Structural business statistics

The general objective of the proposed regulation was to call on Member States to provide Eurostat with comparable statistical data relating to the structure, activity, competitiveness and performance of European businesses, in order to meet the needs which the Commission, the Member States, the business community and other users have for statistical information. The proposal lays down the norms, standards and definitions necessary for producing comparable statistics within the European Union, without detailing the actual collection methods to be used. Each Member State would be able to carry out the data collection exercises in the manner most appropriate to its own situation, for example to take account of national requirements for the presentation of company accounts. �