EDP Notification Tables

Council Regulation (EU) 479/2009, as amended by Council Regulation (EU) No 679/2010  and by Commission Regulation (EU) No 220/2014, requires that EU Member States report EDP-related data to Eurostat twice per year – at the end of March and at the end of September.

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 the GFS data.

Eurostat publishes the notification tables as transmitted by EU Member States. In application of Council Regulation 479/2009, as amended, these tables include data for the current year which are forecasts and not statistics. It is important to note that Eurostat's assessment does not cover these forecasts.

The factors contributing to changes in government debt other than the government surplus/deficit are called 'stock-flow adjustments'. Eurostat publishes a note analysing 'stock-flow adjustments' and describing the underlying factors behind changes in government debt. This note, prepared by Eurostat on the basis of the latest EDP Notification Tables, provides a country-by-country analysis of these changes and is fully consistent with the latest Eurostat EDP News Release.

 

October 2023

 

April 2023

 

Link to EDP Notification Tables - Archive

Explanation of the format of the EDP Notification Tables

EDP Table 1

Table 1 provides a summary view showing for the reference years:

  • the net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (ESA surplus/deficit) for the general government sector and its subsectors,
  • the general government debt by instrument,
  • interest expenditure of general government, gross fixed capital formation of general government, as well as
  • the GDP.

The general government sector (S.13) consists of 4 subsectors:

  • central government (S.1311),
  • state government (S.1312),
  • local government (S.1313) and
  • social security funds (S.1314).

EDP Tables 2

Tables 2 (4 separate tables: 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D) present the link between the so-called working balances (i.e. usually the public surplus (+) / deficit (-) as reported nationally to the Parliament) and the net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) for each general government subsector.

The working balances often correspond to the traditional budget deficit or a public accounting balance. Working balances need to be adjusted for operations that are not included in them, but are nevertheless considered, in national accounts, as part of government operations and impact the surplus (+) / deficit (-), for example many cases of capital injections.

Working balances also need to be adjusted for operations that were included in them, whilst having no impact on surplus (+) / deficit (-). Usually, these are financial transactions contained in the working balance that have no effect on the ESA surplus (+) / deficit (-), for example loans granted by government directly from the budget.

EDP Tables 3

Tables 3 (5 separate tables: 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D and 3E) present the link between the government net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (ESA surplus (+) / deficit (-)) and the change in government debt. Whereas the change in debt over a single reference period is mainly driven by the deficit (surplus) of that period, other effects may also contribute. As an example, for a given deficit (meaning an excess of expenditure over revenue), higher net acquisitions of financial assets lead to higher borrowing needs and therefore, likely, a higher change in debt. The types of transactions reconciling the deficit (surplus) of any given reference period to the change in the debt of that same period are generically called stock-flow adjustments. Along the EDP notification tables, Eurostat also publishes a  note describing these adjustments.

EDP Table 4

Table 4 shows supplementary information: 

  • the stock of trade credit liabilities of general government,
  • the amount outstanding in the government debt from the financing of public undertakings,
  • the extent and the reasons in case of substantial differences between the face value and the market value of government debt, as well as
  • the gross national income (GNI) of the EU Member State.

For further information, please consult the   detailed description of the EDP notification tables.