Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

Unit C5: Integrated global accounts and Balance of Payments

2920 Luxembourg, LUXEMBOURG

Balance of Payments data for the European Institutions (BOPEUI) are a complete dataset of Balance of Payments data where the European Institutions are the reporting areas and the partner areas are all the Member States and all the other countries in the world. In more concrete terms, BOP of the EU Institutions (EUI) provides information on money received (credits) and money spent (debits) by the EU Institutions.

The compilation of BOPEUI uses the BOP Data Structure Definition https://sdmx.org/?page_id=1747

ESA 2010 considers the Institutions of the European Union as a "State sui-generis": the only residents of such States are the institutions themselves.

Staff of the European Institutions is part of the households sector of the country where they reside.
Within the meaning of the ESA, the Institutions of the European Union are a "State sui-generis" without "households" or "market output", comprising mainly an institutional sector "General government" and an auxiliary sector "Other credit Institutions".

The balance of payments (BOP) is a statistical statement that systematically summarizes, over a given period of time, all the transactions of an economy (the EU institutions) with the rest of the world (each of the EU Member States and each of the countries with whom the EU institutions have economic transactions).

The balance of payments provides information on the total value of credits (exports/money received) and debits (imports/money spent) for each BOP item and on the balance (credits minus debits) of the transactions with each partner. Credits and debits are expressed in Euro.

The BOPEUI is complemented by the statistics related to the International Investment Position (IIP) of the EUI that provides information on the stocks of assets and liabilities at the end of each year. The position (or stocks) at the end of each specific period reflects financial transactions, valuation changes and other adjustments that occurred during the period and affected the level of assets or liabilities.

The Balance of Payments accounts are constructed on a double-entry accounting system. When the EU Institutions buy a service (e.g. rent a building) from a Member State, they will pay via a credit transfer from a bank account. BOPEUI will record this transaction twice, once as a service import/Debit in the Current Account, once as a decrease in Assets, Currency and Deposits, Financial Account.

The European Union Institutions (4A; Eurobase: EUI_X_EAI) - include all major administrative bodies of the European Union except the institutions of the euro area:

In particular these are:

1) The European Commission (4D; Eurobase: COMM)  

2) The other institutions financed by the General Budget:
    EU Parliament (4J1; Eurobase: PARL)
    European Council and Council (4J2+4J5; Eurobase: CONS)
    EU Court of Justice (4J3; Eurobase: CURIA)
    EU Court of Auditors (4J4; Eurobase: ECA)
    EU Economic and Social Committee (4J6; Eurobase: EESC)
    EU Committee of Regions (4J7; Eurobase: COR)
    Other small European Union Institutions and agencies (Ombudsman, Data Protection Supervisor etc.) (4J8; Eurobase: EUB_MNR)

3) Institutions which have a completely independent financing and accounting system:
    European Investment Bank (4C; Eurobase: EIB)
    European Investment Fund (4G; Eurobase: EIF)
    European Development Fund (4E; Eurobase: EDF)
    Neighbourhood Investment Facility (4I; Eurobase: IF)
    Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership (4V; Eurobase: FEMIP)
    Single Resolution Board (4U; Eurobase: SRB)

The statistical population is formed by all the bodies which have been created to manage the European Union and to realise the European Union objectives.

BOPEUI provides information on the transactions of the European Union Institutions with each of the countries Members of the European Union, but also with any other country in the World.

Since the 1^st of January 2008 a complete and consistent set of monthly, quarterly and annual BOPEUI data are regularly disseminated.

These data are organised in 4 tables with different time-coverage:

1) Annual figures for each European Institution, period 1987A - onwards

For period 1987-1998 only limited detail in terms of institutions, partners and BOP items is available. From 1999 onwards separate data for each institution are available, with partners every existing country of the world, and with information for each kind of transaction.

2) Quarterly figures for all the EU Institutions (4A), EIB (4C), European Commission (4D) and EDF (4E), period 1999Q1 - onwards

3) Monthly figures for European Commission, period 1999M01 - onwards

4) Annual IIP for all the EU Institutions (4A), EIB (4C), EIF (4G) and the European Commission (4D, data on lending and borrowing), period 1999A - onwards

Not applicable

Data are in Euro.

Monthly, quarterly and annual data are provided.

The Regulation n°184/2005 of The European Parliament and of the Council of 12 January 2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment (OJ L35/23 of 8/02/2005), became applicable for the transmission of BOP data to Eurostat as from reference year 2006 onwards. 

BOPEUI data are provided to other international organisations and national compilers.

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.

Not applicable.

Monthly figures are generally disseminated not later than 44 days after the end of the reference Month.
Quarterly figures are generally disseminated not later than 85 days after the end of the reference Quarter.

Non applicable

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 - 'Dissemination format') 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.

Monthly, quarterly and annual data are regularly disseminated.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

BOPEUI data are available to everyone from Eurostat's website, section Data, Economy and Finance, Balance of payments – International transactions (BPM6), Balance of payments of the EU Institutions (BPM6).

BOPEUI is compiled using all the available accounting information related to each EU Institution. This accounting information is generally available to everybody, for instance the accounting data of the EU Bodies financed by the EU Budget are published in the Official Journal.

BOPEUI for the EIB is compiled using the information included in the EIB Annual Financial Report available from EIB website: http://www.eib.org.

Special tables with monthly national accounting data classified both in terms of budgetary codes and BOP codes can be provided by Eurostat to national BOP compilers, on demand.

Not applicable.

The methodology used for compiling BOPEUI follows the general recommendations of BPM6 and is described in documents presented to the BOP Working Group.

The quality of BOPEUI data is analysed in documents regularly presented to the BOP Working Group.

The quality of BOPEUI data is assured via regular monitoring, analysis and discussion with the main users.

The quality of BOPEUI data is assessed in documents regularly presented to the BOP Working Group.

BOPEUI data are used by the Member States for crosschecking the national sources of information on transactions with the European Institutions.  

Special users of BOPEUI data are Eurostat's colleagues working at the production of Quarterly Balance of Payments (QBOP), Annual International Trade in Services (ITS), and Quarterly Sector Accounts (QSA) data. The data related to the EU institutions have in fact to be added to the BOP, ITS and to the Sector Accounts data of all the Member States to produce the BOP, ITS and QSA aggregates for the European Union.

BOP compilers are asked to provide a feedback related to BOPEUI data during the BOP Working Group. The needs of special users, like the colleagues working at the production of EU BOP and Sector Accounts, are regularly discussed in bilateral meetings.

All the EU Institutions for which accounting data are available are considered. Small EU Institutions not covered by the EU Budget could however escape to the compilers of BOPEUI.

With the exception of the European Commission, where accounting data are available monthly, for all the other EU Institutions estimates are used as long as the real accounting data are not available.

BOPEUI accuracy is regularly monitored comparing BOPEUI data with the national data published by DG BUDG, wherever a comparison is possible. This comparison is included in documents regularly presented to BOP Working Group.

The national figures published by DG BUDG are only related to the revenue and expenditure of the European Institutions financed with the General Budget (reporter 4W=4D+4J in BOPEUI), and do not cover the revenue and expenditure of the other European Institutions (EIB/4C, EIF/4G and EDF/4E) which are part of reporter 4A in BOPEUI.

Concerning BOPEUI credits (the income of the EU Institutions), the monitoring exercise showed an almost perfect match between BOPEUI data and the figures published by DG BUDG.

Concerning BOPEUI debits (the expenditure of the EU Institutions), the monitoring exercise showed some differences between BOPEUI data and the figures published by DG BUDG for most of the countries. 

These differences are partially explained by the fact that when compiling BOPEUI:

- accounting data is compiled at cash basis;

- the classification of the expenditures is based on expert judgement from the texts published in the Budget of the European Union, where information sometimes is limited;

- in some cases the geographical allocation of the BOPEUI transactions and transfers is based on the geography of the bank accounts of the recipients, which could be different from the final beneficiaries;

- in some cases the geographical allocation is based on the most feasible assumptions, i.e. geographical location of the reporting institution.

BOPEUI are based on administrative data.

BOPEUI are based on administrative data.

Monthly figures are generally disseminated not later than 44 days after the end of the reference month.

Quarterly figures are generally disseminated not later than 85 days after the end of the reference quarter. Correspondingly annual data are made available.

Data are generally released within 44 days from the end of the reference period (t+44 days). Occasional problems with the source accounting data may cause delays.

BOPEUI data produced by Eurostat are regularly crosschecked with the mirror data produced by EU Member States. The comparison with DG BUDG data (see point 14.1) proves the overall accuracy of BOPEUI data and is combined with the mirror analysis of national QBOP data to stimulate Member States in using BOPEUI as a reference. This exercise is expected to produce a reduction in the asymmetries in transactions vis-à-vis the European Institutions.

BOPEUI data are not fully comparable over the entire timespan they cover. The extent and reasons are explained below.

Annual data up to 1998 are available only in limited detail in terms of institutions, partners and BOP items and, therefore, are not fully comparable with annual data for the following periods.

Starting from January 2004, the coding used in the accounting system of the European Commission was completely changed, to accommodate the new Activity Based Budgeting (ABB) system. The traditional separation of administrative and operational resources was replaced by a structure presenting the Commission's resources according to Policy Area and Activity. There was no one-to-one correspondence between the old and the new budgetary codes. The data of the European Commission from 1999M01 to 2003M12 have been re-treated according to the new procedures.

Comparability of data (all frequencies) is also limited between different the periods of Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU (2007–2013, 2014-2020, 2021-2027). For each Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) a new correspondence table is created mapping over 1500 budget lines to the BOP codes. Similar challenges appear as only part of the budget lines from the previous MFF have one-to-one correspondence with the new MFF. New budget lines are analysed and mapped while the mapping of the previously existed budget lines is revised, if needed. The last time such exercise took place in 2021 with the introduction of the MFF 2021-2027.

BOPEUI data are used as data source for compiling Quarterly Sector Accounts of the EU Institutions.

In QSA, distributive transactions (D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, D9) for the EUI are the same as the corresponding BOPEUI transactions, but some concepts like Output (P1), Intermediate consumption (P.2), Final consumption (P.3), Gross fixed capital formation (P.51) are specific to the system of National Accounts and require some transformation of BOPEUI data.

The arithmetical internal coherence of BOPEUI different items and geographical aggregates is assured by the respect of a long set of accounting identities (BOP integrity rules).

The substantial internal coherence of BOPEUI dataset can be judged by the coherence among the figures shown in the current, capital and financial account, as measured by the value of Errors and Omissions (extremely low in BOPEUI).

BOPEUI is based on administrative data and is directly produced by Eurostat's BOP unit. No response-burden is therefore associated to the production of these statistics and the only costs are those related to the Eurostat's staff dedicated to this task.

Monthly, quarterly and annual data are revised when new and better accounting information becomes available, according to the following practice.

All reported errors 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 may be published even if they are missing for certain countries or flagged as provisional or of low reliability for certain countries They are replaced with final data once transmitted and validated. European aggregates are updated for consistency with component data in the next regular production and dissemination cycle.

Whenever new data are provided and validated, the already disseminated data are updated regular production and dissemination cycle.

The depth of revisions reflects recommendations of the CMFB Task Force on Harmonized European Revision Policy for Macroeconomic Statistics for routine revisions - quarterly estimates are usually revised retrospectively for up to four years, with unlimited depth of revisions in the third quarter. In case of the longer time span of the revisions, national compilers are requested to transmit all revised data to Eurostat so as to ensure consistency between data published nationally and by Eurostat. Further details are presented in the European Revision Policy for Macroeconomic Statistics.

Aggregates and components are revised at the same time in the next regular production and dissemination cycle.

There are routine revisions aiming at adjusting monthly/quarterly time series to have temporal consistency with the quarterly/yearly series.

There is no point at which the routinely revised data could be considered final. The revision calendar for the domain is published in the Balance of Payments Vademecum. Routine revisions are documented and communicated in ESS-metadata handler. The issue of major revisions is not relevant.

The balance of payments of the EU Institutions is compiled on the basis of administrative data sources: the accounting information related to each EU Institution, as produced by the accounting and budgeting procedures of the very same Institutions.

The accounting data related to each single institution are rather heterogeneous.

For the European Commission (reporter 4D) monthly accounting data per budget line and country are available from the accounting data warehouse of DG BUDG and can be retrieved with special reports. Changes in the IT infrastructure and in the accounting procedures may seriously affect the availability and the quality of the accounting data.

For the lending activities a separate monthly report is transmitted to Eurostat directly by DG BUDG with the data available per country. For the borrowing activities, the reports from the DG BUDG are provided per request.

For all the other Institutions financed through the General Budget (European Parliament, European Council, European Commission, Court of Justice, Court of Auditors, Economic and Social Committee, Committee of Regions, Ombudsman), only annual accounting information is available. This information was, for period 2000-2007, transmitted to Eurostat directly by DG BUDG in Excel form, unfortunately without the necessary geographical breakdown. Due to changes in the practices of DG BUDG, from 2008 reference year onwards other data sources has to be found for these institutions.

For the European Development Funds (EDF) annual accounting data are provided to Eurostat by DG INTPA for the debits. For credits, i.e. the contributions of the Member States to the EDF, quarterly accounting information is available from the accounting data warehouse of DG BUDG.

Starting from 2021, the EDF was fully incorporated into the budget of the EU. The new Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) groups together a number of on- and off-balance sheet instruments from the 2014-2020 MFF, amongst them the Development Cooperation Instrument, the European Development Fund and the European Neighbourhood Instrument. Under the 11^th EDF (2014-2020) as of 2021, no further financing agreements can be signed but the payments on the remaining commitments will continue and will be published under the EDF code.

For the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF), only annual accounting data are available and are retrieved by Eurostat from the EIB Annual Financial Report, as available from EIB website: http://www.eib.org.

The accounting data used for compiling BOPEUI are those related to the "payments" really made or received, whereas BPM6 and ESA 2010 methodology would require accrual values.

Starting from 2021, the accrual data started to be used for the compilation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) transactions, under the NextGenerationEU. The other accounts receivable/payable bop item is used to accrue assets and liabilities in relation to the implementation of the RRF grants and related pre-payments.

Changes in the accounting procedures used by the EUI are quite frequent and require changes also in the procedures used for the production of BOPEUI.

Only for the European Commission (4D) accounting data are retrieved monthly, about 30 days after the end of the reference Month.

For all the other EU Institutions only annual accounting data are available, generally after 6-9 Months from the end of the reference year. As long as the most recent annual figures for these institutions are not available, they are estimated by Eurostat on the base of the figures of previous year.

For all those institutions where monthly or quarterly accounting data are not available, the quarterly figures published in the on-line database are estimated on the base of the annual figures of previous year.

The balance of payments of the EU Institutions is compiled on the basis the accounting data related to each EU Institution. See chapter 20.1 for more details on this point. No questionnaire is used: the accounting data are directly converted by Eurostat in the most appropriate BOP and NA transactions.

The balance of payments of the EU Institutions is compiled on the basis of accounting information. The only check that can be made directly on these accounting data is related to the total amounts spent or received.

The accounting data related to each single institution are rather heterogeneous and are therefore treated separately, with rather different procedures.

Only for the European Commission (4D) accounting data are treated and disseminated monthly. The accounting data of all the other EU Institutions are available only on annual basis, in different formats than those of reporter 4D. For each institution the accounting data are converted in BOP transactions using specific conversion tables, but the procedures used for treating each set of accounting data are very different and cannot be neither automatised nor standardized.

Only the steps followed for compiling BOPEUI for the European Commission (4D) are described in this note.

For the European Commission (reporter 4D) Monthly accounting data are retrieved from the warehouse of DG BUDG, the European Commission directorate general in charge of the budget.

Two separate "txt" files are retrieved and treated each month: one for the European Commission expenditure (about 20 000 lines per month), one for the income (about 350 lines per month).

In these files the income and the expenditure are classified according to the nomenclature used in the budget of the European Commission, published in the Official Journal.

Before being able to treat these data to produce BOP information, intensive cleaning is required: the information related to the month has to be included in each row, non-ISO country codes have to be "translated", in case of missing geographical information the Budget line can sometimes be used to identify the possible geographical allocation of the transaction.

Correspondence has to be made between each budget line and one or several Balance of Payments transactions. The source files are linked to BOP codes with the use of a table of conversion, which sets the correspondence between more than 1500 accounting lines (over 300 credits, over 1200 debits) and over 50 items used for compilation of the balance of Payments of the EU Institutions.

The table of correspondence has been created, by Eurostat staff in charge of BOPEUI, by checking, budget line per budget line, where each transaction could possibly be classified according to BPM6 and ESA 2010 methodology. This table has to be updated almost every month, when new budget lines appear in the accounting data received from DG BUDG.

For all the other EU Institutions only annual accounting data are available, generally after 6-9 Months from the end of the reference year. As long as the most recent annual figures for these institutions are not available, they are estimated by Eurostat on the base of the annual figures of previous year.

For all those institutions where monthly or quarterly accounting data are not available, the quarterly figures published in the on-line database are estimated on the base of the annual figures of previous year.

Not applicable.

No notes.