1. Slide 1 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Status of XDIS/XBRL pilot project Giuseppe Sindoni Eurostat Meeting of the Eurostat’s XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006

2. Slide 2 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Background 2004: Feasibility analysis to a project for extraction of statistical data from XBRL reports –A pilot project feasible for extraction of raw economic data by NSIs 2005: X-DIS, XML for Data Interoperability in Statistics –Funded by IDABC –Aimed at implementing XML standards in the ESS

3. Slide 3 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Objectives of the pilot project Test: –Efficient use of XBRL in the statistical reporting chain –Chances of widespread acceptance by enterprises and institutions Focus on –Reporting by enterprises to NSIs Not on –Reporting by NSIs to Eurostat

4. Slide 4 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Tasks 1.Inventory of relevant existing taxonomies and mapping to statistical legislation 2.Monitoring XBRL developments 3.Creation of an extensible statistical taxonomy 4.Test the taxonomy in a live environment with suitable enterprise samples 5.Define if and how make it operational in enterprises 6.Feasibility analysis of the “pull” approach

5. Slide 5 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Reference groups The Accounting and Statistics Task Force –To co ‑ ordinate work and identify possible needs for action w.r.t. IAS and Statistics –XBRL pilot reports to A&S TF The XBRL pilot Task Force –To provide test environments and feedback –Composed of active members and observers BE, ES and NL to be active members

6. Slide 6 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Overall work plan idea Two alternatives –Pipelining tasks 2006: analysis and design covering many domains 2007: test and acceptance analysis –Pipelining domains 2006: performing all tasks on one domain 2007: extend the pilot to more domains and countries Second was chosen –Initial focus on Structural Business Statistics

7. Slide 7 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Outsourcing contract To –Perform task activities –Help MSs in the testing phase –Provide conclusions on technical aspects Framework contract awarded to Software AG First specific contract started end of March 2006

8. Slide 8 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Task 1 Inventory of taxonomies and mapping to statistical legislation (SBS) –Task completed –Look for a common set of variables from well established reporting information Based on GAAP FR Based on CoA SBS broken down variables Spain Belgium Netherlands Based on IFRS FR

9. Slide 9 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Task 2 Monitoring XBRL developments –To run through the whole project –Aimed at keeping contacts with related initiatives and evaluating possibilities for synergies –Presentation of the project at the 13 th XBRL International Conference –Participation in the 1 st Technical Meeting of European XBRL implemented projects (5-6 October 2006)

10. Slide 10 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Task 3 Creation of an extensible statistical taxonomy –First experiment: Taxonomy for SBS at INE Effective collaboration Many concepts to be defined from scratch –Draft IFRS based European Statistical Taxonomy IFRS to be the future FR standard (?) Taxonomy to be used by countries and extended with local concepts Covers: Services/Trades, Industry and Construction

11. Slide 11 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Planning task 4 Test the taxonomy in a live environment with suitable enterprise samples –To be performed with active members –Initial test plan prepared to test between June and September 2006 –Misalignment with local project schedules suggested to reschedule between October 2006 and February 2007

12. Slide 12 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Task 4: running INE –Taxonomies to be tested against instances coming from three volunteer enterprises Statistics Belgium –Development of XBRL based prototype data collection system to test with volunteer companies CBS –Taxonomy to be tested against instances coming from accounting firm

13. Slide 13 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Future activities October 2006 – February 2007 –Prepare and perform tests March 2007 –Acceptance analysis April – November 2007 –Extension to other domains and countries (?)

14. Slide 14 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Lessons learned so far Many different types of heterogeneities between countries and domains –Differences in local GAAPs –Different political approaches –Different rationales for XBRL introduction Statistical taxonomy design could be driven also by technical/organisational considerations XBRL acceptance by enterprises lower than expected

15. Slide 15 Eurostat Unit B3 – Statistical Information Technology XBRL pilot Task Force 27 September 2006 Issues Is it realistic to aim for extraction of statistical data from existing XBRL accounting and financial reports in the medium term (2008)? Is it a good choice to base European statistical taxonomies on IFRS? Are we really reducing the burden on enterprises? Comments on the Pilot Project plans for 2007? Additional active members for 2007?