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For any question on data and metadata, please contact: Eurostat user support |
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1.1. Contact organisation | Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union |
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1.2. Contact organisation unit | D1: Excessive deficit procedure, methodology and GFS |
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1.5. Contact mail address | 2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG |
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2.1. Metadata last certified | 24/04/2024 | ||
2.2. Metadata last posted | 24/04/2024 | ||
2.3. Metadata last update | 24/04/2024 |
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3.1. Data description | |||
The data correspond to quarterly financial accounts for the general government sector and follows the ESA2010 methodology. The data covers financial transactions and balance sheet items for general government (consolidated and non-consolidated) and its subsectors. This includes a number of financial instruments (F.1, F.2, F.3, F.4, ...) as well as some balancing items such as net financial transactions, net financial worth and net financial assets and liabilties. Data are available in million of euro, million of national currency (average exchange rates are used for transactions and end of period exchange rates are used for stocks) and as a percentage of GDP (for transactions quarterly GDP is used; for stocks a rolling sum of the last four quarters is used). For Croatia, which joined the euro area from 1 January 2023, the euro-fixed for periods up to the fourth quarter of 2022 is used, i.e. HRK divided by the irrevocable exchange rate. In the table gov_10a_ggfa, annualised quarterly financial accounts for general government are presented. For financial transactions, data is summed over the four quarters of each year. For the conversion from national currency into euro, the yearly average exchange rate is used. For balance sheet items (stocks), the annualised data corresponds to the data of the fourth quarter. The percentage of GDP data of annualised data uses annual GDP transmitted by the Member States. In the course of the annualisation, small rounding differences may be amplified. Geographic coverage: EU, euro area, EEA. Main data sources are the tables provided according to the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of 21 May 2013 (OJ No L174/1). |
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3.2. Classification system | |||
European System of Accounts, 2010 edition (ESA2010). The data are compiled as defined by the Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of 21 May 2013 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/KS-02-13-269 |
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3.3. Coverage - sector | |||
Data covers the general government sector (consolidated and non-consolidated) as defined in ESA2010, §2.111 and its subsectors (§2.112): central government, state government (where applicable), local government and social security funds (where applicable). |
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3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions | |||
The data correspond to quarterly financial accounts for the general government sector which are conceptually consistent with the corresponding annual data compiled on a national accounts (ESA2010) basis. Quarterly financial accounts for general government include data on financial transactions and balance sheet items for general government (consolidated and non-consolidated) and its subsectors. The primary classification of financial instruments comprises: monetary gold and special drawing rights (AF.1), currency and deposits (AF.2) with sub-category currency (AF.21), debt securities (AF.3) with a breakdown into short-term (AF.31) and long-term (AF.32) debt securities, loans (AF.4) with a breakdown into short-term loans (AF.41) and long-term loans (AF.42), equity and investment fund shares or units (AF.5) with a breakdown into equity (AF.51) and investment fund shares or units (AF.52), insurance, pension and standardised guarantees schemes (AF.6) with a breakdown into non-life insurance technical reserves (AF.61), pension entitlements, claims of pension funds on pension managers and entitlements to non-pension benefits (AF.63_AF.64_AF.65), provisions for calls under standardised guarantees (AF.66), financial derivatives and employee stock options (AF.7) and other accounts receivable/payable (AF.8). The sector general government is divided into the following subsectors: central government (S.1311), state government (S.1312), local government (S.1313), social security funds (S.1314). The financial instruments, sectors and subsectors to be transmitted on a compulsory basis can be found in the ESA2010 Transmission Programme in Annex B of the Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of 21 May 2013. For definitions of financial transactions and instruments, see ESA2010 chapter 5. For definitions of institutional sectors and subsectors, see ESA2010 chapter 2. |
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3.5. Statistical unit | |||
Institutional units and groupings of units as defined in ESA2010. The institutional units included in the 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. |
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3.6. Statistical population | |||
Target population is the general government sector. |
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3.7. Reference area | |||
EU and euro area aggregates, EU Member States and Norway. |
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3.8. Coverage - Time | |||
As defined in the ESA 2010 transmission programme, the data series to be provided start from 1999Q1 onwards, subject to country derogations. However, in practice for some countries the available series are longer (for example for the United Kingdom the data series start in 1987Q1) while for other countries, the period covered is shorter. |
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3.9. Base period | |||
Not available. |
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Data are available in million of Euro, in million of national currency and as a percentage 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. |
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Quarterly data. Annualised quarterly data is calculated additionally. |
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6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements | |||
National accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA10) adopted in the form of Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of 21 May 2013. |
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6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing | |||
Not available. |
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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. |
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7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment | |||
Not available. |
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8.1. Release calendar | |||
Data is released together with quarterly non-financial accounts for general government (gov_10q_ggnfa) and quarterly general government gross debt (gov_10q_ggdebt) at around t+113 days after the end of the reference quarter. These aforementioned datasets comprise euroindicators and their release dates are communicated on the Eurostat website. Any data updates received from Member States are processed and validated, implying a more frequent release of updated data. EU/EA aggregates are adjusted accordingly. |
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8.2. Release calendar access | |||
See 8.1. |
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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. |
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Quarterly. |
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10.1. Dissemination format - News release | |||
See below. |
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10.2. Dissemination format - Publications | |||
Detailed tables on Government Finance Statistics. |
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10.3. Dissemination format - online database | |||
Please consult free data on-line or refer to contact details. |
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10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access | |||
Not available. |
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10.5. Dissemination format - other | |||
10.6. Documentation on methodology | |||
Quarterly financial accounts for general government are compiled with reference to the Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of 21 May 2013. A manual on quarterly financial accounts for general government is available here. This manual provides a detailed insight into the sources and methods used by countries to compile the data on quarterly financial accounts for general government. |
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10.7. Quality management - documentation | |||
The European Commission (Eurostat) submitted in 2006 a report to the European Parliament and Council assessing the reliability of quarterly data delivered by Member States. This quality report was updated in 2008, on the basis of recent developments and improvements in data quality achieved since the publication of the first report in 2006. The updated quality report is available on the Eurostat Web Site. |
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11.1. Quality assurance | |||
Data is verified for internal consistency and plausibility, also vis a vis other related data. |
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11.2. Quality management - assessment | |||
While the overall quality of the data has significantly improved over the years and compilers and users have become more familiar with this data flow, some Member States must nevertheless implement some specific measures to further improve the quality of the reported data. |
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12.1. Relevance - User Needs | |||
Not available. |
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12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction | |||
Not available. |
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12.3. Completeness | |||
Overall, the dataset has a good level of completeness. |
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13.1. Accuracy - overall | |||
Most Member States conduct consistency as well as plausibility checks as part of their compilation routines. Consistency checks are made with EDP Table 3, with annual financial accounts, or on consolidation. Plausibility checks are made on the discrepancy with the capital account, the growth rates of stocks and other economic flows. Member States monitor and report to Eurostat major events that underpin large transactions or large other economic flows (for other economic flows see § 5.3.). |
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13.2. Sampling error | |||
Not available. |
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13.3. Non-sampling error | |||
Not available. |
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14.1. Timeliness | |||
Under Regulation (EU) No 549/2013, data are transmitted from Member States to Eurostat three months after the end of the quarter to which the data refer to, at the latest. The deadline for transmission of provisional data is 85 days after the end of the reference quarter for Member States whose currency is the euro. Thereafter, data are validated before publication. |
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14.2. Punctuality | |||
The data transmission deadline specified in the Regulation is respected by almost all Member States, which means that data are transmitted before the deadline of t+3 months or 85 days (see section 14.1 above) after the end of the reference quarter. |
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15.1. Comparability - geographical | |||
Not available. |
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15.2. Comparability - over time | |||
The data can be compared over time. |
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15.3. Coherence - cross domain | |||
Several checks are carried out on the data before publication. These consist in checking the internal consistency of the data but also consistency with other datasets:
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15.4. Coherence - internal | |||
Not available. |
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Not available. |
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17.1. Data revision - policy | |||
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). |
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17.2. Data revision - practice | |||
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. . 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. 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. . |
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18.1. Source data | |||
The data for compilation of quarterly financial accounts of General Government should be based as much as possible on direct information from basic sources, and shall be completed by coverage adjustments if needed, and by conceptual adjustments in order to bring quarterly data in line with ESA10 concepts. Most of the quarterly financial accounts data are based on government administrative documents and statistical surveys conducted nationally for compilation of financial accounts. The quarterly financial accounts are also presented in an annualised form (i.e. in the form of a simple sum of the four quarters of a given year for transactions and as a last quarter of a year for stocks) in table gov_10a_ggfa. This represents a calculation based on the transmitted quarterly data. |
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18.2. Frequency of data collection | |||
Quarterly data. Annualised quarterly data is derived additionally. Revisions of national data are accepted, processed and disseminated at any time. |
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18.3. Data collection | |||
Tables, part of the ESA2010 transmission programme completed by national authorities. Once data are compiled by national authorities in the reporting format, they are transmitted via eDamis to Eurostat. |
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18.4. Data validation | |||
All QFAGG data should arrive via the Single Entry Point (eDamis) in SDMX/ML format. The verification process consists of arithmetic and quality checks such as:
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18.5. Data compilation | |||
Time of recording: In principle, flows are recorded on an accrual basis; that is when economic value is created, transformed or extinguished, or when claims and obligations arise, are transformed or cancelled. Valuation rules: Financial transactions are recorded at the market value. It is the value in national currency at which the financial assets and/ or liabilities are created, liquidated, exchanged or assumed, on the basis of commercial considerations only. For an explanation of the general valuation rules and detailed valuation rules that apply to some sub-categories of financial transactions, see ESA2010, chapter 5. National data are converted into ECU (before 1999) or euro using annual average exchange rates. European aggregates are only compiled if data from all Member States is present. |
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18.6. Adjustment | |||
Data are not adjusted. |
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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and high energy prices: Since the first quarter of 2020, Member States have implemented COVID-19 containment measures. In all quarters of 2022 and 2023, the impact of the measures to mitigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had a significantly lower impact than in quarters of 2020 and 2021. However, government revenue and expenditure continued to be impacted by the measures undertaken by most Member States to alleviate the impact of increasing energy prices. More country-specific metadata can also be found in the metadata file for the quarterly non-financial accounts of general government. Additional information is also available in the latest news releases on EDP, quarterly deficit and quarterly debt, next to be published in April 2024. Other metadata
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