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.
Direction générale de l'Insee. Direction des Statistiques d'Entreprises. Département Répertoires, Infrastructures et Statistiques Structurelles. Division Infrastructures et Répertoires Statistiques.
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication
1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication
1.5. Contact mail address
INSEE - Timbre E220 - 88 avenue de Verdier - CS70058 - 92541 Montrouge Cedex
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
23 November 2022
2.2. Metadata last posted
11 July 2023
2.3. Metadata last update
21 March 2024
3.1. Data description
The EuroGroups register (EGR) is the statistical business register of Eurostat and the EU Member States and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries for multinational enterprise groups. The purpose of the EGR is to offer to statistical users a tool for coordinating frame population, to derive consistent statistical output with an improved quality in measuring global activities of European enterprises part of multinational enterprise groups.
The EGR produces data in yearly cycles and covers microdata on the groups and their enterprises and legal units. The EGR aims to register all multinational enterprise groups that have enterprises in EU Member States or EFTA countries, including European and non-European groups.
The Member States, EFTA countries and Eurostat exchange data on multinational enterprise groups and on the units belonging to those groups for the purposes of the European framework for statistical business registers to ensure the quality of the multinational enterprise group’s information in the Union.
The EGR brings together microdata on multinational enterprise groups from the EU and the EFTA countries' national statistical institutes, in line with the requirements of the Regulation (EU) No 2152/2019, and from a commercial data source for data outside the EU and EFTA.
3.2. Classification system
Classification systems and main code lists used in the EGR are as follows:
Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2);
The coverage of the data transmitted to the EGR is defined in the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics.
For the purposes of the European framework for statistical business registers, the following economic activities are considered:
any activity comprising the offer of goods and services on a given market;
non-market services contributing to the GDP;
direct and indirect holdings of active legal units.
Holding assets and/or liabilities are also considered an economic activity.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Global group head
The global group head (GGH) of an enterprise group is the parent legal unit that is not controlled either directly or indirectly by any other legal unit. The subsidiary legal units of a subsidiary legal unit are considered to be subsidiaries of the parent legal unit.
Global decision centre
The global decision centre (GDC) of an enterprise group is the unit where the enterprise group level’s strategic decisions are taken. A group may have several decision-making centres or several units dedicated to a particular internal function, for example accounting or human resources. However, the decisions about the group are made only in the GDC. The GDC may be the GGH or another legal unit under the GGH.
Ultimate Controlling Institutional unit
The ultimate controlling institutional unit (UCI) of a foreign affiliate means the institutional unit higher up a foreign affiliate’s chain of control that is not controlled by another institutional unit.
To date, France does not provide information if the UCI is a natural person or a family
Activity of unit
The concept used is consistent with the NSBR
Number of employees
number of employees (excluding temporary workers) present on December 31
Number of employees and self -employed persons
Number of employees and self -employed persons present on December 31
Since the 2022 EGR cycle, the number of self -employed persons has been included.
Net turnover
Turnover represents the amount of business (excluding taxes) done by a statistical unit (legal unit, enterprise) with third parties when exercising its normal and routine professional activity.
It corresponds to the sum of sales of goods, manufactured products, service provisions and products from related activities.
Total assets
- not transmitted -
Principal activity
The main activity carried out by a unit (activité principale exercée, APE) is, among its activities, the one that generates the most added value.
The principal activity is determined according to the breakdown of the company's various activities. As the added value of different activity branches is often hard to determine based on statistical surveys, it is the breakdown of turnover or of the workforce according to the branches that is used as a determination criterion.
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical units maintained in the EGR are defined in accordance with the Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community.
The EGR frame contains the following units: Legal units, Enterprises and Multinational enterprise groups.
Legal units include:
- legal persons whose existence is recognized by law independently of the individuals or institutions which may own them or are members of them,
- natural persons who are engaged in an economic activity in their own right.
The legal unit always forms, either by itself or sometimes in combination with other legal units, the legal basis for the statistical unit known as the 'enterprise'.
Enterprise
The enterprise is the smallest combination of legal units that is an organizational unit producing goods or services, which benefits from a certain degree of autonomy in decision-making, especially for the allocation of its current resources. An enterprise carries out one or more activities at one or more locations. An enterprise may be a sole legal unit.
Multinational enterprise group
A multinational enterprise group is an enterprise group that has at least two enterprises or legal units located in different countries. In business statistics also term ‘global enterprise group’ is used.
3.6. Statistical population
The data transmitted to the EGR during the cycle is made of the following datasets.
The data set with information on all incorporated resident legal units for the EGR Identification Service.
ISRLE file including part of the population of resident legal units is sent to EGR for identification.
Sole proprietorships are excluded.
Resident branches of foreign legal units are included.
The data set with information on foreign legal units for the EGR Identification Service.
ISNORLE file including full population of foreign legal units recorded in the national statistical business register is sent to EGR for identification.
The data set with information on legal units.
LEU file including all resident legal units belonging to a global enterprise group is sent to EGR for processing.
The data set with information on relationships of ownership and control.
REL file including part of the relationships between legal units is sent to EGR for processing:
two resident legal units (full)
one resident and one foreign legal unit (partial because not all the foreign legal units are identified in the EGR-IS)
two foreign legal units from non EU+EFTA countries (none because no information).
Relationships in the REL are:
control relationships (>50%) (full)
minority relationships (<50%) (part: only >=10%)
The data set with information on enterprises.
ENT file including all enterprises made of legal units sent in LEU files is sent to EGR for processing.
The Data set with information on links between enterprises and legal units.
LEL file including full links between enterprise (ENT) and legal units (LEU) is sent to EGR for processing.
The Data set with information on enterprise groups of which country is the GDC country for the EuroGroups Register.
GEG file including full groups data is sent to the EGR for processing.
The groups’ variables are updated after receiving the preliminary frame:
GGH.
GDC.
3.7. Reference area
France including ultraperipherical regions (Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Reunion, Mayotte), as defined in the NUTS classification.
3.8. Coverage - Time
The EGR frames are available from reference year 2008 onwards. NSI has transmitted data for the EGR production cycle since 15 years.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable
The economic variables on employment are recorded in absolute figures.
The net turnover for enterprises is recorded in euro currency.
The net turnover is recorded in millions in euro currency.
The reference period for data sent to the EGR reflects the picture of 31 December as at the given reference year.
Data transmitted to EGR during the EGR 2022 cycle includes data for the 2022 reference year. The identification refers to the 2022 reference year. The economic variables (number of employees, self -employed persons, turnover and economic activity) refer to the 2021 reference year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The content of the national data sent to EGR is defined according the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics.
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1197 of 30 July 2020 is laying down the technical specifications and arrangements pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European business statistics.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
The legal framework setting up the procedures for EGR data exchanges and access to confidential data for the purpose of the European framework for statistical business registers are defined in the Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 on European business statistics (Art.10).
The national legislative measures or other formal procedures which prevent unauthorised disclosure of data that identify a person or economic entity either directly or indirectly include:
Statistical confidentiality, defined by Act No. 51-711 of 7 June 1951 on the obligation, coordination and confidentiality of statistics (https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/LEGITEXT000006068104/)
Fiscal secrecy, defined by Articles L103 to L167 of 11 April 1997 on Professional secrecy in tax matters (https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000006315822/)
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
EGR data are stored by the Commission (Eurostat) and by the national statistical authorities (NSAs) in the EU Member States and EFTA countries in a secure area with restricted and controlled access.
The transmission of the EGR data is done in an encrypted form and by electronic means via the Commission (Eurostat) single entry point for exchange of confidential data EDAMIS.
Rules applied for treating the data set to ensure statistical confidentiality and prevent unauthorised disclosure are defined according to the policy rules (see section 7.1).
8.1. Release calendar
Not applicable.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Not applicable.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Not applicable.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Not applicable.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
The micro-data exchange of confidential data on multinational enterprise groups and on the statistical units belonging to those groups takes place, exclusively for statistical purposes, between EU Member States and EFTA countries and the European Commission (Eurostat).
Where such exchange of confidential data is carried out to ensure the quality of the multinational enterprise groups information in the Union and the exchange is explicitly authorised by the competent NSA which provides the data, national central banks may be party to the exchange of confidential data, exclusively for statistical purposes.
The NSI exchanges information on multinational enterprise groups with:
Other Member States' NSIs to ensure the quality of information on multinational enterprises and to define the GDC of the groups;
The National Central Bank (NCB) for statistical purposes;
Ministerial statistical offices, part of the French Official Statistical System, for statistical purposes.
EuroGroups Register communication space ( EGR wiki with restricted access)
10.7. Quality management - documentation
There is a French manual describing the system used to ensure quality
11.1. Quality assurance
Eurostat Data Quality Programme monitors the quality and compliance of the data transmitted by the countries to EGR using the instruments of the EBS quality framework.
At national level, the quality of the data sent to EGR is assured as follows:
Automatic processing in our own computer application for the French group register (LIFI)
Manuel checks
Automatic checks that all the variables needed for the EGR are in the transmitted files
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The quality assessment procedure includes:
automatic validation procedures to check coherence between statistical units and their variables,
data format and logical content of data
crosschecks with other sources and data from previous years,
treatment of inconsistent relationships
search for the GGH and the GDC. Nationality check.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
There is a French register of groups which also covers French groups (LIFI). As a result, French users are more familiar with the French register than with the EGR.
INSEE is thus the main user of the EGR.
EGR data (for groups operating in France) will be integrated into Lifi from the 2023 EGR cycle.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
The EGR makes it possible to extend the knowledge of the groups present in France to the whole of the European Union.
12.3. Completeness
INSEE delivers more than 4 million resident legal units to EGR IS, based on one source (NSBR).
The rate of identification of legal units in the European Union reduced from 90% in 2021 to 84% in 2022. The identification rate of non-EU legal units increased from 61% in 2021 to 64% in 2022.
French branches of foreign legal units within a group have been included since the 2022 EGR cycle.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
The actions taken to monitor and to improve accuracy of the data sent to EGR are as follows:
Manual checks of the structure (list of legal units) for the groups with an activity or financial report
Manual checks of the relationships, the GGH and the GDC for all groups
with at least 1,000 employees in France or
with at least 250 employees in France and whose GGH is located in the Benelux or Ireland
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
The EGR process refers to a reference year T and is run yearly over a period of 11 months, between May T+1 and March T+2.
14.2. Punctuality
All data are delivered on time.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Geographical comparability is guaranteed
15.2. Comparability - over time
Since the 2021 EGR cycle, data transmitted to EGR, except the economic variables (see 5. Reference Period), included data for the same reference year. Before, the files sent for the (Y) EGR cycle were built according to (Y-1) data.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Coherence of data sent to Eurostat with other data sources and statistical domains:
NSBR
15.4. Coherence - internal
Data sent to EGR should be internally consistent. There is a set of standard quality checks that are routinely performed at national level before transmitting the data to Eurostat:
French register of groups (named LIFI)
NSBR
Restricted from publication
17.1. Data revision - policy
Not applicable
17.2. Data revision - practice
Not applicable
18.1. Source data
The data are based on a multisource process including administrative and private data.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
National data sent to EGR annually
18.3. Data collection
Data sent to EGR are collected from:
National Statistical business registers
Administrative data sources (tax data, French Central Bank).
Private data sources (Orbis-Bureau van Dijk)
18.4. Data validation
The data of the most important groups in terms of employment (groups over 1,000 employees) are checked manually and corrected if necessary.
It is also the case for the groups employing at least 250 employees in France and whose GGH is located in the Benelux or Ireland.
18.5. Data compilation
No imputation
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable.
Insee voluntarily took part in the "top tier profiling" experiment in 2022. 8 French groups were analyzed.
The EuroGroups register (EGR) is the statistical business register of Eurostat and the EU Member States and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries for multinational enterprise groups. The purpose of the EGR is to offer to statistical users a tool for coordinating frame population, to derive consistent statistical output with an improved quality in measuring global activities of European enterprises part of multinational enterprise groups.
The EGR produces data in yearly cycles and covers microdata on the groups and their enterprises and legal units. The EGR aims to register all multinational enterprise groups that have enterprises in EU Member States or EFTA countries, including European and non-European groups.
The Member States, EFTA countries and Eurostat exchange data on multinational enterprise groups and on the units belonging to those groups for the purposes of the European framework for statistical business registers to ensure the quality of the multinational enterprise group’s information in the Union.
The EGR brings together microdata on multinational enterprise groups from the EU and the EFTA countries' national statistical institutes, in line with the requirements of the Regulation (EU) No 2152/2019, and from a commercial data source for data outside the EU and EFTA.
21 March 2024
Global group head
The global group head (GGH) of an enterprise group is the parent legal unit that is not controlled either directly or indirectly by any other legal unit. The subsidiary legal units of a subsidiary legal unit are considered to be subsidiaries of the parent legal unit.
Global decision centre
The global decision centre (GDC) of an enterprise group is the unit where the enterprise group level’s strategic decisions are taken. A group may have several decision-making centres or several units dedicated to a particular internal function, for example accounting or human resources. However, the decisions about the group are made only in the GDC. The GDC may be the GGH or another legal unit under the GGH.
Ultimate Controlling Institutional unit
The ultimate controlling institutional unit (UCI) of a foreign affiliate means the institutional unit higher up a foreign affiliate’s chain of control that is not controlled by another institutional unit.
To date, France does not provide information if the UCI is a natural person or a family
Activity of unit
The concept used is consistent with the NSBR
Number of employees
number of employees (excluding temporary workers) present on December 31
Number of employees and self -employed persons
Number of employees and self -employed persons present on December 31
Since the 2022 EGR cycle, the number of self -employed persons has been included.
Net turnover
Turnover represents the amount of business (excluding taxes) done by a statistical unit (legal unit, enterprise) with third parties when exercising its normal and routine professional activity.
It corresponds to the sum of sales of goods, manufactured products, service provisions and products from related activities.
Total assets
- not transmitted -
Principal activity
The main activity carried out by a unit (activité principale exercée, APE) is, among its activities, the one that generates the most added value.
The principal activity is determined according to the breakdown of the company's various activities. As the added value of different activity branches is often hard to determine based on statistical surveys, it is the breakdown of turnover or of the workforce according to the branches that is used as a determination criterion.
The statistical units maintained in the EGR are defined in accordance with the Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community.
The EGR frame contains the following units: Legal units, Enterprises and Multinational enterprise groups.
Legal units include:
- legal persons whose existence is recognized by law independently of the individuals or institutions which may own them or are members of them,
- natural persons who are engaged in an economic activity in their own right.
The legal unit always forms, either by itself or sometimes in combination with other legal units, the legal basis for the statistical unit known as the 'enterprise'.
Enterprise
The enterprise is the smallest combination of legal units that is an organizational unit producing goods or services, which benefits from a certain degree of autonomy in decision-making, especially for the allocation of its current resources. An enterprise carries out one or more activities at one or more locations. An enterprise may be a sole legal unit.
Multinational enterprise group
A multinational enterprise group is an enterprise group that has at least two enterprises or legal units located in different countries. In business statistics also term ‘global enterprise group’ is used.
The data transmitted to the EGR during the cycle is made of the following datasets.
The data set with information on all incorporated resident legal units for the EGR Identification Service.
ISRLE file including part of the population of resident legal units is sent to EGR for identification.
Sole proprietorships are excluded.
Resident branches of foreign legal units are included.
The data set with information on foreign legal units for the EGR Identification Service.
ISNORLE file including full population of foreign legal units recorded in the national statistical business register is sent to EGR for identification.
The data set with information on legal units.
LEU file including all resident legal units belonging to a global enterprise group is sent to EGR for processing.
The data set with information on relationships of ownership and control.
REL file including part of the relationships between legal units is sent to EGR for processing:
two resident legal units (full)
one resident and one foreign legal unit (partial because not all the foreign legal units are identified in the EGR-IS)
two foreign legal units from non EU+EFTA countries (none because no information).
Relationships in the REL are:
control relationships (>50%) (full)
minority relationships (<50%) (part: only >=10%)
The data set with information on enterprises.
ENT file including all enterprises made of legal units sent in LEU files is sent to EGR for processing.
The Data set with information on links between enterprises and legal units.
LEL file including full links between enterprise (ENT) and legal units (LEU) is sent to EGR for processing.
The Data set with information on enterprise groups of which country is the GDC country for the EuroGroups Register.
GEG file including full groups data is sent to the EGR for processing.
The groups’ variables are updated after receiving the preliminary frame:
GGH.
GDC.
France including ultraperipherical regions (Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Reunion, Mayotte), as defined in the NUTS classification.
The reference period for data sent to the EGR reflects the picture of 31 December as at the given reference year.
Data transmitted to EGR during the EGR 2022 cycle includes data for the 2022 reference year. The identification refers to the 2022 reference year. The economic variables (number of employees, self -employed persons, turnover and economic activity) refer to the 2021 reference year.
The actions taken to monitor and to improve accuracy of the data sent to EGR are as follows:
Manual checks of the structure (list of legal units) for the groups with an activity or financial report
Manual checks of the relationships, the GGH and the GDC for all groups
with at least 1,000 employees in France or
with at least 250 employees in France and whose GGH is located in the Benelux or Ireland
The economic variables on employment are recorded in absolute figures.
The net turnover for enterprises is recorded in euro currency.
The net turnover is recorded in millions in euro currency.
No imputation
The data are based on a multisource process including administrative and private data.
Not applicable.
The EGR process refers to a reference year T and is run yearly over a period of 11 months, between May T+1 and March T+2.
Geographical comparability is guaranteed
Since the 2021 EGR cycle, data transmitted to EGR, except the economic variables (see 5. Reference Period), included data for the same reference year. Before, the files sent for the (Y) EGR cycle were built according to (Y-1) data.
