COUNCIL DECISION of 22 July 1993 on the framework programme for priority actions in the field of statistical information 1993 to 1997
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 213 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1) ,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2) ,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(3) ,
Whereas the Community has taken important decisions with a view to the implementation and smooth operation of the Single Market, whereas it is contemplating Economic and Monetary Union;
Whereas the Community should be able to have access to statistical information comparable between the Member States which is up-to-date, reliable, relevant and produced as efficiently as possible for the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of its policies;
Whereas, in order to ensure the consistency and comparability of statistical information in the Community, there is a need to establish a medium-term statistical framework programme which will be carried out either by mutual agreement between the Commission and the Member States or by means of specific actions to be decided on, depending on the case, by the Council or for limited actions, the Commission;
Whereas the specific actions will as a general rule be implemented under the authority of the bodies and institutions responsible for compiling official statistics;
Whereas the specific method of drawing up Community statistics, which is based on national statistical authorities, requires particularly close cooperation in the Statistical Programme Committee as regards the introduction of legal instruments necessary to establish the said Community statistics;
Whereas before submitting its proposal the Commission consulted the Statistical Programme Committee, the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics, the European Advisory Committee on statistical information in the economic and social spheres, the Standing Committee on Agricultural Statistics, and the Committee on External Trade Statistics, and whereas these Committees have reacted favourably to the Commission proposal,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
The Community statistical framework programme shall indicate priority actions envisaged during the period from 1993 to 1997. The programme is annexed hereto.
Article 2
The priority actions shall cover the following fields:
(a) the operation of the Single Market;
(b) social policy, economic and social cohesion and consumer protection;
(c) Economic and Monetary Union;
(d) relations between the Community and the rest of the world;
(e) the development of statistical technologies and human resources.
Article 3
Each year the Commission shall submit for examination by the Statistical Programme Committee set up by Decision 89/382/Euratom(4) the guidelines for implementation of the Statistical Programme.
The Statistical Programme Committee shall give its opinion on the guidelines and in particular on:
- the priority actions contemplated by the Commission, bearing in mind both national and Community financial constraints,
- the procedures and any legal instruments envisaged by the Commission for the implementation of the programme.
The Commission shall take the utmost account of the comments of the Statistical Programme Committee and shall take the action it considers most appropriate.
Article 4
The statistical framework programme referred to in Article 1 shall be implemented by specific statistical actions to be decided on:
(a) by the Council in accordance with the appropriate Treaty provisions;
(b) by the Commission under the conditions laid down in Article 5 and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 6;
(c) by means of agreement between the Commission and the national authorities within their respective spheres of competence.
Article 5
The Commission may decide on a specific statistical action when it meets the following two conditions:
- the action must not last for more than one year,
- the data to be gathered must be either administrative and statistical data already available or accessible within the national authorities responsible, or data which can be gathered directly, with the Commission paying additional costs incurred at national level.
Article 6
1. For the purposes of applying Article 5, the Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.
3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee.
(b) If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.
If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission, save where the Council has decided against the said measures by a simple majority.
Article 7
The Commission will indicate in its proposals to the Council, as well as in its draft measures to be submitted to the Committee referred to in Article 6:
- the reasons justifying the proposed action, notably in the light of the aims of the Community policy concerned,
- the precise quantified objectives for the action and an evaluation of the results anticipated,
- the procedures for implementing the action, its length and the role of the national and Community statistical authorities,
- the role of the relevant specialist Committees,
- a cost-effectiveness analysis which takes into account the financing costs of the action both for the Community and for the Member States,
- the international statistical recommendations to be observed in the fields covered,
- the solutions for minimizing the burden on respondents in answering the statistical questionnaires.
Article 8
Responsibility for implementing the specific statistical actions in the Member States lies with the national statistical authorities; implementing procedures will take account of the organization of each Member State's official statistics.
Article 9
Member States shall forward statistical information according to the detailed procedures for each specific action in accordance with Council Regulation (Euratom, EEC) 1588/90 of 11 June 1990 on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities(5) .
Article 10
During the third year of implementation of the framework programme the Commission shall examine the progress made in this respect. After consulting the Statistical Programme Committee, the Commission shall particularly assess whether the objectives and priorities of the programme have been achieved and shall submit any proposed amendments.
At the end of the period covered by the framework programme the Commission, after consulting the Statistical Programme Committee, shall present a report on the implementation of the programme. That report is to be sent to the European Parliament and the Council by the end of 1998.
Article 11
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 22 July 1993.