Regulation (EC) No 716/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 on Community statistics on the structure and activity of foreign affiliates (Text with EEA relevance)
Regulation (EC) No 716/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 20 June 2007on Community statistics on the structure and activity of foreign affiliates(Text with EEA relevance)THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 285(1) thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Having regard to the opinion of the European Central BankOJ C 144, 14.6.2005, p. 14.,Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the TreatyOpinion of the European Parliament delivered on 12 December 2006 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 25 May 2007.,Whereas:(1)Regular and good quality Community statistics on the structure and activity of foreign affiliates in the whole economy are essential for an adequate assessment of the impact of foreign-controlled enterprises on the European Union economy. This would also facilitate the monitoring of the effectiveness of the internal market and the gradual integration of the economies in the context of globalisation. In this context, multinational enterprises are playing a leading role, but small and medium-sized enterprises can also be concerned by foreign control.(2)The implementation and review of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPs) as well as the current and future negotiations on further agreements call for the relevant statistical information to be made available in order to assist the negotiations.(3)For the preparation of economic, competition, enterprise, research, technical development and employment policies in the context of the liberalisation process, statistics on foreign affiliates to measure direct and indirect effects of foreign control on employment, wages and productivity in particular countries and sectors are necessary.(4)The information provided under existing Community legislation or available in Member States is insufficient, inadequate or insufficiently comparable to serve as a reliable basis for the work of the Commission.(5)Regulation (EC) No 184/2005OJ L 35, 8.2.2005, p. 23. Regulation as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 602/2006 (OJ L 106, 19.4.2006, p. 10). establishes a common framework for the systematic production of Community statistics on balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment. As balance of payments statistics cover only partially the data included in the GATS, it is essential that detailed statistics on foreign affiliates be produced regularly.(6)Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 58/97 of 20 December 1996 concerning structural business statisticsOJ L 14, 17.1.1997, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1). and 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 CommunityOJ L 76, 30.3.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1). established a common framework for the collection, compilation, transmission and evaluation of Community statistics on the structure and activity of businesses in the Community.(7)The compilation of national accounts according to the Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the CommunityOJ L 310, 30.11.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1267/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 180, 18.7.2003, p. 1). requires comparable, complete and reliable business statistics on foreign affiliates.(8)Collectively, the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services of the United Nations, the Balance of Payments Manual (fifth edition) of the International Monetary Fund, the Benchmark Definition on foreign direct investment and the Handbook on Economic Globalisation Indicators of the Organisation for the Economic Cooperation and Development establish the general rules for compiling international comparable statistics on foreign affiliates.(9)The production of specific Community statistics is governed by the rules set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community StatisticsOJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003..(10)Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the creation of common statistical standards for the production of comparable statistics on foreign affiliates, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the action, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve that objective.(11)The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the CommissionOJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11)..(12)In particular, power should be conferred on the Commission to adapt the definitions in Annexes I and II and the level of detail in Annex III as well as to make any consequential changes to Annexes I and II, to implement the results of the pilot studies and to define the proper common quality standards and the contents and periodicity of the quality reports. Since those measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of, or to supplement, this Regulation by the addition of new non-essential elements, they should be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny laid down in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.(13)The Statistical Programme Committee, established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, EuratomOJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47., and the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics, established by Council Decision 2006/856/ECOJ L 332, 30.11.2006, p. 21., have been consulted,HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: