1. 24 September 2008 Eurostat activities in trade in services and related balance of payments areas OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Trade in Services

2. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 2 1. Balance of payments quality report In October 2007 Eurostat launched the first quality reporting cycle. The reports addressed: methodological soundness, stability, plausibility, consistency, and reconciliation BoP/FTS. The assessment procedure was based on two pillars: –an individual country assessment by Eurostat –a more general assessment of BoP data quality in the EU The individual country assessment reports and the summary report were discussed and approved at the meeting of the Eurostat BoP Committee in July 2008.

3. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 3 2. Revision of international standards Active participation in the revision process (BD4, BPM6, MSITS, 2008 SNA, ESA95) Implementation of the manuals The CMFB in July 2008: –proposed simultaneous implementation of BPM6 and ESA (scheduled for 2014); –an exception for FDI statistics: may be implemented in line with OECD recommendations (scheduled for 2010); The ECB and Eurostat are currently preparing a road map Eurostat is also planning to organise two workshops in 2009 to discuss concrete implementation issues

4. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 4 3. Implementation of NACE rev.2 in BoP The Eurostat BoP Committee approved the final implementation plan for the NACE Rev.2 for BOP domain: –First reference year will be 2010, and first data are to be delivered in September 2011 –Activity breakdown for reporting data on FDI is modified to reflect NACE rev.2 –Back-casting will be carried out for reference years 2008 and 2009 and delivered in September 2011 In order to assist in the implementation and the back casting, Eurostat will organise a seminar in November 2008

5. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 5 4. Foreign affiliates statistics (FATS) FATS Regulation was adopted in June 2007 Outward FATS: Transmission of data on turnover, persons employed and no. of enterprises on a mandatory basis (first reference year: 2007) Pilot studies on some additional variables in order to assess the relevance and feasibility of collecting data Eurostat has published a recommendation manual which contains definitions and supplementary guidance The next meeting of the FATS WG is scheduled for 25-26 September 2008. Will focus on quality standards and quality reporting.

6. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 6 5. Remittances Ad-hoc survey was carried out in May 2007 In December 2007 data on remittance flows to and from the EU-27 were published for the first time In addition, major corridors of both remittances and "net CoE" flows were identified and quantified Eurostat will propose Member States to provide data on a regular basis The draft version of the compilation guide, prepared by Luxembourg Group on Remittances, will be made available soon on the IMF's website for comments.

7. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 7 6. Technical Group Travel Activities concentrates on follow-up and monitoring of the implementation of national collection systems Multilateral forum to analyse bilateral travel figures May 2008 meeting concentrated on the following issues: –State of implementation of national plans to collect data –Common methodological problems –Bilateral comparison of travel figures and related physical indicators –Action plan for reducing asymmetries The next meeting is scheduled for early June 2009

8. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 8 7. Task Force on RoW account TF-RoW was created to support work on reconciliation of BoP and RoW account, addressed methodological aspects and ran a survey on empirical differences Although a final report was presented in 2007, was asked to give further clarification on following points: –the issue of price gaps in transit trade activities, –legal aspects related to the use of credit card data and –guidelines for the implementation of the recommendations. it is foreseen that questionnaires for biannual monitoring will be sent in October 2008 and that the results will be reported back in January 2009

9. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 9 8. Task Force reconciliation BoP/FTS The main objective is to improve coherence between BOP and FTS statistics During the last meeting, on 29-30 May 2008, the TF: –developed recommendations on minimum quality considerations for making the CIF/FOB adjustment; –analysed data related to goods for processing; –discussed possible ways for introducing concepts suited to BoP needs in the drafts of the Intrastat and Extrastat implementing provisions; –analysed how to record aircraft leasing in NA, BoP and FTS; –considered the problems that non-residents with a national VAT number were posing to BoP and FTS statistics.

10. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 10 9. EuroGroup register The EGR aims for covering MNE groups with heads in and outside EU and their members in EU. currently contains 600 MNE groups with at least one group member in the EU In 2008, a stakeholder analysis of the need of FATS and BoP compilers was carried out. The EGR coverage will be increased to cover 5000 largest enterprise groups by the end of 2008. Extension of the coverage to 10 000 MNEs in 2010-2011 Full coverage to be reached in 2013.

11. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 11 10. Work on asymmetries Asymmetries are a main concern for Eurostat as they reflect on the quality and credibility of the BoP data. In the BoP WG of March 2008, Eurostat presented a document illustrating developments, scale and the persistence of asymmetries. Eurostat is facilitating a 3-country exercise involving LU, NL and UK concerning exchange of FDI data. A report on this reconciliation exercise will be presented at October 2008 Eurostat BOP Working Group meeting. Eurostat is cooperating with the ECB in enhancing consistency of BOP data.

12. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 12 11. Network group direct reporting The aim is to facilitate exchange of experience on implementation of direct reporting procedures and organising workshops on specific issues. The first workshop was held in 2007 and was considered to be very fruitful and informative. The formula of a workshop was considered adequate as it allows focusing on strategic BoP data collection issues, besides establishing a network of informal contacts. A second workshop is planned for spring 2009.

13. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 13 12. Threshold for statistical reporting EU Regulation sets a threshold of 12 500 below which banks are exempted from reporting obligations. Commission drafted a new draft Regulation asking: –to increase the reporting threshold up to 50 000 by 1/1/2010 –complete exemption of payment service providers from BoP reporting by 1/1/2012 –This will not prevent the collection of readily available information and aggregated data which have no impact on the straight through processing of the payments The European Commission is expected to adopt the new draft regulation before the end of the year, which will then be proposed to the European Parliament and Council.

14. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 14 13. PHARE projects The purpose is to assist countries to attain better quality of data and timeliness. One project involving HU, SK, LT and RO and concerning compilation of FATS data ended in 2007 with the delivery of data set, methodological report and final report. A second involving TR and HR started on 1st January 2007. The final report on results achieved, compliance with the FATS Regulation and remaining issues to be solved in each country, are due by end of September 2008.

15. 24 September 2008 OECD Working Group on Trade in Goods and Services 15 Thank you for your attention