Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

D1: Excessive deficit procedure, methodology and GFS

2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG

The data correspond to quarterly financial accounts for the general government sector and follows the ESA2010 methodology. The data covers financial transactions and balance sheet items for general government (consolidated and non-consolidated) and its subsectors.

This includes a number of financial instruments (F.1, F.2, F.3, F.4, ...) as well as some balancing items such as net financial transactions, net financial worth and net financial assets and liabilties.

Data are available in million of euro, million of national currency (average exchange rates are used for transactions and end of period exchange rates are used for stocks) and as a percentage of GDP (for transactions quarterly GDP is used; for stocks a rolling sum of the last four quarters is used). For Croatia, which joined the euro area from 1 January 2023, the euro-fixed for periods up to the fourth quarter of 2022 is used, i.e. HRK divided by the irrevocable exchange rate.

In the table gov_10a_ggfa, annualised quarterly financial accounts for general government are presented. For financial transactions, data is summed over the four quarters of each year. For the conversion from national currency into euro, the yearly average exchange rate is used. For balance sheet items (stocks), the annualised data corresponds to the data of the fourth quarter. The percentage of GDP data of annualised data uses annual GDP transmitted by the Member States. In the course of the annualisation, small rounding differences may be amplified.

Geographic coverage: EU, euro area, EEA.

Main data sources are the tables provided according to the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of 21 May 2013 (OJ No L174/1).

European System of Accounts, 2010 edition (ESA2010).

The data are compiled as defined by the Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of 21 May 2013

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/KS-02-13-269

Data covers the general government sector (consolidated and non-consolidated) as defined in ESA2010, §2.111 and its subsectors (§2.112): central government, state government (where applicable), local government and social security funds (where applicable).

The data correspond to quarterly financial accounts for the general government sector which are conceptually consistent with the corresponding annual data compiled on a national accounts (ESA2010) basis.

Quarterly financial accounts for general government include data on financial transactions and balance sheet items for general government (consolidated and non-consolidated) and its subsectors.

The primary classification of financial instruments comprises: monetary gold and special drawing rights (AF.1), currency and deposits (AF.2) with sub-category currency (AF.21), debt securities (AF.3) with a breakdown into short-term (AF.31) and long-term (AF.32) debt securities, loans (AF.4) with a breakdown into short-term loans (AF.41) and long-term loans (AF.42), equity and investment fund shares or units (AF.5) with a breakdown into equity (AF.51) and investment fund shares or units (AF.52), insurance, pension and standardised guarantees schemes (AF.6) with a breakdown into non-life insurance technical reserves (AF.61), pension entitlements, claims of pension funds on pension managers and entitlements to non-pension benefits (AF.63_AF.64_AF.65), provisions for calls under standardised guarantees (AF.66), financial derivatives and employee stock options (AF.7) and other accounts receivable/payable (AF.8).

The sector general government is divided into the following subsectors: central government (S.1311), state government (S.1312), local government (S.1313), social security funds (S.1314).

The financial instruments, sectors and subsectors to be transmitted on a compulsory basis can be found in the ESA2010 Transmission Programme in Annex B of the Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of 21 May 2013. For definitions of financial transactions and instruments, see ESA2010 chapter 5. For definitions of institutional sectors and subsectors, see ESA2010 chapter 2.

Institutional units and groupings of units as defined in ESA2010.

The institutional units included in the general government sector (S.13) according to ESA2010 (paragraph 2.112) are the following:

(a) general government units which exist through a legal process to have judicial authority over other units in the economic territory, and administer and finance a group of activities, principally providing non-market goods and services, intended for the benefit of the community;

(b) a corporation or quasi-corporation which is a government unit, if its output is mainly non-market and a government unit controls it;

(c) non-profit institutions recognised as independent legal entities which are non-market producers and which are controlled by general government;

(d) autonomous pension funds, where there is a legal obligation to contribute, and where general government manages the funds with respect to the settlement and approval of contributions and benefits.

Target population is the general government sector.

EU and euro area aggregates, EU Member States and Norway.

As defined in the ESA 2010 transmission programme, the data series to be provided start from 1999Q1 onwards, subject to country derogations. However, in practice for some countries the available series are longer (for example for the United Kingdom the data series start in 1987Q1) while for other countries, the period covered is shorter.

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Data are available in million of Euro, in million of national currency and as a 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.

Quarterly data. Annualised quarterly data is calculated additionally.

National accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA10) adopted in the form of Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of 21 May 2013.

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Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 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.

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Data is released together with quarterly non-financial accounts for general government (gov_10q_ggnfa) and quarterly general government gross debt (gov_10q_ggdebt) at around t+113 days after the end of the reference quarter. These aforementioned datasets comprise euroindicators and their release dates are communicated on the Eurostat website. 

Any data updates received from Member States are processed and validated, implying a more frequent release of updated data. EU/EA aggregates are adjusted accordingly. 

See 8.1.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Quarterly.

See below.

Detailed tables on Government Finance Statistics.

Please consult free data on-line or refer to contact details.

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http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

Quarterly financial accounts for general government are compiled with reference to the Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of 21 May 2013.

A manual on quarterly financial accounts for general government is available here. This manual provides a detailed insight into the sources and methods used by countries to compile the data on quarterly financial accounts for general government.

The European Commission (Eurostat) submitted in 2006 a report to the European Parliament and Council assessing the reliability of quarterly data delivered by Member States.

This quality report was updated in 2008, on the basis of recent developments and improvements in data quality achieved since the publication of the first report in 2006. The updated quality report is available on the Eurostat Web Site.

Data is verified for internal consistency and plausibility, also vis a vis other related data.

While the overall quality of the data has significantly improved over the years and compilers and users have become more familiar with this data flow, some Member States must nevertheless implement some specific measures to further improve the quality of the reported data.

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Overall, the dataset has a good level of completeness.

Most Member States conduct consistency as well as plausibility checks as part of their compilation routines. Consistency checks are made with EDP Table 3, with annual financial accounts, or on consolidation. Plausibility checks are made on the discrepancy with the capital account, the growth rates of stocks and other economic flows.

Member States monitor and report to Eurostat major events that underpin large transactions or large other economic flows (for other economic flows see § 5.3.).

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Under Regulation (EU) No 549/2013, data are transmitted from Member States to Eurostat three months after the end of the quarter to which the data refer to, at the latest. The deadline for transmission of provisional data is 85 days after the end of the reference quarter for Member States whose currency is the euro. Thereafter, data are validated before publication.

The data transmission deadline specified in the Regulation is respected by almost all Member States, which means that data are transmitted before the deadline of t+3 months or 85 days (see section 14.1 above) after the end of the reference quarter.

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The data can be compared over time.

Several checks are carried out on the data before publication. These consist in checking the internal consistency of the data but also consistency with other datasets:

• Quarterly data are compared with annual financial accounts.
• Stocks of liabilities for the instruments F.2, F.31, F.32, F41 and F.42 are cross checked with quarterly debt data (by applying some validation criteria taking into account differences in valuation).
• Quarterly financial transactions are validated against annual data provided for the EU excessive deficit procedure.
• The statistical discrepancy between financial and non-financial accounts (B.9-B.9f) is closely followed.

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Revision policy is set at the level of national authorities.

Major changes in methodology may occur as a result of EU legislation or Eurostat decisions (following a consultation procedure with Member States), and thereafter published in the Official Journal of the European Union or else in a press release.

The data for compilation of quarterly financial accounts of General Government should be based as much as possible on direct information from basic sources, and shall be completed by coverage adjustments if needed, and by conceptual adjustments in order to bring quarterly data in line with ESA10 concepts.

Most of the quarterly financial accounts data are based on government administrative documents and statistical surveys conducted nationally for compilation of financial accounts.

The quarterly financial accounts are also presented in an annualised form (i.e. in the form of a simple sum of the four quarters of a given year for transactions and as a last quarter of a year for stocks) in table gov_10a_ggfa. This represents a calculation based on the transmitted quarterly data.

Quarterly data. Annualised quarterly data is derived additionally.

Revisions of national data are accepted, processed and disseminated at any time.

Tables, part of the ESA2010 transmission programme completed by national authorities.

Once data are compiled by national authorities in the reporting format, they are transmitted via eDamis to Eurostat.

All QFAGG data should arrive via the Single Entry Point (eDamis) in SDMX/ML format. The verification process consists of arithmetic and quality checks such as:

• Verification of internal consistency corresponding to point 4.3.0, 4.3.1, 4.3.2;
• Comparison with annual financial accounts, corresponding to point 4.3.3 and following;
• Comparison with quarterly debt data, corresponding to point 4.3.3 and following; comparison with quarterly non-financial accounts of general government corresponding to point 4.3.3 and following;
• Comparison with EDP data, corresponding to point 4.3.3 and following;.

Time of recording: In principle, flows are recorded on an accrual basis; that is when economic value is created, transformed or extinguished, or when claims and obligations arise, are transformed or cancelled.

Valuation rules: Financial transactions are recorded at the market value. It is the value in national currency at which the financial assets and/ or liabilities are created, liquidated, exchanged or assumed, on the basis of commercial considerations only. For an explanation of the general valuation rules and detailed valuation rules that apply to some sub-categories of financial transactions, see ESA2010, chapter 5.

National data are converted into ECU (before 1999) or euro using annual average exchange rates.

European aggregates are only compiled if data from all Member States is present.

Data are not adjusted.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and high energy prices: 

Since the first quarter of 2020, Member States have implemented COVID-19 containment measures. In the quarters of 2022 and the first three quarters of 2023, aside from measures to mitigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significantly lower impact than in 2020 and 2021, most Member States took measures to alleviate the impact of high energy prices. Country specific explanatory metadata are published. 

More country-specific metadata can also be found in the metadata file for the quarterly non-financial accounts of general government.

Additional information is also available in the latest news releases on EDP, quarterly deficit and quarterly debt, next to be published in April 2024.

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