THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95 of 23 October 1995 concerning harmonised indices of consumer prices, and in particular the third paragraph of Article 4 and Article 5(3) thereof,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank,
Whereas:
(1)
By virtue of Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 2494/95, Member States are required to produce harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP).
(2)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2214/96 establishes the sub-indices of the HICP to be produced by the Member States, and provided to and disseminated by the Commission (Eurostat).
(3)
For inflation analysis and for convergence assessment in Member States, it is necessary to collect information on the impact of tax changes on inflation. To this end, HICPs should additionally be calculated on the basis of constant tax rate prices instead of observed prices in the form of harmonised indices of consumer prices at constant tax rates (HICP-CT).
(4)
In order to obtain reliable and comparable results from all Member States, a common methodological framework for the compilation of HICP-CT should be established and maintained.
(5)
The principle of cost-effectiveness has been taken into account in accordance with Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2494/95.
(6)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the European Statistical System Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: