30.1.2015

Official Journal of the European Union

C 31/3

OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

of 5 December 2014

on a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures

(CON/2014/84)

(2015/C 31/04)

Introduction and legal basis

On 15 July 2014 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the Council of the European Union for an opinion on a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures (1) (hereinafter the ‘proposed regulation’).

The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, since the proposed regulation concerns the collection of balance of payments (BOP) statistics which is a European System of Central Banks (ESCB) task in line with Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 (2). In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.

1. General observations

1.1.

European statistics are developed, produced and disseminated by both the European Statistical System (ESS) partnership and the ESCB and both operate under separate legal frameworks reflecting their respective governance structures (3).

1.2.

Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 allocates to the ECB, assisted by the national central banks (NCBs), the task to collect information on, inter alia, BOP and international investment position (IIP) statistics, either from the competent national authorities or directly from economic agents. The initial statistical reporting requirements of the ECB in the field of BOP and IIP statistics were specified by the Governing Council of the ECB in Guideline ECB/1998/17 (4) and recast on 9 December 2011 by Guideline ECB/2011/23.

1.3.

BOP and IIP statistics are crucial datasets to support the ESCB in its tasks to define and implement the single monetary policy, potentially conduct foreign exchange operations and hold and manage official reserves. They also support the assessment of external vulnerabilities and interconnectedness for financial stability purposes, the ‘risk dashboard’ of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) (5) as well as the ‘scoreboard’ of the macroeconomic imbalances procedure (6). BOP and IIP statistics are part of the ‘Special Data Dissemination Standard’ and the ‘Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus’ of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (7) and are required for IMF ‘Article IV consultations’ of the euro area and the Member States. The ECB and the NCBs publish BOP and IIP statistics on a monthly and quarterly basis.

1.4.

On 12 January 2005, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 (8) establishing reporting requirements for the production of Union statistics on BOP, international trade in services and foreign direct investment. The Balance of Payments Committee (hereinafter the ‘BOP Committee’) established by the same Regulation (9), on which Member States are mainly represented by NCBs, secures strong alignment of reporting requirements, methodology and quality assurance processes relating to BOP and IIP statistics.

1.5.

NCBs, as members of the ESCB, produce European statistics under Articles 3 and 5 of the Statute of the ESCB, as further implemented in Regulation (EC) No 2533/98, and do not participate in the production of European statistics under Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 (10). Therefore, following agreement between an NCB and the Commission (Eurostat), data produced by the NCB may be used directly or indirectly by the Commission (Eurostat) for the production of European statistics.

1.6.

Since Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 has allocated the collection of information on BOP and IIP statistics to the ECB, with the assistance of NCBs, and in order to minimise the reporting burden and to guarantee the coherence necessary to produce European statistics the Commission is invited to make appropriate use of the BOP and IIP statistics provided by the ESCB.

2. Specific observations

2.1. Implementation of a new system of adopting delegated and implementing acts in the area of BOP and IIP statistics

2.1.1.

The proposed regulation implements a new system for the adoption of delegated and implementing acts, under Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty, in the area of BOP and IIP statistics. Article 1(1) of the proposed regulation aims to empower the Commission to adopt delegated acts to amend the data requirements for BOP and IIP, including the revision, extension and elimination of data flows, and submission deadlines. Likewise, Article 1(2) proposes to confer upon the Commission implementing powers to adopt the quality standards and the content and periodicity of the quality reports for BOP and IIP statistics.

2.1.2.

Data requirements, submission deadlines and quality assurance standards are essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 and have a direct impact on the reporting burden of data compilers and reporting agents. As the ESCB has been allocated the task, by the Council, of collecting BOP and IIP statistics either from the competent national authorities or directly from economic agents since 1998, close cooperation between the ESCB and the ESS must be ensured when defining, amending or updating such statistics. Otherwise, European BOP and IIP statistics produced by the ESS and the ESCB may unnecessarily diverge or be inconsistent.

2.1.3.

Divergent or inconsistent BOP statistical reporting requirements not only increase the reporting burden for respondents such as small and medium-sized enterprises, they may also result in different BOP statistics depending on the purpose for which the data are used. Such differences would not be in line with the principles of data relevance, cost effectiveness and minimisation of the reporting burden laid down in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 and Regulation (EC) No 2533/98.

2.1.4.

Hence, the ECB does not support the proposal in Article 1(1) of the proposed regulation to delegate powers to the Commission to amend the data requirements for BOP and IIP, including those relating to submission deadlines, revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows. Articles 1(1) and 1(3) of the proposed regulation should be deleted accordingly.

2.2. The role of the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics

2.2.1.

The proposed regulation abolishes the BOP Committee and transfers all comitology powers to the European Statistical System Committee, on which members of the ESCB are not represented (11). Moreover, NCBs, as members of the ESCB, produce European statistics under Articles 3 and 5 of the Statute of the ESCB, as further implemented in Regulation (EC) No 2533/98, and do not participate in the production of European statistics under Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.

2.2.2.

In order to ensure continued close cooperation in this field, the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) (12) should be at the centre of mutual cooperation on BOP and related statistics (e.g. international trade in goods, international trade in services, foreign direct investment, foreign affiliates statistics) and would need to be consulted on proposals for new legal acts, including amending legal acts, on BOP and related statistics.

2.2.3.

Therefore, appropriate wording should be inserted in Articles 1(2) and 1(4) of the proposed regulation obliging the Commission to request the opinion of the CMFB before proposing amendments to essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005. In particular, this should apply to amendments relating to: (a) the data requirements, including submission deadlines as well as revisions, extensions and eliminations of data flows; (b) updating the definitions set out in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 184/2005; and (c) the common quality standards as well as the content and periodicity of the quality reports.

2.3. Consultation of the ECB

Implementing acts of the Commission qualify as proposed Union acts within the meaning of the first indent of Article 127(4) and Article 282(5) of the Treaty (13). The ECB therefore needs to be consulted, separately from the CMFB, on any draft implementing acts that fall within its fields of competence. This consultation process will enable the ECB to contribute with the full benefit of its long-standing experience and expertise in BOP statistics.

Done at Frankfurt am Main, 5 December 2014.

The President of the ECB

Mario DRAGHI

(1) COM(2014) 379 final.

(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (OJ L 318, 27.11.1998, p. 8); see also Recommendation ECB/2003/8 of 2 May 2003 on the statistical reporting requirements of the European Central Bank in the field of balance of payments and international investment position statistics, and the international reserves template (OJ C 126, 28.5.2003, p. 7) and Guideline ECB/2011/23 of 9 December 2011 on the statistical reporting requirements of the European Central Bank in the field of external statistics (OJ L 65, 3.3.2012, p. 1).

(3) See Article 338(1) of the Treaty, Article 5 of the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank (hereinafter the ‘Statute of the ESCB’) and recital 8 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164).

(4) Guideline ECB/1998/17 of 1 December 1998 on the statistical reporting requirements of the European Central Bank in the field of balance of payments and international investment position statistics (OJ L 115, 4.5.1999, p. 47).

(5) Addressed in a separate legal act.

(6) See Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances (OJ L 306, 23.11.2011, p. 25).

(7) See IMF Policy Papers, ‘Revisions to the Special Data Dissemination Standard and Establishment of the Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus—Proposed Decisions’, 4 October 2012, and ‘Modifications to the Special Data Dissemination Standard Plus’, 19 March 2014, available on the IMF’s website at www.imf.org

(8) Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 January 2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment (OJ L 35, 8.2.2005, p. 23).

(9) See Article 11(1) of Regulation (EC) No 184/2005.

(10) See recital 9 thereof.

(11) See Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.

(12) See Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. The CMFB was established by Council Decision 2006/856/EC of 13 November 2006 establishing a Committee on monetary, financial and balance of payments statistics (OJ L 332, 30.11.2006, p. 21).

(13) The first indent of Article 127(4) of the Treaty provides that the ECB shall be consulted ‘on any proposed Union act in its fields of competence’. Article 282(5) of the Treaty provides that: ‘Within the areas falling within its responsibilities, the European Central Bank shall be consulted on all proposed Union acts’.

30.1.2015

Official Journal of the European Union

C 31/6

Euro exchange rates (1)

29 January 2015

(2015/C 31/05)

1 euro =

	Currency	Exchange rate
USD	US dollar	1,1315
JPY	Japanese yen	133,43
DKK	Danish krone	7,4440
GBP	Pound sterling	0,74775
SEK	Swedish krona	9,3245
CHF	Swiss franc	1,0372
ISK	Iceland króna
NOK	Norwegian krone	8,8230
BGN	Bulgarian lev	1,9558
CZK	Czech koruna	27,792
HUF	Hungarian forint	312,00
PLN	Polish zloty	4,2324
RON	Romanian leu	4,4405
TRY	Turkish lira	2,7267
AUD	Australian dollar	1,4535
CAD	Canadian dollar	1,4179
HKD	Hong Kong dollar	8,7722
NZD	New Zealand dollar	1,5552
SGD	Singapore dollar	1,5305
KRW	South Korean won	1 240,27
ZAR	South African rand	13,1531
CNY	Chinese yuan renminbi	7,0672
HRK	Croatian kuna	7,6975
IDR	Indonesian rupiah	14 278,77
MYR	Malaysian ringgit	4,1089
PHP	Philippine peso	49,862
RUB	Russian rouble	78,2726
THB	Thai baht	37,055
BRL	Brazilian real	2,9421
MXN	Mexican peso	16,7722
INR	Indian rupee	70,0403

(1) Source: reference exchange rate published by the ECB.

30.1.2015

Official Journal of the European Union

C 31/7

CALL FOR PROPOSALS — EACEA 04/2015

under the Erasmus+ programme

‘Comprehensive policy frameworks for continuing vocational education and training’

(2015/C 31/06)

1. Objectives and description

The objective of the Call is to support the development of public policies that seek to coordinate the provision of high quality, relevant and accessible continuing vocational education and training (CVET) and to ensure a significant increase in take-up of further training opportunities, as part of comprehensive national, regional or local skills strategies.

The Call shall encourage cooperation between national authorities and all relevant stakeholders involved in CVET, including the skills development of employees and the reorientation of workers (such as the training provided by public employment services).

The present Call addresses national authorities in charge of CVET policies in each country of the Erasmus+ programme, or an organisation designated by them.

The direct involvement of the competent national authorities (ministry or equivalent) is to make sure that the projects can effectively contribute to a better understanding of the CVET training provision and polices in place. The projects should demonstrate how competent public authorities use their steering role in defining the strategic priorities of national, regional or local skills policies and related CVET policies to create the basis for systemic reform. Each project will draw on practices in one or more countries of the Erasmus+ programme, thus benefitting from the transfer of knowledge and experience. The active involvement of national, regional or local stakeholders such as social partners (employers’ and employees’ organisations), VET providers, individual companies and intermediary organisations will be an important element of the quality of the proposal.

2. Eligible applicants

The present call is open to national authorities in charge of CVET, in each country of the Erasmus+ programme.

Grant applications must be submitted by at least two entities from at least two different countries of the Erasmus+ programme.

The eligible applicant (coordinator) must be a national authority or an organisation designated by the national authority which is responsible for VET, including CVET and is located in a programme country.

Eligible partners may be ministries and other stakeholders, such as social partners, businesses, chambers of commerce, public or private VET providers, research centres, etc.

Where the applicant (coordinator) is an organisation designated by a national authority, the national authority designating it must be included in the application either as co-applicant (a full partner), or as an associated partner participating in the implementation on a no-cost basis.

Natural persons are not eligible.

Eligible countries are:

—	the 28 Member States of the European Union,

—	the EFTA/EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway,

—	EU candidate countries: the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey,

—	EU potential candidate countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.

3. Eligible activities

Grants will support national authorities’ efforts to plan for or implement policy intervention in CVET with the aim to secure coherence and relevance of supply and significantly increase adults’ participation in learning. The activities shall engage relevant national, regional or local stakeholders, as well as drawing on the advice and expertise of peers from one or more Erasmus+ programme countries that have similar challenges or have effective CVET policies and provision.

The following types of activities are eligible under this Call for proposals:

—	feasibility studies, reviews of national/regional/local regulations on CVET, cost-benefit analysis,

—	detailed action plans for developing and implementing a coherent policy framework for CVET,

—	organising national/regional/local business forums to mobilise employers to invest in CVET,

—	organising and/or participating in conferences, seminars and working groups,

—	awareness-raising campaigns, valorisation and dissemination actions; activities that support the project’s sustainability,

—	exchanges of good and/or innovative practices between countries through, e.g. targeted study visits,

—	research activities,

—	preparatory work to design effective interventions in CVET through the use of ESF or other relevant funds,

—	communities of practice.

The duration of the projects is either 12 months or 24 months. Applications for projects scheduled to run for a shorter or longer period than that specified in this Call for proposals will not be accepted.

4. Award criteria

Eligible applications will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

1.	relevance of the project (maximum 40 points — threshold minimum 20 points);

2.	quality of the project design and implementation (maximum 20 points — threshold minimum 10 points);

3.	quality of the project consortium and the cooperation arrangements (maximum 20 points — threshold minimum 10 points);

4.	impact and dissemination (maximum 20 points — threshold minimum 10 points).

The threshold for proposals to be put forward to the evaluation committee shall be minimum 60 points (out of 100 points in total).

5. Budget

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at maximum EUR 4 200 000.

Each grant will amount to between a maximum of EUR 150 000 for a 1-year and a maximum of EUR 300 000 for a 2-year project. The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (the ‘Agency’) expects to fund around 15 proposals.

The EU grant is limited to a maximum co-financing rate of 75 % of eligible costs.

The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

6. Deadline for submission of applications

Applications must be submitted no later than the 30 April 2015 12.00 midday (Brussels time).

Applications shall comply with the following requirements:

—	they must be submitted exclusively using the correct official online application form,

—	they must be drafted in any official EU language.

Please note that only applications submitted online using the e-form will be considered.

Failure to comply with those requirements will lead to the rejection of the application.

7. Full details

The guidelines together with the application form can be found at the following internet address:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus_en

Applications must comply with all the terms of the guidelines.

30.1.2015

Official Journal of the European Union

C 31/10

Grant award notice

Call for proposals — ref: GP/RPA/ReferNet-FPA/004/14

ReferNet — Cedefop’s European Network for Vocational Education and Training (VET)

(2015/C 31/07)

1. Contracting authority

Cedefop

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training

Attn: Mr G. PARASKEVAIDIS

123 Europe Street

PO Box 22427

551 02 Thessaloniki

GREECE

Contact point: Ms Clotilde ASSUMEL-LURDIN

Tel. +30 2310490287

Fax +30 2310490028

E-mail: c4t-services@cedefop.europa.eu

Previous publication: OJ C 234, 19.7.2014, p. 10.

2. Grant award

Beneficiary name

Address

Framework partnership agreement number

Framework partnership agreement duration

Framework partnership agreement signature date

Specific Grant agreement number

Specific Grant agreement duration

Specific Grant agreement signature date

Grant amount (EUR)

Centrul Naţional de Dezvoltare a Învăţământului Profesional şi Tehnic — CNDIPT

str. Spiru Haret nr. 10-12, Sector 1

010176 Bucharest

ROMANIA

No 2014-FPA1/GP/RPA/ReferNet-FPA/004/14

12 months

20 November 2014

No 2014-0172

12 months

28 November 2014

29 750,00

The procedure has been declared unfruitful for Greece (no partner was selected).

30.1.2015

Official Journal of the European Union

C 31/12

Prior notification of a concentration

(Case M.7505 — TCG Financial Services II, L.P./Warburg Pincus LLC/DBRS Holdings Limited)

Candidate case for simplified procedure

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2015/C 31/08)

On 21 January 2015, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which TCG Financial Services II, L.P. (‘TCGFS II’ USA), belonging to the Carlyle Group L.P. (‘Carlyle’, USA) and Warburg Pincus LLC (‘Warburg Pincus’ USA) acquire within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of DBRS Holdings Limited (‘DBRS’, Canada) by way of purchase of shares.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

—

Carlyle is a global alternative asset manager. It manages funds that invest globally across four investment disciplines: (i) corporate private equity; (ii) real estate, infrastructure and energy; (iii) structured credit, mezzanine, distressed, hedge funds, and middle market debt; and (iv) private equity fund of funds programme and related co-investment and secondary activities,

—	Warburg Pincus is a private equity firm active globally in a variety of sectors, including consumer, industrial and services, energy, financial services, healthcare, and technology, media and telecommunications,

—	DBRS is a global provider of credit rating opinions across a broad range of financial institutions, corporate entities, government bodies and various structured finance product groups in North America, Europe, Australasia and South America.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved. Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified procedure for treatment of certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in this Notice.

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by email to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number M.7505 — TCG Financial Services II, L.P./Warburg Pincus LLC/DBRS Holdings Limited, to the following address:

European Commission

Directorate-General for Competition

Merger Registry

1049 Bruxelles/Brussel

BELGIQUE/BELGIË

(1) OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2) OJ C 366, 14.12.2013, p. 5.

		ISSN 1977-091X
Official Journal of the European Union		C 31

English edition	Information and Notices	Volume 58 30 January 2015

Notice No	Contents	page
	II Information
	INFORMATION FROM EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS, BODIES, OFFICES AND AGENCIES
	European Commission
2015/C 031/01	Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.7333 — Alitalia/Etihad) ( 1 )	1
2015/C 031/02	Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.7475 — Edenred/Hermes/Eckstein/UTA) ( 1 )	1
2015/C 031/03	Non-opposition to a notified concentration (Case M.7427 — Macquarie/Nippon Yusen Kaisha/NYK Ports) ( 1 )	2

	III Preparatory acts
	European Central Bank
2015/C 031/04	Opinion of the European Central Bank of 5 December 2014 on a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment as regards conferring of delegated and implementing powers upon the Commission for the adoption of certain measures (CON/2014/84)	3

	IV Notices
	NOTICES FROM EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTIONS, BODIES, OFFICES AND AGENCIES
	European Commission
2015/C 031/05	Euro exchange rates	6

	V Announcements
	ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
	European Commission
2015/C 031/06	Call for proposals — EACEA 04/2015 under the Erasmus+ programme — Comprehensive policy frameworks for continuing vocational education and training	7
	European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training
2015/C 031/07	Grant award notice — Call for proposals — ref: GP/RPA/ReferNet-FPA/004/14 — ReferNet — Cedefop’s European Network for Vocational Education and Training (VET)	10
	PROCEDURES RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPETITION POLICY
	European Commission
2015/C 031/08	Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.7505 — TCG Financial Services II, L.P./Warburg Pincus LLC/DBRS Holdings Limited) — Candidate case for simplified procedure ( 1 )	12

	Corrigenda
2015/C 031/09	Corrigendum to the call for proposals — GR/001/15 — Support for awareness raising activities about the value of intellectual property and the damages of counterfeiting and piracy ( OJ C 13, 16.1.2015 )	13