In the common position, the Council asked for an extension of the transition period until 2003 for Italy and until 2004 for Germany.
The Commission has accepted the requests by the Council that "by way of derogation,
- the transition period is extended until 2003 for Italy;
- the transition period is extended until 2004 for Germany under the condition that Germany provides quarterly substitute estimates for the main labour force sample survey aggregates as well as annual average for some specified labour force sample survey aggregates".
The Commission has accepted this request because during the transition period, Italy is able to provide quarterly estimates and with reference to a single week each quarter on the basis of the labour force survey and Germany has confirmed the list of quarterly substitute estimates and annual average estimates to be provided.
Therefore, the Commission agrees completely with the Council's common position.�