L 344/102 Official Journal of the European Communities 18.12.98 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2702/98 of 17 December 1998 concerning the technical format for the transmission of structural business statistics (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, Euratom) No 58/97 of 20 December 1996 (1) concerning structural business statistics, and in particular Article 12(viii) thereof, Whereas Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 58/97 established a common framework for the production of Community statistics on the structure, activity, competitiveness and performance of businesses in the Community; Whereas it is necessary to specify the technical format for the transmission of structural business statistics; Whereas the envisaged measures are in accordance with the opinion of the Statistical Programme Committee, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 The technical format referred to in Article 9 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 58/97 concerning structural business statistics is defined in the Annex to this Regulation. Article 2 Member States shall apply this format for the data concerning the 1996 reference year and subsequent years. 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, 17 December 1998. For the Commission Yves-Thibault de SILGUY Member of the Commission (') OJ L 14, 17.1.1997, p. 1.