31.12. 93 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 342/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3696/93 of 29 October 1993 on the statistical classification of products by activity (CPA) in the European Economic : Community THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100a thereof, : Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1), In cooperation with the European Parliament (?), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3), Whereas, in order to function, the internal market requires statistical standards applicable to the collection, transmission and publication of national and Community statistics so that undertakings, financial institutions, governments and all other operators in the Single Market can be provided with reliable and comparable statistical data; Whereas such information is necessary to enable undertakings to assess their competitiveness and is useful to the Community institutions in preventing distortions of competition; Whereas only if the Member States use product classifications by activity linked to the Community classification will it be possible to provide integrated information with the reliability, speed, flexibility and degree of detail required for the management of the internal market; Whereas provision should be made for the Member States to be able, in order to meet national requirements, to retain or to insert in their national classifications additional subdivisions based on the classification of products by activity within the European Economic Community; () O] No C 12, 18.1.1993, p. 1. (3 O] No C 150, 31.5.1993, p. 132; and Decision of 22 October 1993 (not yet published in the Official Journal). ) OJ No C 19, 25. 1. 1993, p. 60. Whereas the international compatibility of economic statistics requires that the Member States and the Community institutions use product classifications by activity which are directly linked to the United Nations Central Product Classification (CPC); Whereas the classification of products by activity in the Community should be linked to the classification of economic activities in the Community (NACE Rev, 1); Whereas the structuring of a product classification in accordance with the production activity involved avoids proliferation of unrelated coding schemes and facilitates the identification by producers of relevant markets; Whereas there is a need to create a reference framework within  which  statistical data on production, consumption, external trade and transport can be compared; Whereas the use of the classification of products by activity within the Community requires that the . Commission be assisted by a Management Committee, namely the Statistical Programme Committee set up by Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (*) on any issue relating to the application of this Regulation, in particular as regards interpretation of that classification, minor amendments thereto and the drafting and updating of explanatory notes; : Whereas within the framework of this Regulation it is desirable to have uniform codes for all the Member States using the same product description and a corresponding alphanumeric code; Whereas it is vital that the contents of the various categories of the classification of products by activity within the Community be interpreted uniformly in all the Member States; (*) O] No L 181, 28. 6. 1989, p. 47.