Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 of 25 May 2009 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community (Codified version)

• Published date: 10 June 2009
• Official Gazette Publication: Gazzetta ufficiale dell’Unione europea, L 145, 10 giugno 2009,Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea, L 145, 10 de junio de 2009,Journal officiel de l’Union européenne, L 145, 10 juin 2009

2009R0479 — EN — 01.09.2014 — 002.001

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This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents

►B COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 479/2009 of 25 May 2009 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community (Codified version) (OJ L 145, 10.6.2009, p.1)

Amended by:

		Official Journal
		No	page	date
►M1	COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) No 679/2010 of 26 July 2010	L 198	1	30.7.2010
►M2	COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 220/2014 of 7 March 2014	L 69	101	8.3.2014

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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 479/2009

of 25 May 2009

on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community

(Codified version)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the third subparagraph of Article 104(14) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament ( 1 ),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank ( 2 ),

Whereas:

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 3605/93 of 22 November 1993 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community ( 3 ) has been substantially amended several times ( 4 ). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified.

(2) The definitions of ‘government’, ‘deficit’ and ‘investment’ are laid down in the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure by reference to the European System of Integrated Economic Accounts (ESA), replaced by the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community (adopted by Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community and hereinafter referred to as ►M2 ‘ESA 2010’ ◄ ) ( 5 ). Precise definitions referring to the classification codes of ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ are required. Those definitions may be subject to revision in the context of the necessary harmonisation of national statistics or for other reasons. Any revision of ESA will be decided by the Council in accordance with the rules on competence and procedure laid down in the Treaty.

(3) Under ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ , interest flows under swap contracts and forward rate agreements (FRAs) are to be classified in the financial account and require specific treatment for the data transmitted under the excessive deficit procedure.

(4) The definition of ‘debt’ laid down in the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure needs to be amplified by a reference to the classification codes of ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ .

(5) In the case of financial derivatives, as defined in ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ , there is no nominal value identical to that for other debt instruments. Therefore, it is necessary that financial derivatives are not included with the liabilities making up government debt for the purposes of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure. For liabilities which are subject to agreements fixing the exchange rate, this rate should be taken into account in the conversion into national currency.

(6) ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ provides a detailed definition of gross domestic product at current market prices, which is appropriate for the calculation of the ratios of government deficit to gross domestic product and of government debt to gross domestic product referred to in Article 104 of the Treaty.

(7) Consolidated government interest expenditure is an important indicator for monitoring the budgetary situation in the Member States. Interest expenditure is intrinsically linked to government debt. Government debt to be reported to the Commission by the Member States has to be consolidated within the government sector. The levels of government debt and of interest expenditure should be made mutually consistent. The methodology of ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ (point 1.58) recognises that, for certain kinds of analysis, consolidated aggregates are more significant than overall gross figures.

(8) Pursuant to the terms of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure, the Commission is required to provide the statistical data to be used in that procedure.

(9) The role of the Commission, as statistical authority, in that context is specifically exercised by Eurostat, on behalf of the Commission. As the Commission department responsible for carrying out the tasks devolving on the Commission as regards the production of Community statistics, Eurostat is required to execute its tasks in accordance with the principles of impartiality, reliability, relevance, cost-effectiveness, statistical confidentiality and transparency, as laid down in Commission Decision 97/281/EC of 21 April 1997 on the role of Eurostat as regards the production of Community statistics ( 6 ). The implementation by the national and Community statistical authorities of the Recommendation of the Commission of 25 May 2005 on the independence, integrity and accountability of the national and Community authorities should enhance the principle of professional independence, adequacy of resources and quality of statistical data.

(10) Eurostat is responsible, on behalf of the Commission, for assessing the quality of the data and for providing the data to be used within the context of the excessive deficit procedure, in accordance with Commission Decision 97/281/EC.

(11) A permanent dialogue should be established between the Commission and the Member States’ statistical authorities in order to ensure the quality both of the data reported by Member States and of the underlying government sector accounts compiled in accordance with ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ .

(12) Detailed rules are required to organise prompt and regular reporting by the Member States to the Commission (Eurostat) of their planned and actual deficits and of the levels of their debt.

(13) Pursuant to Article 104c(2) and (3) of the Treaty, the Commission is to monitor the development of the budgetary situation and of the stock of government debt in the Member States and to examine compliance with budgetary discipline on the basis of criteria relating to government deficit and government debt. If a Member State does not fulfil the requirements under one or both criteria, it is necessary for the Commission to take into account all relevant factors. The Commission has to examine whether there is a risk of an excessive deficit in a Member State,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

DEFINITIONS

Article 1

1. ►M2 For the purposes of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure and of this Regulation, the terms in paragraphs 2 to 6 are defined according to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of 21 May 2013 on the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Union (hereinafter referred to as ESA 2010). The codes in brackets refer to ESA 2010. ◄

2. ‘Government’ means the sector of ‘general government’ (S.13), that is ‘central government’ (S.1311), ‘state government’ (S.1312), ‘local government’ (S.1313) and ‘social security funds’ (S.1314), to the exclusion of commercial operations, as defined in ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ .

The exclusion of commercial operations means that the sector of ‘general government’ (S.13) comprises only institutional units producing non-market services as their main activity.

3. ‘Government deficit (surplus)’ means the net borrowing (net lending) ( ►M2 B.9 ◄ ) of the sector of ‘general government’ (S.13), as defined in ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ . The interest comprised in the government deficit is the interest ( ►M2 D.41 ◄ ), as defined in ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ .

4. ‘Government investment’ means the gross fixed capital formation (P.51) of the sector of ‘general government’ (S.13), as defined in ►M2 ESA 2010 ◄ .

5. ‘Government debt’ means the total gross debt at nominal value outstanding at the end of the year of the sector of ‘general government’ (S.13), with the exception of those liabilities the corresponding financial assets of which are held by the sector of ‘general government’ (S.13).

▼M2

Government debt is constituted by the liabilities of general government in the following categories: currency and deposits (AF.2); debt securities (AF.3) and loans (AF. 4), as defined in ESA 2010.

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The nominal value of a liability outstanding at the end of the year is the face value.

The nominal value of an index-linked liability corresponds to its face value adjusted by the index-related change in the value of the principal accrued to the end of the year.

Liabilities denominated in a foreign currency, or exchanged from one foreign currency through contractual agreements to one or more other foreign currencies shall be converted into the other foreign currencies at the rate agreed on in those contracts and shall be converted into the national currency on the basis of the representative market exchange rate prevailing on the last working day of each year.

Liabilities denominated in the national currency and exchanged through contractual agreements to a foreign currency shall be converted into the foreign currency at the rate agreed on in those contracts and shall be converted into the national currency on the basis of the representative market exchange rate prevailing on the last working day of each year.

Liabilities denominated in a foreign currency and exchanged through contractual agreements to the national currency shall be converted into the national currency at the rate agreed on in those contracts.

6. ‘Gross domestic product’...