13.3.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 69/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) REGULATION (EC) No 450/2003 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 February 2003 concerning the labour cost index (Text with EEA relevance) 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 ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (), Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank (), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (4, Whereas: (1) A range of statistics, of which labour cost indices form an essential part, is relevant for an understanding of the inflationary process and the dynamics of the labour market. (2)  The Community, and particularly its economic, employ- ment and monetary authorities, need to have regular and timely labour cost indices for the purpose of monitoring changes in labour costs. (3)  The Action Plan on Economic and Monetary Union statistical requirements, produced by the European Commission (Eurostat) in close collaboration with the European Central Bank, identifies as a priority the devel- opment of a legal basis covering short-term labour cost statistics. (4)  The benefits of collecting, at Community level, complete data on all segments of the economy should be balanced against the reporting possibilities and the response burden on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). ) O] C 304 E, 30.10.2001, p. 184. () O] C 48, 21.2.2002, p. 107. () O] € 295, 20.10.2001, p. 5. (*) Opinion of the European Parliament of 28 February 2002 (O] C 293 E, 28.11.2002, p. 20), Council Common Position of 23 September 2002 (O] C 269 E, 5.11.2002, p. 10) and Decision of the European Parliament of 18 December 2002 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (5)  The Regulation is in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. The creation of common statistical standards for labour cost indices can only be achieved on the basis of a Commu- nity legal act because only the Commission can coordi- nate the necessary harmonisation of statistical informa- tion at Community level, while the collection of data and compilation of comparable labour cost indices can be organised by the Member States. (6)  Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community statistics (°) provides the general framework for the production of labour cost indices under this Regulation. (7)  The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should 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 (°). (8)  The Statistical Programme Committee (SPC), established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (), has been consulted in accordance with Article 3 of that Decision, HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Objective The objective of this Regulation is to establish a common framework for the production, transmission and evaluation of comparable labour cost indices in the Community. Member States shall produce labour cost indices for the economic activ- ities defined in Article 4. () OJL 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1. (9 O] L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. () OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.