Application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the EC Treaty. Codification

In accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 (as amended by Regulation (EC) No 679/2010), on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community, the Commission presented a report on the quality of the actual data reported by Member States in 2013. The previous report (on the 2012 notifications) was adopted by the Commission on 20 February 2013.

Eurostat acknowledges overall improvements in the consistency and completeness of the reported data. Nevertheless, some issues persist, and Member States should step up efforts in order to improve the coverage and quality of the trade credits reported and the completeness of data on the sub-national government levels. In particular, this is the case of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Greece, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria and the United Kingdom.

During the year 2013, Eurostat carried out the following EDP dialogue visits: Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Estonia, Poland, Greece, Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany, Romania, Finland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Slovakia. Furthermore, in 2013, Eurostat carried out a pre-euro accession visit to Latvia and a preaccession visit to Croatia on 26-27 June.

Recurring issues discussed during the visits included the classification of units within or outside the general government sector (e.g. concerning public transport, public corporations, television and radio, hospitals and universities), capital injections, Public-Private Partnerships, grants from the EU budget, the recording of guarantees, and overall quality management of upstream data flows.

In 2013, Eurostat expressed a reservation on the data reported in the October 2013 EDP notification for Austria. It is possible that this will lead to an upward revision of government debt of up to half a per cent of GDP, with more minor revisions to the government deficit, based on the information available at this point.

Overall, Eurostat concludes that the progress on the quality of the reporting of fiscal data continued in 2013. In general, Member States have provided better information, both in EDP notification tables and in other relevant statistical returns.