52001PC0083

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL On the establishment of a common classification of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS)

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Regional statistics are a cornerstone of the European Statistical System, they are used for a wide range of purposes and a wide range of users. The regional data of the EU Member States are inter alia used for allocating structural funds in a rational and consistent way. Hence, regional statistics are the objective statistical base for important political decisions.

All regional statistics have to be based on a geographical division of the territory studied. Eurostat, in collaboration with other Commission departments, set up the Nomenclature of Statistical Territorial Units (NUTS) at the beginning of the 1970s as a single, coherent system for dividing up the European Union's territory in order to produce regional statistics for the Community.

This NUTS classification has gained increasing importance in recent years as the basis for harmonised, and thus comparable, regional data. NUTS is used as a reference for the collection, development, harmonisation and dissemination of Community regional statistics.

The NUTS classification has so far no legal basis of its own, i.e. there is no Regulation yet setting out in detail the rules for compiling and updating the system. These matters are settled so far by "gentlemen's agreements" between the Member States and Eurostat, sometimes after long and difficult negotiations. NUTS is then published by Eurostat.

NUTS was created and developed in accordance with the following principles:

First of all, NUTS regions are normative regions, they reflect political will; their boundaries are fixed in terms of the remit of local authorities and the size of the region's population regarded as corresponding to the economically optimal use of the necessary resources to accomplish their tasks. Usually they have a statutory existence in the administrative practice of the country concerned. They are clearly defined, usually universally recognised and relatively stable. They are the place in which certain levels of government exercise their powers, particularly where regional policy is concerned. Normative or administrative regions are therefore generally recognised by the national statistical systems as levels of data collection, processing and dissemination.

NUTS is a hierarchical classification of 3 levels. It subdivides each Member State into a whole number of regions at NUTS 1 level. Each of these is then subdivided into regions at NUTS Level 2, and these in turn into regions at NUTS Level 3. The administrative structure of the Member States is generally based on two main regional levels (Länder and Kreise in Germany, régions and départements in France, Comunidades autonomas and provincias in Spain, regioni and provincie in Italy, and so on).

Depending on the country, these levels may be NUTS 1 and NUTS 2, NUTS 1 and NUTS3, or NUTS 2 and NUTS 3. In order to complete a 3 level structure for each country, the "missing" level is synthesised by grouping together appropriate number of the units in the next level down. Like this the "non-administrative" regions for statistical purposes are formed.

There are several stages to applying the regional classification to a particular country. First the administrative structure is analysed; next a check is made of whether regional data are collected and disseminated on the basis of this regional breakdown, which they usually are. The average size (terms of population) of the units of the various existing administrative levels is then analysed to determine where these levels belong in the hierarchy of the regional classification. There are two possible outcomes:

- the average size broadly corresponds to that of an existing level within the NUTS classification. In this case, the administrative structure in question is adopted in its entirety, without change, as the regional breakdown at this level; this means that the size of certain units may differ widely from the average size of the units registered at this level;

- No administrative structure has an average size within the threshold mentioned above. In this case, in line with the practice adopted for Member States, an ad hoc breakdown is compiled, called "non-administrative units", in collaboration with the country concerned, by grouping together smaller administrative units.

Recent changes in the NUTS classification gave rise to some tensions between the Commission and the National Statistical Offices concerned. Soon several new Member States will join the European Union; for them, a consistent regional breakdown of their territory for statistical purposes also needs to be defined in a suitable way. All these political developments and foreseeable tasks lead the Commission to the conclusion that it would be appropriate to create a legal base for the NUTS classification.

In accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and of proportionality, the objective of creating a harmonised regional classification used for all European regional statistics can only be achieved at the Community level.

This legal text has been drawn up with several objectives in mind:

1. It should fix the current state of the NUTS breakdown of regions in the Member States, as it has developed over the last 20 years. This objective reflects the will of a large majority of National Statistical Offices. The current regional breakdown has proved to be an operational tool for the collection, computation and dissemination of regional statistics.

2. It should define objective criteria for the definition of regions, so that candidate countries have a guideline for creating a regional classification for their country. This objective is of particular importance for the current accession negotiations.

3. It should assure comparability and impartiality when regional statistics are compiled and used for various policy purposes. This is particular important for a base of future Regional Funds.

4. It should define clear rules for future amendments of the NUTS breakdown, so as to forestall conflicts of the kind that have occurred in the past. Amendments are inevitable when the administrative structure of a country changes. But also for the non-administrative units occasionally an adaptation to changing needs is mandatory. In the past, these amendments were discussed between the Commission and the country concerned without a clear framework of rules. The proposed Regulation shall remedy this unsatisfactory situation.

5. It should ensure that the NUTS classification is not amended too frequently, so that the users of regional statistics have the requisite stability of data for analysis.

To summarise, as the proposed Regulation will improve the current situation concerning regional statistics considerably, the European Parliament and the Council are invited to adopt the presently proposed Regulation.

2001/0046 (COD)

Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL On the establishment of a common classification of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 285 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [1],

[1] OJ C

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee [2],

[2] OJ C

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions [3],

[3] OJ C

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty [4],

[4] OJ C

Whereas:

(1) Users of statistics express an increasing need for harmonisation in order to have comparable data across the European Union. In order to function, the internal market requires statistical standards applicable to the collection, transmission and publication of national and Community statistics so that all operators in the single market can be provided with comparable statistical data. In this context, classifications are an important tool for the collection, compilation and dissemination of comparable statistics.

(2) Regional statistics are a cornerstone of the European Statistical System. They are used for a wide range of purposes. For many years European regional statistics have been based on a common regional classification, called "Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics" (hereinafter referred to as NUTS). It is now appropriate to fix this regional classification in a legal framework and to institute clear rules for future amendments of this classification.

(3) Accordingly, all Member States' statistics transmitted to the Commission, which are broken down by territorial units, should use the NUTS classification, where applicable.

(4) In its analysis and dissemination, the Commission should use the NUTS classification for all statistics classified by territorial units, where applicable.

(5) Different levels are needed for regional statistics depending on the purpose of these statistics. It is appropriate to have three levels of detail in the European regional classification NUTS.

(6) Information on the territorial composition of NUTS level 3 regions is necessary for the proper administration of the NUTS classification and should therefore be transmitted regularly to the Commission.

(7) Objective criteria for the definition of regions are necessary in order to ensure impartiality when regional statistics are compiled and used for various policy purposes.

(8) Users of regional statistics need stability of the data over time. The NUTS classification should hence not be amended more frequently than at most every three years. Already the existence of a Regulation will ensure a higher stability of rules over time.

(9) Comparability of regional statistics requires that the regions be of a comparable size in terms of population. In order to achieve this goal, amendments of the NUTS classification should render the regional structure more homogeneous in terms of population size.

(10) Amendments to the NUTS classification should require close consultations with the Member States.

(11) In accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and of proportionality laid down in Article 5 of the Treaty, the objectives of this legal act cannot be carried out adequately by the Member States. The harmonisation of regional statistics can better be carried out at the Community level; this legal act does not exceed what is necessary to achieve these objectives.

(12) The NUTS classification laid down in this Regulation should replace the "Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS)" established to date by the Statistical Office of the European Communities in co-operation with the national institutes for statistics. As a consequence, all references in Community acts to the "Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS)" should now be understood as referring to the NUTS classification laid down in this Regulation.

(13) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation are measures of general scope within the meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission [5], they should be adopted by use of the regulatory procedure provided for in Article 5 of that Decision.

[5] OJ L 184/23, 17.7.1999.

(14) The Statistical Programme Committee established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom [6] has been consulted in accordance with Article 3 of the aforesaid Decision.

[6] OJ L 181/47, 28.6.1989.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 Subject matter

1. The purpose of this Regulation is to establish a common statistical classification of territorial units, hereinafter referred to as "NUTS", in order to ensure the production and dissemination of comparable regional statistics in the Community.

2. The NUTS classification laid down in annex I shall replace the "Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS)" established by the Statistical Office of the European Communities in co-operation with the national institutes for statistics of the Member States.

Article 2 Structure

1. The NUTS classification comprises for each region a specified code and name. It subdivides the economic territory of the Community, as defined in the Commission Decision 91/450/EEC of 26 July 1991, [7] into territorial units, hereinafter referred to as "regions".

[7] OJ L 240 of 29.8.1991.

2. The NUTS classification is hierarchical. It subdivides each Member State into NUTS level 1 regions, each of which is subdivided into NUTS level 2 regions, these in turn each being subdivided into NUTS level 3 regions.

3. However, a particular region may represent several levels of NUTS.

4. Two different regions in the same Member State may not be identified by the same name. If two regions in different Member States have the same name, the country identifier is added to the region name.

Article 3 Classification criteria

1. Existing administrative units within the Member States constitute the first criterion used for the definition of regions.

To this end, "administrative unit" shall mean a geographical area with an Administrative Authority that has the power to take administrative or policy decisions for that area within the legal and institutional framework of the Member State.

2. In order to establish the relevant level of NUTS in which a given class of administrative units in a Member State is to be classified, the average size of this class of administrative units in the Member State shall lie within the following population thresholds:

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3. The existing administrative units that are used for the NUTS classification are laid down in annex II. Amendments to annex II may be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 7 paragraph 2.

4. If for a given level of NUTS no administrative units of a suitable scale exist in a Member State, in accordance with the size criteria referred to in paragraph 2, this NUTS level shall be constituted by aggregating an appropriate number of existing smaller administrative units. This aggregation shall take geographical, socio-economic, historical, cultural and / or other relevant criteria into consideration.

The resulting aggregated units shall hereinafter be referred to as "non-administrative units". The size of the non-administrative units in a Member State for a given NUTS level shall lie within the population thresholds referred to in paragraph 2.

However, because of particular administrative and geographical circumstances, to be appreciated by the Commission, individual non-administrative units may deviate from these thresholds.

5. If the population of a whole Member State is below the maximum threshold for a given NUTS level, the whole Member State will be one NUTS region for this level.

Article 4 Components of NUTS

1. Within six months after the entry into force of this Regulation, the Commission shall, after consulting the Member States, publish the components of each NUTS level 3 region in terms of local administrative units.

The existing local administrative units are laid down in annex III. Amendments to annex III may be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 7 paragraph 2.

2. Within the first six months of each year, Member States shall transmit all changes of the components for the previous year, respecting the electronic data format requested by the Commission.

3. If any of the changes of local administrative units leads to a need to change the NUTS 3 boundaries, the provisions of Article 5 apply.

Article 5 Amendments to NUTS

1. The Member States shall inform the Commission of all modifications to existing administrative units, as well as of all other changes at national level that may affect the classification criteria laid down in Article 3.

2. Amendments to the NUTS classification laid down in Annex I may be adopted by the Commission, at intervals of not less than every three years, on the basis of the criteria laid down in Article 3, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 7 paragraph 2.

3. The Commission shall amend the non-administrative units in a Member State, as referred to in Article 3 paragraph 4, only if, at the NUTS level in question, the amendment reduces the standard deviation of the size (in terms of population) of all EU regions.

4. Amendments to the NUTS classification shall enter into force on the first day of a quarter two years after their adoption in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 7 paragraph 2.

5. After an amendment to NUTS is adopted, the Member State concerned must ensure within two years the provision of historical time series for the new regional breakdown for the last five years.

Article 6 Management

The Commission shall take the necessary measures to ensure the consistent management of the NUTS classification. In particular, such measures may include:

(a) Drafting and updating of explanatory notes on NUTS,

(b) Examination of problems arising from the implementation of NUTS in the Member States' classifications of regions.

Article 7 Procedure

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee, instituted by Article 1 of Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom. [8]

[8] OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the regulatory procedure laid down in Article 5 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with Article 7 and Article 8 thereof.

3. The period provided for in Article 5(6) of Council Decision 1999/468/EC shall be three months.

Article 8 Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of 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,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

ANNEX I The NUTS classification (code - name)

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ANNEX II Existing administrative units

At NUTS level 1 for Belgium "regio/régions" and for Germany "Länder",

At NUTS level 2 for Belgium "provincie/provinces", for Germany "Regierungsbezirke", for Spain "comundidades autonomas", for France "régions", for Ireland "regions", for Italy "regioni", for the Netherlands "provincies" and for Austria "Bundesländer",

At NUTS level 3 for Belgium "arrondissements", for Denmark "Amter", for Germany "Kreise / kreisfreie Städte", for Greece "nomoi", for Spain "provincias", for France "départements", for Ireland "regional authority regions", for Italy "provincie" and for Sweden "län".

ANNEX III Existing local administrative units

For Belgium "Gemeenten/Communes", for Denmark "Kommuner", for Germany "Gemeinden", for Greece "Demoi/Koinotites", for Spain "Municipios", for France "Communes", for Ireland "administrative counties", for Italy "Comuni", for Luxembourg "Communes", for the Netherlands "Gemeenten", for Austria "Gemeinden", for Portugal "Freguesias", for Finland "Kunnat", for Sweden "Kommuner" and for the United Kingdom "Wards".