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Second Meeting of the Council Working Party on Statistics, 9 March 2011 (Monday, 21 March 2011)

The meeting had three topics on the agenda:

Draft regulation on European Statistics on Permanent Crops
The first item on the agenda was the discussion of the Presidency compromise text regarding statistics on permanent crops. Éva Laczka, chair informed the Council Working Party on Statistics (CWPS) about the technical meeting that took place with the European Parliament on 9 February 2011, then summarized the comments received from the Member States in the framework of the written consultation prior to the meeting. The CWPS welcomed the new draft which was agreed to be a considerable step forward. The CWPS discussed the text article by article. On the basis of the comments made by the Member States, the Hungarian Presidency will draw up a new compromise text aiming at finding the right balance between needs and burden.

Draft regulation on European Environmental Economic Accounts
The chair informed the Council Working Party on Statistics on the outcome of the trilogue meeting with the European Parliament held on 3 of February 2011. Council positions were accepted by the European Parliament in three technical issues. There remained two outstanding issues concerning now-casts, and the question of implementing powers conferred to the Commission.
The Presidency and the Commission drew up a new wording regarding the now-casts that the EP is willing to accept in the context of an overall agreement. The proposal was endorsed by the CWPS.
In the case of implementing acts the new comitology regulation is to be applied. The European Parliament and the Commission requested to delete the paragraph related to the adoption of measures by the Commission in absence of an opinion of the Committee. Two countries raised scrutiny reservation concerning this issue. They were asked to give feedback if they could lift their reservation. Once the reservations have been lifted, the draft will be submitted to the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) for approval.
The delegations congratulated the Presidency for the progress with the legislative dossier aiming a first reading agreement.

(Remark: the two countries that had raised scrutiny reservation have lifted their reservation after the meeting of the Council Working Party on Statistics, which means that the draft compromise text will be submitted to Coreper for approval with a view of a first reading agreement with the European Parliament.)

Draft regulation on European Statistics on Tourism
For the preparation of the meeting of the Council Working Party on Statistics, two documents had been circulated among the Member States:
– a Presidency background material about the existing definitions and practices in the EU regarding persons with reduced mobility (PRMs) and the issue of the accessibility of hotel rooms for PRMs asking the opinion of the Member States and
– the compromise text circulated by the Council General Secretariat.
The chair stressed that only one outstanding issue remained, namely the data supply on persons with reduced mobility that was a political priority for the European Parliament.
Some delegations could not accept the provision of the compromise text related to the persons with reduced mobility. At the meeting of the CWPS the Presidency submitted a new compromise proposal on hotels’ accessibility for persons with reduced mobility. Five countries raised scrutiny reservation. They were asked to confirm in writing if they could lift their reservation after which the draft would be submitted to the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) for approval.

(Remark: since the meeting of the Council Working Party on Statistics, delegations have lifted their reservation and the draft compromise text has been inscribed on the agenda of the Meeting of the Permanent representatives Committee of 22 March 2011 for approval with a view to reaching an agreement at first reading with the European Parliament.)

First meeting of the Council Working Party on Statistics (2 February 2011) under the Hungarian Presidency (Monday, 21 February 2011)

The first meeting of the Council Working Party on Statistics under the Hungarian Presidency took place on 2 February 2011 in Brussels and was chaired by Éva Laczka.

She thanked the Spanish and Belgian Presidency for the excellent cooperation and the assistance given to the Hungarian Presidency. She stressed that the Hungarian Presidency puts emphasis on strengthening the consistency between different statistics and on the implementation of the new legislative procedures put in place by the Lisbon Treaty. She informed the participants that the Hungarian Presidency will organize in Visegrád, on 9-10 June 2011 a conference entitled “Communication – a tool to enhance statistical culture”. She presented the publication “Statistics of Centuries” issued and updated by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office on the occasion of the Hungarian EU-Presidency and distributed to the participants.

The meeting had four topics on the Agenda:

Draft regulation on European statistics on permanent crops
In preparation of the STATIS WP of 2 February 2011, the Hungarian Presidency circulated among the Member States a Presidency Note highlighting the main issues and suggesting possible solutions for them. The STATIS WP of 2 February 2011 welcomed and commented the paper. The Hungarian Presidency will draft a compromise text on the basis of the opinions expressed.

Draft regulation on European environmental economic accounts
A new compromise text was discussed together with the latest document sent by the EP concerning the compromise text. Good progress was reached on 14 January 2011 at the technical level meeting with the EP with a view of reaching a first reading agreement. The EP can support great part of the compromise text, but some issues need still to be agreed upon. In order to prepare the trilogue meeting with the EP on 3 February 2011, Member States were asked by the Presidency to send written comments on the EP proposals that could only be circulated right before the meeting. The representative of the legal service of the Council explained that the new comitology regulation would enter into force in March 2011 and explained its implications for the statistical legislative proposals under discussion.

Draft regulation on European statistics on tourism
Very good progress was reached with the EP at the trilogue meeting on 12 January 2011 with the aim of reaching a first reading compromise, there remains only one outstanding issue: the inclusion in the draft of data reporting obligation on the number of rooms accessible for persons with reduced mobility, which several Member States could not support. The Hungarian Presidency will come up with a new compromise proposal regarding this issue in order that a first reading could be reached.

Draft regulation on carriage of goods by road
A written consultation was launched on the dossier in January 2011, the results of which were communicated during this meeting. As a next step, the Hungarian Presidency committed itself to prepare a compromise proposal based on the opinions received from the Member States.

A political trilogue meeting with the EP took place on 3 February 2011 on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European environmental economic accouns (Monday, 21 February 2011)

The meeting was chaired by the rapporteur, Mr. Jo Leinen, chair of the EP ENVI Committee.

M. Leinen acknowledged that at the technical meeting on 14 January 2011 fair amount of progress was made. On 3 February agreement could be reached on nearly all the outstanding questions, two issues remained to be agreed on for the final compromise: the issue of now-casts and implementing acts.

The Presidency Team in statistics had two trilogue meetings with the European Parliament the second week of 2011 (Wednesday, 19 January 2011)

On 12 January 2011 an informal trilogue meeting took place in the European Parliament on the draft regulation of the European parliament and of the Council on tourism statistics. The EP delegation was led by the rapporteur, Mr. Brian Simpson. The meeting was held in a constructive and result-oriented atmosphere. Compromise agreement was proposed to all outstanding issues. The results of the meeting will be communicated to the Member States at the meeting of the Working Party on Statistics to be held on the 2nd February 2011 and a new compromise text will be submitted to the delegates.

On the 14th January 2011 a technical meeting took place in the European Parliament on the draft regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Environmental Economic Accounts. The objective of the meeting was to discuss the Council Document 17174/10 of 30 November 2010 and the European Parliament informed the Presidency and the Commission about the outcome of the shadow rapporteurs’ meeting. All the amendments proposed were discussed in detail and a new compromise text will be prepared for the meeting of the Council Working Party on Statistics of the 2nd February 2011.

Handover Meeting between the Belgian and Hungarian Presidencies (Wednesday, 19 January 2011)

On the 13th January 2011, the Handover Meeting between Belgium and Hungary of the Presidency of the Council Working Party on Statistics took place in Bruges with the participation of the three trio Presidencies, Eurostat and the Council General Secretariat. In the framework of the meeting, the Belgian Presidency presented the results achieved during their Presidency, and the Hungarian Presidency outlined its priorities, work plans, including the organisation of a conference to be held on 9–10th June 2011 on „Communication – a Tool to Improve Statistical Culture”.

Two presentations were made by Eurostat on the delegation of powers in the field of statistics, and on new challenges for European Statistics.

The formal meeting that took place in a very friendly atmosphere was followed by a visit of the historical City of Bruges and a nice dinner in one of the best restaurants in Bruges.

Representatives from the Hungarian Presidency visited Eurostat (Monday, 3 January 2011)

Representatives from the Hungarian Presidency visited Eurostat on 14 December before the start of the Presidency on 1 January 2011. The delegation was composed of Mrs. Éva Laczka, Deputy president of the HCSO in charge of economic statistics/Chair of the Council Working Party on Statistics and Mrs. Katalin Bálint, Co-chair. They met Mrs. Bohatá and the Directors, and outlined the priorities of the Hungarian Presidency for the first half of 2011. More »