Guidance notes - Government finance statistics and EDP statistics
Guidance notes and clarifications
Eurostat provides additional methodological guidance documentation on the accounting rules for the EDP statistics and the GFS complementing or interpreting the general rules of ESA 2010.
Guidance notes are released under the responsibility of Eurostat, after the consultations with EU Member States, and explain the accounting rules for some specific issues.
+ Guidance notes issued under ESA 2010
- Guidance note on the recording of Member States' interventions to alleviate high energy prices via revenue measures (30 March 2023) [PDF, 209 KB]
- Guidance note on the recording of reversible caps on energy prices with final compensation (30 March 2023) [PDF, 723 KB]
- Guidance note on the recording of government expenditure measures on high energy prices (30 March 2023) [PDF, 577 KB]
- Guidance note on the statistical recording of the RRF (7 October 2021) [PDF, 675 KB]
- Recording of the future EIB Pan-European Guarantee Fund (11 September 2020) [PDF, 337 KB]
- Guidance on the statistical treatment of Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs)
- Recording of energy performance contracts (EPCs) in government accounts (19 September 2017) [PDF, 99 KB] - EC Press release
- A Guide to the Statistical Treatment of EPCs (08 May 2018)
- Guidance on the statistical treatment of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
- A Guide to the Statistical Treatment of PPPs (29 September 2016)
- Mobile phone licences, exploration rights and other licences (27 March 2017) [PDF, 476 KB]
- Impact of energy performance contracts on government accounts (07 August 2015) [PDF, 70 KB]
- Treatment of claw-back clauses in the sales of assets by government in national accounts (ESA 2010) (27 November 2014) [PDF, 66 KB]
- Classification of Central Stockholding Entities (CSEs) in ESA 2010 (29 August 2014) [PDF, 276 KB]
- Deferred tax assets (DTAs) and recording of tax credits related to DTAs in ESA 2010 (29 August 2014) [PDF, 140 KB]
+ Clarifications issued under ESA 2010
- Recording of the EU own resource based on non-recycled plastic packaging waste (24 June 2022) [PDF, 421 KB]
- Clarification on the time of recording of ANFA and SMP transfers to Greece (1 March 2021) [PDF, 591 KB]
- Treatment of guarantees provided by Member States under the SURE instrument (11 September 2020) [PDF, 303 KB]
- Clarification on the implications of COVID-19 measures on the statistical treatment of existing PPPs and concessions (18 May 2020) [PDF, 207 KB]
- Statistical recording of the 2015 contributions to National Resolution Funds (26 September 2016) [PDF, 369 KB]
- Statistical implications of new resolution legislation (31 March 2016) [PDF, 621 KB]
- The Statistical treatment of PPP contracts (4 March 2016), [PDF, 77 KB]
- The statistical recording of EU budgetary contributions (17 March 2015), [PDF, 99 KB]
+ Guidance notes issued under ESA 1995
- The impact of bank recapitalisations on government finance (18 July 2012) [PDF, 38 KB]
- The impact on EU Governments' deficit and debt of the decisions taken in the 2011-2012 European summits (12 April 2012) [PDF, 63 KB]
- Eurostat's preliminary view on the recording of the future European Stability Mechanism (7 April 2011) [PDF, 365 KB]
- The statistical recording of public interventions to support financial institutions and financial markets during the financial crisis (29 September 2009) [PDF, 75 KB]
- Classification of public holding corporations and their subsidiaries in national accounts (2 March 2009) [PDF, 45 KB]
- Recording of changes in inventories of Agricultural Market Regulatory Agencies (20 November 2008) [PDF, 69 KB]
- Classification of payments for the use of roads (13 March 2008) [PDF, 36 KB]
- Financial derivatives (13 March 2008) [PDF, 148 KB]
+ GFS interpretations
GFS interpretations are clarifications of ESA methodology released by Eurostat that concern government finance statistics while generally not impacting the measurement of government deficit and debt (for example only impacting total expenditure together with total revenue, or the composition of expenditure and revenue, financial instruments, etc.). These GFS interpretations are consulted with the GFS TF and agreed by the EDPS WG.
- Borderline between transfers and purchases of goods/services for transactions between government units (09 February 2024) [PDF, 237 KB]
- Delineation between resource taxes and rent (29 March 2022) [PDF, 417 KB]
- Attribution of tax revenue to government subsectors (29 March 2022) [PDF, 303 KB]
- Licence cancellation payments (29 March 2022) [PDF, 292 KB]
- Vaccines and vaccination programmes (29 March 2022) [PDF, 399 KB]
- Recording of per diems (28 September 2021) [PDF, 307 KB]
- Some aspects of factoring operations (28 September 2021) [PDF, 203 KB]
- Recording of VAT on electronic services (16 September 2020) [PDF, 385 KB]
- Deductions from compulsory employers' actual social contributions (06 November 2019) [PDF, 180 KB]
- Borderline between trade credits and advances (F.81) and other accounts payable (F.89) relating to social transfers in kind – purchased market production (D.632) (06 November 2019) [PDF, 189 KB]
+ Consultation draft
A number of EU governments introduced major active policy measures in order to mitigate the economic and social impact of the shutdown of businesses enforced across the EU due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This note is a consultation draft that aimed at examining the arguments for and against potential recordings and at ensuring a harmonised recording of similar policy measures across EU Member States, to the extent possible. The draft note served to launch a consultation within the GFS and EDP compilers community. To a large extent, the topics raised in the note have been integrated into the 2022 edition of the Manual on Government Deficit and Debt.
- Draft note on statistical implications of some policy measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (09 April 2020) [PDF, 468 KB]