17. 1. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 14/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EC, EURATOM) No 58/97 of 20 December 1996 concerning structural business statistics THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 213 thereof, Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Par- liamant (%), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (*), (1) Whereas in its resolution of 14 November 1989 on internal trade in the context of the internal market (*) the Council requested the Commission in particular to improve trade statistics by making them com- patible with Community definitions and increasing, as far as necessary, the supply of such statistics to the Statistical Office of the European Communities; (2) Whereas in Decision 92/326/EEC () the Council adopted a two-year programme (1992 to 1993) for the development of European statistics on services; whereas this programme includes the compilation of harmonized statistics at national and regional levels, particularly for the distributive trades; (3) Whereas in its Directive 78/660/EEC () the Council adopted measures to improve the coordination of national provisions concerning the presentation and content of annual accounts and annual reports, the valuation methods used therein and their publication in respect of certain types of company; (4) Whereas the Community has, in the mean time, made substantial progress towards integration; whereas new economic, competition, social, environ- mental and enterprise policies and guidelines call for initiatives and decisions based on valid statistics; whereas the information provided for under existing () O o () O] No C 297, 25. 11. 1989, p. 2 () OJ No L 179, 1. 7. 1992, p. 131. () OJ No L 222, 14. 8. 1978, p. 11. Directive as last amended by Directive 94/8/EC (O] No L 82, 25. 3. 1994, p. 33). NoC 146, 13. 6. 1995, p. 6. o C 96, 1. 4. 1996, p. 236. No C 236, 11. 9. 1995, p. 61. Community legislation or available in Member States is insufficient, inadequate or insufficiently com- parable to serve as a reliable basis for the work of the Commission; (5) Whereas by its Decision 93/379/EEC () the Council adopted a multiannual programme of Community measures to intensify the priority areas and to ensure the continuity and consolidation of policy for enter- prise, in particular small and medium-sized enter- prises, in the Community; whereas statistics are needed to assess the impact of the measures under- taken to achieve the objectives laid down in the Decision, in particular to have statistics which are comparable for businesses of all sectors, statistics on the national and international subcontracting rela- tions between businesses and improved statistics on small and medium-sized enterprises; whereas these needs must not lead to the imposition of un- reasonably onerous reporting requirements on small and medium-sized enterprises; (6) Whereas in its Decision 93/464/EEC (*) the Council adopted a framework programme for priority actions in the field of statistical information for 1993 to 1997, (7) Whereas there is a need for statistics on business conduct, in particular concerning research, develop- ment and innovation, environmental = protection, investment, eco-industries, tourism and high- technology industries; whereas the development of the Community and the operation of the internal market increase the need for comparable data on the structure of earnings of employees, the cost of labour and on training; (8) Whereas there is a need for complete and reliable statistical sources in order to enable a correct appli- cation of Council Directive 89/130/EEC, Euratom of 13 February 1989 on the harmonization of the compilation of the gross national product at market prices (°); () OJ No L 161, 2. 7. 1993, p. 68. % O] No L 219, 28. 8. 1993, p. 1. () OJ No L 49, 21. 2. 1989, p. 26.