Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Unit D1: Excessive deficit procedure, methodology and GFS
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication
1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication
1.5. Contact mail address
L-2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Restricted from publication
1.7. Contact phone number
Restricted from publication
1.8. Contact fax number
Restricted from publication
2.1. Metadata last certified
27 January 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
27 January 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
27 January 2025
3.1. Data description
Government Finance Statistics (GFS) form the basis for fiscal monitoring in Europe, most notably for the statistics related to the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP). The EDP is established in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and specified in the Stability and Growth Pact. The Member States report data related to the EDP to the Commission (Eurostat) which, in turn, is responsible for providing the data to the Council.
European GFS, including the statistics for the EDP, are produced in accordance with Regulation (EU) 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European system of national and regional accounts (ESA 2010), the EU manual for national accounts, which in September 2014 replaced the previous version of the national accounting framework ESA 95. It is supplemented by further interpretation and guidance from Eurostat, in particular the Manual on Government Deficit and Debt.
Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 as amended requires that Member States report government deficit/surplus (hereinafter deficit) and debt data related to the EDP twice per year: before 1 April and 1 October for the preceding four calendar years and a forecast for the current year. The data are reported in harmonised tables. These tables are designed specifically to provide a consistent framework, with a link to national budgetary aggregates and between the deficit and changes in the debt. They should be fully consistent with GFS data delivered to Eurostat under the ESA 2010 transmission programme.
The EDP notification tables contain for general government and its subsectors:
Table 1: Summary table on deficit and debt, including auxiliary indicators (gross fixed capital formation, interest expenditure and gross domestic product - GDP);
Tables 2A - 2D: Transition from the working balance to the deficit/surplus for general government subsectors;
Tables 3A - 3E: Transition from the deficit/surplus to the change in debt for general government and its subsectors;
Table 4: Supplementary data.
The data are presented in Eurostat's Statistics Database in national currency, euro/ECU, and percentage of GDP.
3.2. Classification system
The classification system is defined in ESA 2010: classification of institutional sectors and classification of transactions, other flows and balance sheet items (assets/liabilities).
3.3. Coverage - sector
Data covers the consolidated general government sector (S.13) and its subsectors.
The government deficit/surplus is the net borrowing/net lending (B.9) of general government, as defined in the ESA 2010. It is the difference between the revenue and the expenditure of the general government sector. The government debt is defined as the total consolidated gross debt at nominal (face) value at the end of the year in the following categories of government liabilities (as defined in ESA 2010): currency and deposits (AF.2), debt securities (AF.3) and loans (AF.4).
At the national level, data for the general government sector are consolidated between subsectors. The debt of the euro area and EU aggregates is consolidated by removal of the loans that Member States have granted to other Member States.
The working balance is the most often used concept and measure of the country's budget deficit/surplus as it generally appears in public accounts and budgetary presentations. In other words, for example, for central government, it should normally correspond to the budgetary outcome voted for by the parliament.
The deficit and debt data are reported by subsectors of general government: central government (S.1311), state government (S.1312), local government (S.1313) and social security funds (S.1314).
The transition from the working balance to the deficit/surplus (EDP tables 2A - 2D) is explained by the following items, based on an example for central government:
financial transactions included in the working balance;
non-financial transactions not included in the working balance;
difference between interest paid and accrued (D.41);
other accounts receivable / other accounts payable;
working balance of entities not part of central government;
net borrowing or net lending of other central government bodies;
other adjustments.
The transition from the deficit/surplus to the change in debt is explained by the following items:
net acquisition of financial assets: currency and deposits (F.2), debt securities (F.3), loans (F.4), equity and investment fund shares/units (F.5), financial derivatives (F.71), other accounts receivable (F.8) and other financial assets (F.1 and F.6);
net incurrence of liabilities in financial derivatives (F.71);
net incurrence (-) of other accounts payable (F.8);
net incurrence (-) of other liabilities (F.1, F.5, F.6 and F.72);
issuances above/below nominal value;
difference between interest (D.41) accrued and paid;
redemptions/repurchase of debt above/below nominal value;
appreciation/depreciation of foreign-currency debt;
changes in sector classification (K.61);
other volume changes in financial liabilities (K.3, K.4, K.5);
difference between capital and financial accounts (B.9-B.9f) and other statistical discrepancies.
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical unit is the institutional unit, as defined in ESA 2010. The institutional units are grouped into the general government sector and its subsectors.
3.6. Statistical population
General government sector and its subsectors.
3.7. Reference area
EU and euro area (EA) aggregates;
EU Member States
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data for most of EU Member States are available from 1995. Time series are shorter for some countries. The provision of historical EDP data (data except the last four reference years) is on a voluntary basis.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Units of measure are:
millions of national currency,
millions of euro/ECU, and
percentage of GDP.
For euro area countries, for reference periods prior to accession of the country to the euro area, data in national currency are expressed in euro-fixed, that is the former national currency divided by the irrevocable exchange rate.
The reference period is the calendar year. Stocks (such as debt) are as at the end of the calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Data may be circulated within the European Commission ahead of release.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Data are treated as confidential after reporting, during the validation process, until the news release.
8.1. Release calendar
The EDP statistics of the euro area, the EU and the Member States are published in Eurostat's news release and the Statistics Database twice per year (April and October). The precise date of publication is presented in Eurostat's release calendar.
Data are disseminated simultaneously to all interested parties through a database update and on Eurostat's website.
Data for EU countries: Data may be circulated within the European Institutions, especially the European Commission and the European Council ahead of release. National governments may release their national data beforehand, though the data remain subject to verification by Eurostat.
Comments may be made by the European Commission or EU Member States on the occasion of the release of EU data. See also: Europa eurostat.
At coinciding release dates, the series are normally consistent with the data in general government main aggregates and other tables in the domains annual and quarterly government finance statistics (gov_10a and gov_10q). Due to non-coinciding timing of revisions for some countries, temporary differences may occur on other dates. In this case, the data in the domains annual and quarterly government finance statistics are normally most up-to-date.
Please consult the news releases for information on the reservations and amendments by Eurostat to the individual countries' data or any general or specific explanatory notes.
See the page Quality reports of the dedicated section (GFS) on Eurostat's website. Also, the page "EDP Inventories" presents descriptions of the sources and methods used for compiling the reported EDP data, as required by Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 as amended.
11.1. Quality assurance
Quality of data is assured by adherence to the ESA 2010 and the Manual on Government Deficit and Debt and by the verification of the Member States' data by Eurostat.
Users of the EDP data: the European Commission (for purposes of the Stability and Growth Pact), the Council, the European Parliament, researchers, politicians, etc.
The main purpose of collecting these data is to ensure that high quality data is provided to the main user, the European Commission, to undertake its activities in surveying the Stability and Growth Pact.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Eurostat is in constant dialogue with the main users and the national statistical institutes in order to improve the EDP data.
12.3. Completeness
All data required by Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009, are available.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Not available.
13.2. Sampling error
Not available.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not available.
14.1. Timeliness
Council Regulation 479/2009 requires that Member States report EDP government deficit and debt data to Eurostat twice per year: before 1 April and before 1 October. Data is published around three weeks after the transmission deadline as announced in the release calendar.
14.2. Punctuality
Member States normally meet the deadlines.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Data are comparable across Europe, as harmonised European rules (ESA 2010, and Manual on Government Deficit and Debt) are used by all Member States for compiling the EDP data.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Comparability over time is ensured.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 as amended requires consistency of reported EDP data with the GFS data delivered to Eurostat in the ESA 2010 transmission programme. This consistency is verified by Eurostat in the course of verification of the Member States' EDP data.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Consistency is ensured within and between the EDP tables reported by the Member States.
Not available.
17.1. Data revision - policy
To further specify the general Eurostat revision policy, the following revision policy is in place for Excessive Deficit Procedure statistics>
Data are revised as necessary, in line with national accounts principles. At the time of each EDP notification, Member States can revise previously transmitted data back to year t-4 and must inform Eurostat about details of revisions since the previous EDP notification:
size of revisions;
subsector of general government;
what is the type of revisions: revisions to source data, methodological revisions or elimination of possible errors.
In accordance with Regulation (EU) 479/2009, Eurostat provides the data biannually (three weeks after the 1 April and 1 October) following a verification.
Data for earlier years (before t-4) are revised in the database by Eurostat, whenever Member States provide revised data and once this has been validated by Eurostat.
Any reported errors in the data result in a publication of revised data by Eurostat once verified or validated.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Under the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP), the data reported before 1 April are preliminary, since revised annual data are notified before 1 October. These revisions may affect all reported years. Further revisions may be necessary due to updated data sources or other reasons.
Major changes in methodology may occur as a result of EU legislation or Eurostat decisions (following a consultation procedure with Member States). To comply with existing EU requirements, major changes in methodology which occur at the national level may be mentioned in Eurostat's news release.
18.1. Source data
Data are based on annual national accounts of general government, derived primarily from administrative and other records of general government. Basic data are in millions of national currency.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Twice per year.
18.3. Data collection
Data are collected primarily from administrative reports, but sometimes also with statistical surveys (especially for enterprises reclassified into general government sector, extra budgetary units and local government units etc.).
18.4. Data validation
Eurostat validates data twice per year during the period of three weeks after the EDP notification by the Member States. The validation process consists of arithmetic and quality checks as well as checks on consistency with ESA 2010 methodology and with the GFS data delivered to Eurostat in the ESA 2010 transmission programme.
18.5. Data compilation
Valuation principles are in accordance with ESA 2010. However, debt is recorded at nominal (face) value. Foreign currency debt is converted into national currency using end-year market exchange rates (though special rules apply to contractual agreements). The debt of the euro area and EU aggregates is consolidated by removal of the loans that Member States have granted for support operations to other Member States.
For series transmitted in national currencies other than euro, the data are converted by Eurostat into euro using annual average exchange rates (provided by the European Central Bank – ECB) in the case of general government flows (net borrowing/net lending, gross fixed capital formation etc.). Eurostat converts national currency into euro using end-year exchange rates (provided by the ECB) in the case of general government debt and its breakdown by financial instrument.
Ratios as a percentage of GDP are based on annual GDP data submitted to Eurostat in the EDP notification. GDP is gross domestic product at current market prices, as defined in ESA 2010 (B.1*g).
Euro area and EU aggregates are formed by the aggregation of the country data in euro (ECU), with consolidation where appropriate.
18.6. Adjustment
Please consult the news releases for information on the reservations and amendments by Eurostat to the individual countries' data.
At coinciding release dates, the series are normally consistent with the data in general government main aggregates and other tables in the domains annual and quarterly government finance statistics (gov_10a and gov_10q). Due to non-coinciding timing of revisions for some countries, temporary differences may occur on other dates. In this case, the data in the domains annual and quarterly government finance statistics are normally most up-to-date.
Please consult the news releases for information on the reservations and amendments by Eurostat to the individual countries' data, as well as any general or specific explanatory notes.
Government Finance Statistics (GFS) form the basis for fiscal monitoring in Europe, most notably for the statistics related to the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP). The EDP is established in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and specified in the Stability and Growth Pact. The Member States report data related to the EDP to the Commission (Eurostat) which, in turn, is responsible for providing the data to the Council.
European GFS, including the statistics for the EDP, are produced in accordance with Regulation (EU) 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European system of national and regional accounts (ESA 2010), the EU manual for national accounts, which in September 2014 replaced the previous version of the national accounting framework ESA 95. It is supplemented by further interpretation and guidance from Eurostat, in particular the Manual on Government Deficit and Debt.
Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 as amended requires that Member States report government deficit/surplus (hereinafter deficit) and debt data related to the EDP twice per year: before 1 April and 1 October for the preceding four calendar years and a forecast for the current year. The data are reported in harmonised tables. These tables are designed specifically to provide a consistent framework, with a link to national budgetary aggregates and between the deficit and changes in the debt. They should be fully consistent with GFS data delivered to Eurostat under the ESA 2010 transmission programme.
The EDP notification tables contain for general government and its subsectors:
Table 1: Summary table on deficit and debt, including auxiliary indicators (gross fixed capital formation, interest expenditure and gross domestic product - GDP);
Tables 2A - 2D: Transition from the working balance to the deficit/surplus for general government subsectors;
Tables 3A - 3E: Transition from the deficit/surplus to the change in debt for general government and its subsectors;
Table 4: Supplementary data.
The data are presented in Eurostat's Statistics Database in national currency, euro/ECU, and percentage of GDP.
The government deficit/surplus is the net borrowing/net lending (B.9) of general government, as defined in the ESA 2010. It is the difference between the revenue and the expenditure of the general government sector. The government debt is defined as the total consolidated gross debt at nominal (face) value at the end of the year in the following categories of government liabilities (as defined in ESA 2010): currency and deposits (AF.2), debt securities (AF.3) and loans (AF.4).
At the national level, data for the general government sector are consolidated between subsectors. The debt of the euro area and EU aggregates is consolidated by removal of the loans that Member States have granted to other Member States.
The working balance is the most often used concept and measure of the country's budget deficit/surplus as it generally appears in public accounts and budgetary presentations. In other words, for example, for central government, it should normally correspond to the budgetary outcome voted for by the parliament.
The deficit and debt data are reported by subsectors of general government: central government (S.1311), state government (S.1312), local government (S.1313) and social security funds (S.1314).
The transition from the working balance to the deficit/surplus (EDP tables 2A - 2D) is explained by the following items, based on an example for central government:
financial transactions included in the working balance;
non-financial transactions not included in the working balance;
difference between interest paid and accrued (D.41);
other accounts receivable / other accounts payable;
working balance of entities not part of central government;
net borrowing or net lending of other central government bodies;
other adjustments.
The transition from the deficit/surplus to the change in debt is explained by the following items:
net acquisition of financial assets: currency and deposits (F.2), debt securities (F.3), loans (F.4), equity and investment fund shares/units (F.5), financial derivatives (F.71), other accounts receivable (F.8) and other financial assets (F.1 and F.6);
net incurrence of liabilities in financial derivatives (F.71);
net incurrence (-) of other accounts payable (F.8);
net incurrence (-) of other liabilities (F.1, F.5, F.6 and F.72);
issuances above/below nominal value;
difference between interest (D.41) accrued and paid;
redemptions/repurchase of debt above/below nominal value;
appreciation/depreciation of foreign-currency debt;
changes in sector classification (K.61);
other volume changes in financial liabilities (K.3, K.4, K.5);
difference between capital and financial accounts (B.9-B.9f) and other statistical discrepancies.
The statistical unit is the institutional unit, as defined in ESA 2010. The institutional units are grouped into the general government sector and its subsectors.
General government sector and its subsectors.
EU and euro area (EA) aggregates;
EU Member States
The reference period is the calendar year. Stocks (such as debt) are as at the end of the calendar year.
Not available.
Units of measure are:
millions of national currency,
millions of euro/ECU, and
percentage of GDP.
For euro area countries, for reference periods prior to accession of the country to the euro area, data in national currency are expressed in euro-fixed, that is the former national currency divided by the irrevocable exchange rate.
Valuation principles are in accordance with ESA 2010. However, debt is recorded at nominal (face) value. Foreign currency debt is converted into national currency using end-year market exchange rates (though special rules apply to contractual agreements). The debt of the euro area and EU aggregates is consolidated by removal of the loans that Member States have granted for support operations to other Member States.
For series transmitted in national currencies other than euro, the data are converted by Eurostat into euro using annual average exchange rates (provided by the European Central Bank – ECB) in the case of general government flows (net borrowing/net lending, gross fixed capital formation etc.). Eurostat converts national currency into euro using end-year exchange rates (provided by the ECB) in the case of general government debt and its breakdown by financial instrument.
Ratios as a percentage of GDP are based on annual GDP data submitted to Eurostat in the EDP notification. GDP is gross domestic product at current market prices, as defined in ESA 2010 (B.1*g).
Euro area and EU aggregates are formed by the aggregation of the country data in euro (ECU), with consolidation where appropriate.
Data are based on annual national accounts of general government, derived primarily from administrative and other records of general government. Basic data are in millions of national currency.
Bi-annual.
Council Regulation 479/2009 requires that Member States report EDP government deficit and debt data to Eurostat twice per year: before 1 April and before 1 October. Data is published around three weeks after the transmission deadline as announced in the release calendar.
Data are comparable across Europe, as harmonised European rules (ESA 2010, and Manual on Government Deficit and Debt) are used by all Member States for compiling the EDP data.
