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
D.1 Excessive deficit procedure, methodology and GFS
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Eurostat, 5 Rue Alphonse Weicker, 2721 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
30 April 2026
2.2. Metadata last posted
30 April 2026
2.3. Metadata last update
30 April 2026
3.1. Data description
Statistics on expenditure variables supporting the implementation of the EU economic governance framework are compiled by EU Member States using ESA 2010 methodology.
The data covers national expenditure on co-financing of programmes funded by the EU, as well as total expenditure on defence and investment in defence.
The data are provided by national authorities (National Statistical Institutes), twice a year (at the end of March and at the end of September), together with the reporting of government deficit and debt data in the context of the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) notification.
3.2. Classification system
European System of Accounts, 2010 edition (ESA2010).
General government sector as defined in ESA2010. The institutional units are grouped into the general government sector and its subsectors.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The indicators are compiled on a national accounts (ESA 2010) basis.
The national co-financing of EU programmes expenditure of general government comprises national co-financing obligations fixed in the relevant agreements between EU countries and the EU institutions.
Government expenditure on defence refers to the total expenditure falling within COFOG Division 02 – Defence, as well as to expenditure financed by Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loans, if not falling within COFOG 02.
Government investment in defence refers to gross fixed capital formation falling within COFOG Division 02 – Defence.
3.5. Statistical unit
Institutional units and groupings of units as defined in ESA 2010.
3.6. Statistical population
Target population is the general government sector.
3.7. Reference area
EU aggregate and EU Member States.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Regarding government expenditure and investment in defence, the data cover periods from 2021 onwards. For expenditure on the co-financing of programmes, periods from 2023 onwards are covered.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Data are expressed in millions of Euro, millions of national currency units and as percentages of GDP.
For non-euro-area countries, Eurostat converts amounts reported in national currency into euros using the average annual exchange rate. Some minor statistical discrepancies may arise compared with the original amounts.
Eurostat uses, by default, the GDP transmitted in the context of the Excessive Deficit Procedure as the denominator in GDP ratios.
The reference period is the calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Article 2 of the Regulation (EU) 2024/1263 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2024 on the effective coordination of economic policies and on multilateral budgetary surveillance and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 established that specified ‘net expenditure’ indicator is calculated by netting, among others, also national expenditure on co-financing of programmes funded by the EU.
Article 3 of the Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1264 of 29 April 2024 amending Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure foresees that the Commission, when preparing a report under Article 126(3) TFEU, can consider as a relevant factor also “(e) the increase of government investment in defence, where applicable, considering also the time of recording of military equipment expenditure.”
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not available.
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 is flagged "C", where other types of blocks exist in the database.
Only authorised staff have access to the database. They have signed appropriate documentation on handling of confidential data.
There are blocks which prevent the inadvertant extraction and publication of confidential data.
8.1. Release calendar
The data release follows the EDP notifications, in which national statistical institutes provide Eurostat with data relating to national co-financing of EU programmes and defence expenditure.
8.2. Release calendar access
See 8.1
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.
Annual data. All data are disseminated twice a year.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Not available.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Statistics Explained article.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Please consult free data online.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not available.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not available.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
See 6.1
10.7. Quality management - documentation
The progress in respect of data availability and quality is reviewed and reported in Eurostat's internal documents.
11.1. Quality assurance
Quality of data is assured by adherence to the ESA 2010 and the Manual on Government Deficit and Debt and by the verification of the Member States' data by Eurostat.
Data are used for analysing the public finances of Member States, particularly in relation to national co-financing of EU programmes and defence expenditure.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not available.
12.3. Completeness
Data required by Regulation (EU) 2024/1263 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2024 on the effective coordination of economic policies and on multilateral budgetary surveillance and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97, are available.The CBS Netherlands and Statec Luxembourg consider that their national data on national co-financing are not for publication and are marked “N” in the dataset.
All data required by Council Regulation (EU) 2024/1264 of 29 April 2024 amending Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure, are available. EU countries which have not activated the national escape clause were invited to report data on total defence expenditure on a voluntary basis in the April 2026 excessive deficit procedure notification. In April 2026 EDP notification, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands did not report 2025 data to Eurostat. Italy and Cyprus did not report data for the whole reporting period.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Data for government finance statistics are in general associated with a high level of overall accuracy.
13.2. Sampling error
Not available.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not available.
14.1. Timeliness
Council Regulation 479/2009 requires that Member States report EDP government deficit and debt and associated data to Eurostat twice per year: before 1 April and before 1 October.
14.2. Punctuality
Member States normally meet the deadlines.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The underlying methodological framework is the European system of accounts (ESA2010), which ensures a high degree of comparability.
15.2. Comparability - over time
ESA2010 requires time series to be consistent over time.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The cross-domain coherence checking concentrates (but is not limited to) on the consistency of government datasets (non-financial data vs financial data, annual data vs quarterly data).
15.4. Coherence - internal
Datasets are internally consistent.
Not available.
17.1. Data revision - policy
The general Eurostat revision policy applies. Data are revised as necessary, in line with national accounts principles. At the time of each EDP notification, Member States can revise previously transmitted data back to year t-4 and must inform Eurostat about details of revisions since the previous EDP notification.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Under the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP), the data reported before 1 April are preliminary, since revised annual data are notified before 1 October. These revisions may affect all reported years. Further revisions may be necessary due to updated data sources or other reasons.
18.1. Source data
Annual national accounts data, primarily derived from administrative and other records of general government.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data are collected twice a year in the framework of the EDP notification.
18.3. Data collection
The collection of the data is carried out with the use of the relevant annex table of the ESA2010 transmission programme. Once data are compiled by national authorities in the reporting format, they are transmitted via EDAMIS in SDMX format to Eurostat.
18.4. Data validation
Data are loaded into Eurostat Reference Database once validated by Eurostat. The validation process consists of arithmetic and quality checks including consistency with ESA2010 methodology and with other data reported to Eurostat as well as a number of further plausibility checks.
18.5. Data compilation
Accounting conventions are those of ESA2010.
Percentage of GDP calculations are based on annual GDP data submitted to Eurostat in the EDP notification. GDP is gross domestic product at current market prices, as defined in ESA 2010 (B.1*g).
EU and euro area series are formed by the aggregation of the country data.
Statistics on expenditure variables supporting the implementation of the EU economic governance framework are compiled by EU Member States using ESA 2010 methodology.
The data covers national expenditure on co-financing of programmes funded by the EU, as well as total expenditure on defence and investment in defence.
The data are provided by national authorities (National Statistical Institutes), twice a year (at the end of March and at the end of September), together with the reporting of government deficit and debt data in the context of the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) notification.
30 April 2026
The indicators are compiled on a national accounts (ESA 2010) basis.
The national co-financing of EU programmes expenditure of general government comprises national co-financing obligations fixed in the relevant agreements between EU countries and the EU institutions.
Government expenditure on defence refers to the total expenditure falling within COFOG Division 02 – Defence, as well as to expenditure financed by Security Action for Europe (SAFE) loans, if not falling within COFOG 02.
Government investment in defence refers to gross fixed capital formation falling within COFOG Division 02 – Defence.
Institutional units and groupings of units as defined in ESA 2010.
Target population is the general government sector.
EU aggregate and EU Member States.
The reference period is the calendar year.
Data for government finance statistics are in general associated with a high level of overall accuracy.
Data are expressed in millions of Euro, millions of national currency units and as percentages of GDP.
For non-euro-area countries, Eurostat converts amounts reported in national currency into euros using the average annual exchange rate. Some minor statistical discrepancies may arise compared with the original amounts.
Eurostat uses, by default, the GDP transmitted in the context of the Excessive Deficit Procedure as the denominator in GDP ratios.
Accounting conventions are those of ESA2010.
Percentage of GDP calculations are based on annual GDP data submitted to Eurostat in the EDP notification. GDP is gross domestic product at current market prices, as defined in ESA 2010 (B.1*g).
EU and euro area series are formed by the aggregation of the country data.
Annual national accounts data, primarily derived from administrative and other records of general government.
Annual data. All data are disseminated twice a year.
Council Regulation 479/2009 requires that Member States report EDP government deficit and debt and associated data to Eurostat twice per year: before 1 April and before 1 October.
The underlying methodological framework is the European system of accounts (ESA2010), which ensures a high degree of comparability.
ESA2010 requires time series to be consistent over time.
