the Member States. Pilot

studies should include pilot data collection. The main findings of the studies, including

the result of the pilot data collection, should be included in the report by the

Commission as referred in Article 9.

This contribution for conducting the pilot studies as referred to in Article 8a should be

awarded in the form of grants to the national statistical institutes and other national authorities

in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) N° 966/2012.

7 OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.

(13) The European Statistical System Committee has been consulted.



Article 1



(a) In paragraph 1 points 24-30 are deleted.


'2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt, in accordance with Article 10,

delegated acts to adapt the technical definitions given in points 8 to 10 and 21 to

23 as referred to in paragraph 1, as well as to provide additional technical

definitions when needed to take into account new developments which require a

certain level of technical detail to be defined in order to ensure harmonisation of

statistics.’


(a) In paragraph 1, points b, d and h are deleted.

(aa) In paragraph 1 - point d. a) is added

‘annual statistics on goods and passenger transport – simplified reporting (Annex L)’

(ab) Paragraph (1a) is added

'As per Article 9(3) of Regulation 881/2004, Eurostat and the European Railway

Agency shall closely cooperate to ensure methodological consistency between common

safety indicators listed in Annex I to Directive 2009/149/EC* on railway safety and the

indicators used in other modes of transport.'

* Commission Directive 2009/149/EC of 27 November 2009 amending

Directive 2004/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards

Common Safety Indicators and common methods to calculate accident costs

OJ.L 313, 28.11.2009, p.65


‘2. Under Annexes A and C, Member States shall report data for undertakings:

(a) whose total volume of goods transport is at least 200 million tonne-km or at

least 500 000 tonnes;

(b) whose total volume of passenger transport is at least 100 million passenger-

km.

(c) Reporting in Annex A and Annex C is optional below these thresholds.’

(c) Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3. Under Annex L, Member States shall provide the total data for undertakings

below the threshold referred to in paragraph 2 if these data are not reported under

Annexes A and C, as specified in Annex L.'

(3) In Article 5 (2) point b is replaced by the following:

‘(b) administrative data, including data collected by regulatory authorities, in particular the

rail freight waybill if available’


‘Article 7

Dissemination

Statistics based on the data specified in Annexes A, C, E, F, G, and L shall be disseminated by the

Commission (Eurostat).

The arrangements for the dissemination of results shall be adopted by the Commission in

accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 11(2).

(5) In Article 8, paragraphs 1a,3 and 4 are added:

'1a. Member States shall take all measures necessary to ensure the quality of the data

transmitted.'

3. For the purposes of this Regulation, the quality criteria to be applied to the data to be

transmitted are those referred to in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.

4. The Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, specify the modalities,

structure, periodicity and comparability elements for the standard quality reports.


procedure referred to in Article 11(2).'

(5a) Article 8a is added

'Article 8a

Pilot studies

1. Member States shall carry out pilot studies on the following variables :

(a) Number of kilometres of rail infrastructure, equipped with ERTMS,

(b) Length in kilometres of the rail network continuously equipped with ERTMS (in

the Member State),

(c) Number of rail vehicles equipped with ERTMS,

(d) Number of cross-border rail points, abandoned for use of passengers or freight

transport or dismantled rail infrastructure, and

(e) Number of stations, barrier-free, accessible for persons with reduced mobility

(PRMs) and disabled persons.

2. The results of the pilot studies referred to in paragraph (a), (b) and (c) of this article

shall be transmitted to the Commission by 16 June 2017.

3. The results of the pilot studies referred to in paragraph 1.(d) and (e) of this article shall

be transmitted to the Commission no later than three years after the adoption of this

Regulation.

4. In order to facilitate the carrying out of the pilot studies referred to in paragraph 1 of

this article, the Union shall award financial support to the national statistical institutes

and other national authorities referred to in Article 5 of Regulation

(EC) No 223/2009(2).'


‘Article 9

Report

The Commission, after consulting the European Statistical System Committee, shall submit a

report to the European Parliament and to the Council by 31 December 2018 and every four

years thereafter on the implementation of this Regulation and future developments.

In that report, the Commission shall take account of relevant information provided by

Member States related to quality of the data transmitted, the data collection methods used and

information on potential improvements/users’ needs.

In particular, that report shall:

(a) assess the benefits accruing to the Union, the Member States and the providers and

users of statistical information of the statistics produced, in relation to their costs;

(b) assess the quality of the data transmitted, the data collection methods used and the

quality of the statistics produced;

(c) if appropriate, identify areas for potential improvement, in particular the introduction of

new variables related to rail infrastructure as defined in Article 8a, taking into account

the findings of the pilot studies as referred to in Article 8a.'


‘Article 10

Exercise of the delegation

1. The power to adopt delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission subject to the

conditions laid down in this Article.

1a. When exercising its powers delegated in Article 3(2), the Commission shall ensure that

the delegated acts do not impose a significant additional burden on the Member States

and on the respondents. In addition, the Commission shall duly justify the statistical

actions provided for in those delegated acts, using, where appropriate, cost-

effectiveness analysis, including an assessment of the burden on respondents and of the

production costs, as referred to in point (c) of Article 14(3) of Regulation

(EC) No 223/2009.

It is of particular importance that the Commission follows its usual practice and

carries out consultations with experts, including Member States’ experts before

adopting those delegated acts.

2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 3(2) shall be conferred on the

Commission for a period of five years from [Publications office: please insert the exact

date of the entry into force of the amending Regulation].

The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later

than 9 months before the end of the 5-year period. The delegation of power shall be

tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or

the Council opposes such extension not later than 3 months before the end of each

period.

3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 3(2) may be revoked at any time by the

European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the

delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following

the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later

date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in

force.

4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to

the European Parliament and to the Council.

5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 3(2) shall enter into force only if no

objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a

period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the

Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council

have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be

extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.’


‘Article 11

Committee

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the European Statistical System Committee,

established by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 11 March 2009 on European Statistics. That Committee shall be a committee

within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No182/2011 of the European Parliament and the

Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning

mechanisms for control by the Member States of the Commission’s exercise of

implementing powers.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011

shall apply.’

(9) Article 12 is deleted.

(10) Annexes B, D, H and I are deleted.

(11) Annex C is replaced as set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

(12) Annex L is added as set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2




Done at Brussels,



Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures -COM (2013) 484

The proposal for amending Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways (COM (2013)484) aims to align the legal act to the Treaty on Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) as concerns the distinction between the powers which may be delegated to the Commission to adopt non-legislative acts of general application and to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of the legislative acts - Article 290(1) - and the implementing powers which shall be conferred on the Commission, where uniform conditions for implementing legally binding Union acts are needed - Article 291(2).

Following CWPS discussions the file entered the negotiation stage. On 25 November 2014 the informal trilogue among the EP, the Commission and the Presidency took place in Strasbourg. Two issues were on the table: data on passengers’ transport and the use of delegated acts.

The Presidency stressed the effort it made in looking for a solution acceptable, to the largest extent possible, to all the parties involved: first of all, by considering Member States’ burden and financial constraints and consequently their current difficulties in providing additional data; secondly, the European Parliament’s strong and urgent need for data on passengers’ transport by inland waterways; thirdly, a reasonable use of delegated acts in order to the balance of powers among the institutions within the legal acts. In particular, the Presidency proposed to add a new article providing for pilot studies on vessels used principally for the transport of passengers and vessels used for ferrying purposes.

The EP TRAN Committee Rapporteur was absolutely firm on the need for data on passengers’ transport by inland waterways as this green mode of transport is considerably increasing. The variables on passengers transport by ferries and cruises were deemed as unmovable pillars. He also left it clear that an agreement on a few measures to be adopted through delegated acts was “mandatory” to conclude the negotiation positively.

Concerning the first issue, (EP am. 5, 6 and 16) the Presidency rejected the request to introduce, in the current Regulation, a new data collection on the above-mentioned variables (Annex B - table 1) as agreed at CWPS level. However, as a negotiating tool, the Presidency proposed to include a new article – 4a and a corresponding recital - on pilot studies concerning data on passengers transport to be financed by the Commission. This means postponing the collection of new variables after the Commission Report is envisaged for December 2020 when the Commission might put forward another proposal, thus allowing MS to take time to test the feasibility and, if needed, adapt their production systems accordingly.

The EP is persuaded that there is no objective reason why this data has not to be provided, also by means of administrative sources. However, as a compromise, the EP accepted the Presidency proposal, withdrew amendments 5 and 6, and agreed with the Council that passenger transport is beyond the scope of this Regulation.

As to the issue of delegated acts (EP Amendments 7, 8 and 9 that the CWPS had written-off as ruling essential elements), an agreement was reached on limiting the Commission powers in all the relevant articles: Articles 2 (5)new, Art 3 new subpar. and Art. 4 new par - either for raising the threshold for statistical coverage and only with reference to Art 2(2) (“the adaptation cannot be reduced below the threshold of 1 million tons”); to adapt definitions and adopt new ones to take

account of relevant changes occurred at the international level; to adapt the content of the annexes to reflect changes in coding and nomenclature occurred at international level or in the relevant European legislation.

Following this agreement, Article 9 on the delegation of powers (EP Am. 12, 13 and 14) and its corresponding Recitals 5 and 6 (EP Am. 1 and 2) was revised and accepted.

A compromise was also reached on Articles 7.3a new and 10.2a new (EP Am. 10, 15) dealing with quality criteria and relevant reports, as well as on Article 8.1 (EP Am. 11) concerning the report on the implementation of the Regulation: it was accepted and slightly modified by the Presidency to take account of the pilot studies.

Finally, in the spirit of compromise the amendment on the "no opinion clause" was used as trade-off for achieving an agreement on other issues.

Article 9 paragraph 2 was amended following a request of the Commission to include a standard formulation (addition of “follows its usual practice”) in the exercise of delegated powers. In this respect the Italian Presidency contacted the EP Commission TRAN that accepted this change.

At the Coreper meeting on 19th December several MS expressed their concerns on the “mandatory” characteristics of the pilot studies, which was a precondition for the agreement with the EP, and the text was not endorsed.

Attached is the final text, submitted to the Coreper meeting on 19th December (doc No 16793/1/14 REV1).



Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways as regards

conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain

measures


Brussels, 19 December 2014 (OR. en) 16793/1/14 REV 1 LIMITE STATIS 139 TRANS 587 CODEC 2484


NOTE



No. prev. doc.: 16323/14 STATIS 131 TRANS 571 CODEC 2404

No. Cion doc.: 12091/13 STATIS 66 TRANS 380 CODEC 1697

Subject: Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures. (early second reading)

- Consideration of final agreement in preparation for political agreement.

ANNEX

COD 2013/0226

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE

COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland

waterways as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the

Commission for the adoption of certain measures


Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular

Article 338 (1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments,


Whereas:

(1) As a consequence of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European

Union ("the Treaty”), the powers conferred upon the Commission need to be aligned to

Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty.

(2) In connection with the adoption of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament

and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles

concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of

implementing powers8, the Commission has committed itself

9 to reviewing, in the light of the

criteria laid down in the Treaty, legislative acts which were not adapted to the regulatory

procedure with scrutiny before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.

(3) Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 6 September 2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways10

confers powers

upon the Commission in order to implement some of the provisions of this Regulation.

(4) In the context of the alignment of Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 to the new rules of the

TFEU, implementing powers currently conferred upon the Commission should be provided

for by powers to adopt delegated and implementing acts.

(5) As regards Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006, the power to adopt acts in accordance with

Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to

the Commission to adapt the threshold above 1 000 000 tonnes for statistical coverage of

inland waterway transport, to adapt definitions and to adopt new ones in order to take into

account changes in definitions adopted at international level. In addition, the Commission

should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in order to adapt the Annexes to Regulation

(EC) 1365/2006 to reflect changes in coding and nomenclature at international level or in the

relevant legislation of the European Union.

8 OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.

9 OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 19.

10 OJ L 264, 25.9.2006, p.1.

(6) The Commission should ensure that these delegated acts do not impose a significant

additional burden on the Member States or on the respondents.

(7) It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during

its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and

drawing-up delegated acts, should ensure a simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission

of relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council.

(8) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation

(EC) No 1365/2006, implementing powers should be conferred upon the Commission to

adopt arrangements for transmitting data including data interchange standards, for the

dissemination of results by the Commission (Eurostat) and also to develop and publish

methodological requirements and criteria designed to ensure the quality of the data produced.

Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

(9) In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on

European Union, it is necessary and appropriate for the achievement of the basic objective of

the alignment of the powers conferred on the Commission with Articles 290 and 291 of the

Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to lay down common rules on such

alignment in the domain of transport statistics. This Regulation does not go beyond what is

necessary in order to achieve that objective, in accordance with Article 5(4) of the Treaty on

European Union.

(9a) In view of the importance of data for the Union policies on passengers transport by inland

waterways, a contribution is to be awarded by the Union to finance the implementation of

feasibility/pilot studies on the new variables referred to in Article 4a in accordance with the

principle of reasonable financial-burden-sharing between the budgets of the Union and the

Member States.

This contribution for conducting the feasibility/pilot studies should be awarded in the form of

grants to the national statistical institutes and other national authorities in accordance with

Regulation (EU, Euratom) N° 966/2012.

(10) In order to ensure legal certainty, it is necessary that the procedures for the adoption of

measures which have been initiated but not completed before the entry into force of this

Regulation are not affected by this Regulation.

(11) Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly.


Article 1



'5. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with

Article 9, taking account of economic and technical trends, concerning the raise of the

threshold referred to in paragraph 2 of this article for statistical coverage of inland

waterways transport.'

(2) In Article 3, the following paragraph is added:

'The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 9,

concerning the adaptation of the definitions or the adoption of new ones in order to take into

account relevant definitions adopted at international level.'


'4. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with

Article 9, concerning the adaptation of the Annexes to reflect changes in coding and

nomenclature at international level or in the relevant legislation of the European Union.'

(3a) Article 4.a is added.

'Article 4.a

Feasibility/pilot studies

1. Member States shall carry out feasibility/pilot studies on the following new variables

related to cruise vessels transporting more than 100 passengers and to ferries carrying

passengers over more than 300 metres:

a) Passengers transported,

b) Passengers-km,

c) Passenger seats available.

2. The results of the feasibility/pilot studies referred to in paragraph 1 of this article shall be

transmitted to the Commission by 31 December 2017.

3. In order to facilitate the carrying out of the feasibility/pilot studies referred to in paragraph 1

of this article, the Union shall award financial support to the national statistical institutes and

other national authorities referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.'


'2. Arrangements for transmitting data to the Commission (Eurostat), including data

interchange standards, shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the

examination procedure referred to in Article 10(2).'

(5) In Article 6, the following subparagraph is added:

'Arrangements for the dissemination of results shall be adopted by the Commission in

accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 10(2).'


'1. The Commission shall adopt the methodological requirements and criteria designed to

ensure the quality of the data produced in accordance with the examination procedure

referred to in Article 10(2).'

(6a) In Article 7, the following paragraphs are added:

'3a. For the purposes of this Regulation, the quality criteria to be applied to the data to be

transmitted are those referred to in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the

European Parliament and of the Council*.

3b. The Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, specify the modalities,

structure, periodicity and comparability elements for the quality reports. Those

implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure

referred in Article 10(2).

*Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European

statistics repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) no 1101/2008 and of he European Parliament and of the Council

on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European

Communities, Council Regulation (EC)322/97 on Community Statistics, anc 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)'

(6b) Article 8 is replaced by the following:

'Article 8

Report on implementation

The Commission, after consulting the European Statistical System Committee, shall submit a

report to the European Parliament and the Council by 31 December 2020 and every five years

thereafter, on the implementation of this Regulation and future developments;

In that report, the Commission shall take account of relevant information provided by

Member States on potential improvements/users’ needs. In particular, that report shall:

(a) assess the benefits accruing to the Union, the Member States and the providers and

users of statistical information of the statistics produced, in relation to their costs;

(b) assess the quality of the data transmitted and the data collection methods used;

(c) if appropriate, identify areas for potential improvement, in particular the introduction of

new variables related to passengers transport by inland waterways taking into account

the findings of the feasibility/pilot studies as referred to in article 4a.'


'Article 9

Exercise of delegated powers

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the

conditions laid down in this Article.

2. When exercising the powers delegated in Article 2(5), Article 3 and Article 4(4), the

Commission shall ensure that the delegated acts do not impose a significant additional

burden on the Member States and on the respondents. In addition, the Commission shall

duly justify the statistical actions provided for in those delegated acts, using, where

appropriate, cost-effectiveness analysis, including an assessment of the burden on

respondents and of the production costs, as referred to in point (c) of Article 14(3) of

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.

It is of particular importance that the Commission follows its usual practice and

carries out consultations with experts, including Member States’ experts before

adopting those delegated acts".

3. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 2(5), Article 3 and Article 4(4)

shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from ... ++ .

The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later

than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall

be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration unless the European Parliament

or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of

each period.

_______________

++OJ: please insert the date: five years after the date of entry into force of this

Regulation.

4. The delegation of power referred to in Article 2(5), Article 3 and Article 4(4) may be

revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke

shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take

effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the

European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any

delegated acts already in force.

5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to

the European Parliament and to the Council.

6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 2(5), Article 3 and Article 4(4) shall enter

into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or

the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European

Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European

Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not

object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European

Parliament or the Council.'


'Article 10

Committee

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the European Statistical System Committee

established by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics(*). That committee shall be a

committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general

principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s

exercise of implementing powers(**)

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011

shall apply. ______________

(*) OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164.

(**) OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.'

(9) Annex G is deleted.

Article 2

This Regulation shall not affect the procedures for the adoption of measures provided for in

Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 which have been initiated but not completed before the entry into

force of this Regulation.

Article 3




Done at Brussels,



Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision and quality of statistics for the macroeconomic imbalances procedure

The Proposal of MIP Regulation has been discussed several times during the Italian Presidency. Most of the more “technical” articles have been agreed. However the main issues on the scope of the regulation and the role of the ECB still remain open- On the one hand, some delegations expressed their doubts whether a regulation is the most appropriate tool to ensure the quality of MIP statistics and called for a period of reflection on this regulation; on the other hand, a few delegations valued the achievements reached so far and were willing to continue working on the proposal. The Italian Presidency has made all the efforts to progress in this dossier confident that the improvements to the text made so far - thanks to the contributions of all delegations concerned- must be valued and acknowledged. Bearing in mind this, and after careful consideration, we decided to present a new Revised proposal in the last CWPS on 10 December. At the present time, at least one of the MIP headline indicators, the effective exchange rate, involves statistics which are produced by the ECB. As long as we recognize that both the ESS and the ESCB are involved in compiling statistics that are relevant or might otherwise affect the elaboration of MIP scoreboard indicators, the next step is that a close cooperation between the two systems is to be regarded as essential. In this respect, as suggested in the opinion of the European central bank issued in October 2013, practical arrangements including instruments of soft law should be developed to make cooperation concrete. In our revised proposal we wanted to find the best way to take into account all these aspects. To this end, we decided to come back to a proposal similar to the initial Commission's proposal - where enacting terms did not refer to the two respective systems ESS and ESCB. Fully supported by the Council Legal Service, we reckoned that the best way to make reference to the two systems was, instead, in the new Recital 9 bearing in mind that

i) firstly, the provision is neutral enough and does not prejudge the - current or future - existence and scope of statistic functions of the two systems and

ii) secondly, it leaves clear that adequate instruments of cooperation, such as a Memorandum of Understanding, should be developed between the two systems

The Italian Presidency did ask the Council Legal services to check with the other Legal Services our proposal and we received a partial support of the Commission on this issue. In the annex the last text discussed under the Italian Presidency.

Delegations will find enclosed the Italian Presidency compromise text on the proposal for a Regulation of the

European Parliament and of the Council on the provision and quality of statistics for the macroeconomic

imbalances procedure.


Brussels, 5 December 2014 (OR. en) 16545/14 LIMITE STATIS 134 ECOFIN 1164 UEM 397 CODEC 2446


NOTE


To: Delegations

Subject: Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the provision and quality of statistics for the macroeconomic imbalances procedure

- Revised Presidency compromise text

63

ANNEX

Changes to the Commission proposal are indicated in bold. New modifications introduced compared to document 14672/14 are indicated as

bold/underlined.

COMMISSION PROPOSAL REVISED PRESIDENCY

PROPOSAL

PRESIDENCY COMMENTS ON

REVISED PROPOSAL COMMENTS

Proposal for a REGULATION

OF THE EUROPEAN

PARLIAMENT AND OF THE

COUNCIL on the provision and

quality of statistics for the

macroeconomic imbalances

procedure

Proposal for a REGULATION OF

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

AND OF THE COUNCIL on the

provision and quality of statistics for

the macroeconomic imbalances

procedure

THE EUROPEAN

PARLIAMENT AND THE

COUNCIL OF THE

EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on

the Functioning of the European

Union, and in particular Article

338(1)

thereof,

Having regard to the proposal

from the Commission,

After transmission of the draft

legislative act to the national

parliaments,

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

AND THE COUNCIL OF THE

EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the

Functioning of the European Union,

and in particular Article 338(1)

thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from

the Commission,

After transmission of the draft

legislative act to the national

parliaments,

64

Having regard to the opinion of

the European Central Bank,

Acting in accordance with the

ordinary legislative procedure,

Having regard to the opinion of the


Acting in accordance with the

ordinary legislative procedure,

Whereas: Whereas:

(9) Close cooperation

between the European Statistical

System and the European

System of Central Banks should

be ensured in relation to MIP

relevant data, in line with

Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No

223/2009, in order to minimise

the reporting burden, guarantee

coherence, improve the

underlying statistics and ensure

comparability.

(9) As long as the ESCB were to

contribute to the production of

European statistics relevant for any of

the MIP indicators, the ESCB and the

ESS should cooperate closely in

accordance with Article 9 of

Regulation 223/2009 and Article 2a

of Regulation 2533/98. In order for

this cooperation to take place, the

ESS and the ESCB should jointly

develop practical arrangements.

Those arrangements should aim at

minimising the reporting burden and

guaranteeing the coherence necessary

to produce the MIP scoreboard

indicators relevant statistics. The

elaboration of those arrangements

should be without prejudice to the

powers and tasks of the ESS in the

production of European statistics

relevant for the MIP indicators.

Agreement pending

The sole Recital 9 will be discussed

in the 10/12 CWPS.

A reference to the two systems has

been introduced in the recitals of the

proposal in a manner which:

i) it does not prejudge the -

current or future - existence

and scope of statistic

functions of the two systems

and that

ii) leaves clear that adequate

arrangements or instruments

of cooperation (of soft law),

such as a Memorandum of

Understanding, should be

developed between the ESS

and the ESCB. This way

consistency is ensured for

the respective production of

statistics that are relevant or

might otherwise affect the

elaboration of MIP

scoreboard indicators.

65

HAVE ADOPTED THIS

REGULATION:

HAVE ADOPTED THIS

REGULATION:

CHAPTER I CHAPTER I

SUBJECT MATTER SUBJECT MATTER

Article 1 Article 1

1. This Regulation lays

down the rules on the provision

and quality monitoring of

statistical data which are

compiled or transmitted for the

purpose of the procedures for

the detection of macroeconomic

imbalances as well as the

prevention and correction of

excessive macroeconomic

imbalances within the Union

established under Articles 3 to

11 of Regulation (EU) No

1176/2011 (hereinafter referred

to as the MIP relevant data).

1. This Regulation lays down the

rules on the provision and quality

monitoring of statistical variables,

which are necessary (...) for the

purpose of compiling the

scoreboard headline indicators for


procedure with a view to

facilitating the procedures for the

early identification and monitoring of macroeconomic imbalances, (…)

established under Article 4 of

Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011

(hereinafter referred to as the MIP

scoreboard headline indicators

relevant statistics).

Agreement pending

The second subparagraph of Article

1 has been deleted. A clear message

has been introduced in the new

version of Recital 9 to make

reference to the ESS and the ESCB

and leave clear that cooperation

between the two systems is to be

reflected in instruments of soft law.

1a. This Regulation shall apply

only to the extent that the results of

the quality assessments based on

relevant sectoral legislation do not

provide sufficient information to

be used for the quality assessment

of the MIP scoreboard headline

indicators relevant statistics as

provided for in Article 5 of this

Agreement pending

66

Regulation.

1b. According to Article 4(7) of the

Regulation (EU) 1176/2011 the

composition of the indicators of the

MIP scoreboard is assessed and

adjusted by the Commission for

policy purposes. The set of the MIP

scoreboard headline indicators, for

which the relevant statistics are

subject to the application of this

Regulation as provided for in

paragraph 1, is listed in an Annex

to this Regulation. The

Commission shall be empowered to

adopt, in accordance to Article 12,

delegated acts to adapt the Annex

in order to reflect the adjustments

to the composition of the

scoreboard headline indicators.

Agreement pending

‘shall be listed’ has been replaced

with ‘is listed’, as suggested by a

Member State.

1c. In order to ensure the uniform

application of this Regulation, the

Commission shall adopt

implementing acts with a view to

establishing the MIP scoreboard

headline indicators relevant

statistics accompanied by

references to the relevant sectoral

legislation. The Commission shall

adopt implementing acts with a

view to amending the

aforementioned MIP scoreboard

Agreement pending

67


statistics in order to reflect

adjustments to the composition of

the MIP scoreboard headline

indicators listed in the Annex.

Those implementing acts shall be

adopted in accordance with the

examination procedure referred to

in Article 14(2).

2. This Regulation shall

apply to the MIP relevant data

compiled and transmitted by

Member States, irrespective of

whether the Council or the

Commission consider that an

imbalance exists and whether an

excessive imbalance has been

established by the Council

pursuant to Article 7 of

Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011.

This Regulation shall apply also

to the Member States for which


procedure has been suspended

in accordance with Article xxxx

of Regulation xxxx (reference

will be made to the 2-Pack

Regulation when it is adopted).

2. This Regulation shall apply to


indicators relevant statistics

compiled and transmitted by Member

States, irrespective of whether the

Council or the Commission consider

that an imbalance exists and whether

an excessive imbalance has been

established by the Council pursuant

to Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No

1176/2011. This Regulation shall

apply also to the Member States for

which Regulation (EU) No

1176/2011 does not apply according

to Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No

472/2013.

Agreement pending

CHAPTER II CHAPTER II

TRANSMISSION OF DATA

TO THE COMMISSION

AVAILABILITY OF DATA TO

THE COMMISSION

68

Article 2 Article 2

1. The MIP relevant data to

be transmitted by the Member

States shall cover the preceding

year (n-1) and the previous nine

years (n-2 to n-10).

1. The MIP scoreboard


statistics of the Member States shall

cover the period defined in the

relevant sectoral legislation (…),

but not exceeding the previous 10

years (n-1 to n-10).

Text agreed in the 12/9 CWPS

2. The deadlines for the

transmission of the MIP relevant

data shall be those laid down

pursuant to the relevant basic

acts or shall be communicated

by the Commission in specific

calendars taking into account

the needs of the Union.

2. The deadlines for the

transmission to the Commission

(Eurostat) of the MIP scoreboard


statistics shall be those laid down

pursuant to the relevant sectoral

legislation. (…)


2a. Where the relevant sectoral

legislation does not specify the length

of the time series and/or the

deadlines of the transmission of the

MIP scoreboard headline indicators

relevant statistics, the Commission

shall establish them by way of

implementing acts adopted in

accordance with the examination

procedure referred to in Article

14(2).


3. The Commission shall

indicate to the Member States,

each year, the timetable of the

annual Alert Mechanism Report


indicate to the Member States, each

year, the timetable of the annual Alert

Mechanism Report established by


69

established by Article 3 of

Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011.

Based on this timetable and on

the deadlines and calendars

referred to in paragraph 2, the

Commission shall also decide

on and communicate, to the

Member States, a cut-off date

for their transmission of all the

most up-to-date MIP relevant

data.

Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No

1176/2011. Based on this timetable

and on the deadlines (…) referred to

in paragraph 2, the Commission

(Eurostat) shall also decide on and

communicate, to the Member States,

a cut-off date (...) when the

Commission (Eurostat) is to extract


indicators relevant statistics in

order to compute for each Member

State the MIP scoreboard headline

indicators.

3a. The Commission (Eurostat)

shall provide each Member State

with access to the MIP scoreboard


statistics and the computed MIP

scoreboard headline indicators no

later than five working days before

the cut-off date for checking

purposes. Member States may

check the underlying statistics and

may provide amendments to the

data during the five working days

following the day that access was

granted.


CHAPTER III CHAPTER III

QUALITY REPORTS QUALITY REPORTS

Article 3 Article 3

70

1. When transmitting the

MIP relevant data referred to in

Article 1, Member States shall

send, to the Commission

(Eurostat), information showing

how these data are calculated,

including any changes in the

sources and methods, in the

form of a quality report.

1. (...) Member States shall

submit to the Commission (Eurostat)

information showing how (...) MIP


relevant statistics are calculated (...),

in the form of quality reports

containing quantitative, where

relevant, and qualitative

information to be used in the

quality assessment by the

Commission. This paragraph shall

apply within the scope laid down

under Article 1(1a) and in

accordance with the uniform

conditions for implementation laid

down by the Commission by virtue

of paragraph 3.

Agreement pending

With the aim of avoiding repetitions

regarding the role of sectoral

legislation, the most appropriate

wording to make reference to

Articles 1(1a) and 3(3) has been

agreed with the CLS.

2. The quality criteria

referred to in Article 12(1) of

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009

shall apply to the data to be

transmitted.

2. The quality criteria referred to

in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC)

No 223/2009 shall apply to the (...)

MIP scoreboard headline

indicators relevant statistics.



adopt implementing acts with a

view to defining the modalities,

structure and periodicity of the

quality reports. Those

implementing acts shall be


examination procedure referred

to in Article 14(2).

3. The Commission shall adopt an

implementing act(...) with a view to

defining the modalities, structure and

periodicity of the quality reports,

which shall have a standardised

form. This implementing act(...) shall be


examination procedure referred to in

Agreement pending

The last sentence of the third

subparagraph (taking fully in

account…) has been deleted since it

proved not to add clarity to the

Article 3; moreover, Articles 1(1a)

and 3(1), as well as Article 5(1),

deal with the role of sectoral

71

Article 14(2). When adopting this

implementing act, the Commission

shall aim to minimize the burden

imposed on Member States.

legislation thoroughly; as a result, it

is sufficient to make any reference to

the role above in those articles.

Article 4 Article 4 In the event of doubt regarding

the correct implementation of

the rules governing the

compilation and transmission of

the MIP relevant data, the

Member State concerned shall

request clarification from the

Commission (Eurostat). The

Commission shall promptly

examine the issue and

communicate its clarification to

the Member State concerned, to

the relevant expert group on

macroeconomic statistics

established by the Commission,

to all other Member States and

to the public.

1. In the event of doubt regarding the

correct implementation of the rules

governing the compilation and

transmission of the MIP scoreboard


statistics, the Member State

concerned may request clarification

from the Commission (Eurostat). The

Commission (Eurostat) shall

promptly examine the issue and

communicate its clarification to the

Member State concerned, to the

relevant expert groups (...), and to all

other Member States (…).


1a. Without prejudice to

relevant sectoral legislation and to

the Article 20 of the Regulation

(EC) No 223/2009, Member States

may make their quality reports

public.


CHAPTER IV CHAPTER IV

72

QUALITY ASSESSMENT QUALITY ASSESSMENT Article 5 Article 5

1. The Commission

(Eurostat) shall regularly assess

the quality of the MIP relevant

data. The assessments shall

focus mainly on areas specified

in the inventories referred to in

Article 6, where applicable, and

the quality reports of Member

States. The quality assessments

shall be carried out in

conformity with the statistical

principles laid down in


The quality assessments shall,

as appropriate, make full use of

the work carried out, and the

results obtained, in the context

of existing quality frameworks

for MIP relevant data.

1. The Commission (Eurostat)

shall regularly assess the quality of


indicators relevant statistics. The

assessments shall focus mainly on

areas specified in (...) the quality

reports referred to in Article 3 (...)

and shall be carried out using the

results of the assessments based on

the relevant sectoral legislation as

provided for in Article 1(1a), where

applicable. The quality assessments

shall be carried out in conformity

with the statistical principles laid

down in Regulation (EC) No

223/2009. The quality assessments

shall, as appropriate, make full use of

the work carried out, and the results

obtained, in the context of existing

quality frameworks for MIP


relevant statistics.

Agreement pending

Both MSs comments and the

Commission proposal have been

taken into consideration in the

current rewording.

1a. The Commission shall duly

justify any assessment of non-

compliance with the quality

criteria it makes and communicate

its findings to the Member State

concerned.


73

Agreement pending

Paragraph 1b has been deleted as

required by most of MSs at the 31/10

CWPS.

2. Member States shall

provide the Commission

(Eurostat), as promptly as

possible, with the data and

information requested for the

purposes of the data quality

assessment, without prejudice to

the provisions relating to

statistical confidentiality of


(…) Deletion agreed in the 28/5 CWPS

3. The Commission

(Eurostat) shall assess Member

States’ MIP relevant data each

year with the assistance of the

relevant expert group on

macroeconomic statistics.


shall assess the quality of Member

States’ MIP scoreboard headline

indicators relevant statistics each

year with the assistance of the

relevant expert groups.


4. This assessment shall be

carried out in accordance with

the quality criteria referred to in

Article 3(2). The following

elements in particular shall be

considered in the assessment:

4. This assessment shall be based on

(...) the quality criteria referred to in

Article 3(2). The following elements

in particular shall be considered in

the assessment:

Agreement pending

(a) the MIP relevant data

transmitted by Member States;

(a) the MIP scoreboard headline

indicators relevant statistics (...);

74

(b) the quality reports and

the inventories referred to in

Article 6;

(b) the quality reports (...) The sentence ‘and other information

on the quality assurance measures as

referred to in Article 3(1)’ has been

deleted to be consistent with the

revised Article 3(1).

(c) reports arising from

missions to and discussions with

Member States in relation to the

MIP relevant data.

(d) reports arising from the

dialogue visits to and discussions

with Member States in relation to the

MIP scoreboard headline indicators

relevant statistics, as referred to in

Article 7.

CHAPTER V (…) Deletion agreed in the 28/5 CWPS INVENTORIES OF SOURCES

AND METHODS USED TO

COMPILE MIP RELEVANT

DATA

(…)

Article 6 Article 6 (deleted)11


transmit to the Commission

(Eurostat) a complete and up-to-

date description of the sources

and methods (hereinafter

referred to as ‘the inventories’)

used to compile their MIP

relevant data.

(…)


establish the inventories and

send them to the Commission

(…)

11

In the final agreed text the articles will be renumbered.

75

(Eurostat) at the latest on

[…][nine months after the

adoption of this Regulation–

exact date to be inserted by OP

upon publication]. The

Commission shall adopt

implementing acts with a view

to defining the structure and the

modalities for the updating of

these inventories by […][within

six months after the adoption of

this Regulation– exact date to

be inserted by OP upon

publication]. Those

implementing acts shall be


examination procedure referred

to in Article 14(2).


make their inventories public.

(…)

CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VI MISSIONS TO MEMBER

STATES

DIALOGUE VISITS TO MEMBER

STATES

Article 7 Article 7

1. Where the Commission

(Eurostat) identifies problems,

in particular in the context of the

quality assessment under Article

5, it may decide to carry out

missions to the Member State

1. (...) The Commission

(Eurostat) shall ensure an ongoing

dialogue with Member States

regarding the production of the

MIP scoreboard headline



76

concerned. In the event that the Commission

(Eurostat) identifies risks or

potential problems concerning the

quality of the reported data, it shall

transmit its provisional findings to

the Member States concerned for

comments.

In this context, the Commission

(Eurostat) may (...) carry out

dialogue visits in Member States

concerned.

2. The aim of such

missions shall be to investigate

in depth the quality of the MIP

relevant data concerned. The

missions shall concentrate on

methodological issues, the

sources and methods described

in the inventories, the data and

supporting statistical processes

with a view to assessing their

compliance with the relevant

accounting and statistical rules.

2. The aim of such dialogue

visits shall be to review the

reported MIP scoreboard headline

indicators relevant statistics, to

examine methodological issues, to

discuss statistical processes and

sources and methods described in the

quality reports and, and to assess

the compliance of data and

supporting statistical processes with

(...) the relevant accounting and

statistical rules.


2b. The Commission (Eurostat)

shall fully take into account the

results of such visits that have

already been carried out in

accordance with the sectoral

statistical legislation and, as

appropriate, any independent

quality assessment carried out at


77

national level.

3. The Commission

(Eurostat) shall report to the

Economic Policy Committee set

up by Council Decision

74/122/EEC12

on the findings of

these missions, including any

comments on these findings

made by the Member State

concerned. After having been

transmitted to the Economic

Policy Committee, these reports,

along with any comments made

by the Member State concerned,

shall be made public, without

prejudice to the provisions

concerning statistical

confidentiality in Regulation

(EC) No 223/2009.


shall report to the Economic Policy

Committee set up by Council

Decision 74/122/EEC13

and to the

European Statistical System

Committee on the findings of the

dialogue visits, including any

comments on these findings made by

the Member State concerned. After

having been transmitted to the

Economic Policy Committee and the

European Statistical System

Committee, these reports, along with

any comments made by the Member

State concerned, shall be made

public, without prejudice to the

provisions concerning statistical

confidentiality in Regulation (EC) No

223/2009.


4. Member States shall, at

the request of the Commission

(Eurostat), provide the

assistance from experts on

statistical issues related to the

macroeconomic imbalances

procedure, including for the

preparation and carrying-out of

4. At the request of the

Commission (Eurostat) and on a

voluntary basis, Member States may

provide the assistance from experts

on (…) MIP scoreboard headline

indicators relevant statistics,

including for the preparation and

carrying-out of the dialogue visits. In


12

OJ L 63, 5.3.1974, p.21 13

OJ L 63, 5.3.1974, p.21

78

the missions. In the exercise of

their duties, these experts shall

provide independent expertise.

A list of those experts shall be

constituted by (date to be fixed)

on the basis of proposals sent to

the Commission (Eurostat) by

the national authorities

responsible for the MIP relevant

data.

the exercise of their duties, these

experts shall provide independent

expertise. A list of those experts shall

be constituted by (date to be fixed) on

the basis of proposals sent to the

Commission (Eurostat) by the

national authorities responsible for



5. The Commission

(Eurostat) shall lay down the

rules and procedures related to

the selection of the experts,

taking into account an

appropriate distribution of

experts across Member States

and an appropriate rotation of

experts between Member States,

their working arrangements and

the financial details. The


share with the Member States

the full cost incurred by the

Member States for the

assistance from their national

experts.


shall lay down the rules and

procedures related to the selection of

the experts, taking into account an

appropriate distribution of experts

across Member States and an

appropriate rotation of experts

between Member States, their

working arrangements and the

financial details. The Commission

(Eurostat) shall cover the full cost

incurred by the Member States for

the assistance from their national

experts.


6. The Commission

(Eurostat) shall ensure that

officials and experts

participating in these missions


shall ensure that officials and experts

participating in these visits meet

every guarantee as regards technical


79

meet every guarantee as regards

technical competence,

professional independence and

observance of confidentiality.

competence, professional

independence and observance of

confidentiality.

CHAPTER VII CHAPTER VII PROVISION OF DATA BY

THE COMMISSION

(EUROSTAT)

PROVISION OF DATA BY THE

COMMISSION (EUROSTAT)

Article 8 Article 8 1. The Commission

(Eurostat) shall provide the MIP

relevant data used for the

purposes of the macroeconomic

imbalances procedure including

by means of news releases

and/or other channels as it

considers appropriate.


shall provide the MIP scoreboard

headline indicators (…) by means of

news releases and/or other usual

dissemination/ publication channels

(...).


2. The Commission

(Eurostat) shall not delay the

provision of the MIP relevant

data of Member States where a

Member State has not

transmitted its own data.

2. The Commission (Eurostat) shall

not delay the provision of the MIP

scoreboard headline indicators of

Member States where a Member

State has not transmitted its own data.

In such case only, the Commission

will estimate the missing data,

which shall be expressly identified

as ‘data estimated by the

Commission’ in order to be

distinguished from data

transmitted by Member States. On

the request of Member State whose


80

data was estimated the

Commission shall provide the

methodology of the estimation.

Such a document of the

Commission shall be made public.

3. The Commission

(Eurostat) may express a

reservation on the quality of a

Member State’s MIP relevant

data. No later than three

working days before the planned

publication date, the


communicate to the Member

State concerned and to the

President of the Economic

Policy Committee the

reservation it intends to express

and make public. Where the

issue is resolved after

publication of the data and the

reservation, withdrawal of the

reservation shall be made public

immediately thereafter.


may express a reservation on the

quality of a Member State’s MIP


relevant statistics. No later than ten


publication date, the Commission

(Eurostat) shall communicate to the

Member State concerned and to the

President of the Economic Policy

Committee the reservation it intends

to express and make public. Where

the issue is resolved after publication

of the data and the reservation,

withdrawal of the reservation shall be

made public immediately thereafter.


4. The Commission

(Eurostat) may amend data

transmitted by Member States

and provide the amended data

and a justification of the

amendment where there is

evidence that the data reported

(…) Deletion agreed in the 28/5 CWPS

81

by Member States do not

comply with the requirements of

Article 3(2). No later than three


publication date, the


communicate to the Member

State concerned and to the

President of the Economic

Policy Committee the amended

data and the justification for the

amendment.

CHAPTER VIII (…) SANCTIONS CONCERNING

THE MANIPULATION OF

STATISTICS

(…)

Article 9 Article 9 (deleted) Deletion agreed in the 28/5 CWPS

1. The Council, acting on a

proposal by the Commission,

may decide to impose a fine on

a Member State that

intentionally or by serious

negligence misrepresents the

MIP relevant data.

(…)

2. The fine referred to in

paragraph 1 shall be effective,

dissuasive and proportionate to

the nature, seriousness and

duration of the

misrepresentation. The amount

of the fine shall not exceed

(…)

82

0.05% of the GDP of the

Member State concerned. 3. The Commission may

conduct all investigations

necessary to establish the

existence of the

misrepresentations referred to in

paragraph 1. It may decide to

initiate an investigation when it

finds that there are serious

indications of the existence of

facts liable to constitute such a

misrepresentation. In

investigating the putative

misrepresentations, the

Commission shall take into

account any comments

submitted by the Member State

concerned. In order to carry out

its tasks, the Commission may

request the Member State to

provide information, and may

conduct on-site inspections and

access the underlying statistical

information and documents

related to the MIP relevant data.

If the law of the Member State

concerned requires prior judicial

authorisation for on-site

inspections, the Commission

shall make the necessary

applications.

Upon completion of its

(…)

83

investigation, and before

submitting any proposal to the

Council, the Commission shall

give the Member State

concerned the opportunity of

being heard in relation to the

matters under investigation. The

Commission shall base any

proposal to the Council only on

facts on which the Member

State concerned has had the

opportunity to comment.

The Commission shall fully

respect the rights of defence of

the Member State concerned

during the investigations. 4. The Commission shall

be empowered to adopt

delegated acts in accordance

with Article 12 concerning:

(…)

(a) detailed criteria

establishing the amount of the

fine referred to in paragraph 1;

(…)

(b) detailed rules concerning

the procedures for the

investigations referred to in

paragraph 3, the associated

measures and the reporting on

the investigations;

(…)

(c) detailed rules of

procedure aimed at guaranteeing

the rights of the defence, access

to the file, legal representation,

(…)

84

confidentiality and provisions as

to timing and the collection of

the fines referred to in

paragraph 1.

5. The Court of Justice of

the European Union shall have

unlimited jurisdiction to review

the decisions of the Council

imposing fines under paragraph

1. It may annul, reduce or

increase the fine so imposed.

(…)

CHAPTER IX (…) NATURE AND BUDGET

DISTRIBUTION OF THE

SANCTIONS

(…)


The sanctions imposed pursuant

to Article 11 shall be of an

administrative nature.

(…)


The fines collected in

accordance with Article 9shall

constitute other revenue, as

referred to in Article 311 of the

Treaty, and shall be assigned to

the Union budget.

(…)

CHAPTER X CHAPTER X EXERCISE OF THE

DELEGATION EXERCISE OF THE DELEGATION

Article 12 Article 12

1. The power to adopt

delegated acts is conferred on

1. The power to adopt delegated

acts is conferred on the Commission

Agreement pending

85

the Commission subject to the

conditions laid down in this

Article.

subject to the conditions laid down in

this Article.

1a. When exercising its powers

delegated in Article 1(1b), the

Commission shall ensure that the

delegated acts do not impose a

significant additional burden on

the Member States. In addition, the

Commission shall duly justify the

actions in those delegated acts,

conducting where appropriate cost-

effectiveness analysis, including an

assessment of the burden on

respondents and of the production

costs, in accordance with Article

14(3) of Regulation (EC) No

223/2009.

The reference to the respondents as

regards the additional burden has

been deleted.

2. The power to adopt

delegated acts referred to in

Article 9(4) shall be conferred

on the Commission for a period

of three years starting after one

month following the adoption of

this Regulation. The

Commission shall draw up a

report in respect of the

delegation of power not later

than nine months before the end

of that 3-year period. The

2. The power to adopt delegated

acts referred to in Article 1(1b) shall

be conferred on the Commission for a

period of five years starting after one

month following the adoption of this

Regulation. The Commission shall

draw up a report in respect of the

delegation of power not later than

nine months before the end of that

five-year period. The delegation of

power shall be tacitly extended for

periods of an identical duration,

86

delegation of power shall be

tacitly extended for periods of

an identical duration, unless the

European Parliament or the

Council opposes such extension

not later than three months

before the end of each period.

unless the European Parliament or the

Council opposes such extension not

later than three months before the end

of each period.

3. The delegation of power

referred to in Article 9(4) may

be revoked at any time by the

European Parliament or by the

Council. A decision to revoke

shall put an end to the

delegation of the power

specified in that decision. It

shall take effect the day

following the publication of the

decision in the Official Journal

of the European Union or at a

later date specified therein. It

shall not affect the validity of

any delegated acts already in

force.

3. The delegation of power

referred to in Article 1(1b) may be

revoked at any time by the European

Parliament or by the Council. A

decision to revoke shall put an end to

the delegation of the power specified

in that decision. It shall take effect

the day following the publication of

the decision in the Official Journal of

the European Union or at a later date

specified therein. It shall not affect

the validity of any delegated acts

already in force.

4. As soon as it adopts a

delegated act, the Commission

shall notify it simultaneously to

the European Parliament and to

the Council.

4. As soon as it adopts a

delegated act, the Commission shall

notify it simultaneously to the

European Parliament and to the

Council.

5. A delegated act adopted

pursuant to Article 9(4) shall

enter into force only if no

objection has been expressed

either by the European

5. A delegated act adopted

pursuant to Article 1(1b) shall enter

into force only if no objection has

been expressed either by the

European Parliament or the Council

87

Parliament or the Council within

a period of two months of

notification of that act to the

European Parliament and the

Council or if, before the expiry

of that period, the European

Parliament and the Council have

both informed the Commission

that they will not object. That

period shall be extended by two

months at the initiative of the

European Parliament or of the

Council.

within a period of two months of

notification of that act to the

European Parliament and the Council

or if, before the expiry of that period,

the European Parliament and the

Council have both informed the

Commission that they will not object.

That period shall be extended by two

months at the initiative of the

European Parliament or of the

Council.

CHAPTER XI (…) VOTE ON THE SANCTIONS (…)


For the measures referred to in

Article 9 the Council shall act

without taking into account the

vote of the member of the

Council representing the

Member State concerned.

(…)

CHAPTER XII CHAPTER XII

GENERAL PROVISIONS GENERAL PROVISIONS



be assisted by the European

Statistical System Committee

established by Regulation (EC)

No 223/2009. The Committee

shall be a committee within the

meaning of the Regulation (EU)

1. The Commission shall be

assisted by the European Statistical

System Committee established by

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. The

Committee shall be a committee

within the meaning of the Regulation

(EU) No 182/2011.


88

No 182/2011.

2. Where reference is made

to this paragraph, Article 5 of

Regulation (EU) No 182/2011

shall apply.

2. Where reference is made to

this paragraph, Article 5 of

Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall

apply.


2a. Where the committee delivers

no opinion, the Commission shall

not adopt the draft implementing

act and the third subparagraph of

Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No

182/2011 shall apply.


Article 15 Article 15 Agreement pending

In line with Article 5 of

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009,

the national statistical institutes

of the Member States (the NSI)

shall ensure the required

coordination on the MIP

relevant data at national level.

All other national authorities

shall report to the NSI for this

purpose. The Member States

shall take the necessary

measures to ensure the

application of this provision.

1. As for the European

statistics, in line with Article 5 of

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, the

national statistical institutes of the

Member States (the NSIs) shall

ensure the required coordination on


indicators relevant statistics at

national level, serving as the contact

point with the Commission

(Eurostat). (...) The Member States

shall take the necessary measures to

ensure the application of this

provision.

Paragraph 1a has been deleted since

any reference to the ESS and the

ESCB has been made in Recital 9.

89



ensure that the MIP relevant

data compiled and transmitted to

the Commission (Eurostat) are

provided in accordance with the

principles established by Article

2 of Regulation (EC) No

223/2009.

1. Member States shall ensure

that the MIP scoreboard headline

indicators relevant statistics

compiled and transmitted to the

Commission (Eurostat) are provided

in accordance with the principles

established by Article 2 of Regulation

(EC) No 223/2009.


2. Member States shall take

appropriate measures to ensure

that institutions and officials

responsible for the compilation

and transmission of the MIP

relevant data to the Commission

(Eurostat) are accountable and

act in accordance with the

principles established by Article

2 of Regulation (EC) No

223/2009.

2. Member States shall take

appropriate measures to ensure that

institutions and officials responsible

for the compilation and transmission

of the MIP scoreboard headline

indicators relevant statistics to the

Commission (Eurostat) are

accountable and act in accordance

with the principles established by

Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No

223/2009.



The Commission (Eurostat)

shall report regularly to the

European Parliament and to the

Council on the activities carried

out by the Commission

(Eurostat) for the purpose of

implementing this Regulation.

The Commission (Eurostat) shall

report (...) annually to the European

Parliament and to the Council on the

activities carried out by the

Commission (Eurostat) for the

purpose of implementing this

Regulation.


90


1. By 14 December 2014

and every five years thereafter,

the Commission shall review the

application of this Regulation

and report its findings to the

European Parliament and the

Council.

1. (…) Within twelve months

from the designated date of

submission of the quality reports

for MIP scoreboard headline

indicators relevant statistics and

every five years thereafter, the

Commission shall review the

application of this Regulation and

report its findings to the European

Parliament and the Council.

Agreement pending

2. The review shall, among

other things, evaluate:

2. The review shall, among other

things, evaluate:


(a) the progress in ensuring

the quality of MIP relevant data;

(a) the progress in ensuring the

quality of MIP scoreboard headline

indicators relevant statistics;

(b) the effectiveness of this

Regulation and the applied

monitoring process.

(b) the effectiveness of this

Regulation and the applied

monitoring process.

Where appropriate, the review

shall be accompanied by a

proposal for amendments to this

Regulation.

Where appropriate, the review shall

be accompanied by a proposal for

amendments to this Regulation.


This Regulation shall enter into

force on the twentieth day

following that of its publication

in the Official Journal of the

This Regulation shall enter into force

on the twentieth day following that of

its publication in the Official Journal

of the European Union.


91

European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding

in its entirety and directly

applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

This Regulation shall be binding in

its entirety and directly applicable in

all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

92

MIP SCOREBOARD HEADLINE INDICATORS

3-year average of current account balance as a % of GDP

Net International Investment Position as a % of GDP

% change (3 years) of real effective exchange rate (REER), HICP deflators relative to 41 industrial countries (a)

% change (5 years) in export market shares

% change (3 years) in nominal unit labour cost (ULC) (b)

y-o-y % change in deflated house prices (c)

Private sector credit flow (consolidated) as % of GDP (d), (e)

Unemployment rate 3-year average

Private sector debt (consolidated) as % of GDP (d), (e)

General government sector debt as % of GDP

y-o-y % change in total financial sector liabilities, non-consolidated data

Notes: (a) For EU trading partners HICP is used, while for non-EU trading partners the deflator is based on a CPI; (b) Index providing ratio of nominal compensation per employee to real GDP per person employed; (c) Changes in house prices relative to the consumption deflator; (d) Private sector is defined as non-financial corporations; households and non-profit institutions serving households; (e) Sum of loans and securities other than shares.

93

Proposal for a Regulation of the European parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures.

As for BOP dossier, the discussion on the Commission proposal started under the Italian Presidency and the file was dealt with in two CWPS meetings. A written consultation was launched in November 2014 with deadline 1 December. The comments received were collected in one document and discussed at the 10 December CWPS meeting. In principle, most MS supported the proposal to simplify the governance and to delegate comitology power to ESSC. Nevertheless, it emerged the need to revise some aspects of the proposal in terms of delegation of power upon the Commission, as it is considered to be too extensive. Finally, some MSs along with the Commission and the ECB have requested the CLS to provide a written opinion on the CMFB consultation role. In the annex the last text presented and analyzed under the Italian Presidency on 10 December.

94

Presidency hearing on Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 on

Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures (COM (2014) 379)

Last version presented and analyzed at CWPS 10 December

SUMMARY TABLE

GENERAL COMMENTS

AT: welcomes the proposal of this regulation which is in line with the objective of streamlining the governance structure in the ESS. As Central Banks play an important role in compiling BoP in many countries, including Austria, a good cooperation between the ESS and the ESCB at technical level should, however, be assured when preparing legal acts in this field.

BE: no general comments. BG does not support the initial text of the Proposal. Cyprus welcomes the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment. We support the alignment of the act to the new institutional context laid down in the TFEU, as well as the implementation of the streamlined organisational structure of the ESS which provides for the concentration of comitology powers in the hands of the ESSC. Nevertheless, we consider that the measures proposed for delegation of powers to the Commission (updating of data requirements, including submission deadlines, as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows and updates of the definitions) constitute essential elements of the basic act and as such should not be subject to delegation. All the above elements have a direct impact on the costs of data production and the reporting burden on respondents and should therefore be amended through co-decision in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure. In any case, the powers conferred upon the Commission to adopt delegated acts should be for a predetermined period of time (say, five years) and renewable. Finally, Cyprus could support a more explicit reference to the involvement of the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) in the consultation process on envisaged legal acts in this field CZ: The proposal does not reflect the agreement on co-operation between the ESS and the ESCB in the field of balance of payments statistics, which was reached at the ESF on 17 September 2014. The proposal goes beyond the agreed arrangement namely by transmitting to the Commission the power to use delegated acts to amend e.g. data requirements, submission deadlines and definition updates, and by failing to reflect co-operation between the ESS and the ESCB in the field of BoP statistics at the CMFB after the abolition of the BoP Committee. Unless selected articles are corrected, the proposal will create disequilibrium between the decision-making process (ESS) and responsibilities (ESCB), especially in those countries where final compilation and dissemination of BoP statistics is within the field of competence of the national central bank. DE: As the statistics governed by Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 are compiled by the national central banks (NCBs) in most EU member states, this

95

Commission initiative must be coordinated at the European level in the form of close cooperation between the European Statistical System (ESS) and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). This is particularly the case because the core points of the proposals (introduction of delegated and implementing acts and the transfer of control powers from the Balance of Payments (BOP) Committee to the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC)) are aimed at significantly curtailing the involvement of the NCBs in any future extensions of data and quality requirements and in the setting of submission deadlines. From a legal perspective, Article 5 of the Statute of the ESCB and of the ECB (Protocol No 4, OJ C 326 of 26 October 2012, page 230) is key in this context. It states that the ESCB has been given the responsibility and competence to gather the statistical data necessary to perform its tasks, including data needed to compile the balance of payments. Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 951/2009) provides the framework for the collection of these data. The independence of the ECB and the NCBs is guaranteed by Articles 130 and 282 (3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Article 7 of the ESCB Statute. Recital 9 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 states that the data collected by an NCB can, subject to agreement between the NCB and the Community statistical authority, be used by national statistical institutes (NSIs), other national authorities and the Community statistical authority to compile European statistics. Use of data collected in this manner is also covered by Regulation (EC) No 184/2005. In other words, the ECSB NCBs collect statistical data, which is transmitted to Eurostat in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 184/2005. It thus follows that the participation of the NCBs in decision-making processes must be ensured in order to prevent the emergence of divergent data requirements. We think that the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments statistics (CMFB), established by Council Decision No 856/2006/EC, would be the appropriate body to secure the cooperation between the ESS and the ESCB. However, this proposal not only limits the involvement of the NCBs, but also considerably extends the regulations relating to the adoption of delegated and implementing acts by the Commission. As data requirements, submission deadlines, definitions and the extension of data flows could have significant cost implications for reporting entities and NCBs we do not support delegated powers conferred upon the Commission to amend Annex 1 and II as proposed in Article 1 (1) of the current proposal.

DK: can support the streamlining of the adoption procedures but we have noticed that the alignment of BoP statistics is dealt with in two distinct legal acts – the present proposal and the Omnibus III package (COM (2013)751 final). Our response to this hearing presupposes that the BoP element will be taken out from the Omnibus proposal. Furthermore, in our opinion the delegation of powers to the Commission goes too far and consequently it has to be limited. EL: ELSTAT welcomes the aim of amendment proposal, particularly the streamlining the decision making process by concentrating powers in the hands of the ESSC. We maintain reservation concerning the broad delegation of powers to the Commission, in particular for the data requirements of Annex I. FI supports the proposed regulation and can agree with shifting the comitology powers from BOP Committee to ESSC. However, we think that some amendments are needed: the scope of recital 12 should be limited to balance of payment statistics, the role of CMFB should be added and the delegated powers are too extensive.

96

This is our initial position and we might propose or support other amendments during the deliberations in the CWPS. FR enters a scrutiny reservation till the ECB publishes its opinion on the Commission proposal. Our detailed comments will be provided after this publication. IT: Balance of Payments (BOP) statistics are essential for the performance of crucial tasks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), such as the conduct of monetary policy and the monitoring of financial stability. For this reason, European laws provide the ECB with specific statistical powers in this respect, in particular to collect the basic related information from reporting agents and to compile the euro area BOP, in most cases through the active contribution of National Central Banks (NCBs) (cfr. Council Regulation 2533/1998). It is of paramount importance that full coordination is granted on this matter between the ESCB and the European Statistical System, to ensure the full harmonization of statistical measures at the European level in this field and to reduce the reporting burden. In our view, the amendments of data requirement should require an amending Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council. Moreover, taking into account the outcome at the 2nd meeting of the ESF we propose to add 5n the amended Regulation a new article 10A, that the Commission has to consult the Committee on Monetary Financial and Balance of Payments whenever a proposal for a legal act of the Council and the European Parliament, as well as a proposal for a Commission legal act (implementing act), is envisaged on issues related to BOP, International Trade in Services and Foreign Direct Investment statistics. HR: Croatia generally supports the proposal. When it comes to delegation of powers to the Commission, care should be taken to distinguish between essential and non-essential elements of the Regulation. In that respect we consider that Recital 8 and corresponding Article 1.1 should be revised accordingly. In addition, Article 1.3 should be aligned with standard provisions regulating exercise of delegation of power (administrative burden, justification of proposed actions, cost- effectiveness analyses, time period and reporting on delegation of powers). Article 1.4 should be supplemented with provision on European Statistical System Committee’s opinion on draft implementing act being prerequisite for its adoption by the Commission. Furthermore, due to the role of the Committee on monetary, financial and balance of payments statistics in development and coordination of the specified statistics, changes to the relevant framework should be carried out in consultation with the Committee. HU has concerns regarding the proposed empowerment of the Commission to adopt delegated acts covering all those areas that are mentioned in paragraph 6. The change in submission deadlines, revisions and extensions of data flows set out in Annex I, for instance, by their nature might impose significant additional administrative burden on Member States. For this reason Annex I and Annex II should remain out of scope of this empowerment. With regard to transferring the comitology power from BOP Committee to ESSC, we would like the CMFB being explicitly referred to in the Regulation as a Committee that must be consulted and requested for its opinion on all BOP and IIP related issues. This could be an institutional guarantee built-in the Regulation of the cooperation between the ESS and ESCB in the field of BOP and IIP statistics. LT: no general comments LU: Luxembourg can support the streamlining of comitology powers as specified in article 11. Luxembourg would like the delegation of

97

powers to be more limited, in time and in scope, than in the Commission proposal. LV: Latvia supports the proposal aligning the Regulation No 184/2005 to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. However concerning the empowerment of the Commission to adopt delegated acts Latvia is in position that this proposal is in contradiction to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as an object of delegation has a direct impact on the reporting burden of respondents. In our view non-essential elements, within the scope of regulation 184/2005, are changes (a) concerning the country code or changes in the composition of relevant country groups (b) concerning more general (i.e., less detailed) aggregation of country and/or position breakdowns. Concerning the empowerment of the Commission to adopt implementing acts Latvia is in position that role of CMFB should be emphasized, in particular, the opinion of the CMFB should be requested concerning all amendments to the Regulation No 184/2005. NL: The Netherlands welcomes the aim of the proposal. However, at the present we cannot support the current proposal. We have concerns with both the delegation of power and the replacement of the BOP-committee. The Netherlands is of the opinion that it is not possible, as proposed by the Commission, to automatically replace the existing provisions providing for the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (PRAC) with provisions for the power to adopt delegated acts. The present proposal gives a very wide margin of appreciation to the Commission. In addition, we cannot support the empowerment to adopt delegated acts concerning the entire content of the Annex I and Annex II. In the Netherlands the compilation of statistics which falls under the scope of this regulation is - according to their national structures - a shared responsibility among the National Statistical Institute and the National Central Bank. It appears that the present proposal deprives the current implementing powers of the National Central Banks. The Netherlands is of the view that involvement of the NCBs should be ensured. NCBs should at least be in the position to express formal opinions on the development, production and dissemination of statistics which falls under the scope of this regulation. In this respect the Netherlands suggest to add a new provision in the enacting terms of the Regulation, which regulates that the CMFB can express opinions. PL: understands the overall objectives of the regulation and generally supports them. However, we have some strong concerns about the provisions related to the subject of delegated acts. We are of the opinion that the issues like definitions, frequency and deadlines are essential elements of the regulation and as such should be regulated by ordinary legislative procedure (OLP) only. Therefore, we propose to create a new Annex III related to deadlines and frequency (which means also the relevant modifications of Annex I). This Annex and also Annex II (definitions) should be subject to OLP. Concerning the provisions serving to streamline the ESS – we support them. However, we find necessary to introduce the provision defining the common platform of cooperation between ESS and ESCB in relation to BoP. Therefore, we suggest to supplement recital (12) by indicating the CMFB as a committee to be consulted with on all the issues related to BoP (which is in line with the opinion of the ESF). Poland reserves the right to modify its stance due to the course of negotiations.

98

PT: Taking into account the need to ensure stability, previsibility and comparability in the production of statistics in the European context in

general, and the role that most NCBs in Europe have in the compilation of balance of payments (BoP) statistics, PT does not agree with the

terms set out in proposed Article 1 (1) of the amended Regulation, namely where it provides the European Commission with powers to

amend a set of data requirements for BoP statistics through delegated acts. Given the nature and importance of the referred set of data

requirements, as well as its impact on the respondents’ burden, we believe that eventual amendments should be made by means of a

Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council.

In addition, given the transversal nature of BoP statistics and its use for several purposes within the ESCB, and having also in mind the

agreement reached at the 2nd meeting of the European Statistical Forum, held on 17 September 2014, to use the Committee on Monetary,

Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) as the forum for cooperation on BoP technical issues, we propose that the

Commission consults the CMFB whenever a proposal for a legal act of the Council and the EP, as well as a proposal for a Commission legal

act (implementing act) is envisaged on issues related to the BoP, ITS and FDI statistics. We are proposing a new article 10A accordingly.

We support the streamlining of the ESS structure, namely the concentration of comitology powers in the hands of the ESSC.

RO: We do not support the delegation of powers to the Commission to modify data requirements and transmission deadlines, to extend or remove data flows and to modify the definitions in Regulation No 184/2005, as these are essential elements which have a direct impact on the reporting efforts of respondents. Any such changes should be adopted by means of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. Therefore, the provisions of Art. 1(1) and 1(3) should be eliminated. Art. 1(2) and 1(4) should include the obligation for the Commission to seek the opinion of the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) before proposing modifications on: a) the data requirements, including the transmission deadlines and the definitions that are covered by Regulation No 184/2005 – which will have to be made only by regulations of the European Parliament and of the Council; b) the quality standards, the content and the periodicity of quality reports – which will be adopted by means of implementing acts. The proposal to amend Regulation No 184/2005 contains in Art. 11 the provision according to which the Committee on the Balance of Payments (BOPCOM) shall cease to exist and its comitology powers shall be transferred to the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC), in which the ECB and the national central banks are not represented. In our opinion, a platform for co-operation between the two European statistical systems (the ESS and the ESCB) could be the CMFB, which ensures an effective co-operation framework, including in the legal area, by providing an opinion as requested whenever amendments to the essential elements of Regulation No 184/2005 are proposed. SE supports the proposal but considers that the Commission's power to adopt delegated acts should be limited to a period of five years, in accordance with previously established practice. SI: We are not supporting delegated acts to amend data requirements, including submission deadlines, as well as revisions, extensions and elimination of data flows and updates of the definitions of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and therefore Article 1(1) and 1(3) and Recitals 6 and 7 of the amended Regulation should be deleted. Data requirements, submission deadlines and definitions are essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 as they have a direct impact on the reporting burden of respondents and can therefore only be amended by the legislator. The current proposed Regulation aims at abolishing the Balance of Payments Committee established by virtue of Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and transferring all comitology powers to the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC), in which neither the ECB nor national central

99

banks are represented. National central banks are in Europe by far main producers of external statistics for the both needs of the ESCB and European Statistical System. From this point of view the close cooperation of the ESS with the ESCB in the field of balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment statistics is essential and may therefore be exercised through the CMFB. To make this involvement of the CMFB effective, the opinion of the CMFB shall be requested on any envisaged amendments to the essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005. SK: does not support delegated acts of the Commission to amend data requirements, including submission deadlines, as well as revisions, extensions and elimination of data flows and updates of the definitions of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and therefore Article 1(1) and 1(3) of the amended Regulation should be deleted - Data requirements, submission deadlines and definitions are essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 as they have a direct impact on the reporting burden of respondents and shall therefore be amended by a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council. Articles 1(2) and 1(4) of the proposed Regulation should include an obligation for the Commission to request the opinion of the CMFB before proposing amendments to the data requirements, including submission deadlines, and definitions of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 by means of European Parliament and Council Regulations and to the quality standards and the content and periodicity of the quality reports by means of implementing acts. The current proposed Regulation aims at abolishing the Balance of Payments Committee established by virtue of Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and transferring all comitology powers to the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC), in which National bank of Slovakia is not represented. Shift of those powers towards ESSC, represented exclusively by representatives of managing structures of EU national statistical offices, leads therefore to assymetry between direct material responsibility of meeting 184/2005 Regulation (mainly by central banks), and decision-making powers (statistical offices) in the area of balance of payments. The close cooperation of the ESS with the ESCB in the field of b.o.p. and i.i.p. statistics may therefore be exercised through the CMFB. To make this involvement of the CMFB effective, the opinion of the CMFB shall be requested on envisaged amendments to the essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005. SP: In general terms Spain supports the proposal of amendment to align the Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment to the new rules of the TFEU. However, Spain considers that the delegation of powers in the proposal is too broad. From our point of view, most of the delegated powers are referred to key elements of the statistics; consequently, any change in the criteria or definition of these elements might have an important impact on the production process of these statistics. Moreover, given the role of national central banks in the production of balance of payments statistics, a strong cooperation between the ESS and the ESCB should be warranted. This may be channelled by requiring the Commission to consult the CMFB when proposing amendments to the elements considered in this Regulation. UK: no general comments

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COMMISSION PROPOSAL DRAFTING SUGGESTIONS Please introduce your changes directly in the text

(with track changes)

COMMENTS on COMMISSION PROPOSAL


Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 338(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments, Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,


Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 338(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments,


Whereas: Whereas:

(1) As a consequence of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“the Treaty”), the powers conferred upon the Commission should be aligned to Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty.

(1) As a consequence of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“the Treaty”), the powers conferred upon the Commission should be aligned to Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty.

(2) In view of the adoption of Regulation (EU) No 182/201114, the Commission has committed itself15 to reviewing, in the light

(2) In view of the adoption of Regulation (EU) No 182/201116, the Commission has committed itself17 to reviewing, in the light of the criteria laid down in

14

Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles

concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13). 15

OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 19.

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of the criteria laid down in the Treaty, legislative acts which currently contain references to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny.

the Treaty, legislative acts which currently contain references to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny.

(3) The Commission should have the power to adopt delegated acts under Article 290 of the TFEU to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of particular legislative acts, notably to take account of economic, social and technical developments. The Commission should ensure that these delegated acts do not impose a significant additional administrative burden on Member States or on the respondent units.

(3) The Commission should have the power to adopt delegated acts under Article 290 of the TFEU to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of particular legislative acts, notably to take account of economic, social and technical developments. The Commission should ensure that these delegated acts do not impose a significant additional administrative burden on Member States or on the respondent units.

AT, LT, SE: The word “administrative” should be deleted.

LT: It was agreed last year in the EU Council Working Party on Statistics meeting on similar articles of the Omnibus Regulation on agricultural and fishery statistics and on the articles of the Labour Force Survey dossier, etc. LT proposed what follows: “The objectives, content, scope and duration of the delegation of power should be explicitly defined in the legislative acts.”

PT proposes to delete recital 3

(4) Regulation (EC) No 184/200518 concerning balance of payments (BOP), international trade in services (ITS) and foreign direct investment (FDI) contains references to the regulatory procedure

(4) Regulation (EC) No 184/200519 concerning balance of payments (BOP), international trade in services (ITS) and foreign direct investment (FDI) contains references to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny and should therefore be reviewed in

EL: Adjustment will be required pending decisions on the Article 1(1).

16

Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles

concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13). 17

OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 19. 18

Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 January 2005 on Community statistics concerning balance

of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment (OJ L 35, 8.2.2005, p. 23). 19

Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 January 2005 on Community statistics concerning balance

of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment (OJ L 35, 8.2.2005, p. 23).

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with scrutiny and should therefore be reviewed in the light of the criteria laid down in the Treaty.

the light of the criteria laid down in the Treaty.

(5) In the context of aligning Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 to the new rules of the Treaty, implementing powers currently conferred upon the Commission should be provided for by conferring powers on the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts.

(5) In the context of aligning Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 to the new rules of the Treaty, implementing powers currently conferred upon the Commission should be provided for by conferring powers on the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts.

BG: does not support the proposal power to be provided to the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts, including on data requirements, submission deadlines, revisions, extentions and eliminations of data flows for b.o.p. and i.i.p. The same applied to the adoption of common quality standarts and harmonising the content and periodicity of the quality reports. (BG proposes to delete recitals 5,6 7,8)

(6) The power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty should be delegated to the Commission when, for reasons of economic and technical changes, data requirements need to be updated, including submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows set out in Annex I, and when the definitions set out in Annex II need to be updated.

2 options:

a) Option 1: add a new Annex III, containing information on frequency and deadlines which being essential elements of the regulation should be regulated by ordinary legislative procedure (OLP) and limiting/circumscribing the delegation of power to data requirements contained in Annex I:

“(6) The power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty should be delegated to the Commission when, for reasons of economic and technical changes, data requirements included in Annex I need to be updated. including submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows set out in Annex I, and when the definitions set out in Annex II need to be updated.”

To be reviewed in light of agreement on delegated acts BE: Considering the possible impact of any adjustment of the requirements in terms of deadline, revisions, extension of data flows and definitions on the data collection and data compilation procedures, we cannot consider those elements as non-essential. As a result, we suggest to proceed only by implementing acts to adjust those elements. This recital should thus be formulated referring to article 291 of the Treaty related to implementing acts or as recital 8 below. (BE proposes to delete recitals 6 +7)

FI: We consider periodicity and extensions of data flows essential elements of the regulation and hence they may not be changed by delegated acts. (proposes to delete “data requirements, including” and “extensions”)

HR: Data requirements, submission deadlines and definitions are essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005. (HU proposes to delete Data requirements, submission deadlines

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b) Option 2: to delete rectital 6 and Add a new recital - 12a

and definitions)

HU: proposes to delete recital 6- (see general comment)

PL: proposes a new Annex (see general comments)

SI: We are not supporting delegated acts to amend data requirements, including submission deadlines, as well as revisions, extensions and elimination of data flows and updates of the definitions of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and therefore the recitals 6 and 7 of the amended Regulation should be deleted - Data requirements, submission deadlines and definitions are essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 as they have a direct impact on the reporting burden of respondents and can therefore only be amended by the legislator (like BE, SI proposes to delete recitals 6 +7)


SP: To be revised following the final agreement on delegated acts.

UK: This will need to be reviewed in light of agreement on the delegation of powers

LV: The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 10 when non-essential elements need to be amended or supplemented, that is: for reasons of economic and technical changes, data requirements concerning the country code changes or changes in the composition of relevant country groups and concerning more general (i.e., less detailed) aggregation of country and/or position breakdowns need to be updated. Otherwise this recital should be deleted.

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(7) It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing-up delegated acts, should ensure simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and the Council.

(7) It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing-up delegated acts, should ensure simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and the Council.

The Commission should ensure that these delegated acts do not impose a significant additional burden on the Member States or on the respondents

To be reviewed in light of agreement on delegated acts


EL: proposes to add the standard formulation on the burden for MS with a final addition sentence “and that they remain as economical as possible”.

(8) To ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission with a view to adopting common quality standards and harmonising the content and periodicity of the quality reports. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

(8) To ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission with a view to adopting common quality standards and harmonising the content and periodicity of the quality reports. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

To be reviewed in light of agreement on delegated acts

UK: This will need to be reviewed in light of agreement on the delegation of powers

(9) The Balance of Payments Committee (BOP Committee) referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 provide advice to and assist the Commission in exercising of its implementing powers.

(9) The Balance of Payments Committee (BOP Committee) referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 provide advice to and assist the Commission in exercising of its implementing powers.

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(10) Under the strategy for a new European Statistical System (ESS) structure intended to improve coordination and partnership in a clear pyramid structure within the ESS, the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC), established by Regulation (EC) No 223/200920, should have an advisory role and assist the Commission in exercising its implementing powers.

(10) Under the strategy for a new European Statistical System (ESS) structure intended to improve coordination and partnership in a clear pyramid structure within the ESS, the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC), established by Regulation (EC) No 223/200921, should have an advisory role and assist the Commission in exercising its implementing powers.

(11) To that effect, Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 should be amended with the references to the BOP Committeee being replaced by a reference to the ESSC.

(11) To that effect, Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 should be amended with the references to the BOP Committeee being replaced by a reference to the ESSC.

BE: BOP is recognized as of common interest for the ESS and the ESCB, and regulation 2533/98 stipulates in its article 2.1 that the ESCB has a clear responsibility for balance of payments and international investment position. In this context, the replacement of BOPCOM, where national central banks are members of when in charge of BOP, by the ESSC where central banks are not participating seems inappropriate.

BG: The b.o.p. and i.i.p. of Bulgaria are compiled by the BNB. The NCBs including BNB are not represented at the European Statistical System Committee (BG proposed to delete recital 11)

SP: To be revised after an agreement on article 11

20

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p.

164). 21

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p.

164).

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(12) The existing good operative cooperation between the National Central Banks (NCBs) and the National Statistical Institutes and between Eurostat and the European Central Bank is an asset that should be continued and further developed in the light of improving the overall harmonisation and quality of balance of payments statistics, financial statistics, government finance statistics, macro-economic statistics and national accounts. The NCBs would continue to be closely involved in the preparation of all the decisions related to BOP, ITS and FDI via their participation in the relevant Commission expert group responsible for BOP, ITS and FDI. The strategic cooperation between the ESS and ESCB is coordinated in the European Statistical Forum, established via a Memorandum of Understanding on the cooperation between the members of the European Statistical System and the members of the European System of Central Banks22 signed on 24 April 2013.

(12) The existing good operative cooperation between the National Central Banks (NCBs) and the National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) and between Eurostat and the European Central Bank is an asset that should be continued and further developed in the light of improving the overall harmonisation and quality of balance of payments statistics, financial statistics, government finance statistics, macro-economic statistics and national accounts. The NSIs and NCBs would continue to be closely involved in the preparation of all the decisions related to BOP, ITS and FDI via their participation in the relevant Commission expert group responsible for BOP, ITS and FDI. The strategic cooperation between the ESS and ESCB is coordinated in the European Statistical Forum, established via a Memorandum of Understanding on the cooperation between the members of the European Statistical System and the members of the European System of Central Banks23 signed on 24 April 2013 whereas the more operational cooperation is coordinated in the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance og Payments Statistics. The Commission shaouldll consult the CMFB on envisaged legal acts on BoP statistics and related primary statistics.

BE: Besides the recognition of the cooperation between ESS and ESCB, a provision should be included concretizing directly in the Regulation this cooperation by referring to the role the CMFB can play in the process of adjusting the regulation and its implications for BOP and for the related statistics such as ITSS and FDI. A supplementary recital should refer to this role of the CMFB.

DK: As the competences on compiling BoP statistics are shared between NSIs and NCBs it is important to underline the role of the CMFB and that all stakeholders are heard

FI: References to other statistics than BOP should be deleted, because this regulation does not concern these statistics.

Add that also NSIs would continue to be closely involved in the preparation.

The role of CMFB in collaboration should be added and reflect the decision of the ESF of September 2014 i.e. ”the ESF committed to consult the CMFB on envisaged legal acts on BOP and related primary statistics” [quote from the summary of the meeting].

HR: The close cooperation of the ESS with the ESCB in the field of b.o.p. and i.i.p. statistics is currently exercised mostly through the CMFB.The current proposed Regulation aims at abolishing the BoPC and transferring all comitology powers to the ESSC, in which neither the ECB nor national central banks

22

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/MOU_ESS_ESCB/EN/MOU_ESS_ESCB-EN.PDF 23

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/MOU_ESS_ESCB/EN/MOU_ESS_ESCB-EN.PDF



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are represented. Thus, the opinion of the CMFB shall be requested on envisaged amendments to the essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005.

LT: Macro-economic statistics includes balance of payments statistics, financial statistics, government finance statistics and national accounts. (LT proposes to delete macro-economic stat.)

LU: The collaboration of the European Statistical System and the European Statistical system of Central Banks in the framework of BoP had been discussed at the ESF meeting in Bratislava and lines of cooperation had been agreed. We would welcome the integration of commonly agreed principles of the minutes of this meeting in recital 12.

LV: Reference to the role of CMFB should be included, in particular, the opinion of the CMFB should be requested concerning all amendments covered by this legal treatment.

12a) The Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments statistics (CMFB)*, should secure a close cooperation between the ESS and the ESCB in defining, amending and updating the reporting requirements, submission deadlines, quality assurance processes of balance of payments and related statistics, namely international trade in services and foreign direct investment, covered by this Regulation.

*++(OJ n. pg… Council Decision No 856/2006/EC establishing CMFB

BG:As the both the NSIs and the NCBs are represented at the CMFB, all proposals regarding data requirements, including submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows in the area of b.o.p. and i.i.p. should go via the CMFB. The strategic cooperation between ESS and ESCB in the area of Balance of Payments statistics was confirmed by the European Statistical Forum in September 2014. The CMFB is the body for the implementation of the cooperation in this statistical area. BG proposed the following wording :“(11a) The Committee of Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics should be consulted for any economic and technical changes,

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data requirements need to be updated, including submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows”

SI The current proposed Regulation aims at abolishing the BOP Committee established by virtue of Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and transferring all comitology powers to the ESSC, in which neither the ECB nor NCBs are represented. NCBs are in Europe by far main producers of external statistics for both the ESCB and ESSC needs. From this point of view the close cooperation of the ESS with the ESCB in the field of balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment statistics is essential and may therefore be exercised through the CMFB. To make this involvement of the CMFB effective, the opinion of the CMFB shall be requested on any envisaged amendments to the essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005. SI proposes the following wording: “12a)The Commission will request the opinion of the CMFB before proposing any future amendments to the essential elements of the Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 such as data requirements (including submission deadlines) and definitions.”

DE: The proposed Regulation aims at abolishing the Balance of Payments Committee established and transferring all comitology powers to the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC), in which neither the ECB nor national central banks are represented. To secure a close cooperation of the ESS with the ESCB in the field of b.o.p. and i.i.p. statistics the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments statistics (CMFB) should be consulted on

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envisaged new or amending legal acts on b.o.p., i.i.p. and related statistics.

HU proposes the following wording; “(13) Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics established by Decision 2006/856/EC (CMFB) must be consulted and requested for its opinion on all BOP and IIP related issues by the ESSC.” (see General Comments)

(13) To ensure legal certainty, procedures for the adoption of measures which have been initiated but not completed before the entry into force of this Regulation should not be affected by this Regulation.

(13) To ensure legal certainty, procedures for the adoption of measures which have been initiated but not completed before the entry into force of this Regulation should not be affected by this Regulation.



(15) The Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics set up by Council Decision 2006/856/EC of 13 November 2006 establishing a Committee on monetary, financial and balance of payments statistics have been consulted.

DK: This Article corresponds to an Article 32 in ESA2010 ‘whereas clauses’.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 is amended as Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 is amended as follows:

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follows:

(1) In Article 2, the following paragraph is added:

Option 1 1) In Article 2 is amended as follows: (a) Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: ‘2. Member States shall submit the data to the Commission (Eurostat) in accordance with the deadlines shown in Annex III.”

, (b) the following paragraph is added: (see par 3 below)

Option 2: in line a new recital 12a – the following paragraph is added: (see par 3 below)

BG: The text does not take into account that the NCBs are empowered to collect b.o.p. data according to the Council Regulation 2533/98. Therefore, any decisions by the Commission in this area without proper consultation with the ESCB may create dificulties to the NCBs to collect b.o.p. data, may have a negative impact on data quality and would increase the reporting burden on respondents. (BG proposes to delete article 1.1)

CZ: We do not support the use of delegated acts of the Commission to amend data requirements, revisions, definition updates etc. Article 1(1) of the amended Regulation should be deleted.

DE: Data requirements, submission deadlines, definitions as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows are essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 as they have significant cost implications for re-porting entities and NCBs. Therefore, any admentments in this regard shall be introduced by a regulation of the European Parliament and the Council. (like BU, proposes to delete article 1.1)

DK: Data requirements including submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows and updating of the definitions go beyond non essentials, as changes in those areas can have far-reaching consequensces for the Member States. For this reason, Denmark cannot support the delegation of powers in this field.

PL: We are of the opinion that the substantial part of Annex I coveres essential elements of this regulation which should

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not be regulated by non-legislative measures. Therefore, we propose to create a new Annex III focused on frequency and deadlines. This Annex should be subject to the ordinary legislative procedure only. The alternative solution would be to shift provisions on deadlines and frequency to the body of the text. However, we have some concerns that such a solution may lead to the construction of the provision of excessively technical nature.

LV: The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 10 when non-essential elements need to be amended or supplemented, that is: for reasons of economic and technical changes, data requirements concerning the country code changes or changes in the composition of relevant country groups and concerning more general (i.e., less detailed) aggregation of country and/or position breakdowns need to be updated. Otherwise this Article should be deleted.

‘3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 10, when, for reasons of economic and technical changes, data requirements need to be updated, including submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows set out in Annex I, and when the definitions set out in Annex II need to be updated.’

‘3. Option 1: The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 10, when, for reasons of economic and technical changes, data requirements included in Annex I need to be updated, including submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows set out in Annex I, and when the definitions set out in Annex II need to be updated.’ Option 2:

BE: Considering the possible impact of any adjustment of the requirements in terms of deadline, revisions, extension of data flows and definitions on the data collection and data compilation procedures, we cannot consider those elements as non-essential. As a result, we suggest to proceed only by implementing acts to adjust those elements.

CZ: Article 1(3) of the amended Regulation should be deleted. FI: We consider periodicity and extensions of data flows essential elements of the regulation and hence they may not be changed by delegated acts. (see recital 6)

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The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 10, after consulting the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments statistics (CMFB)*, when, for reasons of economic and technical changes, reporting requirements, submission deadlines, quality assurance processes of balance of payments, I.I.P. and FDI covered by this Regulation need to be adapted and updated. *++(OJ n. pg… Council Decision No 856/2006/EC establishing CMFB.

Concerning revisions, we would like the Commission to explain what could be expected to be enacted. HR: The opinion of the CMFB shall be requested on envisaged amendments to these elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005. See recital 6) IT prefers to use the ordinary legislative procedure to amend data requirements for BOP statistics. However, the use of delegated acts could be limited to suppress some data requirements (e.g. the elimination of data flows.) LT: Elements mentioned in this paragraph should be regulated by basic legal acts.(paragraph to be deleted) LU: Updating of data requirements, shortening of deadlines and extensions of data flows go beyond non essential elements of the regulation and should not be changed by delegated acts. NL: With regard to the empowerment to adopt delegated acts concerning the entire content of the annexes, we are of the opinion that the delegated powers are too broad. The Netherlands considers that the deadline for transmission and the definitions should be regarded as essential elements. Therefore we consider that the legislator should not delegate these parts of its own power to the Commission. We also consider measures related to the data requirements and data flows as essential elements of the regulation and as such therefore not a subject of delegation of power to the Commission. In addition, we are of the opinion that In the statistical domain, elements are to be classified as essential if they have considerable effects on the costs involved in data collection or on the burden placed on respondents in the Member

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States. (NL proposes to delete this par..) PL: We could accept this provission only if the essential elements regulated by Annex I are shifted to the Annex III or to the body of the regulation (see comment to Art. 1(1)). PT, HU proposes to delete article 1.1.3(for Hungary see general comments 1) SI: We are not supporting delegated acts to amend data requirements, including submission deadlines, as well as revisions, extensions and elimination of data flows and updates of the definitions of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and therefore Article 1(1) and 1(3) of the amended Regulation should be deleted. Data requirements, submission deadlines and definitions are essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 as they have a direct impact on the reporting burden of respondents and can therefore only be amended by the legislator. (Par. Deleted) SP: We consider that the data to be sent, the data flows and the deadlines are part of the scope of the regulation and shall not be amended by delegated acts. As regards definitions, they are also, in general, essential elements. However, a simple adaptation to international definitions (including other EU acts) could be acceptable by implementing acts. (SP proposes to delete the parag.) UK: Although these may be considered non-essential parts of the Regulation, Commission proposals in these areas relate to the adaption of technical matters that relate directly to whether or not Member States can achieve common implementation, according to available resources and technical feasibility, and avoiding unnecessary burdens on

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responsdents. Therefore the Commission will require the assistance of the ESSC via Implementing Acts in order ensure that changes to the Regulation meet the Legislators’ objectives.(UK proposes to delete the parag.) EL: We are concerned about possible amendments and supplements of basic elements of the Regualtion such as data requirements revisions or extensions and submission deadlines by delegated acts. The essential elements should be defined and introduced in the main body of the Regulation, in order to be feasible to be amended with implementing acts following the approach of “how” and “what” in statistics.



CZ: Articles 1(2) and 1(4) of the proposed Regulation should include an obligation for the Commission to request the opinion of the CMFB before proposing amendments to: the data requirements, including submission deadlines and definitions under Regulation No 184/2005, by means of EP and Council Regulations;

the quality standards and the content and periodicity of the quality reports by means of implementing acts.

‘3. The Commission shall adopt, by means of implementing acts, the common quality standards, as well as the content and periodicity of the quality reports, taking into account the implications as regards the cost of collecting and compiling the data as well as important changes concerning data collection.

‘3. After consulting the CMFB*,the Commission shall adopt, by means of implementing acts, the common quality standards, as well as the content and periodicity of the quality reports, taking into account the implications as regards the cost of collecting and compiling the data as well as important changes concerning data collection.

BG: Unilateral decisions of the Commission in the area of setting data quality standarts without prior counsulting of the ESCB may have a negative impact on b.o.p. and i.i.p. data quality and would increase the burden on the respondents. As the b.o.p. and i.i.p. country data are the source for compiling of two key MIP scoreboard indicators – CA as % of GDP, NIIP as % of GDP, the deterioration of BOP data would result in worsening of data quality and country comparability of the indicators. The ECOFIN Council of 8 November 2011

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*++(OJ n. pg… Council Decision No 856/2006/EC establishing CMFB.

and 13 November 2012 requested the ESS and ESCB to continue work together on improving quality of MIP indicators and ensuring their comparability. DE: The Commissions proposes that implementing powers be conferred upon it to adopt quality standards as well as the content and periodicity of the quality reports. In our view divergent quality assurance frameworks in b.o.p. and i.i.p. statistics between the ESS and the ESCB would be counterproductive and must be avoided. Therefore, the Commission (Eurostat) shall consult the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments statistics (CMFB) before adopting implementing acts on the common quality standards, as well as the content and periodicity of the quality reports. HR: The opinion of the CMFB shall be requested on envisaged amendments to these elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005. LT: These quality reports shall meet multipurpose needs and in particular demands of MIP. LV: The role of CMFB should be emphasized, in particular, the opinion of the CMFB should be requested concerning all amendments covered by this legal treatment. SP: The common quality standards are one of those elements where the opinion of NSIs and NCBS represented in the CMFB is very important and where cooperation between the ESS and the ESCB is much needed. UK See above.


Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure

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procedure referred to in Article 11(2). referred to in Article 11(2).

On the basis of the quality reports, the quality of the data transmitted shall be assessed by the Commission with the assistance of the European Statistical System Committee referred to in Article 11(1).

On the basis of the quality reports, the quality of the data transmitted shall be assessed by the Commission with the assistance of the European Statistical System Committee referred to in Article 11(1), and, where necessary, following the consultation of the CMFB.

BE: Considering the shared responsibility on BOP statistics, this process should also imply the CMFB for consultation. SI: The current proposed Regulation aims at abolishing the Balance of Payments Committee established by virtue of Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and transferring all comitology powers to the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC), in which neither the ECB nor national central banks are represented. National central banks are in Europe by far main producers of external statistics for the both needs of the ESCB and European Statistical System. From this point of view the close cooperation of the ESS with the ESCB in the field of balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment statistics is essential and may therefore be exercised through the CMFB. To make this involvement of the CMFB effective, the opinion of the CMFB shall be requested on any envisaged amendments to the essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005. SP: See comments on article 11 on the ESSC

This assessment of the Commission shall be sent to the European Parliament for information.’

This assessment of the Commission shall be sent to the European Parliament for information.’

OPTION1: (2a) Article 6 is replaced by the following:

‘Member States shall compile the data flows according to the relevant first reference period and the periodicity as specified in Annex III.’

PL: see comment to Art. 1(1)

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(3) Article 10 is replaced by the following: BE: Considering the comments above, article 10 has to be deleted.

PT proposes to delete the entire article 10

EL: In principle in favour

‘Article 10 - Exercise of delegated powers ‘Article 10 - Exercise of delegated powers

UK, SI, PT, IT like DE, NL and SP proposes to delete the entire art.

DE: The sole purpose of Article 1(3) is to specify the modalities for exercising the delegated powers conferred upon the Commission in Article 1(1). As we don’t support the conferral of delegated powers Article 1(3) of the proposed regulation should be deleted. (DE proposes to delete par 1,2,3, 4, 5 e 6)

NL: The Netherlands cannot accept that the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts for the measures provided for in article 2 (3). Therefore, the Netherlands suggests to delete the entire article 10. The article regulates the exercise of delegated powers. (Like DE and SP proposes to delete par 1,2,3, 4, 5 e 6)

SP: As we cannot accept delegated acts, this article shall be deleted. (Like DE and NL proposes to delete par 1,2,3, 4, 5 e 6)

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

BG: does not support the transfer of power from the BOP Committee to the ESSC. The NCBs including BNB are not represented at the European Statistical System Committee. Therefore Bulgaria does not support all text of the proposed amendment of Article 10. (proposes to delete par 1,2,3, 4)

2. When exercising the powers 2. When exercising the powers delegated in AT, DK, HR, LU, SE & LT: The word “administrative” should be

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delegated in Article 2(3), the Commission shall ensure that the delegated acts do not impose a significant additional administrative burden on Member States and on the respondents.

Article 2(3), the Commission shall ensure that the delegated acts do not impose a significant additional administrative burden on Member States and on the respondents. In addition, the Commission shall duly justify the statistical actions provided for in those delegated acts, conducting using, where appropriate, cost-effectiveness analysis, including an assessment of the burden on respondents and of the production costs, as referred to in in accordance with point c of Article 14(3) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. It is of particular importance that the Commission carries out consultations with experts, including Member States' experts, before adopting those delegated acts.

deleted. A burden and production costs analysis in advance of a delegated act should be included as well as the consultation with experts. DK, SE & HR: Denmark proposes to add a sentence regarding the issues of burden. The wording is similar to the wording agreed in the CWPS on the adoption of various legal acts, such as LFS or Agriculture and Fishery Statisitcs among others. EL: New par. according to the standard for formulation used in statistical legal acts concerning the issues of burden of the administrations and the respondents and the cost-effectiveness analysis PL: We find necessary to add the standard formula which was elaborated within the process of discussing statistical legal acts.

3. The power to adopt delegate acts referred to in Article 2(3) shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from [Publication office: please insert the exact date of the entry into force of the amending Regulation].

3. The power to adopt delegate acts referred to in Article 2(3) shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminatea period of 5 years time from [Publication office: please insert the exact date of the entry into force of the amending Regulation]. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power no later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension no later than three months before the end of each period.

AT: A time limit for the delegation (sunset clause) and reporting requirements by the Commission should be introduced. Dk is not in favour of conferring powers to adopt the delegated acts on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time. Denmark would like to propose a period of 5 years and the wording concerning the report agreed in the CWPS on the varius legal acts, such as LFS or Agriculture and Fishery Statisitcs among others. FI, HR & LU: The duration of delegated powers should be limited to 5 years periods as in other statistical regulations LT & SE: The duration of delegated powers should be limited to 5 years periods as in other statistical regulations and reporting requirements by the Commission introduced.

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PL: The power of Commission should be limited to 5 years – as in the other statistical legal acts. Therefore, we recommend that the provision should be modified by introducing a standard formula for delegated acts. EL: Introduction of sunset clause.

4. The delegation of power referred to in Article 2(3), may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council.

4. The delegation of power referred to in Article 2(3), may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council.

A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 2(3), shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both

6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 2(3), shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of threetwo months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended

LV suggests to indicate a period of 3 months instead of 2.

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informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council.’

by two three months at the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council.’

Article 10 (new)

Cooperation between the ESS and the ESCB

When, for reasons of economic and technical

changes, data requirements need to be updated by

the European Parliament and the Council, including

submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions

and eliminations of the data flows set out in Annex I,

and when the definitions set out in Annex II need to

be updated, the Commission shall request the

opinion of the Committee on Monetary, Financial

and Balance of Payments Statistics established by

Decision 2006/856/EC in accordance with Article 2

of that Decision.

BG: The b.o.p. and i.i.p. of Bulgaria are compiled by the BNB. The NCBs including BNB are not represented at the European Statistical System Committee. As the both the NSIs and the NCBs are represented at the CMFB, all proposals regarding data requirements, including submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows in the area of B.O.P. and I.I.P. should go via the CMFB. The strategic cooperation between ESS and ESCB in the area of Balance of Payments statistics was confirmed by the European Statistical Forum in September 2014. The CMFB is the body for the implementation of the cooperation in this statistical area. BG proposes the following wording: “3. If for reasons of economic and technical changes, data requirements need to be updated, including submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows set out in Annex I, and when the definitions set out in Annex II need to be updated the Commission should consult in advance the CMFB. The Commission should consult in advance the CMFB and if common quality standarts and the content and periodicity of the quality reports need to be amended”

DE: The current proposal to transfer all control powers from the Balance of Payments (BOP) Committee to the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) are aimed at significantly curtailing the involvement of the NCBs in any future extensions of data and quality requirements and in the

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setting of submission deadlines. Therefore, to ensure the production of consistent b.o.p and i.i.p statistics by the ESS and the ESCB we see the need for a close cooperation of the ESS and the ESCB in the field of b.o.p., i.i.p. and related statistics. This cooperation should be established by the introduction of a new Article which explicitly states, that the opinion of the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments statistics (CMFB) must be requested by the Commission when new or amending legal acts on b.o.p., i.i.p. and related statistics are envisaged.

IT proposes to add a new article 10 a (see general comments)

PT proposes a new article foreseeing that the CMFB is

consulted by the Commission whenever a proposal for a legal

act on issues covered by this Regulation is envisaged by the

Commission. This article reflects the content of whereas nº 12

and is in line with the understanding reached at the ESF as

regards the CMFB as the forum for the technical cooperation

between the ESS and the ESCB. “In order to assure a close

cooperation between the ESS and the ESCB, the Commission

shall consult with the Committee on Monetary, Financial and

Balance of Payments Statistics when, for reasons of economic

and technical changes, data requirements need to be updated

by the European Parliament and the Council, including

submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and

eliminations of the data flows set out in Annex I, and when the

definitions set out in Annex II need to be updated.

The CMFB shall also be consulted whenever an implementing

act is envisaged by the Commission within this Regulation.”

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(4) Article 11 is replaced by the following: (4) Article 11 is replaced by the following:

'Article 11 - Committee 1. The Commission shall be assisted by the European Statistical System Committee established by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics(*). That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers(**). (*) OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164. (**) OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.

'Article 11 - Committee 1. The Commission shall be assisted by the European Statistical System Committee established by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics(*). That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers(**).

(*) OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164. (**) OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.

BE: A provision should be inserted as a new article 12, referring to the intervention of the CMFB when the procedure concerns the content of the as above adjusted article 2 and 4 of the Regulation.

This provision should precise that the CMFB will be consulted for issues depending of those 2 articles.

Below a proposal of drafting:

“When the Commission intends to act by implementing acts in application of article 2.3 or 4.3 the Commission will consult the CMFB established by Council Decision n°2006/856/EC, repealing Decision 91/115/EEC, on the content of the proposals.

SP: Spain supports the ESS streamline in general. However, taking into account that BoP is a “grey” area between ESS and ESCB, we consider that an exception should be done.

Therefore, either the BoP Committee could be maintained or part of its role as a cooperation device between the ESS and the ESCB should be played by the CMFB. In the latter case, the Regulation should require the Commission to request the opinion of the CMFB when there are proposals to amend this basic act and also where there are proposals to implement it. (SP proposes to delete the article)

Article 12 (new) Cooperation with other committees On all matters falling within the competence of the

DK: This formulation corresponds to the format used in ESA 2010 (Article 9).

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Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics established by Decision 2006/856/EC, the Commission shall request the opinion of that Committee in accordance of Article 2 of that Decision.

NL: The Netherlands is of the view that involvement of the NCBs should be ensured. NCBs should at least be in the position to express opinions on the development, production and dissemination of statistics which falls under the scope of this regulation. In this respect the Netherlands suggest to add a new provision in the enacting terms of the Regulation, which regulates that the CMFB can express opinions.

The suggested text is indentical to article 9 of Regulation (EU) 549/2013 (ESA 2010)

HU proposes a new article stating “the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics established by Decision 2006/856/EC (CMFB) must be consulted and requested for its opinion on all BOP and IIP related issues by the ESSC” (see general comments)

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.’

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.’

3. Where the Committee delivers no opinion, the Commission shall not adopt the draft implementing act and the third subparagraph of Art. 5 para 4 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

AT, HR, PL, SP, UK propose to add the no-opinion clause

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Article 2 Article 2

This Regulation shall not affect the procedures for the adoption of measures provided for in Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 that have been initiated but not completed before the entry into force of this Regulation.

This Regulation shall not affect the procedures for the adoption of measures provided for in Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 that have been initiated but not completed before the entry into force of this Regulation.

Article 3 Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.


Done at Brussels,


The President

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.


Done at Brussels,


The President

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