27. 2. 98 Official Journal of the European Communities L 58/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 448/98 of 16 February 1998 completing and amending Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 with respect to the allocation of financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM) within the European system of national and regional accounts (ESA) 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- liament (3, Having regard to the opinion of the European Monetary Institute (3), Whereas Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 of 25 June 1996 on the European System of National and Regional Accounts in the Community () contains the reference framework of common standards, definitions, classifica- tions and accounting rules for drawing up the accounts of the Member States for the statistical requirements of the European Community, in order to obtain comparable results between Member States; Whereas Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 provides that a decision on the allocation of financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM) will be taken no later than 31 December 1997, Whereas solving the problem of allocating FISIM should lead to major improvements in the methodology of the ESA and to a more accurate intra-European Union comparison of gross domestic product (GDP) levels; Whereas the purpose of this Regulation is to introduce the principle of allocation of FISIM and the detailed rules of its implementation; Whereas the effectiveness of the allocation of FISIM and the detailed rules of its implementation need to be () OJ C 124, 21. 4. 1997, p. 28. (® OJ C 339, 10. 11. 1997. () Opinion delivered on 16 October 1997 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () OJ L 310, 30. 11. 1996, p. 1. evaluated by means of calculations to be carried out by the Member States according to the trial methods described in Annex III to this Regulation during a trial period which is sufficiently long in order to test whether this allocation yields more reliable results for the correct measurement of the economic activity concerned than the present zero allocation; Whereas, it is appropriate that the Commission on the basis of the calculations carried out during the trial period, presents evaluation reports on the quality of the data, in particular, on their availability and a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the stability in time and the sensitivity of the results in respect of the different trial methods; Whereas it is appropriate in case of a positive evaluation of reliability of the results obtained that the Commission decides on the most suitable method for the allocation of FISIM; Whereas in case the trial methods do not yield more reli- able results for the correct measurement of the economic activity concerned than the present zero allocation it is however appropriate that the Commission submits to the Council an appropriate proposal for modification of Regulation (EC) No 2223/96; Whereas it is appropriate that the decision to allocate FISIM for the establishment of the GNP used for the purposes of the Community’s budget and its own resources will be adopted by the Council, acting unan- imously, on a proposal from the Commission; Whereas it is appropriate not to allocate FISIM for the purposes of other Community policies until the Commis- sion has decided on the method to be used for allocating FISIM in case the results obtained are judged to be more reliable; Whereas, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the objectives pursued by this Regulation can be better achieved at the Community level than at the level of Member States because only the Commission can co-