13.1.1998 EN Official Journal of the European Communities L 7/38 AGREEMENT between the European Community and Canada on customs cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY and THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA, hereafter referred to as ‘the Contracting Parties’, BUILDING on the privileged relationship established by the Framework Agreement for commercial and economic cooperation between the European Communities and Canada, signed at Ottawa on 6 July 1976, TAKING ACCOUNT of the declaration of 22 November 1990 on EC-Canada relations, RECOGNIZING the Joint Declaration on European Union-Canada relations signed at Ottawa on 17 December 1996, CONSIDERING that breaches of customs legislation are prejudicial to their economic, fiscal, social, cultural and commercial interests, BELIEVING that there should be an undertaking to develop customs cooperation of the widest possible scope in matters including, but not limited to, simplification and harmonization of customs procedures, CONSIDERING the importance of accurate assessment of customs duties and taxes collected at importation or exportation and of ensuring proper enforcement of measures of prohibition, restriction and control, RECOGNIZING the need for international cooperation in matters related to the application and enforcement of their customs laws, CONVINCED that action against breaches of customs legislation can be made more effective by close cooperation between their customs administrations, HAVING REGARD TO the relevant instruments of the Customs Cooperation Council, in particular the recommendation on mutual administrative assistance of 5 December 1953, HAVING REGARD ALSO TO international conventions containing prohibitions, restrictions and special measures of control in respect of specific goods, HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS: TITLE I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1 Definitions For the purposes of this Agreement, 1. ‘customs authority’ means: — in the European Community: the competent services of the Commission of the European Communities and the customs authorities of the Member States of the European Community, — in Canada: the competent services of the Department of National Revenue; 2. ‘customs legislation’ means: — for the European Community: provisions adopted by the European Community and governing the import, export, transit of goods and their placing under any customs procedure, including measures of prohibition, restriction and control, — for Canada: the statutory and regulatory provisions concerning the importation, exportation, transit of goods, and their placing under any customs procedure, including measures of prohibition, restriction and control, the administration and enforcement of which are specifically charged to the customs authority, and any regulations made by the customs authority under its statutory powers; 3. ‘breach of customs legislation’ means any violation or attempted violation of customs legislation; 4. ‘information’ means any data, documents, reports, certified or authenticated copies thereof or other communications, including data which has been processed or analysed to provide an indication relevant to a breach of customs legislation; 5. ‘person’ means either a physical human being or a legal entity; 6. ‘personal data’ means all information relating to an identified or identifiable individual; 7. ‘requested authority’ means the competent customs authority from which assistance is requested; 8. ‘requesting authority’ means the competent customs authority which requests assistance. TITLE II CUSTOMS COOPERATION Article 2 Scope of the cooperation 1. The Contracting Parties undertake to develop customs cooperation of the widest possible scope. 2. Under this Agreement, customs cooperation shall cover all matters relating to the application of customs legislation. Article 3 Technical assistance to third countries The Contracting Parties shall, where appropriate, inform each other on actions undertaken, or to be undertaken, with third countries in relation to technical assistance in the customs field, with the aim of improving these actions. Article 4 Simplification and harmonization The Contracting Parties agree to strive for simplification and harmonisation of their customs procedures, taking into account the work done in this connection by international organisations. They also agree to examine ways and means to solve any customs-related difficulties that might arise between them. Article 5 Exchange of personnel The customs authorities may exchange personnel when mutually beneficial, for the purpose of advancing their understanding of each other's customs techniques and procedures, and computerised systems. Article 6 Computerization The Contracting Parties shall cooperate in the computerisation of customs procedures and formalities, with the aim of facilitating trade between them. TITLE III MUTUAL ASSISTANCE Article 7 Scope of assistance 1. The customs authorities shall assist each other, either on request or on their own initiative, by providing appropriate information which helps to ensure the proper application of customs legislation and the prevention, investigation and combating of any breach of customs legislation. 2. All assistance under this Title by either Contracting Party shall be performed in accordance with its relevant laws, rules and other legal instruments and within the limits of its customs authority's competence and available resources. 3. This Title is intended solely for the mutual administrative assistance between the Contracting Parties; the provisions of this Title shall not give rise to a right on the part of any private person to obtain information, to obtain, suppress or exclude any evidence or to impede the execution of a request. 4. This Title shall not prejudice the rules governing mutual assistance in criminal matters. Nor shall it apply to information obtained under powers exercised at the request of the judicial authority, except where communication of such information has the prior authorization of the said judicial authority consulted for this purpose on a case-by-case basis. Article 8 Information on methods, trends and operations 1. Either customs authority shall communicate, either on request or on its own initiative, any available information relating to: (a) new customs law enforcement techniques having proved their effectiveness; (b) new trends, means or methods of committing breaches of customs legislation. 2. Either on request or on their own initiative, the customs authorities shall provide each other with information on operations, completed or planned, which constitute, or appear to constitute, a breach of customs legislation in the territory of the other Contracting Party. Article 9 Assistance on request 1. On request, the requested authority shall inform the requesting authority of the customs legislation and procedures applicable in that Contracting Party and relevant to inquiries relating to a breach of customs legislation. 2. On request, the requested authority shall, in particular, provide the requesting authority with the following information: (a) whether goods imported into the territory of the requesting Contracting Party have been lawfully exported from the territory of the requested Contracting Party, and specifying, where appropriate, the customs procedure applied to the goods; (b) whether goods exported from the territory of the requesting Contracting Party have been lawfully imported into the territory of the requested Contracting Party, and specifying, where appropriate, the customs procedure applied to the goods. 3. On request, and subject to specific provisions under Article 13, the requested authority shall provide information on, and maintain special surveillance over: (a) persons known to the requesting authority to have committed a breach of customs legislation or suspected of doing so; (b) goods either in transport or in storage notified by the requesting authority as giving rise to suspected illicit traffic; (c) means of transport suspected by the requesting authority of being used to commit breaches of customs legislation; (d) premises suspected by the requesting authority of being used to commit breaches of customs legislation. Article 10 Spontaneous assistance In serious cases that could involve substantial damage to the economy, public health, public security or any other vital interest of one Contracting Party, the customs authority of the other Contracting Party shall, to the extent possible, supply information on its own initiative. Article 11 Form in which information is to be communicated 1. The requested authority shall communicate appropriate information to the requesting authority in the form of documents, certified copies of documents, reports or electronic versions thereof. All relevant information for interpreting or utilizing that information shall be supplied at the same time. 2. Original files, documents and other materials shall be requested only in cases where copies would be insufficient. Upon specific request, copies of such files, documents and other materials shall be appropriately authenticated. 3. Original files, documents and other materials that have been transmitted shall be returned as soon as possible; rights of the requested authority or of third parties relating thereto shall remain unaffected. Article 12 Experts and witnesses 1. The customs authority of one Contracting Party may authorize its employees, upon the request of the customs authority of the other Contracting Party, to appear as witnesses or experts in judicial or administrative proceedings in the territory of the other Contracting Party and to produce such files, documents or other materials, or authenticated copies thereof, as may be considered essential for the proceedings. 2. When appearing in judicial or administrative proceedings in the circumstances provided for in paragraph 1, witnesses or experts will be afforded the full protection of the law of the requesting Contracting Party pertaining to testimony of a privileged or confidential nature which may be protected from disclosure under that law. 3. Requests pursuant to paragraph 1 must indicate specifically on what matters and by virtue of what title or qualification the official will be questioned. Article 13 Communication of requests 1. Requests for assistance under this Title shall be made in writing and shall be accompanied by any documents deemed useful. When the circumstances so require, requests may also be made verbally. Such requests shall be promptly confirmed in writing. Written requests may be made by electronic means from which a paper record may be made. 2. Requests pursuant to paragraph 1 shall include the following information: (a) the requesting authority; (b) the measure requested; (c) the object of, and the reason for, the request; (d) the laws, rules and other legal elements involved; (e) information which is as exact and comprehensive as possible on the persons who are the target of the investigation; and (f) a summary of the relevant facts and of the investigations already carried out, including the customs authorities involved at the time of the request. 3. The requested authority shall agree to follow a certain procedure in responding to a request, unless that procedure would conflict with legal and administrative provisions of the requested Contracting Party. 4. The information referred to in this Title shall be communicated only to officials who are specifically designated for this purpose by each customs authority. Lists of officials so designated shall be exchanged in accordance with Article 19(3). 5. Requests shall be submitted in an official language of the requested authority or in a language acceptable to that authority. 6. If a request does not meet the formal requirements, the requested authority may ask for its correction or completion. The requested authority may take interim measures. Article 14 Execution of requests 1. If the requested authority does not have the information requested, it shall, in accordance with its legislation, either: (a) initiate inquiries to obtain that information; (b) promptly transmit the request to the appropriate agency; or (c) indicate which relevant authorities are concerned. 2. Any inquiry under paragraph l(a) may include the taking of statements from persons from whom information is sought in connection with a breach of customs legislation and from witnesses and experts. Article 15 Duties of officials 1. On written request, with the authorization of the requested authority and subject to conditions which the latter may impose, for the purpose of investigating a breach of customs legislation, officials specifically designated by the requesting authority may be present during an inquiry conducted by the requested authority in the territory of the requested Contracting Party and relevant to the requesting authority. 2. When officials of the requesting authority are present in the territory of the other Contracting Party in the circumstances provided for in paragraph 1, they must at all times be able to furnish proof of their official capacity. 3. Duly authorized officials of a Contracting Party may, with the agreement of the other Contracting Party and within the conditions laid down by the latter, obtain from the offices of the requested authority or other authority for which the requested authority is responsible, information relating to a breach of customs legislation which the requesting authority needs for the purposes of this Title. Article 16 Confidentiality of information 1. Any information received under this Title shall be treated as confidential and shall at least be subject to the same protection and confidentiality as the same kind of information is subject to under the laws applicable in the Contracting Party where it is received. 2. Information obtained shall be used solely for the purposes of this Title. Where one of the Contracting Parties requests the use of such information for other purposes, it shall obtain the prior written consent of the customs authority which furnished the information. Such use shall then be subject to any restrictions laid down by that authority. 3. Paragraph 2 shall not impede the use of information in any judicial or administrative proceedings subsequently instituted for failure to comply with customs legislation. The Contracting Parties may, in their records of evidence, reports and testimonies and in proceedings and charges brought before the courts, use evidence obtained in accordance with the provisions of this Title. The competent authority which supplied that evidence shall be notified in advance of such use. 4. Personal data may be exchanged only where the Contracting Party which will receive the data undertakes to protect such data in a way which is at least equivalent to the protection applicable to that particular case in the Contracting Party which may supply the data. 5. Dissemination of information among customs authorities within each Contracting Party will occur only on a need-to-know basis. Where information is shared pursuant to this paragraph, the Contracting Party that supplied the information shall be so informed in advance of sharing the information. Article 17 Exceptions to the obligation to provide assistance 1. In cases where assistance under this Title would infringe upon the sovereignty of a Member State of the European Community or Canada or prejudice security, public policy or other essential interest (such as that referred to in Article 16(4)) of a Contracting Party, or would involve a violation of industrial, commercial or professional secrecy or would be inconsistent with its legislation, assistance may be refused or made subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions or requirements. 2. If the requesting authority would be unable to comply were a similar request to be made by the request authority, it shall draw attention to that fact in its request. Compliance with such a request shall be at the discretion of the requested authority. 3. Assistance may be postponed by the requested authority on the grounds that it will interfere with an ongoing investigation, prosecution or proceeding. In such a case, the requested authority shall consult with the requesting authority to determine if assistance can be given subject to such terms or conditions as the requested authority may require. 4. Where assistance is denied or postponed, reasons for the denial or postponement shall be given without delay. Article 18 Costs 1. The customs authorities shall waive all claims for reimbursement of costs incurred in the execution of this Title. 2. If expenses of a substantial or extraordinary nature are, or will be, required to execute the request, the Contracting Parties shall consult to determine the terms and conditions under which the request will be executed as well as the manner in which the costs shall be borne. TITLE IV FINAL PROVISIONS Article 19 Implementation of the Agreement 1. The management of this Agreement shall be entrusted to the competent services of the Commission of the European Communities and, where appropriate, the customs authorities of the Member States and to the customs authority of Canada. 2. The customs authorities shall take measures so that their officials responsible for the investigation or combating of breaches of customs legislation maintain personal and direct relations with each other. 3. The customs authorities shall decide on detailed arrangements to facilitate the implementation of this Agreement. 4. The customs authorities shall endeavour to resolve any problem or doubt arising from the interpretation or application of this Agreement. Article 20 Joint Customs Cooperation Committee 1. A Joint Customs Cooperation Committee is hereby established, consisting of representatives of the customs authorities of the Contracting Parties. The Joint Customs Cooperation Committee shall meet at a place and on a date with an agenda fixed by mutual consent. 2. The Joint Customs Cooperation Committee shall see to the proper functioning of this Agreement and shall examine all issues arising from its application. In fulfilling this role, its main functions will be to: (a) take the measures necessary for customs cooperation in accordance with the objectives of this Agreement and for the expansion of this Agreement with a view to increasing the level of customs cooperation and supplementing it on specific sectors or matters; (b) exchange views on any points of common interest regarding customs cooperation, including future measures and the resources for them; (c) in general terms, recommend solutions aimed at attaining the objectives of this Agreement. 3. The Joint Customs Cooperation Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure. Article 21 Obligations imposed under other agreements 1. Taking into account the respective competencies of the European Community and the Member States, the provisions of this Agreement shall: — not affect the obligations of the Contracting Parties under any other international agreement or convention, — be deemed complementary with agreements on customs cooperation and mutual assistance which have been, or may be, concluded between individual Member States of the European Union and Canada, and — not affect the provisions governing the communication between the competent services of the Commission and the customs authorities of the Member States on a need-to-know basis of any information obtained under this Agreement which could be of interest to the European Community. 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, the provisons of this Agreement shall take precedence over the provisions of the bilateral agreements on customs cooperation and mutual assistance which have been, or may be, concluded between individual Member States of the European Union and Canada insofar as the provisions of the latter are incompatible with those of this Agreement. 3. In respect of questions relating to the applicability of this Agreement, the Contracting Parties shall consult each other to resolve the matter in the framework of the Joint Committee set up under Article 20. Article 22 Territorial application This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaty establishing the European Community is applied and under the conditions laid down in that Treaty and, on the other hand, to the territory of Canada under the conditions laid down in Canadian law. Article 23 Future developments The Contracting Parties may by mutual consent expand this Agreement with a view to increasing the levels of customs cooperation and supplementing them, in accordance with their respective customs legislation, by means of agreements on specific sectors or matters. Article 24 Entry into force and termination 1. This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the month following the date on which the Contracting Parties have notified each other of the completion of the procedures necessary for this purpose. 2. This Agreement is intended to be of unlimited duration but either Contracting Party may terminate it at any time by notification through diplomatic channels. 3. The termination shall take effect one month from the date of the notification of denunciation to the other Contracting Party. Ongoing proceedings at the time of termination shall nonetheless be completed in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement. EN FE DE LO CUAL, los abajo firmantes, debidamente autorizados, suscriben el presente Acuerdo. TIL BEKRÆFTELSE HERAF har undertegnede, der er behørigt beføjede hertil, undertegnet denne aftale. ZU URKUND DESSEN haben die hierzu gehörig befugten Unterzeichneten ihre Unterschrift unter dieses Abkommen gesetzt. ΣΕ ΠΙΣΤΩΣΗ ΤΩΝ ΑΝΩΤΕΡΩ, οι υπογεγραμμένοι πληρεξούσιοι έθεσαν την υπογραφή τους κάτω από την παρούσα συμφωνία. IN WITNESS whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Agreement. EN FOI DE QUOI les soussignés, dûment autorisés, ont signé le présent accord. IN FEDE di che i sottoscritti, debitamente autorizzati, hanno apposto le loro firme in calce al presente accordo. TEN BLIJKE WAARVAN de ondergetekenden, daartoe naar behoren gemachtigd, deze overeenkomst hebben ondertekend. EM FÉ DO QUE, os abaixo-assinados, devidamente autorizados para o efeito, apuseram as suas assinaturas no presente acordo. TAMAN VAKUUDEKSI allekirjoittaneet asianmukaisesti valtuutetut edustajat ovat allekirjoittaneet tämän sopimuksen. TILL BEVIS HÄRPÅ har undertecknade undertecknat detta avtal. Hecho en Ottawa, el cuatro de diciembre de mil novecientos noventa y siete, en doble ejemplar en lenguas alemana, danesa, española, finesa, francesa, griega, inglesa, italiana, neerlandesa, portuguesa y sueca, siendo cada uno de estos textos igualmente auténtico. Udfaerdiget i Ottawa den fjerde december nitten hundrede og syvoghalvfems i to eksemplarer på dansk, engelsk, finsk, fransk, graesk, italiensk, nederlandsk, portugisisk, spansk, svensk og tysk, idet hver af disse tekster har samme gyldighed. Geschehen zu Ottawa am vierten Dezember neunzehnhundertsiebenundneunzig in zwei Urschriften in dänischer, deutscher, englischer, finnischer, französischer, griechischer, italienischer, niederländischer, portugiesischer, schwedischer und spanischer Sprache, wobei jeder Wortlaut gleichermaßen verbindlich ist. Η παρούσα συμφωνία έγινε στην Οτάβα, στις τέσσερις Δεκεμβρίου χίλια εννιακόσια ενενήντα επτά, σε δύο αντίτυπα στην αγγλική, γαλλική, γερμανική, δανική, ελληνική, ισπανική, ιταλική, ολλανδική, πορτογαλική, σουηδική και φινλανδική γλώσσα· όλα τα κείμενα είναι εξίσου αυθεντικά. Done at Ottawa on the fourth day of December in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven, in two copies in the Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish languages, each text being equally authentic. Fait à Ottawa, le quatre décembre mil neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-sept, en double exemplaire en langues allemande, anglaise, danoise, espagnole, finlandaise, française, grecque, italienne, néerlandaise, portugaise et suédoise, chaque texte faisant également foi. Fatto a Ottawa, addì quattro dicembre millenovecentonovantasette. Il presente accordo è redatto in duplice esemplare in lingua danese, finnica, francese, greca, inglese, italiana, olandese, portoghese, spagnola, svedese e tedesca, tutti i testi facenti ugualmente fede. Gedaan te Ottawa, de vierde december negentienhonderd zevenennegentig in twee exemplaren in de Deense, de Duitse, de Engelse, de Finse, de Franse, de Griekse, de Italiaanse, de Nederlandse, de Portugese, de Spaanse en de Zweedse taal, zijnde alle teksten gelijkelijk authentiek. Feito em Otava, em quatro de Dezembro de mil novecentos e noventa e sete, em duplo exemplar, nas línguas alemã, dinamarquesa, espanhola, finlandesa, francesa, grega, inglesa, italiana, neerlandesa portuguesa e sueca, fazendo igualmente fé todos os textos. Tehty Ottawassa neljäntenä päivänä joulukuuta vuonna tuhatyhdeksänsataayhdeksänkymmentäseitsemän kahtena kappaleena englannin, espanjan, hollannin, italian, kreikan, portugalin, rans-kan, ruotsin, saksan, suomen ja tanskan kielillä kaikkien tekstien ollessa yhtä todistusvoimaiset. Som skedde i Ottawa den fjärde december nittonhundranittiosju i rvå exemplar på danska, engelska, finska, franska, grekiska, italienska, nederländska, portugisiska, spanska, svenska och tyska, vilka samtliga texter är lika giltiga. Por la Comunidad Europea For Det Europasiske Fadlesskab Für die Europäische Gemeinschaft Για την Ευρωπαϊκή Κοινότητα For the European Community Pour la Communauté européenne Per la Comunità europea Voor de Europese Gemeenschap Pela Comunidade Europeia Euroopan yhteisön puolesta På Europeiska gemenskapens vägnar For the Government of Canada Pour le gouvernement du Canada

Summary: Agreements with Canada on customs matters Agreements with Canada on customs matters SUMMARY OF: Council Decision 98/18/EC to conclude EU-Canada agreement on customs issues EU-Canada agreement on customs issues Council Decision 2014/941/EU on supply-chain security EU-Canada agreement on supply-chain security WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DECISIONS AND THE AGREEMENTS? Decision 98/18/EC seeks to improve cooperation between the administrative authorities responsible for applying customs legislation*. Under the EU-Canada agreement on customs issues, the parties undertake to increase the level of customs cooperation, in particular by simplifying and harmonising their procedures. Decision 2014/941/EU aims to extend the original agreement on customs issues by a new agreement to cover supply-chain security. KEY POINTS EU-Canada agreement on customs issues Customs cooperation The parties undertake to develop customs cooperation by: simplifying and harmonising their customs procedures; examining means of solving customs-related problems; exchanging personnel; computerising customs procedures and formalities. Mutual administrative assistance The parties undertake to assist each other, either on request or on their own initiative. They share all appropriate information that helps to ensure the proper application of customs legislation and the prevention and combating of any breach of such legislation. To achieve this, they communicate to each other any new customs law enforcement techniques and any new trends and means of committing breaches of customs legislation. The customs authorities also provide each other with information on operations, completed or planned, which appear to constitute a breach of customs legislation in the territory of the other contracting party. Assistance on request The requested authority* informs the applicant authority* of the customs legislation and procedures applicable in its territory and relevant to inquiries relating to a breach of customs legislation. This information may relate to the lawfulness of procedures for exporting and importing goods between the two contracting parties and to the customs procedure applied. The agreement also provides for special surveillance of persons who have committed a breach of customs legislation or who are suspected of doing so. This surveillance may also be applied to goods giving rise to illicit trafficking and to the transport and premises used to this end. Spontaneous assistance One of the two parties may supply information on its own initiative in serious cases that could involve substantial damage to the economy, public health, public security or any other vital interest of the other contracting party. Formal aspects and exceptions to assistance Requests must be made in writing, except in urgent cases where oral requests may be made, confirmed in writing thereafter. Requests must contain: data on the applicant customs authority;the measure requested;the object of and the reason for the request;the legislation involved; andthe details of the individuals who are the subject of the investigation. The requested party may refuse to provide assistance if to do so would be likely to prejudice the sovereignty, public policy, security or other essential interest of one of the parties. The obligation to provide assistance may also be postponed on the ground that it interferes with an ongoing investigation, prosecution or proceeding. The agreement contains confidentiality clauses in relation to the information supplied. A high level of protection is given to personal data. The agreement provides for the establishment of a Joint Customs Cooperation Committee that sees to the proper functioning of this agreement and examines all issues arising from its application. Customs cooperation with regard to supply-chain security Under Decision 2014/941/EU, customs cooperation between the parties was extended to cover supply chain security. Under this agreement, the EU and Canada sought to secure the logistics chain while at the same time facilitating legitimate trade. Aspects covered by the agreement include: drawing up minimum standards for risk management;working towards mutual recognition of risk management techniques, risk standards, security controls, container security and trade partnership programmes, including equivalent trade facilitation measures;sharing information for supply chain security and risk management subject to the confidentiality of information and personal data protection requirements;introducing an interface for data-sharing, including for pre-arrival or pre-departure data;developing a strategy allowing cooperative customs partnership as regards cargo inspection. FROM WHEN DO THE DECISIONS AND THE AGREEMENTS APPLY? Decision 98/18/EC has applied since 27 November 1997. The agreement entered into force on 1 January 1998. Decision 2014/94/EU has applied since 27 June 2013. The agreement on supply-chain security has entered into force on 1 November 2013. BACKGROUND For more information, see: EU-Canada customs cooperation (European Commission). KEY TERMS Customs legislation: in the EU, it includes all rules governing the import, export, transit of goods and their placing under any customs procedure, including measures of prohibition, restriction and control. In Canada, the definition is wider. It includes all statutory and regulatory rules in this area, the administration and enforcement of which are specifically charged to the customs authority, in other words the competent sections of the Departments of National Revenue, as well as any regulations adopted by the customs authority under its statutory powers. Requested authority: the competent customs authority that receives a request for assistance. Applicant authority: the competent customs authority that makes a request for assistance. MAIN DOCUMENTS Council Decision 98/18/EC of 27 November 1997 concerning the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and Canada on customs cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters (OJ L 7, 13.1.1998, p. 37) Agreement between the European Community and Canada on customs cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters (OJ L 7, 13.1.1998, pp. 38-45) Council Decision 2014/941/EU of 27 June 2013 on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and Canada on customs cooperation with respect to matters related to supply chain security (OJ L 367, 23.12.2014, pp. 8-9) Agreement between the European Union and Canada on customs cooperation with respect to matters related to supply-chain security (OJ L 367, 23.12.2014, pp. 10-13) last update 07.11.2017


EUR-Lex - 31993R0696 - EN Avis juridique important | 31993R0696 Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community Official Journal L 076 , 30/03/1993 P. 0001 - 0011 Finnish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 24 P. 0007 Swedish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 24 P. 0007 COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the CommunityTHE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), In cooperation with the European Parliament (2), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3), Whereas the functioning of the internal market requires statistical standards applicable to the identification of units and the collection, transmission and publication of national and Community statistics in order to make reliable and comparable information available to enterprises, financial institutions, governments and all other operators in the internal market; Whereas statistical information on the production system will be necessary to enterprises for assessing their competitiveness and be useful to the Community institutions in the prevention of distortion of competition; Whereas in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity the creation of common statistical norms that permit the production of harmonized data is an action which can only be undertaken efficiently at Community level and whereas those norms will be applied in each Member State under the authority of the bodies and institutions in charge of compiling official statistics; Whereas only if the Member States use common definitions of statistical units will it be possible to provide integrated statistical information with the reliability, speed, flexibility and degree of detail required for the management of the internal market; Whereas provision should be made for the Member States to be able, in order to meet specific requirements, to retain or introduce other statistical units in their national nomenclatures for the observation and analysis of the production system; Whereas the choice of statistical units to be used in particular enquiries or analyses will be determined in specific texts; Whereas utilization of the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Communities hereafter referred to as NACE Rev. 1 provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 (4) and application of the European System of Integrated Economic Accounts (ESA) require standard definitions of statistical units for registers, surveys and the presentation and analysis of statistics; Whereas the Committee set up by Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 is competent for the 'elaboration of guidelines for classifying statistical units in accordance with NACE Rev. 1' but the units must be defined elsewhere; Whereas it is vital that the statistical units classified according to the NACE Rev. 1 be defined in the same way in all Member States in order to ensure comparability between the corresponding national and Community statistics; Whereas it is desirable to limit the number of statistical units used for the production system; Whereas the international comparability of economic statistics requires that the Member States and the Community institutions use statistical units which are directly linked to the descriptions given in the introduction to the United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC REV 3) and the United Nations System of National Accounts documents; Whereas the production system is made up of all entities involved in production and all economic and financial operations carried out by those entities; Whereas the introduction of strict application of these units throughout the Community requires a transitional period, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 A list of statistical units (hereinafter referred to as 'statistical units of the production system') as set out in the Annex hereto together with the criteria used, the definitions of the units and explanatory notes is hereby established. Article 2 The definitions of the statistical units of the production system shall be used by the Member States and the Commission to identify the units with a view to collecting, transmitting, publishing and analysing statistical data on the production system, particularly those connected with NACE Rev. 1. Article 3 From 1 January 1994, for the objectives referred to in Article 2, Member States shall use the definitions referred to in Article 1 for statistics relating to situations subsequent to that date. Article 4 1. During a transitional period running from 1 January 1994 to 31 December 1995, a Member State may, for statistics relating to that period, use statistical units of the production system other than those provided for in Article 1. In such cases the statistical data to be sent to the Commission during the transitional period shall be adapted and transmitted to conform as closely as possible to the Annex. 2. The Commission may, in exceptional circumstances, at the request of a Member State and for duly substantiated technical or practical reasons, extend the transitional period until no later than 31 December 1997. Article 5 After the end of the transitional period referred to in Article 4 the Commission may, pursuant to the prodcedure laid down in Article 6, authorize a Member State to use other statistical units of the production system. Article 6 Measures for implementing this Regulation, including those for adaptation to economic and technical developments concerning in particular the statistical units of the production system, the criteria used and the definitions specified in the Annex, shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7. Article 7 1. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Statistical Programme' Committee set up by Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (5) 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. 2. The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply immediately. However, if these measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they shall be communicated by the Commission to the Council forthwith. In that event, the Commission shall defer application of the measures which it has decided for a period of three months from the date of such communication. 3. The Council, acting by qualified majority, may take a different decision within the time limit referred to in paragraph 2. Article 8 The statistical units of the production system referred to in a Community act governing Community statistics shall be interpreted in accordance with the concepts and terminology of this Regulation. Article 9 This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 15 March 1993. For the Council The President M. JELVED (1) OJ No C 267, 16. 10. 1992, p. 3.(2) OJ No C 337, 21. 12. 1992; and Decision of 10 February 1993 (not yet published in the Official Journal).(3) OJ No C 19, 25. 1. 1993, p. 60.(4) OJ No L 293, 24. 10. 1990, p. 1.(5) OJ No L 181, 28. 6. 1989, p. 47. ANNEX STATISTICAL UNITS OF THE PRODUCTION SYSTEM IN THE COMMUNITY SECTION I List of units The list of statistical units of the production system is as follows: A. the enterprise; B. the institutional unit; C. the enterprise group; D. the kind-of-activity unit (KAU); E. the unit of homogeneous production (UHP); F. the local unit; G. the local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU); H. the local unit of homogeneous production (local UHP). SECTION II Criteria used The statistial units in this Regulation are defined on the basis of three criteria. The relative importance of these criteria depends on the type of unit concerned. A. Legal, accounting or organizational criteria 1. In order to define units that are recognizable and identifiable in the economy, legal or institutional criteria must be applied. In some cases, legally separate units must be grouped together as they are not sufficiently autonomous in their organization. In order to define some types of unit, accounting or financial criteria also have to be applied. 2. To constitute the enterprise unit, use is made of legal units that exercise, wholly or partially, a productive activity. 3. Legal units include: - legal persons whose existence is recognized by law independently of the individuals or institutions which may own them or are members of them, - natural persons who are engaged in an economic activity in their own right. 4. The legal unit always forms, either by itself or sometimes in combination with other legal units, the legal basis for the statistical unit known as the 'enterprise'. B. Geographical critera 1. A unit can be geographically identified. A distinction is made between local, regional, national, Community and worldwide areas. 2. The local level here means the territory corresponding to the 'smallest administrative area': the 'commune/gemeente' in Belgium; the 'kommune' in Denmark; the 'Gemeinde' in Germany; the 'demos' or 'koinotis' in Greece; the 'municipio' in Spain; the 'commune' in France; the 'DED/ward' in Ireland; the 'comune' in Italy; the 'commune' in Luxembourg; the 'gemeente' in the Netherlands; the 'concelho' in Portugal and the 'ward' in the United Kingdom. 3. The regional levels are defined by the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS), which distinguishes three levels (I, II, III). 4. The observation and analytical units are defined in such a way as to permit data first to be determined for each Member State and these data to be combined to give figures for the Community as a whole or for larger areas. 5. The rules regarding geographical criteria must be in order to permit consolidation and avoid double counting and omissions. C. Activity critera 1. The economic activity of production - hereinafter referred to as 'activity' - can be said to take place when resources such as equipment, labour, manufacturing techniques, information networks or products are combined, leading to the creation of specific goods or services. An activity is characterized by an input of products (goods or services), a production process and an output of products. 2. Activities are determined by reference to a specific level of NACE Rev. 1. 3. If a unit carries out more than one activity, all the activities which are not ancillary activities are ranked according to the gross value added at factor cost which they generate. A distinction is made between principal activity and secondary activities. 4. If no value-added figures are available, other criteria must be used, such as, for example, employment, payroll, turnover and assets, with a view to obtaining the closest possible approximation of the classification which would have been obtained on the basis of value added. 5. Units are classified in terms of their activities. If one activity accounts for over 50 % of the value added this determines the classification of the unit. In all other cases, classification rules must be observed. Classification is carried out in stages from the highest level of aggregation which is the section (one letter), down to the class (four digits) via the division (two digits) and the group (three digits). The classification at each level must be compatible with the previous level. The Statistical Programme Committee referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 has competence in this field. 6. Principal and secondary activities are backed up by ancillary activities, such as, for example, administration, accounts, data processing, process monitoring, purchasing, sales and marketing, warehousing, repairs, transport and renovation. These ancillary activities within a unit are carried out in order to permit or facilitate production by the unit of goods and services for third parties. The products of ancillary activities are not themselves supplied to third parties. 7. The notion of ancillary activities is developed in section IV B. SECTION III Definitions of units and explanatory notes specific to each unit A. Enterprise The enterprise is the smallest combination of legal units that is an organizational unit producing goods or services, which benefits from a certain degree of autonomy in decision-making, especially for the allocation of its current resources. An enterprise carries out one or more activities at one or more locations. An enterprise may be a sole legal unit. Explanatory note The enterprise thus defined is an economic entity which can therefore, under certain circumstances, correspond to a grouping of several legal units. Some legal units, in fact, perform activities exclusively for other legal units and their existence can only be explained by administrative factors (e. g. tax reasons), without them being of any economic significance. A large proportion of the legal units with no persons employed also belongs to this category. In many cases, the activities of these legal units should be seen as ancillary activities of the parent legal unit they serve, to which they belong and to which they must be attached to form an enterprise used for economic analysis. B. Institutional unit The institutional unit is an elementary economic decision-making centre characterized by uniformity of behaviour and decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function. A unit is regarded as constituting an institutional unit if it has decision-making autonomy in respect of its principal function and keeps a complete set of accounts. - In order to be said to have autonomy of decision in respect of its principal function, a unit must be responsible and accountable for the decisions and actions it takes. - In order to be said to keep a complete set of accounts, a unit must keep accounting records covering all its economic and financial transactions carried out during the accounting period, as well as a balance sheet of assets and liabilities. Explanatory notes 1. In the corporate enterprises sector, the enterprise corresponds to the institutional unit used in the ESA. Similar institutional units also exist in the general government and private non-profit institutions sectors. The institutional unit in the households sector covers all the activities of households, while the term 'enterprise' is reserved exclusively for their production activities. 2. Applying these rules leads to the following solutions for entities which do not clearly possess both characteristics of an institutional unit. (a) Households always enjoy autonomy of decision and must therefore be institutional units, even though they do not keep a complete set of accounts. (b) Entities which do not keep a complete set of accounts are combined with the institutional units in whose accounts their partial accounts are integrated. (c) Entities which, while keeping a complete set of accounts, have no autonomy of decision in the exercise of their principal function are combined with the units which control them. (d) Entities which satisfy the definition of an institutional unit are treated as such even if they do not publish their accounts. (e) Entities forming part of a group of enterprises and keeping a complete set of accounts are deemed to be institutional units even if they have surrendered, in fact if not in law, part of their autonomy of decision to the central body (the holding company) responsible for the group's general management. The holding company itself is deemed to be an institutional unit distinct from the units which it controls. 3. The following are deemed to be institutional units: - units which have a complete set of accounts and autonomy of decision: (a) private and public companies, public corporations; (b) cooperatives or partnerships recognized as independent legal entities; (c) public enterprises which by virtue of special legislation are recognized as independent legal entities; (d) non-profit institutions recognized as independent legal entities; (e) agencies of general government. - units which have a complete set of accounts and which, by convention, are deemed to have autonomy of decision: (f) quasi-corporate enterprises: sole proprietorships, partnerships and public enterprises, other than those referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) in so far as their economic and financial behaviour can be separated from that of their owners and resembles that of corporate enterprises; - units which do not necessarily keep a complete set of accounts, but which by convention are deemed to have autonomy of decision: (g) households. C. Enterprise group An enterprise group is an association of enterprises bound together by legal and/or financial links. A group of enterprises can have more than one decision-making centre, especially for policy on production, sales and profits. It may centralize certain aspects of financial management and taxation. It constitutes an economic entity which is empowered to make choices, particularly concerning the units which it comprises. Explanatory notes 1. For certain observations and analyses it is sometimes useful and necessary to study the links between certain enterprises and to group together those which have strong ties with each other. A number of exercices are underway but not finished concerning the concept of the group of enterprises. It is defined here starting from the concept of accounting group as given in the Seventh Council Directive 83/349/EEC (OJ No L 193, 18. 7. 1983, p. 1). This Directive came into force for the first time for consolidated accounts of the financial year which began in 1990. Directive 90/605/EEC (OJ No L 317, 16. 11. 1990, p. 60) extended the scope of application of the Seventh Directive. 2. Within the meaning of the Seventh Directive, a group is presumed to exist where 20 % of the capital or voting rights are held or controlled by another enterprise. Provisions regarding the control of the power to appoint directors must be taken into account. Behind financial (majority) control, the aim is to take into account where the control really is. 3. This definition as it stands is not suitable for statistical analysis because 'accounting groups' do not constitute mutually exclusive, additive groups of enterprises. A statistical unit known as 'enterprise group' based on the 'accounting group' concept must be defined by applying the following amendments: - consider accounting groups at the highest consolidation level (group head), - include in enterprise group units whose accounts are entirely integrated in those of the consolidating company, - add majority-controlled units whose accounts are not included in the overall consolidating by virtue of application of one of the criteria allowed by the seventh Directive, i. e. difference in the type of activity or small realive size, - discount temporary links of less than a year. 4. An enterprise group is a set of enterprises controlled by the group head. The group head is a parent legal unit which is not controlled either directly or indirectly by any other legal unit. The subsidiary enterprises of a subsidiary enterprise are considered to be subsidiaries of the parent enterprise. However there are some forms of cooperative or mutual associations where the parent enterprise is actually owned by the units of the group. 5. Enterprise groups are often bound together by various types of links such as ownership, controlling interest and management. These units are often linked with units of the same family from several different generations. The enterprise group unit often corresponds to a conglomerate bound together by a network of complex relationships and frequently covers a very wide range of activities. Subgroups can be identified within enterprise groups. 6. It is useful to recognize all (majority and minority) links between the group head and the controlled enterprise via the network of subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries. This allows the group's entire organization to be depicted. 7. In view of the implications of the different accounting directives, an attempt should always be made to distinguish between basic units of the group that belong to non-financial enterprises and those which must be classified as financial institutions. In the case of the latter, a distinction must be drawn between units that are credit institutions and those that are insurance enterprises. Some enterprise groups span the whole world, but need to be analysed for the economic territory of the Community and for that of each Member State. 8. The enterprise group unit is particularly useful for financial analyses and for studying company strategies, but it is too varied in nature and unstable to be adopted as the central unit for observation and analysis, which remains the enterprise. It is used for compiling and presenting certain information. D. Kind-of-activity unit (KAU) The kind of activity unit (KAU) groups all the parts of an enterprise contributing to the performance of an activity at class level (four digits) of NACE Rev. 1 and corresponds to one or more operational subdivisions of the enterprise. The enterprise's information system must be capable of indicating or calculating for each KAU at least the value of production, intermediate consumption, manpower costs, the operating surplus and employment and gross fixed capital formation. Explanatory notes 1. The KAU was devised as an observation unit in order to improve the homogeneity of the results of statistical surveys by activity and hence the international comparability of these results, since at the level of the enterprise different types of horizontal and vertical integration can be observed at both national and international level. An entity which only carries out ancillary activities for the enterprise to which it belongs cannot be considered as a separate KAU. In fact the KAU corresponds to the operational definition given in paragraph 96 of the introduction to ISIC Rev. 3. 2. The KAUs falling within a particular heading in the NACE Rev. 1 classification system can produce products outside the homogeneous group, on account of secondary activities connected with them which cannot be separately identified from available accounting documents. Conversely, the KAUs classified under a particular heading in the classification system on the basis of a principal activity do not produce the entire output of homogeneous groups of specific products because the same products can be produced in secondary activities of KAUs falling under some other classification heading. 3. The internal accounts of enterprises (e. g. profit or cost centres) have often been developed according to criteria that are close: the activity concept. They enable the supply of data at KAU level, so that these can be observed. 4. All the costs of ancillary activities of an enterprise must be allocated to the principal and secondary acitivites and thus to the KAUs observed within the enterprise. E. Unit of homogeneous production (UPH) The unit of homogeneous production (UHP) is characterized by a single activity which is identified by its homogeneous inputs, production process and outputs. The products which constitute the inputs and outputs are themselves distinguished by their physical characteristics and the extent to which they have been processed as well by the production technique used, by reference to a product classification. The unit of homogeneous production may correspond to an institutional unit or a part thereof; on the other hand, it can never belong to two different institutional units. Explanatory notes 1. For a clear analysis of the production process, the ESA has adopted units of homogeneous production that enable the technical/economic relationships to be studied. These analytical units are used particularly for Input-Output tables, and in practice are reconstituted from data collected for the observation units, since they cannot as a rule be directly observed. 2. Most observation units are engaged in a combination of activities at the same time. They may be engaged in a principal activity, some secondary activities - i. e. activities belonging to other branches - and some ancillary activities such as administration, purchasing, selling to the trade, storage, repairs, etc. If an observation unit carries out a principal activity as well as one or more secondary activities, it will be subdivided into the corresponding number of units of homogeneous production, and the secondary activities will be reclassified under different headings from the principal activity. On the other hand, the ancillary activities of the observation unit are not separated from the principal or secondary activities they serve. 3. The unit of homogeneous production is defined independently of the location of the activity. In ISIC Rev. 3, the unit of homogeneous production is defined in such a way as to correspond to the local UHP. Paragraph 112 of the introduction to ISIC Rev. 3 is governed by paragraph 104. F. Local unit The local unit is an enterprise or part thereof (e. g. a workshop, factory, warehouse, office, mine or depot) situated in a geographically identified place. At or from this place economic activity is carried out for which - save for certain exceptions - one or more persons work (even if only part-time) for one and the same enterprise. Explanatory notes 1. If a person works in more than one place (maintenance or surveillance) or at home, the local unit is taken to be place from which instructions emanate or from where the work is organized. It must be possible to specify the employment attached to any local unit. However, all legal units that serve as the legal basis for an enterprise or a part thereof must have a local unit which is the registered office, even if nobody works there. Moreover, a local unit can comprise only ancillary activities. 2. A geographically identified place must be interpreted on a strict basis: two units belonging to the same enterprise at different locations (even within the smallest administrative unit of the Member State) must be regarded as two local units. However, a single local unit may be spread over several adjacent administrative areas, in which case, by convention, the postal address is the determining factor. 3. The boundaries or the unit are determined by the boundaries of the site, which means for example that a public highway running through does not interrupt the continuity of the boundaries. The definition is similar to the one in paragraph 101 of the introduction to ISIC Rev. 3 in that it concerns localization in the strict sence of the term, but differs from the definition in paragraph 102 in that this strict sense may not vary according to the statistics under consideration. In addition, the criterion of persons working in the unit is normally applied. 4. The ESA-REG (the regional application of the ESA) uses the same definition of local unit for regional accounts purposes. G. Local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU) The local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU) is the part of a KAU which corresponds to a local unit. Explanatory notes 1. Each KAU must have at least one local KAU; however, the KAU can be made up of a grouping of parts of one or more local units. On the other hand, a local unit may in certain circumstances comprise solely a group of ancillary activities. In this instance, a supplementary classification of the local unit is possible. Furthermore, each enterprise should have at least one local KAU. 2. The local KAU corresponds to the operational definition of the establishment as given in paragraph 106 of the introduction to ISIC Rev. 3. H. Local unit of homogeneous production (local UHP) The local unit of homogeneous production (local UHP) is the part of a unit of homogeneous production which corresponds to a local unit. SECTION IV Additional explanatory notes A. Government and non-profit bodies 1. In the case of general government bodies, the appropriate statistical unit for the collection and compilation of statistics is very variable (e. g. central government, social security administration, or local government of the region, province, department, county, municipality, metropolitan area, etc.). These various bodies collectively plan, supervise and administer the finances of their constituent bodies (which can be ministries, directorates-general, directorates, bureaus, agencies, offices, etc.) As regards the type of activity, however, some of these bodies, particularly local authorities, are likely to be much more heterogeneous than corporate enterprises. 2. The activities of these bodies often belong to Section L of NACE Rev. 1 'Public administration and defence: compulsory social security', although other bodies carry out activities which basically belong to other Sections, including 'Education' (Section M), 'Health and social work' (Section N) and 'Other community, social and personal service activities' (Section O). 3. When series of data on private-sector entities have to be combined with data on these general government and private non-profit institutions classified by type of economic activity, their identification and classification must be carried out using statistical units corresponding to entities which are closest to the statistical units defined in the private sector. This is why all the criteria used in the private sector are - by analogy - applied to general government bodies. The same applies to private non-profit institutions. B. Ancillary activities 1. An activity must be regarded as ancillary if it satisfies all the following conditions: (a) it serves only the unit referred to: in other words, goods or services produced must not be sold on the market; (b) a comparable activity on a similar scale is performed in similar production units; (c) it produces services or, in exceptional cases, non-durable goods which do not form part of the unit's end product (e. g. small implements or scaffolding); (d) it contributes to the current costs of the unit itself, i. e. does not generate gross fixed capital formation. 2. The distinction between ancillary, principal and secondary activity can be illustrated by a few examples, as follows: - production of small implements for the unit's use is an ancillary activity (in accordance with all criteria), - own-account transport is normally an ancillary activity (in accordance with all criteria), - sales of own products are an ancillary activity because, as a general rule, it is not possible to produce without sales. However, if it is possible to identify a retail sales point within a production enterprise (direct sales to end-user) which may be, for example, a local unit, this sales point - exceptionally and for the purposes of certain analyses - may be regarded as a kind-of-activity unit. This observation unit then forms the subject of a twofold classification, i. e. in terms of the (principal or secondary) activity it performs within the enterprise and in terms of its own activity (retail sale). 3. Thus, the general rule is that, since production processes are not usually viable without the support of ancillary activities, these ancillary activities should not be isolated to form distinct entities, even if they are carried out by a distinct legal entity or at a distinct place, and even if separate accounts are kept. Furthermore, the ancillary activity is not taken into account when classifying the activity of the entity by which the ancillary activities are carried out. The best example of an entity carrying out ancillary activities is the central administrative department of registered office. 4. Having regard to the definition in point 1, the following activities must not be considered as ancillary activities: (a) the production of goods or work carried out which forms part of fixed capital formation - in particular, construction work for own account. This is in line with the method used in NACE Rev. 1, where units carrying out construction work for own account are classified under the building industry if data are available; (b) production, a significant part of which is sold commercially, even if much is used as consumption in connection with the principal or secondary activities; (c) the production of goods which subsequently become an integral part of the output of the principal or secondary activity - e. g. production of boxes, containers, etc. by a department of an enterprise for use in packing its products; (d) the production of energy (integrated power station or integrated coking plant), even where this is consumed in its entirety in the principal or secondary activity of the parent unit; (e) the purchase of goods for resale in unaltered state; (f) research and development. These activities are not very widespread and do not produce services which are used in current production. In all these cases, if separate data are available for these activities, they should be regarded as distinct activities and subsequently recognized as KAUs. 5. If ancillary activities are carried out for the benefit of a single entity, these activities and the resources they use will constitute an integral part of the activities and resources of that unit. However, if the activities of the statistical unit and the corresponding ancillary activities are not carried out in the same geographical area (defined in terms of the zones delimited for the purposes of statistical surveys), it may be desirable to collect separate supplementary information on these units for the categories of data which have to be classified in terms of geographical areas, even if the units only carry out ancillary activities. 6. If ancillary activities are carried out basically for the benefit of two or more kind-of-activity units, the cost of these ancillary activities must be spread over all the kind-of-activity units which they support. If data are available on the proportion of the costs which can be assigned to each of these distinct activities, the costs should be broken down accordingly. However, should no information of this kind be available, the cost of the ancillary activity should be broken down over the principal and secondary activities proportionately to the value of output minus intermediate costs excluding the costs of the ancillary activities themselves. If this method proves too difficult in practice, the cost of the ancillary activity may simply be broken down proportionately to the value of output. 7. If ancillary activities are organized in such a way as to serve two or more entities of a multi-unit enterprise, they may constitute a group of ancillary activities at a distinct location. In this case, in the same way as it would be desirable to cover certain activities completely even if they are carried out independently or by entities which are engaged exclusively in ancillary activities (such as computer services), it could be useful to allow for supplementary classifications. For this purpose these ancillary entities could then be classified according to their own activities as well as being classified under the activity of the unit to which they belong. 8. It is possible that an activity starts out as ancillary but subsequently begins to provide services for sale to other entities. An activity of this kind may develop to the point where it ceases to be an ancillary activity and must therefore be regarded as one of the principal or secondary activities of an entity. The only way of deciding whether a given activity should be regarded as an ancillary activity or a principal or secondary activity is to assess the role it plays in the enterprise as a whole. C. Synoptic table by activity and location

Summary: EU production system — statistical units EU production system — statistical units SUMMARY OF: Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 — statistical units for observing and analysing the production system in the EU WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION? It defines statistical units* used for collecting, transmitting, publishing and analysing data on the production system in the EU. These definitions of statistical units are necessary so that Eurostat can provide reliable, detailed harmonised statistics with the necessary speed and flexibility to businesses, financial institutions, governments and others across the EU. The choice of statistical unit to be used for particular enquiries or analyses is determined in specific texts. KEY POINTS The regulation lays down a list of 8 statistical units: 1.the enterprise — a unit producing goods or services which has a certain degree of autonomy in decision-making, especially in the allocation of its current resources, e.g. a small business; 2. the institutional unit — a unit with decision-making autonomy in respect of its principal function and which keeps a complete set of accounts, e.g. companies or cooperatives, partnerships, public enterprises or non-profit institutions recognised as independent legal entities; 3. the enterprise group — an association of enterprises bound together by legal and/or financial links. It can have more than one decision-making centre, especially for policy on production, sales and profits and may centralise certain aspects of financial management and taxation; 4. the kind-of-activity unit (KAU) — groups all the parts of an enterprise contributing to the performance of an activity at class level (four digits) of NACE* Rev. 1 and corresponds to one or more operational subdivisions of the enterprise; 5. the unit of homogeneous production (UHP) — a unit characterised by a single activity which is identified by its homogeneous inputs, production process and outputs. The products which constitute the inputs and outputs are themselves distinguished by their physical characteristics, the extent to which they have been processed and the production technique used, by reference to a product classification. The unit of homogeneous production may correspond to an institutional unit or a part of a unit; on the other hand, it can never belong to 2 different institutional units; 6. the local unit — an enterprise or part of an enterprise (e. g. a workshop, factory, warehouse, office, mine or depot) situated in a geographically identified place. At or from this place, economic activity is carried out for which — with certain exceptions — one or more persons work (even if only part-time) for one and the same enterprise; 7. the local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU) — the part of a KAU which corresponds to a local unit; 8. the local unit of homogeneous production (local UHP) — the part of a UHP which corresponds to a local unit. Defining statistical units Statistical units are defined on the basis of 3 criteria: legal, accounting or organisational criteria; geographical criteria (local, regional, national, EU or international); activity criteria (activities are determined by reference to a specific level of NACE). Relationship between the different types of statistical units The relationship between the different types of statistical units can be summarised in the following way: Activity in one location Activity in more than one location One activity More than one activity Enterprise unit X X X X Institutional unit X X X X Local unit X X X KAU X X X UHP X X X Local KAU X X Local UHP X Committee The European Commission may adopt measures for the implementation of this regulation, including measures designed to adapt it to economic and technical progress. In 2009, the European Statistical System Committee replaced the Statistical Programme Committee. The committee is responsible for supporting the Commission in implementing this regulation. It comprises EU countries’ representatives and is chaired by the Commission. FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY? It has applied since 19 April 1993. BACKGROUND For more information see: Glossary: Statistical unit (Eurostat). KEY TERMS Statistical unit: the entity for which the required statistics are compiled. It may be an observation unit in which information is received and statistics are compiled or an analytical unit, which statisticians create by splitting or combining observation units using estimations or imputations in order to supply more detailed and/or homogeneous data than would otherwise be possible. NACE: abbreviation for the EU’s classification of economic activities, from the French Nomenclature statistique des activités économiques. MAIN DOCUMENT Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community (OJ L 76, 30.3.1993, pp. 1–11) Successive amendments to Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only. last update 14.09.2017


EUR-Lex - 31990R3037 - EN Avis juridique important | 31990R3037 Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 of 9 October 1990 on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community Official Journal L 293 , 24/10/1990 P. 0001 - 0026 Finnish special edition: Chapter 2 Volume 7 P. 0152 Swedish special edition: Chapter 2 Volume 7 P. 0152 COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) N° 3037/90of 9 October 1990on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European CommunityTHE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), In cooperation with the European Parliament (2), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3), Whereas, in order to function, the internal market requires statistical standards applicable to the collection, transmission and publication of national and Community statistics so that undertakings, financial institutions, governments and all other operators in the single market can be provided with reliable and comparable statistical data; Whereas such information is necessary to enable undertakings to assess their competitiveness, and useful to the Community institutions in preventing distortions of competition; Whereas only if the Member States use classifications of activities linked to the Community classification will it be possible to provide integrated information with the reliability, speed, flexibility and degree of detail required for the management of the internal market; Whereas provision should be made for the Member Statesto be able, in order to meet national requirements, to retainor to insert in their national classifications additional subdivisions based on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community; Whereas the international compatibility of economic statistics requires that the Member States and theCommunity institutions use classifications of economic activities which are directly linked to the United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC); Whereas use of the classification of economic activities inthe Community requires that the Commission be assisted bythe Statistical Programme Committee set up by Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (4) on any issue relating to the application of this Regulation, in particular as regards interpretation of that classification, minor amendments thereto, the drafting and updating of explanatory notes and the establishment of guidelines for the classification of statistical units in accordance with the said classification; Whereas it is vital that the contents of the various categories of the classification of activities in the European Community be interpreted uniformly in all the Member States; Whereas the introduction of a new classification requires a transitional period, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 11. The purpose of this Regulation is to establish a common statistical classification of economic activities within the European Community in order to ensure comparability between national and Community classifications and hence national and Community statistics. 2. This Regulation shall apply only to the use of classifications for statistical purposes. 3. This Regulation does not per se oblige Member States to collect, publish or supply data and is not concernedwith obligations as regards the degree of detail and typeof statistical units to be used in statistical surveys and analyses. Article 21. A common basis for statistical classifications of economic activities within the European Community, hereinafter referred to as 'NACE Rev. 1`, is hereby established, comprising: - a first level consisting of headings identified by an alphabetical code (sections), - an intermediate level consisting of headings identified by a two-character alphabetical code (subsections), - a second level consisting of headings identified by a two-digit numerical code (divisions), - a third level consisting of headings identified by a three-digit numerical code (groups), - a fourth level consisting of headings identified by a four-digit numerical code (classes). 2. NACE Rev. 1 is annexed to this Regulation. Article 31. NACE Rev. 1 shall be used by the Commission for all statistics classified by economic activities. 2. Member States' statistics classified by economic activities shall be compiled using NACE Rev. 1 or a national classification derived therefrom which complies with the following rules: (a) the national classifications shall contain levels corresponding to those of NACE Rev. 1, in the sense that each of the levels shall consist of either the same headings as the corresponding NACE Rev. 1 level or headings constituting an exact breakdown thereof; (b)additional levels may be introduced; (c)each of the levels, except for the highest, shall aggregate exactly into the next higher level of NACE Rev. 1; (d)the coding may be different. 3. Member States shall forward to the Commission, for its approval prior to their publication, the drafts defining or modifying their national classifications. The Commission shall check the conformity of these drafts with paragraph 2 of this Article. The national classification approved by the Commission shall be transmitted to the other Member States for information. Member States' publications shall include a table of correlation between the national classifications and NACE Rev. 1. 4. Member States wishing to use a national classification derived from NACE Rev. 1 shall adopt as soon as possible, and not later than 31 December 1992, the measures necessary to establish a national classification pursuant to this Article. Article 4In addition to the provisions referred to in Article 3, inthe event of incompatibility between certain NACE Rev. 1 positions and the national economic structure, the Commission may authorize a Member State to use at a given level an aggregation of NACE Rev. 1 positions in a specific sector. To obtain such an authorization, the Member State concerned must provide the Commission with all the necessary information to consider its request. However, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 3 (2) (a), this authorization shall not entitle the Member State concerned to subdivide the aggregated headings in a way different from NACE Rev. 1. The Commission shall, together with the Member State concerned, periodically review the application of these provisions to verify whether they are still justified. Article 5The Commission shall take all the necessary measuresto ensure the implementation and management of NACERev. 1. Article 6The Commission shall, at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, and after consulting the Committee provided for in Article 7, take the necessary steps to ensure uniform application of NACE Rev. 1. Article 7The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee, hereinafter referred to as 'the Committee`, composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by a representative of the Commission. Article 8The Committee may examine any questions concerning NACE Rev. 1 raised by its chairman, either on his own initiative or at the request of the representative of a Member State, which have a bearing on the application of this Regulation, especially as regards: (a) interpretation of NACE Rev. 1; (b) incorporation of minor amendments to NACE Rev. 1: - designed to take account of technological or economic developments, - designed to align and clarify texts, - resulting from amendments made to other economic classifications, in particular ISIC Rev. 3; (c)preparation and coordination of work on revising NACE Rev. 1; (d)drafting and updating of explanatory notes on NACE Rev. 1; (e)elaboration of guidelines for classifying statistical units in accordance with NACE Rev. 1; (f)examination of problems arising from implementation of NACE Rev. 1 in the Member States' classifications of economic activities; (g)attempting to prepare, as appropriate, a common position concerning the work of international organizations on classifications of economic activities, especially ISIC and its explanatory notes. Measures to be taken under (a) to (g) shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure defined in Article 9. Article 91. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be adopted. 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 thecase of decisions which the Council is required to adopton 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. 2. The Commission shall adopt the measures, which shall apply immediately. However, if those measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they shall be communicated by the Commission to the Council forthwith. In that event, the Commission shall defer application of the measures which it has decided upon for three months from the date of such communication. 3. The Council, acting by qualified majority, may takea different decision within the period referred to in paragraph 2. Article 101. Statistics collected after 1 January 1993 by Member States involving classification by economic activity, shall becompiled using NACE Rev. 1 or a national classification derived therefrom pursuant to Article 3. 2. Member States shall use NACE Rev. 1 to transmit to the Commission statistics collected after 1 January 1993 classified by economic activity. Article 111. There will be a transitional period starting on1 January 1993 and ending on 31 December 1994. During this period the Commission may, for certain data collected after 1 January 1993, authorize a Member State, on thebasis of duly substantiated technical or operational reasons, to use a classification other than that provided for under Article 3. 2. The Commission may extend the transitional period at the request of a Member State. Article 121. If transmitting the data referred to in Article 11 to the Commission, Member States shall, at the Commission's request, endeavour to forward them in a form adapted to NACE Rev. 1. 2. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with the information required on the correlation tables used for these data. The Commission shall publish these correlation tables. Article 13The Commission shall publish the table of correlation between current NACE and NACE Rev. 1 within the six months following the entry into force of this Regulation. Article 14This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Luxembourg, 9 October 1990. For the CouncilThe PresidentP. ROMITA(1) OJ N° C 58, 8. 3. 1990, p. 25. (2) OJ N° C 175, 16. 7. 1990, p. 84, and Decision of 12 September 1990 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (3) OJ N° C 182, 23. 7. 1990, p. 1. (4) OJ N° L 181, 28. 6. 1989, p. 47. ANNEX ClassificationsNACE Rev. 1>TABLE>

Summary: Statistical classification of economic activities Statistical classification of economic activities SUMMARY OF: Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 — ensuring the consistent classification of economic activities across the EU Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 — establishing the statistical classification of economic activities WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION? It sets out a classification of economic activities to be used across the EU to ensure that statistics gathered are comparable. The regulation has been amended several times. The main amendment was Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 establishing NACE Revision 2, which currently applies. KEY POINTS The regulation defines a 4-digit classification of economic activities, commonly known as NACE*. The regulation in its original form refers to NACE Revision 1. However, NACE Revision 2 has applied since 2008. NACE, which was first introduced in 1970, is consistent with the UN economic activities classification ISIC (International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities). This makes it possible to compare statistics across countries and in different fields. NACE’s alpha-numeric structure is hierarchical and its 4 levels, detailed in the regulation’s annex, are as follows: headings identified by an alphabetical code (sections), e.g. Section A: Agriculture, forestry and fishing;headings identified by a 2-digit numerical code (divisions), e.g. Division 01: Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities and Division 02: Forestry and logging;headings identified by a 3-digit numerical code (groups), e.g. Group 01.2: Growing of perennial crops;headings identified by a 4-digit numerical code (classes), e.g. Class 01.21: Growing of grapes. In 2009, the European Statistical System Committee replaced the Statistical Programme Committee. It is responsible for the implementation and management of NACE and for ensuring its uniform application across the EU. It comprises EU countries’ representatives and is chaired by the Commission. FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY? Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 has applied since 13 November 1990. With the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 amending Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90, the NACE Revision 2 has applied since 1 January 2008 in all domains except short-term statistics and the labour-cost index to which it has applied since 1 January 2009. BACKGROUND For more information, see: NACE Rev. 2 — Statistical classification of economic activities — overview (Eurostat) NACE Rev. 2 — Statistical classification of economic activities — publication (Eurostat). KEY TERMS NACE: abbreviation of the name of the EU’s classification of economic activities which is derived from the French Nomenclature statistique des activités économiques. MAIN DOCUMENT Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains (OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, pp. 1–39) Successive amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 have been incorporated into the original text. This consolidated version is of documentary value only. Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 of 9 October 1990 on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (OJ L 293, 24.10.1990, pp. 1-26) See consolidated version. last update 13.11.2017