Division Legal framework

Free movement of capital and services are crucial for the internal market. They belong to the so-called ‘fundamental freedoms’ which are central to the internal market. In its responsibility for monitoring the proper and timely application of the EC Treaty provisions governing the freedom of movement of capital and services, the Commission requires reliable and comparable statistical information.

The relevant provisions governing the freedom of capital movements are enshrined in Articles 56 to 60 of the EC Treaty. The freedom to provide cross-border services is set out in Article 49 of that Treaty.

Legal acts covering relevant statistical fields are: Regulation (EC) No 184/2005; Decision No 1608/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2003 on the production and development of Community statistics on science and technology^f1; Regulation (EC) No 716/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 on Community statistics on the structure and activity of foreign affiliates^f2; proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Structural Business Statistics.