Legal provisions of COM(2003)242 - Quarterly financial accounts for general government

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dossier COM(2003)242 - Quarterly financial accounts for general government.
document COM(2003)242 EN
date March 10, 2004


Contents

Article 1 - Purpose

The purpose of this Regulation is to list and define the main characteristics of the European System of Accounts (ESA 95) categories of financial transactions and of financial assets and liabilities for the general government sector and for each of the subsectors within general government, to be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) quarterly following a step-by-step approach.

Article 2

Compilation of quarterly data: sources and methods

1. With a view to achieving high-quality statistics, quarterly data for financial transactions and for financial assets and liabilities shall be based as far as possible on information directly available within general government. However, quarterly data on unquoted shares (AF.512) and other equity (AF.513), as defined and codified in ESA 95 and held by general government units, may be estimated by interpolating and extrapolating information on the respective annual data.

2. The compilation of quarterly data for financial transactions and for financial assets and liabilities shall comply with the ESA 95 rules, especially concerning the sectoral classification of institutional units, consolidation rules, the classification of financial transactions and financial assets and liabilities, the time of recording, and valuation rules.

3. The quarterly data and the corresponding annual data transmitted to the Commission in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 shall be mutually consistent.

4. The quarterly data on financial assets and liabilities are the outstanding amounts of financial assets and liabilities at the end of each quarter.

Article 3 - Transmission of quarterly data on financial transactions, financial assets and liabilities

1. Member States shall transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) quarterly data on financial transactions (F.) and on financial assets and liabilities (AF.) for the following list of instruments as defined and codified in ESA 95:

(a) monetary gold and special drawing rights (SDRs) (F.1 and AF.1);

(b) currency and deposits (F.2 and AF.2);

(c) short-term securities other than shares, excluding financial derivatives (F.331 and AF.331);

(d) long-term securities other than shares, excluding financial derivatives (F.332 and AF.332);

(e) financial derivatives (F.34 and AF.34);

(f) short-term loans (F.41 and AF.41);

(g) long-term loans (F.42 and AF.42);

(h) shares and other equity (F.5 and AF.5);

(i) net equity of households in life insurance reserves and in pension fund reserves (F.61 and AF.61);

(j) prepayments of insurance premiums and reserves for outstanding claims (F.62 and AF.62);

(k) other accounts receivable/payable (F.7 and AF.7).

2. Member States shall also transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) quarterly data for the central government subsector (S.1311) as referred to in Article 4 as follows:

(a) quoted shares (F.511 and AF.511), in respect of financial asset transactions and financial assets;

(b) currency (F.21 and AF.21), in respect of liability transactions and liabilities.

Article 4 - Coverage of the general government sector and subsectors

Member States shall transmit quarterly data for the general government sector and its subsectors as defined and codified in ESA 95, as general government (S.13), comprising:

- central government (S.1311),

- State government (S.1312),

- local government (S.1313),

- social security funds (S.1314).

Article 5 - Nature of the quarterly data covered by the transmission

1. Quarterly data as referred to in Article 3 shall be transmitted on a consolidated basis for the general government subsectors as referred to in Article 4.

2. Quarterly data as referred to in Article 3 shall be transmitted on both a consolidated and a non-consolidated basis for the general government sector (S.13) as referred to in Article 4.

3. Quarterly data with breakdown by counterpart sector shall be provided for the subsectors central government (S.1311) and social security funds (S.1314) as referred to in Article 4 and described in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 6 - Timetable for the transmission of quarterly data

1. Quarterly data as referred to in Articles 3, 4 and 5 shall be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) at the latest by three months after the end of the quarter to which the data relate.

2. Any revision of quarterly data for previous quarters shall be transmitted at the same time.

3. The first transmission of quarterly data as referred to in Articles 3, with the exception of other accounts receivable/payable (F.7 and AF.7), 4 and 5 shall be made in accordance with the following timetable:

(a) for the central government subsector (S.1311) and for the social security funds subsector (S.1314), no later than 30 June 2004; the Commission may grant a derogation, not exceeding 18 months, for the starting date of transmission of data with breakdown by counterpart sector and of some data on financial transactions and financial assets and liabilities, in so far as the national statistical systems require major adaptations;

(b) for the State government (S.1312) and local government (S.1313) subsectors:

(i) no later than 30 June 2004 for the transactions in liabilities and liabilities as detailed under Article 3(1); the Commission may grant a derogation, not exceeding 18 months, for the starting date of transmission of those data, in so far as the national statistical systems require major adaptations;

(ii) no later than 30 June 2005 for the transactions in financial assets and assets as detailed under Article 3(1); the Commission may grant a derogation, not exceeding six months, for the starting date of transmission of those data, in so far as the national statistical systems require major adaptations;

(c) for the general government sector (S.13), no later than 30 June 2005; the Commission may grant a derogation, not exceeding six months, for the starting date of transmission of those data, in so far as the national statistical systems require major adaptations.

4. The first transmission to the Commission (Eurostat) of quarterly data for other accounts receivable/payable (F.7 and AF.7) and for the general government sector (S.13) and its subsectors as referred to in Article 4 shall be no later than 30 June 2005. The Commission may grant a derogation, not exceeding six months, for the starting date of transmission of those data, in so far as the national statistical systems require major adaptations.

Article 7 - Provisions relating to back data

1. Quarterly data as referred to in Article 6 shall cover back data for financial transactions from the first quarter of 1999 and financial balance sheets from the fourth quarter of 1998 in accordance with the timetable specified in Article 6(3) and (4) for the first transmission of data.

2. Where necessary, back data may be based on 'best estimates', respecting in particular the provisions of Article 2(2) and (3).

Article 8 - Implementation

1. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with a description of the sources and methods used to compile the quarterly data referred to in Article 3 (initial description), when they first start to transmit quarterly data in accordance with the timetable referred to in Article 6(3) and (4).

2. Member States shall inform the Commission (Eurostat) of any changes to this initial description when they communicate the revised data.

3. The Commission (Eurostat) shall keep the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC) and the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) informed of the sources and methods used by each Member State.

Article 9 - Report

On the basis of the transmission of data referred to in Articles 3, 4, and 5, and after consulting the SPC and the CMFB, the Commission shall, by 31 December 2005 at the latest, submit to the European Parliament and the Council a report containing an assessment of the reliability of the quarterly data delivered by Member States.

Article 10 - 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.