Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

D.1: Excessive deficit procedure, methodology and GFS

2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG

Government expenditure by COFOG (UNSD classification of functions of government, replicated in ESA2010) function and type notified by national authorities in Table 11 of the ESA 2010 transmission programme.

Data are presented in millions of Euro, millions of national currency units (euro-fixed where apprpriate) and as a percentage of GDP.

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

Main sources of data: National authorities.

Total general government expenditure is classified by functions (COFOG divisions and groups - COFOG levels I and II) and broken down by types of expenditure on the basis of ESA 2010 transactions.

General government sector defined in ESA 2010 (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 table provides a breakdown of expenditure of general government by economic function and by type of transaction.

The indicators are as reported under table 11 'Expenditure of general government by function (COFOG)' of the ESA 2010 transmission programme.

For definitions, see European system of accounts, 2013 edition (ESA 2010), and the Eurostat Manual on the sources and methods for the compilation of COFOG statistics (2019 edition). 

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

The institutional units included to general government sector (S.13) according to ESA 2010 (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 and its subsectors.

EU Member States, EU and euro area aggregates, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

The legal requirement for first level COFOG (division level) is that all series should start in 1995, subject to derogations. However, in practice, the length of the series available varies widely from one country to another. The provision of COFOG level II (group level) data is compulsory for general government only, subject to derogations, from 2001 onwards.

Not applicable. All data is at current prices.

Data are presented in millions of Euro, millions of national currency units and as a percentage of GDP. The nominal GDP (GDP at current prices) used corresponds to the data vintage.

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.

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 a Council Regulation dated 26 June 2013, No 549/2013 and published in the Official Journal L 174 of the 26/06/2013.

The legal basis for compilation and transmission of the dataset the "General government expenditure function (COFOG)" is Table 11 of the ESA 2010 transmission programme - Annex B of Council Regulation (EC) N° 549/2013 of 26 June 2013.

Data are transmitted to the OECD, the ECB and selected other Commission services a few hours 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.

According to policy rules (see point 7.1).

According to Regulation 549/2013, data for reference year t and - as relevant - revisions of earlier years - are to be transmitted to Eurostat by t+12 months. Data is then gradually processed and validated and released by around t+14 months. The main release of data thus occurs in February of each year. This is also indicated in the release calendars on Eurostat website (Statistics Explained, news items). Aside from these main releases, any updated data transmitted by Member States is processed and released upon validation.

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 the OECD, the ECB and selected other Commission Services a few hours before release. Data are also shared under embargo with the OECD and selected other Commission Services.

Annual data. However, countries may choose to update their data at any time. Eurostat releases such more frequent revisions after validation. This implies also updates in EU/EA aggregates.

A yearly news release is published once all data related to a particular reference period is validated and released.

Online publication on Statistics Explained.

Not available.

Not available.

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

The methodological framework is the European system of accounts (ESA 2010), and the 'Classification of the functions of government' (COFOG), United Nations, 1999 as well as the 'Manual on sources and methods for the compilation of COFOG statistics - Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG)', Eurostat, 2019 edition.

The progress in respect of data availability and quality is reviewed and reported on in Eurostat reports to the data compilers from Member States. Eurostat has established an annual forum for COFOG data compilers (COFOG Task Force), where data quality is reviewed in depth with a view to further improving comparability. Eurostat's annual report on structural indicators to the Economic Policy Committee contains a section on COFOG availability and data quality.

The consistency, coherence and plausibility of the data is checked for each transmission and Member States are asked for additional information in case of any doubts on 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 other government datasets by Eurostat on data received by Member States.

COFOG data can be used for analysing the quality of public expenditure, especially trends in government expenditure on particular functions or purposes over time and inter-country comparisons (allowing however for the differences in the composition of government sector and in the institutional arrangements in different countries). COFOG data is used by a variety of Commission Services for policy analysis.

Not available.

All Member States and three EFTA countries 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.

Compulsory transmission is once a year at t+12 months after the end of the reference period. Certain countries revise data more frequently on a voluntary basis. EU/EA aggregates are updated along with Member States' data.

For most Member States and EFTA countries, the data are delivered according to the deadlines set by legislation.

The underlying methodological framework is the European system of accounts (ESA 2010), which ensures a high degree of comparability. Please also refer to the country notes included in section 19 (Comment).

ESA 2010 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.

The cross-domain coherence checking concentrates on the consistency of government data sets. Data is also compared to some satellite accounts' data as well as to the wider national accounts.

Datasets are carefully checked for the internal consistency. A release of non-internally consistent data should be exceptional and would be 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. 

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.

Data are primarily derived from administrative and other records of general government and are consistent with other government finance statistics tables.

In general, for ESA2010 table 11 the collection of data is annual. Countries may also revise and transmit data more frequently.

The collection of the data is carried out with the use of the relevant reporting table of the ESA 2010 transmission programme (Table 11 Expenditure of general government and sub-sectors by function (COFOG)), completed by national authorities.

Once data are compiled by national authorities in the reporting format, they are transmitted in SDMX-format to Eurostat as well as to OECD.

Data are loaded into the Eurostat Reference Database once validated by Eurostat. The validation process consists of arithmetic and quality checks, consistency checks with ESA 2010 methodology as well as selected coherence and plausibility verifications.

When data are validated by Eurostat, they are transmitted to OECD, Commisssion Services and ECB.

Accounting conventions are those of ESA 2010 and the COFOG classification.

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

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

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.

Country footnotes (please refer additionally to metadata published under gov_10a_main):