Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on European business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics (Text with EEA relevance)

CHAPTER I

General provisions

Article 1

Subject-matter

This Regulation establishes a common legal framework for:

(a) the development, production and dissemination of European business statistics as referred to in Article 2(1);

(b) the European framework for statistical business registers.

Article 2

Scope

European business statistics shall cover:

(a) the structure, economic activities and performance of the statistical units, their R&D and innovation activities, their information and communication technologies (ICT) usage and e-commerce, as well as global value chains. For the purpose of this Regulation, European business statistics shall also cover R&D statistics in the higher education, government and private non-profit sectors;

(b) the production of manufactured goods and services and the international trade in goods and services.

The national statistical business registers referred to in paragraph 2 shall comprise:

(a) all enterprises carrying out economic activities contributing to the gross domestic product (GDP), and their local units;

(b) the legal units of which those enterprises consist;

(c) for those enterprises which due to their size have a significant influence and whose kind-of-activity units (KAUs) have a significant influence on the aggregated (national) data either: (i) the KAU and size of each KAU of which those enterprises consist; or (ii) the NACE code of the secondary activities of those enterprises as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (¹) and the size of each of those secondary activities;

(d) enterprise groups to which those enterprises belong.

The EuroGroups Register shall comprise the following units defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 (²):

(a) all enterprises carrying out economic activities contributing to the GDP which form part of a multinational enterprise group;

(b) the legal units of which those enterprises consist;

(c) multinational enterprise groups to which those enterprises belong.

For the purposes of the European framework for statistical business registers, the following shall be considered to be an economic activity:

(a) any activity comprising the offer of goods and services on a given market;

(b) non-market services contributing to the GDP;

(c) direct and indirect holdings of active legal units.

Holding assets and/or liabilities may also be considered to be an economic activity.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(a) 'statistical unit' means statistical units within the meaning of Regulation (EEC) No 696/93;

(b) 'reporting unit' means the unit that supplies the data;

(c) 'domain' means one or several data sets that cover particular topics;

(d) 'topic' means the content of the information to be compiled, each topic covering one or more detailed topics;

(e) 'detailed topic' means the detailed content of the information to be compiled related to a topic, each detailed topic covering one or more variables;

(f) 'variable' means a characteristic of a unit that may assume more than one of a set of values;

(g) 'market activity' means market activity within the meaning of point 1.37 of Chapter 1 of Annex A to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013;

(h) 'non-market activity' means non-market activity within the meaning of point 1.34 of Chapter 1 of Annex A to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013;

(i) 'market producers' means market producers as defined in point 3.24 of Chapter 3 of Annex A to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013;

(j) 'non-market producers' means non-market producers as defined in point 3.26 of Chapter 3 of Annex A to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013;

(k) 'national statistical authorities' or 'NSAs' means the national statistical institutes and other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009;

(l) 'authoritative source' means the sole provider of data records containing national statistical business register and EuroGroups register data in accordance with quality standards referred to in Article 17;

(m) 'microdata' means individual observations or measurements of characteristics of identifiable reporting units or statistical units;

(n) 'use for statistical purposes' means use for statistical purposes as defined in point (8) of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009;

(o) 'confidential data' means confidential data as defined in point (7) of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009;

(p) 'tax authorities' means the national authorities in the Member State responsible for applying Council Directive 2006/112/EC (³);

(q) 'customs authorities' means customs authorities as defined in point (1) of Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013;

(r) 'multinational enterprise group' means an enterprise group within the meaning of Section III C. of the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 696/93, with at least two enterprises or legal units each of which is located in a different country.

For the purposes of Articles 11 to 15, the following definitions apply:

(a) 'Member State of export' means the Member State from the statistical territory of which goods are exported to their destination in a Member State of import;

(b) 'Member State of import' means the Member State into the statistical territory of which goods are imported from a Member State of export;

(c) 'goods' means movable property, including electrical energy and natural gas.

CHAPTER II

Data sources

Article 4

Data sources and methods

Member States shall produce the statistics referred to in Articles 6 and 7 as well as set up their national statistical business registers in accordance with Article 9, using any relevant data sources while avoiding excessive burden on respondents and taking due account of the cost effectiveness of the NSAs.

For the production of the statistics and the national statistical business registers required under this Regulation, and provided that the results comply with the quality criteria referred to in Article 17, NSAs may use the following data sources, including a combination thereof:

(a) surveys;

(b) administrative records, including information from tax and customs authorities such as annual financial statements;

(c) exchanged microdata;

(d) any other relevant sources, methods or innovative approaches insofar as they allow for the production of data that are comparable and compliant with the applicable specific quality requirements.

For surveys, as referred to in point (a) of the second paragraph, reporting units called upon by the Member States shall provide timely, accurate and complete information needed for the production of the statistics and the national statistical business registers required under this Regulation.

The methods and approaches referred to in point (d) of the second paragraph shall be scientifically based and well documented.

Article 5

Access to administrative records and provision of information

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 22 in order to:

(a) amend Annex V by defining the types of statistical information to be provided by the tax authorities; and

(b) supplement this Regulation by further specifying the details for the statistical information to be provided by the tax authorities in accordance with Annex V.

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 22 in order to:

(a) amend Annex VI by defining the types of statistical information to be provided by the customs authorities; and

(b) supplement this Regulation by further specifying the details for the statistical information to be provided by the customs authorities in accordance with Annex VI.

For other trade flows that involve the customs authorities of more than one Member State, the NSAs shall exchange the corresponding microdata related to the exports or imports of goods to improve the quality of the statistics concerned.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 23(2).

CHAPTER III

Business statistics

Article 6

Data requirements

The European business statistics shall cover the following domains:

(a) short-term business statistics;

(b) country-level business statistics;

(c) regional business statistics;

(d) statistics on international activities.

The domains shall include one or more of the following topics as further detailed in Annex I:

(a) business population;

(b) global value chains;

(c) ICT usage and e-commerce;

(d) innovation;

(e) international trade in goods;

(f) international trade in services;

(g) investments;

(h) labour inputs;

(i) outputs and performance;

(j) prices;

(k) purchases;

(l) real estate;

(m) R&D inputs.

When exercising its power to adopt delegated acts pursuant to paragraph 4, the Commission shall ensure that the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) the delegated acts aim to achieve cost and burden neutrality or reduction and do not, in any case, impose a significant additional cost or burden on the Member States or on the respondents;

(b) a maximum of one detailed topic for the domain short-term business statistics, three detailed topics for the domain country-level business statistics, two detailed topics for the domain regional business statistics and two detailed topics for the domain statistics on international activities listed in Annex I are replaced by another detailed topic and a maximum of one detailed topic in total for all domains is added over a period of five consecutive years;

(c) the delegated acts are adopted at least 18 months before the end of the reference period of the data, except for the topics of innovation and ICT usage and e‐commerce for which the delegated acts shall be adopted at least six and fifteen months respectively before the end of the reference period of the data;

(d) any new detailed topic is assessed in respect of its feasibility by means of pilot studies carried out by the Member States in accordance with Article 20.

Point (b) of paragraph 5 shall not apply to:

(a) the detailed topics within the topics of innovation, ICT usage and e-commerce and global value chains;

(b) amendments that result from the changes to accounting frameworks of national and regional accounts in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 and of balance of payments statistics in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁴).

Article 7

Technical specifications of data requirements

For the detailed topics listed in Annex I, Member States shall compile data relevant to each detailed topic. The Commission may adopt implementing acts further specifying the following elements of the data to be transmitted under this Regulation, their technical definitions and simplifications:

(a) variables;

(b) measurement unit;

(c) statistical population (including the requirements in terms of market/non-market activities or producers);

(d) classifications (including the product, countries and territories as well as nature of transaction lists) and breakdowns;

(e) transmission of individual records of data on a voluntary basis;

(f) use of approximations and quality requirements;

(g) data transmission deadline;

(h) first reference period;

(i) weighting and change of base year for the domain short-term business statistics;

(j) further specifications, including the reference period, related to the topic of international trade in goods.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 23(2).

When adopting implementing acts in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 1, except for the topics listed in points (b), (c) and (d) of Article 6(2), the Commission shall ensure that the number of variables in each domain listed in Article 6(1) does not exceed:

(a) 22 variables for the domain short-term business statistics;

(b) 93 variables for the domain country-level business statistics;

(c) 31 variables for the domain regional business statistics; and

(d) 26 variables for the domain statistics on international activities.

When adopting implementing acts in accordance with point (a) of paragraph 1, for the topics listed in points (b), (c) and (d) of Article 6 (2), the Commission shall ensure that the number of variables in each topic does not exceed:

(a) 20 variables for the topic of global value chains;

(b) 73 variables for the topic of ICT usage and e-commerce; and

(c) 57 variables for the topic of innovation.

The first subparagraph of this paragraph shall not apply to changes resulting from modifications in classifications and nomenclatures or changes to accounting frameworks of national and regional accounts in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 and of balance of payments statistics in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 184/2005.

CHAPTER IV

Business registers

Article 8

European framework for statistical business registers

National statistical business registers shall be the authoritative source for national statistical business register populations. The EuroGroups Register shall be the authoritative source for the ESS as a register population for business statistics requiring the coordination of cross-border information related to multinational enterprise groups.

Article 9

Requirements for the European framework for statistical business registers

The statistical and legal units covered in the European framework for statistical business registers in accordance with Article 8 shall be characterised by the elements set out in both of the following points, which are further specified in Annex III:

(a) the register detailed topics and unique identifier;

(b) the time reference and periodicity.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 23(2).

Article 10

Exchange of and access to confidential data for the purpose of the European framework for statistical business registers

For that purpose, the exchange of confidential data on multinational enterprise groups and on the units belonging to those groups, comprising the variables listed in Annex IV, shall take place, exclusively for statistical purposes, between the NSAs of different Member States, where the exchange is to ensure the quality of the multinational enterprise groups information in the Union. Such exchanges may also take place with the purpose of reducing response burden.

Where such exchange of confidential data is carried out to ensure the quality of the multinational enterprise groups information in the Union and the exchange is explicitly authorised by the competent NSA which provides the data, national central banks may be party to the exchange of confidential data, exclusively for statistical purposes.

For that purpose, NSAs shall transmit data on multinational enterprise groups and on the units belonging to those groups, comprising the variables listed in Annex IV, to the Commission (Eurostat), to provide information, exclusively for statistical purposes, on multinational enterprise groups in the Union.

In order to ensure a consistent record of data and to use them exclusively for statistical purposes, the Commission (Eurostat) shall transmit to the competent NSAs of each Member State data on multinational enterprise groups, including the units belonging to those groups, comprising the variables listed in Annex IV, where at least one legal unit of the group is located in the territory of that Member State.

In order to ensure efficiency and high quality in the production of the EuroGroups Register, exclusively for statistical purposes, the Commission (Eurostat) shall transmit to the NSAs data on all multinational enterprise groups recorded in the EuroGroups Register, including the units belonging to those groups, comprising the variables listed in Annex IV.

For that purpose, NSAs shall transmit data on incorporated legal units, limited to the identification and demographic variables and the stratification parameters listed in Annex IV, to the Commission (Eurostat), exclusively for the purpose of unique identification of legal units in the Union.

In order to ensure efficiency and high quality in the production of the EuroGroups Register, the Commission (Eurostat) shall transmit to the NSAs of each Member State data on legal units, limited to the identification and demographic variables and the stratification parameters listed in Annex IV, exclusively for the purpose of identification of legal units in the Union.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 23(2).

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 23(2).

Transmission of confidential data between NSAs and the Commission (Eurostat) shall take place to the extent that such transmission is necessary exclusively for statistical purposes for the production of European statistics. Any further transmission must be explicitly authorised by the national authority that collected the data.

CHAPTER V

Exchange of confidential data for the purpose of intra-Union trade in goods statistics

Article 11

Exchange of confidential data

The technical specifications for data requirements as referred to in the Article 7(1) and (2) shall also apply to the exchange of confidential data in accordance with this Chapter.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 23(2).

Article 12

Statistical information to be exchanged

The statistical information referred to in Article 11(2) shall consist of:

(a) microdata collected for the purpose of intra-Union trade in goods statistics;

(b) data compiled on specific goods or movements; and

(c) data compiled by using the particulars of customs declarations.

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 22 in order to amend this Regulation by reducing the coverage rate for intra-Union exports of goods in light of technical and economic developments, while maintaining statistics which meet the quality standards in force.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 23(2).

Article 13

Statistical data elements

The microdata referred to in point (a) of Article 12(1) shall contain the following statistical data elements:

(a) the individual identification number allocated to the partner operator in the Member State of import, in accordance with Article 214 of Directive 2006/112/EC;

(b) the reference period;

(c) the trade flow;