REPORT on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union

21.3.2005 - (COM(2004)0592 – C6‑0118/2004 – 2004/0202(COD)) - ***I

Committee on Regional Development
Rapporteur: Gerardo Galeote Quecedo

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union

(COM(2004)0592 – C6‑0118/2004 – 2004/0202(COD))

(Codecision procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the proposal of the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2004)0592)[1],

–   having regard to Article 251(2) and Article 285 of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted its proposal (C6‑0118/2004),

–   having regard to Rule 51 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Development (A6‑0067/2005),

1.  Approves the Commission proposal;

2.  Asks the Commission to reconsult Parliament should it propose to amend its proposal substantially or replace it by another text;

3.  Supports the Commission in submitting a communication to the European Parliament and the Council on the appropriateness of establishing rules on a Europe-wide basis for more detailed levels in the NUTS classification, as provided for in Article 2(5) of Regulation (EC) N° 1059/2003;

4.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.

• [1]  Not yet published in OJ.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

1. Introduction

Regulation (EC) 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and the Council establishes a common classification of territorial units for statistics (henceforth referred to by the acronym NUTS), pursuant to the Community's need for a suitable legal basis for such classification. Until this regulation was adopted, the modification and updating of units took place on the basis of gentlemen's agreements between the Member State concerned and Eurostat.

Regional statistics - defined by the Commission as the cornerstone of the statistical system - are used at Community level as an objective statistical base for a number of very diverse purposes. Major political importance attaches to some of these, e.g. the determination of the areas eligible for the Structural Funds or for state aids (in the latter case, subject to compatibility with Articles 87 to 89 of the EC Treaty).

Despite the EP's position in favour of including a fourth NUTS category (report A5-0071/2003; rapporteur: Rosa Miguélez Ramos) in order to cover smaller territorial units, Regulation (EC) 1059/2003 provides for only three NUTS categories, based on demographic criteria:

LEVEL	MINIMUM population	MAXIMUM population
NUTS 1	3 m	7 m
NUTS 2	800 000	3 m
NUTS 3	150 000	800 000

2. Background

Eurostat introduced the classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) over 25 years ago, with the aim of providing a single, uniform means of subdividing territorial units when drawing up regional statistics for the Union.

The NUTS classification has been used since 1988 in Community legislation. However, it was necessary to wait till 2003 for the adoption of a European Parliament and Council regulation dealing with NUTS. The regulation's objectives include, in particular, that of managing the inevitable process of change in Member States' administrative structures in as smooth a fashion as possible, in order to minimise the impact of changes on the availability and comparability of regional statistics. This objective is now all the more vital following the recent enlargement of the EU.

The NUTS classification has been created and developed on the basis of the following principles:

a) NUTS gives priority to institutional subdivisions: for practical reasons related to the availability of data and the implementation of regional policies, the NUTS classification is based in its origins on the existing institutional divisions in the Member States (normative criteria).

b) NUTS gives priority to regional units of a general character: it excludes specific territorial units and local units, preferring general regional units.

c) NUTS is a hierarchical classification based on three levels: at regional level (not taking account of municipal authorities), the Member States' administrative structure is usually characterised by two main regional tiers. If comparable units are to be grouped together at each level, NUTS has to create, for each Member States, an extra regional level additional to the two mentioned. This additional level corresponds to a less important administrative structure, or may not correspond to any such structure at all, and the level of its classification varies within the first three NUTS levels; this depends entirely on the Member State. The NUTS regulation (1053/2003) establishes the minimum and maximum levels for the average size of NUTS regions (see table in 'Introduction').

3. Comments on the proposal for a regulation

The Commission's proposal for a regulation is submitted in amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. Like its predecessor, this regulation will be adopted by codecision (Article 251 of the EC Treaty), with Article 285 of the EC Treaty as its legal basis[1]. The proposal for a regulation consists of a NUTS classification for the new Member States (adapting the existing Annex I to the situation created by the enlargement of the EU to take in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia), together with a set of definitions of the existing administrative units (Annex II) and a provision concerning smaller administrative units (Annex III).

By providing for the level of 'smaller administrative units', the Commission is responding to Parliament's call to remedy the lack of uniformity which has characterised the NUTS classification - with one and the same level applying to, for instance, all of Sweden (8 850 000 inhabitants and 410 000 km²) and the Brussels region (954 000 inhabitants and 161 km²).

Given this, and as the NUTS classification should be used wherever possible for all statistics from the Member States forwarded to the Commission that are broken down by territorial unit, it is necessary, for Regulation (EC ) No 1059/2003, to adapt Annexes I and II and to add the new Annex III, so as to take account of enlargement.

4. Conclusions

1. Your rapporteur welcomes the Commission's initiative regarding adaptation of the annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.

2. Your rapporteur does not consider it necessary to table amendments to the text of the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003. Nonetheless, greater emphasis could be placed on certain elements, i.e.: the application of codecision to the procedure; and the treatment of the smaller administrative units, on the subject of which additional recitals could be required.

3. Concerning the legal basis of the proposal for a regulation which is the subject of this report, your rapporteur believes it is necessary to adopt it on the basis of Article 285 of the EC Treaty, rather than by applying the acts of accession relating to the Member States which joined the EU on 1 May 2004. As the drawing-up of statistics is governed by the codecision procedure (Article 251 of the EC Treaty), this should be the procedure followed for adopting the proposal for a regulation. Article 285 of the EC Treaty, which lays down the legal framework for drawing up Community statistics, is the existing legal basis for Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003; for this reason, it does not appear desirable to change it with the proposal amending the regulation.

4. Your rapporteur further believes it is necessary to create a NUTS level for 'smaller administrative units', as this would make it possible to reflect real circumstances more accurately and avoid anomalies such as the presence of regional units with very different populations within the same NUTS level. He would therefore encourage the Commission to submit a communication on the subject in the course of 2005.

PROCEDURE

Title	Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union
References	COM(2004)0592 – C6‑0118/2004 – 2004/0202(COD)
Legal basis	Articles 251(2) and 285 EC
Basis in Rules of Procedure	Rule 51
Date submitted to Parliament	15.9.2004
Committee responsible   Date announced in plenary	REGI 14.12.2004
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)   Date announced in plenary
Not delivering opinion(s)   Date of decision
Enhanced cooperation   Date announced in plenary
Rapporteur(s)   Date appointed	Gerardo Galeote Quecedo 24.11.04
Previous rapporteur(s)
Simplified procedure   Date of decision
Legal basis disputed   Date of JURI opinion
Financial endowment amended   Date of BUDG opinion
European Economic and Social Committee consulted   Date of decision in plenary	16.12.2004
Committee of the Regions consulted   Date of decision in plenary
Discussed in committee	1.2.2005	15.3.2005
Date adopted	15.3.2005
Result of final vote	for: against: abstentions:			46 0 1
Members present for the final vote	Alfonso Andria, Stavros Arnaoutakis, Jean Marie Beaupuy, Rolf Berend, Adam Jerzy Bielan, Jana Bobošíková, Graham Booth, Bernadette Bourzai, Bairbre de Brún, Giovanni Claudio Fava, Gerardo Galeote Quecedo, Iratxe García Pérez, Eugenijus Gentvilas, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Ambroise Guellec, Zita Gurmai, Gábor Harangozó, Marian Harkin, Konstantinos Hatzidakis, Jim Higgins, Alain Hutchinson, Carlos José Iturgaiz Angulo, Mieczysław Edmund Janowski, Gisela Kallenbach, Tunne Kelam, Miloš Koterec, Constanze Angela Krehl, Sérgio Marques, Francesco Musotto, James Nicholson, Lambert van Nistelrooij, Jan Olbrycht, Markus Pieper, Francisca Pleguezuelos Aguilar, Elisabeth Schroedter, Alyn Smith, Grażyna Staniszewska, Margie Sudre, Oldřich Vlasák, Vladimír Železný
Substitutes present for the final vote	Jan Březina, Ole Christensen, Mojca Drčar Murko, Louis Grech, Eluned Morgan, Mirosław Mariusz Piotrowski, Richard Seeber, László Surján
Substitutes under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote
Date tabled – A6	21.3.2005					A6-0067/2005
Comments	...

• [1]  '... the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251, shall adopt measures for the production of statistics where necessary for the performance of the activities of the Community'.