L 87/160 Official Journal of the European Union 31.3.2009 REGULATION (EC) No 222/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 11 March 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 on Community statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 285(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (}), Whereas: o) () ) Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (%) lays down the basic provisions for Community statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States. In the framework of the Commission Communication of 14 November 2006 on the reduction of the response burden, simplification and priority-setting in the field of Community statistics, Intrastat, the system for collecting Community statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States, was identified as an area where simplification is possible and desirable. Immediate action to reduce the statistical burden can be taken by lowering the coverage rate of data collected through Intrastat. This can be done by raising the thresholds below which parties are exempted from providing Intrastat information. As a consequence, the share of statistics based on estimates made by the national authorities will increase. For long-term efficiency, other steps to reduce the statistical burden further, while maintaining statistics which meet the quality indicators and standards in force, should be considered. Such steps could include the further reduction of the compulsory minimum coverage rates of total dispatches and total arrivals, as well as the possible future introduction of a single flow system. For these purposes, the value, the viability and the impact on quality of such steps should be further investigated by the Commission. Member States should provide the Commission (Eurostat) with annual aggregated data on trade broken down by business characteristics. Users will thus be provided with new statistical information on relevant economic issues, and a new type of analysis will become possible, for Opinion of the European Parliament of 21 October 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 19 February 2009. OJ L 102, 7.4.2004, p. 1. (10) example the analysis of how European companies operate in the context of globalisation, without this imposing new statistical requirements on reporting companies. The link between business and trade statistics should be established by merging the information from the register of intra- Community operators with information requested by Regulation (EC) No 177/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 establishing a common framework for business registers for statistical purposes (°). The implementing powers for lowering the minimum trade coverage should be conferred on the Commission. Such implementing powers should ensure flexibility for possible future changes based on a regular assessment of the thresholds in close collaboration with the national authorities in order to find an optimal trade-off between the statistical burden and the accuracy of data. Lowering the minimum trade coverage calls for measures to compensate for the less complete collection of data and hence the negative impact on quality, especially the accuracy of data. Power should be conferred on the Commission to tighten the quality arrangements of the Member States and in particular to define the criteria for estimating the trade not collected through Intrastat. Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 provides that certain measures are to be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (*). Decision 1999/468/EC has been amended by Decision 2006/512[EC (°), which introduced the regulatory proced- ure with scrutiny for the adoption of measures of general scope and designed to amend non-essential elements of a basic instrument adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty, inter alia, by deleting some of those elements or by supplementing the instru- ment with new non-essential elements. In accordance with the statement by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission (°) concerning Decision 2006/512[EC, for the regulatory procedure with scruting to be applicable to instruments adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty which are already in force, those instruments must be adjusted in accordance with the applicable procedures. OJ L 61, 5.3.2008, p. 6. OJ L 184,17.7.1999, p. 23. OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11. O] C 255, 21.10.2006, p. 1.