Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 177/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 establishing a common framework for business registers for statistical purposes and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 2186/93^f1, and in particular Article 14 thereof,

Having regard to the requests made by the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, Ireland, the Hellenic Republic, the French Republic, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Malta, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic,

Whereas:

Regulation (EC) No 177/2008 established a new common framework for business registers exclusively for statistical purposes in order to maintain the development of business registers in a harmonised framework.

Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 177/2008 provides that when business registers require a major overhaul, the Commission may grant a derogation at the request of a Member State for a transitional period that shall not exceed 25 March 2010. For agriculture, forestry and fishing, public administration and defence, and compulsory social security, and for the additional characteristics relating to enterprise groups, the Commission may grant a derogation at the request of a Member State for a transitional period that shall not exceed 25 March 2013.

Some Member States have requested such derogations to be granted.

It seems justified to grant those derogations, as the Member States’ requests are based on a legitimate need to further adapt their national statistical systems,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: