19 Statistics
| Committee's assessment
| (a)-(b) and (d) Legally and politically important
(c) and (e) Politically important
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| Committee's decision | (a) Cleared from scrutiny (by Resolution of the House on 20 January 2014) (b)-(e) Not cleared from scrutiny; further information requested
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| Document details | (a) Draft Regulation to amend the European Statistical Law, (b) Draft Regulation on statistics for the macroeconomic imbalances procedure, (c) Draft Regulation about Commission powers in relation to EU external trade statistics, (d) European Central Bank Opinion on document (b), (e) Draft Regulation concerning harmonised indices of consumer prices
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| Legal base | (a)-(c) and (e) Article 338 TFEU; co-decision; QMV
(d) —
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| Department
Document numbers
| Office for National Statistics
(a) (33844), 9122/12, COM(12) 167, (b) (35070), 11177/13, COM(13) 342, (c) (35303), 13517/13, COM(13) 579, (d) (35415), 14224/13, —, (e) (36570), 16612/14 + ADD 1, COM(14) 724
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Summary and Committee's conclusions
19.1 At present we have under scrutiny three draft Regulations
and an associated European Central Bank Opinion concerned with
the EU statistical system. We have also had occasion recently
to report again on another draft Regulation, which was cleared
from scrutiny in January 2014.
19.2 The Government gives us now, in anticipation
of the Dissolution of Parliament, an update on the situation in
relation to these five documents.
19.3 We are grateful to the Government for this
information. We note that the Government may vote in favour of
two of the draft Regulations, even if they have not been cleared
from scrutiny. We remind the Government that if this occurs our
successor Committee will have to have the circumstances explained
to it.
Full details of
the documents: (a) Draft Regulation amending
Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009 on European statistics: (33844),
9122/12, COM(12) 167; (b) Draft Regulation on the provision and
quality of statistics for the macroeconomic imbalances procedure:
(35070), 11177/13, COM(13) 342; (c) Draft Regulation amending
Regulation (EC) No. 471/2009 on Community statistics relating
to external trade with non-member countries as regards conferring
of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the
adoption of certain measures: (35303), 13517/13, COM(13) 579;
(d) European Central Bank Opinion on a draft Regulation on the
provision and quality of statistics for the macroeconomic imbalances
procedure (CONC/2013/72): (35415), 14224/13, —; (e) Draft
Regulation on harmonised indices of consumer prices and repealing
Council Regulation (EC) No. 2494/95: (36570), 16612/14 + ADD 1,
COM(14) 724.
Background
19.4 We consider a fairly steady stream of documents
concerned with the EU statistical system. At present we have under
scrutiny three draft Regulations, documents (b), (c) and (e) and
an associated European Central Bank Opinion, document (d). We
have also had occasion recently to report again on another draft
Regulation, document (a), which was cleared from scrutiny in January
2014.
The Ministers' letters of 9 February and 9 March
2015
19.5 In their separate letters the Minister for the
Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Mr Francis Maude) and the
Minister for Civil Society, Cabinet Office (Mr Rob Wilson), update
us on these five documents. In the following paragraphs we conflate
their comments.
Draft Regulation to amend the European Statistical
Law, document (a)
19.6 Regulation (EC) 223/2009 is the framework legislation
for the European Statistical System. All other legislation under
which EU statistics are produced must be made in accordance with
that Regulation. In April 2012, the Commission proposed, in this
draft Regulation, which was cleared from scrutiny after debate
in January 2014, amendments to four key features of the framework
Regulation.
19.7 The Government reminds us that:
· it
told us recently about unwelcome developments with the text, which
introduces provisions for sanctions regimes in future statistical
Regulations;
· the
Government believes these provisions would be illegal and it could
not support them; and
· in February
the Government confirmed to us that it does not intend to challenge
immediately the provisions in the European Court of Justice.
19.8 We are told now that:
· following
consideration of legal-linguist revisions to the text, the draft
Regulation was approved by Coreper on 4 March and final adoption
was agreed by the Energy Council on 5 March;
· the
Government voted against the proposal and laid a minute statement
to the effect that Article 338(1) TFEU does not constitute an
appropriate legal basis for Article 12.3(b) of the proposed Regulation;
and
· the
Presidency then transmitted the Council position to the European
Parliament for its approval during its March plenary.
Draft Regulation on statistics for the macroeconomic
imbalances procedure and a European Central Bank Opinion on the
draft Regulation, documents (b) and (d)
19.9 The macroeconomic imbalances procedure (MIP)
is a mechanism designed to identify and, if necessary, correct
harmful macroeconomic imbalances across the EU. Each Member State
is assessed against a "scoreboard" comprised of 11 macroeconomic
indicators that monitor the potential development of problematic
external and internal imbalances. The information in the scoreboard
informs crucial administrative and policy actions so its indicators
need to be reliable and of high quality. So the Commission has
presented this draft Regulation to introduce a wide range of new
procedures and obligations based on statistical provisions in
the current Excessive Deficit Procedure and Gross National Income
procedures, including Commission inspections of statistical production
processes in Member States, peer reviews by EU partners, obligations
to produce detailed inventory documentation (descriptions of sources
and methods used), methodological visits, production of extensive
quality reports by Member States and potential sanctions for negligence
or deliberately misrepresenting data.
19.10 Reminding us that the Government's aims are
to secure either a substantial re-draft of the proposed Regulation
or its removal altogether, a position we have supported, we are
told now that:
· the
proposal is still under negotiation at Council working party level,
where most Member States are currently overwhelmingly opposed
to the Commission's proposals, and there has been no substantive
progress at the committee stage in the European Parliament;
· related
to this matter, late in 2014, the Economic and Finance Committee
called for stakeholders to evaluate whether the Commission's proposal
was the best means of achieving the objectives;
· the
Committee on Monetary, Finance and Balance of Payments (CMFB),
has produced a firm proposal for an alternative, less burdensome,
approach to achieve the aims of the Commission`s proposal, which
would not necessarily require legislation at all;
· this
proposal is now being further refined by the CMFB, with good progress
made;
· it is,
however, still not clear how the Commission will respond to these
developments; and
· the
Latvian Presidency has stated that discussions are currently on
hold.
Draft Regulation about Commission powers in relation
to EU external trade statistics, document (c)
19.11 Regulation (EC) 471/2009 concerning statistics
on EU trade with non-Member States, contains pre-Lisbon Treaty
provisions about the comitology powers of the Commission. This
draft Regulation would replace the remaining pre-Lisbon comitology
provisions in Regulation (EC) 471/2009 with powers allowing the
Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts. The Government
is generally supportive of the proposal, but intends to secure
improvements in the text in order to properly circumscribe the
Commission's use of delegated acts.
19.12 We heard recently that there had been rapid
progress on this proposal under the Italian Presidency but that
it was not yet known what priority the Latvian Presidency would
give it. We are told now that:
· there
have been no further significant developments, although the Presidency
has indicated that it will consider holding a technical meeting
with the European Parliament to clarify the available options
for a final compromise text;
· it is
possible that negotiations will be completed and the proposal
brought to Council before our successor Committee first meets
in the next Parliament; and
· in that
event the Government would be inclined to vote in favour of the
proposal, if the final text is brought into line with similar
Regulations, by including an obligation on the Commission to consult
Member States' experts, which should adequately minimise the risks
associated with the Commission's use of delegated acts.
Draft Regulation concerning harmonised indices
of consumer prices, document (e)
19.13 The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP),
otherwise known as the Consumer Prices Index, provides a measure
of inflation used for effective economic policy-making, and particularly
in the area of monetary policy. The aim of this draft Regulation
is to rationalise the existing legal framework and implement some
new provisions to reflect developments in consumer prices statistics
and the EU legal framework over the last 20 years. Whilst acknowledging
the Government's favourable view of the proposal, we have noted
its concern about delegated acts aspects of the draft Regulation.
19.14 We are told now that:
· given
that this is a new proposal, there have been no significant developments
so far;
· initial
consideration of the proposal at Council working party level began
on 18 February and is scheduled to continue at the next meeting
on 17 March;
· it is
possible that discussions will be completed and the proposal brought
to Council before our successor Committee first meets in the next
Parliament; and
· in that
event the Government would be inclined to vote in favour of the
proposal if the final text adequately minimises the risks associated
with the Commission`s use of delegated acts and fully retains
measures which provide for improved efficiencies and quality in
price statistics.
New business
19.15 We are also told that:
· no
further new business is expected to arise from the Presidency
plans;
· in February
the European Statistical System Committee considered two draft
delegated acts — a delegated Regulation amending the methodology
for the classification of products by activity and a delegated
Regulation setting out the format in which national accounts research
and development expenditure data shall be transmitted by Member
States to the Commission;
· the
Government is satisfied that the delegated acts do not go beyond
what is provided for by the basic act and does not foresee any
difficulty or significant costs; and
· our
staff will be consulted in the usual way when the delegated acts
have been published as to whether they need to be deposited for
scrutiny.
Previous Committee Reports
Third Report HC 86-iii (2012-13), chapter 10 (23
May 2012), Nineteenth Report HC 86-xix (2012-13), chapter 9 (7
November 2012); Twenty-seventh Report HC 86-xxvii (2012-13), chapter
5 (16 January 2013); Twenty-ninth Report HC 86-xxix (2012-13),
chapter 6 (23 January 2013); Thirty-eighth Report HC 86-xxxvii
(2012-13), chapter 5 (26 March 2013); Twelfth Report HC 83-xii
(2013-14), chapter 10 (17 July 2013); Thirteenth Report HC 83-xiii
(2013-14), chapter 5 (4 September 2013); Seventeenth Report HC
83-xvi (2013-14), chapter 13 (9 October 2013); Twenty-second Report
HC 83-xx (2013-14), chapter 16 (6 November 2013); Twenty-eighth
Report HC 219-xxvii (2014-15), chapter 11 and chapter 18 (7 January
2015); Twenty-ninth Report HC 219-xxviii (2014-15), chapter 8
, chapter 9 and chapter 15 (14 January 2015) and Thirty-fourth
Report HC 219-xxxiii (2014-15), chapter 22 (25 February 2015).
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