Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

D1:Excessive deficit procedure, methodology and GFS

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Main revenue and expenditure items of the general government sector, notified by national authorities in Table 2 of the ESA2010 transmission programme.

Data are presented in millions of Euro, millions of national currency units and percentages of GDP.

Geographic coverage: EU and euro area countries, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Main sources of data: National authorities (National Statistical Institutes).

Methodological framework is the European system of accounts, 2010.

General government sector as defined in ESA2010 (paragraph 2.111) as including "institutional units which are non-market producers whose output is intended for individual and collective consumption, and are financed by compulsory payments made by units belonging to other sectors, and institutional units principally engaged in the redistribution of national income and wealth".

The indicators are compiled on a national accounts (ESA 2010) basis. They comprise main aggregates (total revenue and expenditure, main components (ESA 2010 economic categories as well as balancing items) for the general government sector and its subsectors (central, state, local government and social security funds) The difference between total revenue and total expenditure equals net lending/net borrowing (B.9). The indicators are as reported under Table 0200 'Main aggregates of general government' of the ESA2010 transmission programme. For definitions, please see in particular European system of accounts, chapter 8 and 20.
Some countries report additional detail on a voluntary basis outside the scope of the transmission programme. This is also published.

Institutional units and groupings of units as defined in ESA 2010.

The institutional units included to 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, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. 

The legal requirement is that all series should start in 1995, subject to country derogations. However, in practice the length of the series available varies widely from one country to another. Some series may start earlier than 1995.

Not applicable.

Data are expressed in millions of Euro, millions of national currency units and as percentages 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.

For releases of data coinciding with EDP releases, Eurostat uses by default the GDP transmitted in the context of the Excessive Deficit Procedure as denominator in the GDP ratios for the years from 1995 and the GDP transmitted in the context of the national accounts transmission programme for earlier reference periods. For updates of data outside the EDP transmission periods, Eurostat uses by default the GDP transmitted in the context of the national accounts transmission programme. 

The reference period is the calendar year.

National Accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) adopted in the form of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013.

The legal basis for transmission of dataset "Government revenue, expenditure and main aggregates" is Table 0200 of the ESA 2010 transmission programme - Annex B of Regulation (EU) No 549.

Data are transmitted to OECD and other Commission services before release.

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.

Confidential data is flagged "C", where other types of blocks exist in the database.

Only authorised staff have access to the database. They have signed appropriate documentation on handling of confidential data.

There are blocks which prevent the inadvertant extraction and publication of confidential data.

Total government revenue and expenditure data are always released along with the excessive deficit procedure statistics: the precise date is disseminated on Eurostat's website. ESA table 2 data are also frequently additionally updated along with national publications of revised data or transmissions of quarterly data for the general government sector.

See 8.1.

Data are disseminated simultaneously to all interested parties through a database update and on Eurostat's website (see "Accessibility and clarity" below for more details). However, data are transmitted - under embargo - to OECD and other Commission services a few hours before release.

Annual data. All data is disseminated at least twice a year.

Not available.

Eurobase, Statistics Explained, GFS table publications.

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

Not available.

Aggregates: Total general government revenue and expenditure are normally part of the news release on excessive deficit statistics.

Data on government revenue, expenditure and their main components are also a part of integrated presentation of government finance statistics (government revenue, government expenditure, government deficit, transactions in assets, transactions in liabilities, other economic flows, and balance sheets including EDP-related concepts).

Please see also:  dedicated section on government statistics

See section 6.1.

The progress in respect of data availability and quality is reviewed and reported in the internal Eurostat's documents to the data compilers from Member States.

The plausibility of the data is checked for each transmission and Member States are asked for some additional information in case of any doubts about data quality.

However, due to the complexity, volume and heterogeneity of data sources, quality assurance is based to a large extent on assessing primary sources and processes rather than the final product. Eurostat undertakes EDP dialogue and methodological visits to Member States, during which it reviews government finance statistics data.

A quality assessment procedure is in place that involves arithmetic and quality checks as well as checks on consistency with ESA2010 and other government datasets (financial government accounts/ quarterly data) by Eurostat on data received by Member States.

Data are used for analysis of public finances of Member States, especially the composition of total government revenue and expenditure and their evolution over time.

Not available.

All Member States provide data, however the series length is not satisfactory in all cases.

Data for government finance statistics are in general associated with a high level of overall accuracy.

Not available.

Not available.

Data are disseminated not later than three weeks after the legal requirement for transmission of data (ESA2010 transmission programme) scheduled at T+3 and T+9 months after the end of the reference period. In addition, data are disseminated after validation in case of transmissions outside the legal deadlines.

In general the datasets are transmitted according to deadlines set in legislation.

The underlying methodological framework is the European system of accounts (ESA2010), which ensures a high degree of comparability.

In case of any problems with compliance with ESA rules affecting the inter-country comparability the information is included in section 19 (Comment).

ESA2010 requires time series to be consistent over time, which are produced by most of the EU Member States. In some countries, methodological breaks can affect time series (normally on a temporary basis). Backward calculations of time series are provided to ensure full time coherence. However, methodological changes need not always refer to past data. For some additional information on series breaks please see the caveats in section 19 Comment.

Many variables can be cross-checked with other tables submitted under the ESA2010 transmission programme (see, Eurostat Reference Database 'national accounts' domain). Net borrowing/net lending (B.9) may be checked with EDP (= Excessive Deficit Procedure) submissions (see in 'government statistics' domain).

The cross-domain coherence checking concentrates (but is not limited to) on the consistency of government datasets (non-financial data vs financial data, annual data vs quarterly data).

Datasets are carefully checked for the internal consistency. Releasing of non-internally consistent data should be exceptional and accompanied by the caveats in Section 19 Comment.

Not available.

To further specify the general Eurostat revision policy, the following revision policy has been established for government finance statistics.

Revision policy is set at the level of national authorities. In general, the data are revised for the latest years according to change from preliminary to half-finalised and final data sources. The complete time series can be revised due to changes in the methodology or methods of data compilation, correction of errors or in case of major and benchmark revisions. Revisions are accepted at any time and following validation, data is the republished for the country and EU / euro area aggregates concerned. 

Revisions are broadly classified in 3 categories:

- current revisions, occuring each quarter and mainly affecting the past quarters of the same year

- major regular revisions taking place on a regular basis to incorporate results of changes in surveys and/or in estimation procedures, of new basic data sources, integrating the results of new censuses and/or of new estimation methods

- major occasional revisions deriving from major methodological changes in national accounts, like changes in concepts and definitions and/or in the classifications used (examples are the adoption of a new accounting system - like in September 2014 the introduction of ESA2010 - or the use of a new nomenclature).

Data revisions may occur at any time. Major changes in methodology are the result of legislation, and therefore announced in the Official Journal. However, some changes may be implemented beforehand on the basis of gentlemen's agreements.

All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data.

Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated.

Data for specific countries may be published even if they are missing for other countries or flagged as provisional. They are replaced with final data once transmitted and validated. European aggregates are recalculated every time new data is published and are released simultaneously.

Whenever new data are provided and validated, the already disseminated data are updated.

In routine revisions, the length of the time series revised is country-specific and depends on the relevance of source data updates. .

Within each GFS table, aggregates and components are revised at the same time. Between different GFS tables, the update schedule for routine revisions may differ.

As part of routine revisions, temporal consistency (annual/quarterly) is usually established at coinciding transmission deadlines.

While the revision calendar for government finance statistics is described by the scheduled releases indicated on the Eurostat website, revisions can occur at any time.

The impact of routine and major revisions is analysed prior to data validation and documented in metadata in case of notable changes.

Notable time series breaks caused by changes in data sources or incomplete application of a methodological change are flagged. Major revisions remove such breaks in series as far as feasible. .

Major revisions are documented internally and described in metadata and data releases in broad terms.

Coordinated major revisions are pre-announced, though individual countries may undertake additional major revisions. In addition, before and during implementation, major revisions in national accounts are communicated.

Annual national accounts data, primarily derived from administrative and other records of general government.

In general, for Table 2 the collection of the data is bi-annual. However, Member States' transmission schedules vary. In general, Eurostat treats and validates revisions at any time.

The collection of the data is carried out with the use of the relevant reporting table of the ESA2010 transmission programme (Table 0200 on "main aggregates of general government", table 0900 on "detailed taxes and social contributions" accompanied by the National Tax Lists and table 1100 on "government expenditure by function - COFOG"), completed by national authorities.

Once data are compiled by national authorities in the reporting format, they are transmitted via Edamis in SDMX format to Eurostat and to OECD.

The National Tax List is sent in Excel format as it contains qualitative information. It can either be sent via edamis or via email.

In some cases, such as delays in edamis delivery or problems in the conversion to SDMX, data can be sent via email.

Data are loaded into Eurostat Reference Database once validated by Eurostat. The validation process consists of arithmetic and quality checks including consistency with ESA2010 methodology and with other data reported to Eurostat as well as a number of further plausibility checks.

Accounting conventions are those of ESA2010.

For sector S.13, items D.4, D.7, and D.9 (and their sub-items) are to be consolidated. As a result, for these items and also for total revenue (TR) and total expenditure (TE), the sum of subsectors does not equal the sector value.

D.995 is to be deducted from D.99REC. No amount of D.995 is to be included under D.9PAY.

Data are transmitted in national currency. Eurostat converts into euro using annual average exchange rates. 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.

Percentage of GDP calculations are based on annual GDP data submitted to Eurostat.

EU and euro area series are formed by the aggregation of the country data.

Data are not adjusted.

Please also consult the latest EDP news release for any amendments or reservations on EDP data, as well as any specific or general explanatory notes. For more country-specific metadata, please refer also to the metadata on quarterly non-financial accounts of general government.

The net lending/net borrowing (B.9) in ESA table 0200 should correspond to the balance B.9 notified under the Excessive Deficit Procedure and available in the gov_10dd_edpt1 table of the Eurostat Reference Database. However, there might be a difference in B.9 resulting from a difference in the timing of reporting the data. For the calculation of the deficit or surplus as a percentage of GDP, there may also be a timing difference in the GDP figure used. For the April and October releases alongside EDP data, Eurostat uses by default GDP transmitted in the context of the Excessive Deficit Procedure for the reference period from 1995 and the GDP transmitted in the context of the national accounts' transmission programme for earlier reference periods.

Country footnotes: