The Commission presents a report concerning the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1161/2005 on the compilation of quarterly non-financial accounts by institutional sector (QSA Regulation.) The compilation of QSA for the euro area had been identified as a priority in the Action Plan on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) Statistical Requirements endorsed by the ECOFIN Council in September 2000. The QSA of the euro area were deemed urgently needed and should be made available within 90 days of the end of the quarter concerned.

Indeed, the analysis of cyclical movements in the EU economy and the conduct of monetary policy within the

EMU require macroeconomic statistics on the economic behaviour and the interrelationship of individual institutional sectors which are impossible to identify in data compiled at the level of the economy as a whole.

This report covers the implementation of the QSA Regulation. It discusses how Member States met their legal obligations; the quality of the national and European statistics produced and the current benefits for users compared to collection/compilation costs together with plans for future enhancement.

The report finds that publication of a full set of integrated (non-financial and financial) institutional sector accounts for the euro area and non-financial sector accounts for the EU has been considered a major success by compilers and institutional users. As set in the project's specifications, quarterly non-financial sector accounts now allow the analysis of the behaviour of economic agents and their interactions in the real economy. Combined with the quarterly financial accounts, a fuller picture emerges.

Potential improvements: although the core needs expressed in the Action Plan on EMU Statistical Requirements have been met by QSA, some improvements can be proposed to extend their use further.

Timeliness: as a first priority, the Member States and Eurostat / ECB seek to improve the timeliness of euro area /EU accounts. However, better timeliness for euro area accounts depends on the earlier availability of input data.

Under the ongoing revision of the revised ESA transmission programme, it is proposed to shorten the deadlines for QSA transmissions to allow the compilation/publication of euro area/EU accounts by t+90 days instead of +120 days.

Reliability: another source of possible improvement lies with better quarterly sources for the households and non-financial corporations sectors. In some cases, countries use pure model based estimates which are not supported by direct or indirect quarterly information. It is important that the latter (model based) method is used only for transactions that play a minor role in the accounts. On the other hand, some countries have already started collecting direct data, e.g. from company accounts. Ideally, statistics would be generated as a by-product of the regular accounting of enterprises, at least for listed companies and administrative data / payrolls for households. Eurostat will continue monitoring and improving the quality of quarterly sector accounts through systematic data checks including cross-country comparisons. It will also foster the spreading of best compilation practices under the auspices of the CMFB task force on quarterly accounts by institutional sectors.

Coverage: QSA data users regularly express their interest in national QSA data availability. Consequently, publication of a harmonised set of national data, including seasonally adjusted figures, is one of the QSA development priorities for the near future.

In the same vein, it would be extremely useful to extend the set of key indicators calculated in real terms. Such volume data on household and business investment would complete current publications on real household income and consumption. A country breakdown should be possibly released at the same time as the corresponding European indicators. The provision of seasonally adjusted data in real terms, for a limited set of indicators, is under discussion in the context of the revision of the ESA transmission programme.

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PURPOSE : to provide a common framework for the contributions of the Member States to the compilation of quarterly European non-financial accounts by institutional sector.

LEGISLATIVE ACT : Regulation 1161/2005/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the compilation of quarterly non-financial accounts by institutional sector.

CONTENT : the Council adopted this Regulation intended to establish a framework for Member States' participation in the compilation of quarterly non-financial European accounts by institutional sector.

The compilation of quarterly accounts is considered necessary for the analysis of Europe's

economic cycles and the implementation of monetary policy within the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Data are needed to provide an overview of economic behaviour in the different institutional sectors and of their interaction, a point which also emerges from the action plan on EMU statistical requirements approved by the Council in September 2000.

The main provisions laid down by the Regulation include:

- definitions and standards : the standards, definitions, classifications and accounting rules on data are those laid down by Regulation 2223/96/EC;

- reporting obligations : Member States forward data concerning the "rest of the world" sector and the "general government" sector. Member States with a GDP of less than 1% of the corresponding EU 25 total are not required to forward data concerning the other sectors (companies and households);

- updating : Member States are required to send the Commission quarterly data by sector at the latest 95 calendar days after the end of the quarter to which the data relate;

- consistency requirements : data forwarded should be consistent with the quarterly non-financial accounts of the general government and the quarterly main aggregates of the total economy.

Within five years of the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on its implementation. In particular, this report shall provide information on the quality of the statistics produced; assess the benefits accruing to the Community, the Member States and the providers and users of statistical information of the statistics produced in relation to their costs; identify areas for potential improvement and amendments considered necessary in light of the results obtained.

ENTRY INTO FORCE : 11/08/2005.

Regulation 2005/1161
OJ L 191 22.07.2005, p. 0022-0028

03633/2005

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Astrid LULLING (EPP-ED, LU) and approved the Council’s common position.

T6-0188/2005
OJ C 117 18.05.2006, p. 0019-0117 E

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Astrid LULLING (EPP-ED, LU) and approved the Council’s common position.

T6-0188/2005

A6-0152/2005

A6-0152/2005

The committee adopted the report by Astrid LULLING (EPP-ED, LU) approving the Council's common position unamended under the 2nd reading of the codecision procedure.

The Commission states its agreement with the Council's common position.

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The amendments made to the common position in no way change the substance of the draft regulation. They delay its implementation by several months and provide for a transition period to allow Member States to comply with the 90-day deadline laid down for the transmission of data.

I n its common position, the Council has taken over the amendment proposed by the European Parliament. The Council considers that the modifications introduced in its common position are fully in line with the objectives of the regulation. The overall balance of the Council’s common position has been acknowledged by the Commission, which has accepted it as a satisfactory compromise package.

The Council has amended a recital, by deleting the expression “when these are residents in the European area” to take on board in full the European Parliament’s single amendment.

This recital has been changed in order to clarify that the scope of this regulation includes “the European Union or the Euro-zone, whichever is applicable”, instead of the “European area”.

More specifically, other amendments made by the Council exclusively concerned Article 2 on the procedures for the transmission of data. They aim to:

- specify that more detailed data will not be asked for before the Commission has submitted to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the implementation of the Regulation in its original form;

- introduce a three-year transition period from the date of entry into force of the Regulation, during which Member States would have 95 days to transmit the data, rather than the 90 days provided for once the Regulation is fully operational;

- push back by six months the date on which data must be transmitted for the first time; these will thus cover the third, rather than the first, quarter of 2005. Member States shall deliver these data no later than 3 January 2006 instead of 30 June 2005;

The above amendments will give the Member States the time needed to comply with the requirements of the new Regulation without compromising the objectives set out in the Action Plan on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) Statistical Requirements.

15235/1/2004
OJ C 144 14.06.2005, p. 0016-0023 E

The amendments made to the common position in no way change the substance of the draft regulation. They delay its implementation by several months and provide for a transition period to allow Member States to comply with the 90-day deadline laid down for the transmission of data.

I n its common position, the Council has taken over the amendment proposed by the European Parliament. The Council considers that the modifications introduced in its common position are fully in line with the objectives of the regulation. The overall balance of the Council’s common position has been acknowledged by the Commission, which has accepted it as a satisfactory compromise package.

The Council has amended a recital, by deleting the expression “when these are residents in the European area” to take on board in full the European Parliament’s single amendment.

This recital has been changed in order to clarify that the scope of this regulation includes “the European Union or the Euro-zone, whichever is applicable”, instead of the “European area”.

More specifically, other amendments made by the Council exclusively concerned Article 2 on the procedures for the transmission of data. They aim to:

- specify that more detailed data will not be asked for before the Commission has submitted to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the implementation of the Regulation in its original form;

- introduce a three-year transition period from the date of entry into force of the Regulation, during which Member States would have 95 days to transmit the data, rather than the 90 days provided for once the Regulation is fully operational;

- push back by six months the date on which data must be transmitted for the first time; these will thus cover the third, rather than the first, quarter of 2005. Member States shall deliver these data no later than 3 January 2006 instead of 30 June 2005;

The above amendments will give the Member States the time needed to comply with the requirements of the new Regulation without compromising the objectives set out in the Action Plan on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) Statistical Requirements.

15235/1/2004

T5-0199/2004
OJ C 103 29.04.2004, p. 0030-0141 E

T5-0199/2004

A5-0151/2004

A5-0151/2004

OJ C 042 18.02.2004, p. 0023-0023
BCE(2004)0004

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