Commission Decision of 17 May 2019 setting up the Commission expert group on gross national income (Text with EEA relevance.)

The Commission expert group on gross national income, (‘the GNI expert group’) is hereby set up.

The GNI expert group’s tasks shall be as follows: (a) to advise the Commission and to express its views, without prejudice to Article 2(3) of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council , on the comparability, reliability and exhaustiveness of GNI calculations; (b) to examine issues regarding the implementation of the Regulation (EU) 2019/516; (c) to examine, on an annual basis, the data transmitted in accordance with Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/516 and the report submitted in accordance with Article 2(3) of that Regulation concerning the sources and methods for calculating GNI and its components. That annual examination shall form the basis of an opinion of the GNI expert group on the appropriateness of Member States’ GNI data for own resource purposes with respect to reliability, comparability and exhaustiveness. That opinion shall indicate the main documents on which the examination is based; (d) to assist the Commission in the preparation of legislative proposals and policy initiatives on the harmonisation of gross national income at market prices; (e) to assist the Commission in the preparation of delegated acts to be adopted pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/516; (f) to assist the Commission in the early preparation of implementing acts to be adopted pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/516, before submission to the European Statistical System Committee in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council ; (g) to facilitate the exchange of experience and good practice in the field of the harmonisation of gross national income at market prices; (h) to advise the Commission regarding questions relating to revision policies of GNI data.

The Commission may consult the GNI expert group on any matter relating to gross national income.

1 Members shall be the Member States’ national statistical authorities referred to in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council .

2 Member States’ national statistical authorities shall nominate their representatives and shall ensure that their representatives provide a high level of expertise in the compilation of national accounts.

The GNI expert group shall be chaired by a representative of the Commission (Eurostat).

1 The GNI expert group shall act at the request of the Commission (Eurostat), in compliance with the Commission’s horizontal rules on expert groups (‘the horizontal rules’).

2 Meetings of the group shall, in principle, be held on Commission premises.

3 The Commission (Eurostat) shall provide secretarial services. Commission officials from other departments with an interest in the proceedings may attend meetings of the group and of the sub-groups.

4 In agreement with Commission (Eurostat), the group may, by simple majority of its members, decide that deliberations shall be public.

5 Minutes on the discussion on each point on the agenda and on the opinions delivered by the GNI expert group shall be meaningful and complete. Minutes shall be drafted by the secretariat under the responsibility of the Chair.

6 The GNI expert group shall adopt its opinions, recommendations or reports where possible by consensus.

7 In the event of a vote, the outcome of the vote shall be decided by simple majority of the members. The members that voted against or abstained shall have the right to have a document summarising the reasons for their position annexed to the opinions, recommendations or reports.

The Commission (Eurostat) may set up sub-groups for the purpose of examining specific questions on the basis of terms of reference defined by the Commission. Sub-groups shall operate in compliance with the horizontal rules and shall report to the GNI expert group. They shall be dissolved as soon as their mandate is fulfilled.

The Commission (Eurostat) may invite experts with specific expertise with respect to a subject matter on the agenda to take part in the work of the GNI expert group or sub-groups on an ad hoc basis.

1 Organisations or public entities other than Member States’ authorities may be granted an observer status, in compliance with the horizontal rules, by direct invitation.

2 Organisations or public entities appointed as observers shall nominate their representatives.

3 Observers and their representatives may be permitted by the Chair to take part in the discussions of the GNI expert group and provide expertise. However, they shall not have voting rights and shall not participate in the formulation of recommendations or advice of the GNI expert group.

On a proposal by the Commission (Eurostat) and with its agreement, the GNI expert group shall adopt its rules of procedure by simple majority of its members, on the basis of the standard rules of procedure for expert groups, in compliance with the horizontal rules.

1 The members of the GNI expert group and their representatives, as well as invited experts and observers, are subject to the obligation of professional secrecy, which by virtue of the Treaties and the rules implementing them applies to all members of the institutions and their staff, as well as to the Commission’s rules on security regarding the protection of Union classified information, laid down in Commission Decisions (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 and 2015/444 . Should they fail to respect those obligations, the Commission may take all appropriate measures.

2 The members of the GNI expert group and their representatives, as well as invited experts and observers shall respect the statistical confidentiality, laid down in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, and in particular in Article 20 (Protection of confidential data) thereof.

1 The GNI expert group shall be registered in the Register of Commission expert groups and other similar entities (‘the Register of expert groups’). The name of the Member States’ authorities and the names of observers shall be published on the Register of expert groups.

2 All relevant documents, including the agendas, the minutes and the participants’ submissions, shall be made available after the meetings via a link from the Register of expert groups to a dedicated website. Access to dedicated websites shall not be subject to user registration or any other restriction. The agenda shall be published in due time ahead of the meeting, followed by timely publication of minutes. Exceptions to publication shall only be foreseen where it is deemed that disclosure of a document would undermine the protection of a public or private interest as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council .

1 Participants in the activities of the GNI expert group shall not be remunerated for their services.

2 Travel and subsistence expenses incurred by participants in the activities of the GNI expert group and sub-groups may be reimbursed by the Commission in accordance with the provisions in force within the Commission and within the limits of the available appropriations allocated to the Commission departments under the annual procedure for the allocation of resources.