10. 1. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 6/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 23/97 of 20 December 1996 on statistics on the level and structure of labour costs 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, Whereas, in order to carry out the tasks entrusted to it, the Commission must be kept informed of the level, trend and structure of employers’ labour costs and employees’ earnings in the Member States; Whereas the development of the Community and the operation of the single market increase the need for comparable data on the level, trend and structure of emloyers’ labour costs and employees’ earnings, particu- larly as a means of analysing growth, competitiveness, employment, the progress of economic and social co- hesion and for establishing reliable comparisons between the Member States and the regions of the Community; Whereas the best method of assessing the situation as regards the level, trend and structure of employers’ labour costs and employees’ earnings is to produce specific statis- tics on labour costs, as was most recently done in 1993 pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3949/92 of 21 December 1992 relating to the organization of a survey of labour costs in industry and the services sector (') refer- ring to accounting data of 1992; Whereas, because of the variations in the position and composition of expenditure by enterprises on wages and related employers’ contributions, new Community stat- istics need to be produced based on accounting data for 1996 in order to bring up to date the results of the previous survey; Whereas, pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 () the European system of national and regional accounts in the European Community (ESA-95) is the term of reference o L 404, 31, 12. 1992, p. 7. o L 310, 30. 11. 1996, p. 1. Z2Z for standards, definitions and accounting practices in the Member States in order to meet the Community needs; whereas this necessitates the establishment of complete, reliable and comparable statistical sources at national and regional level; whereas the levels of breakdown to be applied to the variables are limited to what is necessary to ensure comparability with previous surveys and compat- ibility with national accounts requirements; Whereas the statistical information available in each Member State does not provide a valid basis for compar- isons, in particular because of the differences between laws, regulations and administrative practices of the Member States; whereas Community statistics must there- fore be produced and the results processed on the basis of common definitions and harmonized methodologies; Whereas, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the creation of common statistical standards enabling harmonized information to be produced is a proposed action the objectives of which can, by reason of its scale or effects be better achieved by the Community; whereas these standards will be implemented in each Member State on the authority of the agencies and institutions appointed to compile official statistics; Whereas, pursuant to Council Decision No 93/464/EEC of 22 July 1993 on the framework programme for priority actions in the field of statistical information 1993 to 1997 (), the production of Community statistics on labour costs is one of the priority actions of the statistical programme 1993 to 1997, Whereas it may be acceptable for the countries which have administrative sources or other appropriate statistical sources to use these or perhaps link them up with a simplified questionnaire if this method is compatible with the definitions and methods approved and corresponds to the whole set of variables required; () OJ No L 219, 28. 8. 1993, p. 1.