8.11.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities L291/13 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2163/2001 of 7 November 2001 concerning the technical arrangements for data transmission for statistics on the carriage of goods by road (Text with EEA relevance) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 of 25 May 1998 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road ('), as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2691/1999 (3), and in particular Article 5(2) and Article 9 thereof, Whereas: (1)  In accordance with Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1172/98, the Commission shall determine the arrange- ments for the transmission of data by the Member States. (2) It is necessary to specify the format in which the data are to be transmitted to Eurostat in sufficient detail to ensure that the data can be processed rapidly and in a cost effective way. (3)  This Regulation does not change the status of the vari- ables which are declared optional in Regulation (EC) No 1172/98. (4)  The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Statistical Programme Committee, set up by Council Decision 89/ 382/EEC, Euratom (%), HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 The technical format for the transmission of data to the Commission (Eurostat) is defined in the Annex to this Regula- tion. Member States shall use this format for the data concerning the 2002 reference year and subsequent years. Article 2 Member States shall transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) the data and metadata required by this Regulation in electronic form, in conformity with an interchange standard proposed by the Commission (Eurostat). Article 3 This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 7 November 2001. () O] L 163, 6.6.1998, p. 1. () O] L 326, 18.12.1999, p. 39. For the Commission Pedro SOLBES MIRA Member of the Commission () O L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.