Regulation (EC) No 1137/2008 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDangos y teitl llawn

5.3. Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS)(1)

As regards Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003, the Commission should be empowered to adapt the administrative units used for the NUTS classification, deviate from population thresholds in the case of some non-administrative units, amend smaller administrative units for the purposes of NUTS 3, and amend the NUTS classification. Since those measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003, inter alia, by supplementing it with new non-essential elements, they must be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.

Accordingly, Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 is hereby amended as follows:

1.

Article 3 shall be amended as follows:

(a)

paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following:

‘4. The existing administrative units used for the NUTS classification are laid down in Annex II. Measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation and adapting Annex II shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 7(2).’;

(b)

the third subparagraph of paragraph 5 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Some non-administrative units may, however, deviate from those thresholds because of particular geographical, socio-economic, historical, cultural or environmental circumstances, especially in the islands and the outermost regions. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 7(2).’;

2.

in Article 4(1), the second subparagraph shall be replaced by the following:

‘Measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation and adapting Annex III shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 7(2).’;

3.

Article 5 shall be amended as follows:

(a)

the first sentence of paragraph 4 shall be replaced by the following:

‘4. Amendments to the NUTS classification shall be adopted in the second half of the calendar year, not more frequently than every three years, on the basis of the criteria laid down in Article 3. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 7(2).’;

(b)

paragraph 5 shall be replaced by the following:

‘5. When an amendment is made to the NUTS classification, the Member State concerned shall transmit to the Commission the time series for the new regional breakdown, to replace data already transmitted. The list of the time series and their length shall be specified by the Commission, taking into account the feasibility of providing them. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 7(2). The time series are to be supplied within two years of the amendment of the NUTS classification.’;

4.

Article 7 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 7

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to (4) and Article 7 of Decision No 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.’

(1)

OJ L 154, 21.6.2003, p. 1.