European environmental economic accounts: new modules

PURPOSE: to ensure international comparability of environmental economic accounts.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (amending Regulation (EU) No 691/2011).

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: sound information on the key trends, pressures and drivers for environmental change is essential for the development of effective policy, its implementation, and the empowerment of citizens more generally. Users put much emphasis on analysis and applications of environmental accounts in modelling and outlooks, both for preparing policy proposals and reporting on policy implementation and impacts.

Regulation (EU) No 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts covers three modules: (i) air emissions accounts ; (ii) environmental taxes ; (iii) material flow accounts. It contains a list of possible new modules to be introduced later based on Commission proposals. In accordance with the Regulation, several such pilot studies have been completed which clearly demonstrate the feasibility of the three new modules.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: no impact assessment was undertaken. The proposal has been discussed, in the framework of the European Statistical System, with data producers and users.

LEGAL BASIS: Article 338(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

CONTENT: the proposal of the amending act seeks to extend the coverage of Regulation 691/2011 to include the following additional modules:

• a module for environmental protection expenditure accounts;
• a module for environmental goods and services sector accounts;
• a module for physical energy flow accounts.

These three new modules contribute directly to the Union's policy priorities of green growth and resource efficiency by providing important information on indicators such as market output and employment in the EGSS, national environmental protection expenditure and the use of energy in a detailed NACE breakdown. No new data collection is necessary for implementing the new modules.

The United Nations Statistical Commission has adopted the System of Environmental- Economic Accounting (SEEA) as an international statistical standard at its 43rd session in February 2012. The new modules proposed are fully in line with the revised European Strategy for Environmental Accounting (ESEA 2008).

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION: this proposal has no new implication for the Union budget.