By letter of 8 May 2003 the Commission submitted to Parliament, pursuant to Articles 251(2) and 285 of the EC Treaty, a proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation on quarterly financial accounts for general government (COM(2003) 242 – 2003/0095(COD)).

At the sitting of 12 May 2003 the President of Parliament announced that he had referred the proposal to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs as the committee responsible (C5‑0222/2003).

The committee appointed Astrid Lulling rapporteur at its meeting of 4 June 2003.

It considered the Commission proposal and draft report at its meetings of 17 September 2003 and 1 October 2003.

At the latter meeting it adopted the draft legislative resolution by 24 votes with 1 abstention.

The following were present for the vote Christa Randzio-Plath (chairwoman, José Manuel García-Margallo y Marfil (vice-chairman), Philippe A.R. Herzog (vice-chairman), John Purvis (vice-chairman), Astrid Lulling (rapporteur), Hans Blokland, Armonia Bordes, Renato Brunetta, Bert Doorn (for Ingo Friedrich), Harald Ettl (for Giorgos Katiforis), Jonathan Evans, Carles-Alfred Gasòliba i Böhm, Robert Goebbels, Lutz Goepel (for Generoso Andria), Christopher Huhne, Othmar Karas, Piia-Noora Kauppi, Alain Lipietz, Hans-Peter Mayer, Fernando Pérez Royo, Alexander Radwan, Bernhard Rapkay, Olle Schmidt, Bruno Trentin, Ieke van den Burg (for Pervenche Berès).

The report was tabled on 1 October 2003.

on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation on quarterly financial accounts for general government

(COM(2003) 242 – C5‑0222/2003 – 2003/0095(COD))

(Codecision procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2003) 242)(1),

–   having regard to Articles 251(2) and 285 of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C5‑0222/2003),

–   having regard to Rule 67 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (A5‑0320/2003),

1.   Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

2.   Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend the proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.   Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

Text proposed by the Commission   Amendments by Parliament Amendment 1 Article 6, paragraph 3 The first transmission of quarterly data referred to in Articles 3, with the exception of other accounts receivable/payable (F.7 and AF.7), 4 and 5 shall be according to the following timetable: The first transmission of quarterly data referred to in Articles 3, with the exception of other accounts receivable/payable (F.7 and AF.7), 4 and 5 shall be according to the following timetable: a)   for the central government sub-sector (S.1311) and for the social security funds sub-sector (S.1314), no later than 30 June 2003; a)   for the central government sub-sector (S.1311) and for the social security funds sub-sector (S.1314), no later than 31 December 2003; 31 December 2003; the Commission may grant a derogation, not exceeding two years, for the starting date of transmission of counterpart information, in so far as the national statistical system requires major adaptations; b)   for the state government (S.1312) and local government (S.1313) sub-sectors: b)   for the state government (S.1312) and local government (S.1313) sub-sectors: -   i) no later than 30 June 2003 for the transactions in liabilities and liabilities as detailed under Article 3 (paragraph 1); the Commission may grant a derogation, not exceeding two years, for the starting date of transmission of these data, in so far as the national statistical systems require major adaptations; -   i) no later than 31 December 2003 for the transactions in liabilities and liabilities as detailed under Article 3 (paragraph 1); the Commission may grant a derogation, not exceeding two years, for the starting date of transmission of these 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 (paragraph 1). -   ii) no later than 30 June 2005 for the transactions in financial assets and assets as detailed under Article 3 (paragraph 1). c)   for the general government sector (S.13), no later than 30 June 2005. c)   for the general government sector (S.13), no later than 30 June 2005. Justification The deadlines stipulated in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) have been overtaken by events. They should be changed in keeping with the spirit of the timetable laid down in the Commission proposal.

(1) Not yet published in OJ.

The proposal for a regulation under consideration here seeks to impose on the Member States a requirement to forward quarterly data concerning financial transactions and financial assets and liabilities for all units classified in the general government sector.

This compilation of quarterly data must be consistent with the definitions laid down in the European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 95), in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996, which covers both the financial instruments and the sub-sectors of general government concerned and lays down a number of accounting rules (evaluation rules, time of recording, consolidation rules, etc.).

The proposal for a regulation lists the instruments in respect of which data will have to be forwarded to the European Commission. Those instruments cover all forms of general government debt, for example deposits, but above all loans issued on the markets or contracted directly with financial intermediaries, and all the financial assets held by government units, for example their cash assets and all forms of securities, including holdings in undertakings in the form of quoted or unquoted shares.

In addition, counterpart information will have to be supplied in connection with some financial instruments, concerning, for example, the institutions issuing the securities held by government sectors or the nature of the entities which have granted loans to government sectors. The detailed list, which is annexed to the proposal for a regulation, has been drawn up in cooperation with experts from the Member States.

A third aspect which should be emphasised is that the proposal for a regulation lays down the conditions in accordance with which estimates may be forwarded rather than data ‘provided directly by sources’, i.e. the central government sectors themselves.

The proposal for a regulation is entirely consistent with the approach adopted by the Ecofin Council when it approved on 18 January 1999, a special report, drawn up by the Monetary Committee, emphasising the need for quarterly data to be provided within a reasonable period (later agreed as three months), given that such data is crucial to the monitoring and coordination of economic policies in the context of the transition to the third phase of Economic and Monetary Union and the completion of the single market. With that aim in view, statistics concerning general government were seen as a priority.

In that connection, in June 2002 Parliament and the Council adopted a regulation (No 1221/2002) the aim of which is to make it compulsory for general government to forward a detailed list of quarterly non-financial data (included in expenditure and revenue) on the basis of arrangements similar to those outlined in the proposal under consideration here.

The new proposal for a regulation thus represents an entirely logical extension of the regulation referred to above, particularly as the coordination of non-financial and financial data is now at the heart of national accounting systems. It adopts the same step-by-step approach and lays down a similar starting date, 30 June 2005. As from that date, full non-financial and financial quarterly accounts for the general government sector will be available. This will make for a more comprehensive analysis of the role of this vital sector in the economy and will give political decision-makers in the European Union a new insight in to the background to and the impact of some of their decisions.

Finally, it should be noted that, since its inception, the European Central Bank, which clearly cannot content itself with general data when drawing up its monetary policy analyses, has made substantial efforts to compile quarterly financial accounts for the euro zone (Monetary Union Financial Accounts - MUFAs). The range of instruments covered by and the reliability of those accounts will undoubtedly be improved by the new requirements to supply quarterly statistics laid down in the proposal for a regulation.

In view of the specific nature of the preparation process, necessitating wide-ranging consultations between European and national statisticians, the proposal lays down a single intermediate starting date, 30 June 2003, prior to the final starting date of 30 June 2005.

This intermediate starting date applies in particular to the central government and social security funds sub-sectors, with a two-year period of grace for certain financial instruments, given that more far-reaching adjustments will have to be made to national statistical systems in order to supply reliable quarterly data. If necessary, Member States will be able to submit to the Commission a request for a derogation, but at all events the system will have to be fully operational as from the second quarter of 2005.

Given the timetable for consideration of this proposal for a regulation by the European Union's legislative bodies, the intermediate starting date should be put back to 31 December 2003.

In view of the adjustments to their statistical systems (compilation and processing of information) which these new requirements will make virtually inevitable, the Commission (Eurostat) and the European Central Bank, working closely together, have encouraged the Member States to supply the requisite data within three months.