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.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
5, rue Alphonse Weicker
L-2920 Luxembourg
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
14 April 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
14 April 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
14 April 2025
3.1. Data description
Environmental subsidies and similar transfers (ESST) accounts record subsidies and other forms of government support measures (such as tax rebates, tax exemptions, tax credits, tax deferrals), that help to protect the environment. The accounts distinguish between subsidies (ESA2010 code D3), other current transfers (ESA2010 D6_D7), capital transfers (ESA2010 D9) and tax abatements. Data are broken down by receiving institutional sector and functional classifications of environmental protection and resource management (classifications CEPA and CReMA). ESST data are collected annually on a voluntary basis.
3.2. Classification system
The datasets use the following dimensions (not all dimensions are relevant in all tables):
1) Environmental economic characteristics: see section 3.4. below.
2) Geopolitical entity (GEO): EU Member States, EFTA countries, candidate countries, potential candidates countries.
3) Classification of environmental protection activities (CEPA). The following categories exist:
CEPA 1 — Protection of ambient air and climate
CEPA 2 — Wastewater management
CEPA 3 — Waste management
CEPA 4 — Protection and remediation of soil, groundwater and surface water
CEPA 5 — Noise and vibration abatement
CEPA 6 — Protection of biodiversity and landscapes
Sum of CEPA 7+8+9 — Protection against radiation; Research and development, other
4) Classification of resource management activities (CReMA). The following categories exist:
CReMA 10 — Management of water
CReMA 11 — Sustainable management of forest resources
CReMA 12 — Management of wild flora and fauna stocks
CReMA 13A — Production of energy from renewable sources
CReMA 13B — Heat/energy saving and management
CReMA 13C — Minimisation of the intake of fossil energy resources as raw material
CReMA 14 — Management of minerals
Sum of CReMA 15+16 — Research and development activities for resource management; other resource management activities
5) Classification of economic activities - NACE rev.2 (NACE_R2): Data are aggregated for publication with special groupings at divisions level (2-digit level of the classification) relevant for ESST.
6) Classification by type of payer and beneficiary
Entities paying the subsidies and similar transfers
The statistics on environmental subsidies and similar transfers record transfers payable by the General government and the Rest of the world, in particular by the EU institutions.
Entities receiving the subsidies and similar transfers
The entities receiving the ESST can be classified in different ways, the two main ones are:
by institutional sector. According to ESA, an institutional sector (hereafter ‘sector’) is an aggregation of institutional units with similar economic behaviour, the latter based on the type of producer, principal activity and function. ESA distinguishes the following institutional sectors: Non-financial corporations (S11) and Financial corporations (S12) (aggregated together in the ESST questionnaire), General government (S13), Households (S14), Non-profit institutions serving households (S15), Rest of the world (S2).
by industry (only for transfers paid to corporation sector S11-S12). An industry is a group of producer units with the same principal economic activity. An activity is characterised by an input of products, a production process and an output of products. NACE is the European reference classification for the production and the dissemination of statistics related to economic activities. The ESST questionnaire includes NACE A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I-U and a NEC (not elsewhere classified).
7) Period of time (TIME): Data are annual.
8) Unit (UNIT): Millions of euro, million units of national currency, as % of GDP.
3.3. Coverage - sector
The data set covers the entire national economy as defined in National Accounts (ESA 2010, paragraph 2.04). The institutional sectors in ESA 2010 are non-financial corporations (sector S11), financial corporations (sector S12), general government (sector S13), households (sector S14), NPISH (sector S15), and the rest of the world (sector S2). ESST further groups these sectors for simplification. For example, S11 and S12 are grouped together. This is relevant because the groupings of sectors for ESST determines the data compilation and reporting.
In ESST the following sectors are distinguished:
General Government (S13) as provider and beneficiary of environmental subsidies and similar transfers;
Corporations (S11 and S12), NPISH (S15) and Households (S14) as beneficiaries of environmental subsidies and similar transfers;
the Rest of the World (RoW) as beneficiary, or origin, of subsidies and similar transfers. The institutions of the EU and international organizations are included in ESST as part of the rest of the world sector.
The data set covers the entire national economy as defined in National Accounts (ESA 2010, paragraph 2.04). The institutional sectors in ESA 2010 are non-financial corporations (sector S11), financial corporations (sector S12), general government (sector S13), households (sector S14), NPISH (sector S15), and the rest of the world (sector S2). ESST further groups these sectors for simplification. For example, S11 and S12 are grouped together. This is relevant because the groupings of sectors for ESST determines the data compilation and reporting.
In ESST the following sectors are distinguished:
General Government (S13) as provider and beneficiary of environmental subsidies and similar transfers;
Corporations (S11 and S12), NPISH (S15) and Households (S14) as beneficiaries of environmental subsidies and similar transfers;
the Rest of the World (RoW) as beneficiary, or origin, of subsidies and similar transfers. The institutions of the EU and international organizations are included in ESST as part of the rest of the world sector.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
This definition covers environmental subsidies and similar transfers that are current or capital transfers according to the SNA 2008 (and its European version, the ESA 2010). Tax abatements and other environmental support measures described in section 1.3 are not covered in this definition but are also covered by the data collection. The focus is on transfers’ flows from general government to the other sectors, plus transfers from (and to) the rest of the world (mainly from the institutions of European Union and in the framework of international cooperation).
Environmental protection (EP) includes all activities and actions which have as their primary purpose the prevention, reduction and elimination of pollution as well as any other degradation of the environment. Resource management (RM) includes the preservation, maintenance and enhancement of the stock of natural resources and hence safeguarding against depletion. EP and resource management RM subsidies and similar transfers to compensate any loss of revenue due to EP and RM are also included.
ESST uses the same statistical units as national accounts.
The building block is the institutional unit which is defined as “an economic entity characterised by decision-making autonomy” (ESA 2010, paragraph 2.12). Institutional units are grouped in institutional sectors.
3.6. Statistical population
Environmental subsidies and similar transfers encompasses the flows between resident units and between resident units and the rest of the world. The focus are the flows from units of general government to the units in other institutional sectors, including transfers from (and to) the rest of the world (mainly from the institutions of European Union and in the framework of international cooperation). Resident units are defined as in ESA 2010.
3.7. Reference area
EU Member States, EFTA countries, EU candidate countries and potential candidates.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data for ESST are reported yearly on a voluntary basis. From 2011 onwards, about thirteen countries report data every year.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Millions of euro, Millions of national currency
The data refer to the calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements.
Data for ESST are reported on a voluntary basis.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
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.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Confidential data are flagged "confidential" and not published.
Aggregates compiled based on confidential data respect Eurostat's confidentiality rules.Confidential data are flagged "confidential" and not published.
8.1. Release calendar
There is no official release calendar for the ESST data.
Data are published once the validation procedure has been completed.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
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.
Data are disseminated simultaneously to all interested parties through a database update and on Eurostat's website.
Data are disseminated annually.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Not available.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Not applicable
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
The online database is available free of charge at: Eurostat database.
There is no separate Quality Report submitted by the countries along the questionnaire. However, one sheet of the excel questionnaire (‘metadata’) includes information provided by the country on quality of the reported data.
11.1. Quality assurance
Eurostat published in 2015 the ESST guidelines to assist countries in the compilation of ESST data, ensuring the comparability of the concepts, compilation methods and reporting convention across the EU Member States.
Eurostat has put in place an extensive procedure to validate the data received from countries. The validation tools examine the following aspects:
coverage and accuracy;
revisions;
consistency over time;
coherence with related statistics (with COFOG - division 05 and EPEA data).
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Validation procedures are in place.
For each data reporting round, Eurostat compiles a progress report, which is presented to the Working Group on Monetary Environmental Statistics and Accounts (MESA WG), encompassing representatives of all Member States, other reporting countries, Eurostat and other stakeholders.
Specific quality issues detected during the validation process, follow-up actions to ensure further quality improvements, changes to the data reporting templates and methodological guidance are discussed by the MESA WG. Agreed improvement measures are implemented for the subsequent reporting rounds.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Data on environmental subsidies and similar transfers could be used for analyses of the economic impact of environmental policy — and in particular, they could provide a basis for cost/benefit analyses for new environmental policy proposals. Information on environmental subsidies and similar transfers could also help to review policies targeting the development of the market for environmental goods and services. Environmental subsidies and similar transfers are also used in the process of compilation the Environmental protection expenditure account (EPEA) providing indicators relevant to policy initiatives about the green economy and green jobs.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
There are no systematic studies of user satisfaction. Eurostat has regular hearings with European policymakers and contacts with the research community and other stakeholders to monitor the relevance of the statistics produced and identify new priorities.
12.3. Completeness
Data is reported on a voluntary basis. Therefore, data availability and the length of time series vary across countries.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
See point 11.1 above.
Eurostat assesses the accuracy of national data by systematically applying validation checks to all ESST data reported by countries.
The overall accuracy is considered to be good.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
Deadline for the reporting of ESST data is the 31st December.
Eurostat publishes the data once the validation process has been completed.
14.2. Punctuality
Not applicable.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The comparability across countries of ESST is ensured by the common conceptual framework and guidelines for ESST updated and published in 2015. The validation checks by Eurostat enhance the comparability between countries, highlighting possible issues.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Comparability over time at country level is ensured by the common conceptual framework and guidelines for ESST. Still, the data is reported on a voluntary basis and time series is relatively short for some countries.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Environmental subsidies and similar transfers have the same system boundaries as European System of Accounts (ESA). This ensures a high level of coherence with the core national accounts. Eurostat cross-checks ESST data against data on government transfer expenditure from National Accounts (COFOG division 5) and data on transfers from Environmental Protection Expenditure Accounts (EPEA).
Currently there are certain linkages and overlaps between ESST accounts and the environmental protection expenditure accounts (EPEA), which already collect on a mandatory basis under Regulation (EU) 691/2011 some information on transfers. In particular, the EPEA module collects data on environmental protection transfers between units of the various institutional sectors of the economy and with the rest of the world. Transfers from/to the rest of the world enter in the calculation of the most important EPEA indicator, i.e. the national expenditure on environmental protection (NEEP).
In EPEA, environmental subsidies and similar transfers are defined in the same way as in ESST, i.e. transfers intended to support activities, which protect the environment and the use of environmental protection products. In both accounts, the core of data to be reported is constituted by transactions classified according to the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) as current (D.3: Subsidies and D.7: other current transfers) or capital transfers (D.92 Investment grants and D.99 Other capital transfers).
The differences between the EPEA module, within the current scope of mandatory data reporting, and the proposed new ESST module are listed below:
The proposed ESST data collection covers environmental protection and resource management while mandatory EPEA reporting covers only environmental protection.
In ESST (as proposed), the non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sector is separated from general government, while EPEA records together the transactions of general government and NPISH.
ESST (as proposed) includes social contributions and benefits (D6) under current transfers that are not included in EPEA.
15.4. Coherence - internal
The data reported by countries are internally coherent (totals are equal to the sum of the breakdowns).
Not available.
17.1. Data revision - policy
The general Eurostat revision policy applies to this domain.
17.2. Data revision - practice
All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data. Reported errors that are deemed to be significant are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated. Data are only published once they are deemed to be sufficiently complete for all data providers contributing to the aggregate. New data are only used to update disseminated data if provided according to the provision schedule set by Eurostat.
18.1. Source data
The compilation of monetary environmental accounts builds in many countries upon statistics that are primarily collected for other purposes.
For the compilation of environmental subsidies and similar transfers the main data source used is national accounts data and in particular government accounts based on the classification of the functions of the government (COFOG). This information is complemented by the analysis of governments bodies’ budgets in particular for environmental transfers not reported under COFOG 05 Environmental protection.
Other data sources includes administrative data, fiscal data (on state aid for example), annual activity reports and survey’s results. Under WG 2022 agenda item 6 there is more information on the progress made in the data availability and quality as well as sources and methods in place for the ESST data compilation.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data are collected on an annual basis.
18.3. Data collection
The scope and frequency of ESST data collection are set based on a voluntary agreement with national statistical offices.
18.4. Data validation
Eurostat undertakes a number of standard accuracy and plausibility checks and discusses the identified issues with the data compilers. The validation process is duly documented in country validation reports.
Eurostat carries out additional quality controls in its internal database when data are uploaded for dissemination.
For additional information on data validation please see: Eurostat Data validation and point 11.1.
18.5. Data compilation
Data sources, methods and compilation techniques are country specific, but should be used in a way compliant with the definitions and accounting rules described in the ESST guidelines.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable.
No specific comment.
Environmental subsidies and similar transfers (ESST) accounts record subsidies and other forms of government support measures (such as tax rebates, tax exemptions, tax credits, tax deferrals), that help to protect the environment. The accounts distinguish between subsidies (ESA2010 code D3), other current transfers (ESA2010 D6_D7), capital transfers (ESA2010 D9) and tax abatements. Data are broken down by receiving institutional sector and functional classifications of environmental protection and resource management (classifications CEPA and CReMA). ESST data are collected annually on a voluntary basis.
14 April 2025
This definition covers environmental subsidies and similar transfers that are current or capital transfers according to the SNA 2008 (and its European version, the ESA 2010). Tax abatements and other environmental support measures described in section 1.3 are not covered in this definition but are also covered by the data collection. The focus is on transfers’ flows from general government to the other sectors, plus transfers from (and to) the rest of the world (mainly from the institutions of European Union and in the framework of international cooperation).
Environmental protection (EP) includes all activities and actions which have as their primary purpose the prevention, reduction and elimination of pollution as well as any other degradation of the environment. Resource management (RM) includes the preservation, maintenance and enhancement of the stock of natural resources and hence safeguarding against depletion. EP and resource management RM subsidies and similar transfers to compensate any loss of revenue due to EP and RM are also included.
ESST uses the same statistical units as national accounts.
The building block is the institutional unit which is defined as “an economic entity characterised by decision-making autonomy” (ESA 2010, paragraph 2.12). Institutional units are grouped in institutional sectors.
Environmental subsidies and similar transfers encompasses the flows between resident units and between resident units and the rest of the world. The focus are the flows from units of general government to the units in other institutional sectors, including transfers from (and to) the rest of the world (mainly from the institutions of European Union and in the framework of international cooperation). Resident units are defined as in ESA 2010.
EU Member States, EFTA countries, EU candidate countries and potential candidates.
The data refer to the calendar year.
See point 11.1 above.
Eurostat assesses the accuracy of national data by systematically applying validation checks to all ESST data reported by countries.
The overall accuracy is considered to be good.
Millions of euro, Millions of national currency
Data sources, methods and compilation techniques are country specific, but should be used in a way compliant with the definitions and accounting rules described in the ESST guidelines.
The compilation of monetary environmental accounts builds in many countries upon statistics that are primarily collected for other purposes.
For the compilation of environmental subsidies and similar transfers the main data source used is national accounts data and in particular government accounts based on the classification of the functions of the government (COFOG). This information is complemented by the analysis of governments bodies’ budgets in particular for environmental transfers not reported under COFOG 05 Environmental protection.
Other data sources includes administrative data, fiscal data (on state aid for example), annual activity reports and survey’s results. Under WG 2022 agenda item 6 there is more information on the progress made in the data availability and quality as well as sources and methods in place for the ESST data compilation.
Data are disseminated annually.
Deadline for the reporting of ESST data is the 31st December.
Eurostat publishes the data once the validation process has been completed.
The comparability across countries of ESST is ensured by the common conceptual framework and guidelines for ESST updated and published in 2015. The validation checks by Eurostat enhance the comparability between countries, highlighting possible issues.
Comparability over time at country level is ensured by the common conceptual framework and guidelines for ESST. Still, the data is reported on a voluntary basis and time series is relatively short for some countries.
