News

See the latest news regarding the Council Working Party on Statistics of the European Union.

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Fourth meeting

18 November 2025

At the fourth meeting of the CWPS under the Danish Presidency, on 5 November, there were two main items on the agenda.

Firstly, the compromise text for the remaining articles, recitals and the annex on the Recommendation for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank was read article by article along with the annex and recitals. The majority of the articles were concluded leaving only a few pending issues. The Presidency aims to resolve these pending issues and hopes to conclude on the remaining articles at the upcoming December meeting.

Secondly, the article-by-article reading of the proposal for a new regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European fisheries and aquaculture statistics (EFAS) was resumed, and the remaining articles, the annex and recitals were read. The comments made by the MS will serve as valuable input for the Presidency when drafting the compromise proposal. The Presidency plans to present a compromise text for the first part of the EFAS proposal to be discussed at the next meeting in the CWPS in November, and for the remaining parts of the proposal to be discussed at the meeting in December.

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Second and third meeting

18 November 2025

The second and third meetings of the Council Working Party on Statistics (CWPS) under the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union took place in Brussels on Wednesday 24 September and Wednesday 8 October, respectively.

At the September meeting there were two main items on the agenda. Firstly, the compromise text for the remaining articles, recitals and the annex on the proposal for a regulation on non-financial commercial real estate statistics (CREI). All remaining items were closed.

The second item on the agenda of the September meeting was an article-by-article reading of the Recommendation for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (ECB). Here the Member States and the ECB could raise and discuss issues at stake for this file. This would serve as valuable input for the Presidency when drafting the compromise proposal.

The October meeting comprised two main items. Firstly, the Commission presented a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Single Market and Customs Programme (SMCP) for the period 2028-2034. The floor was then opened for comments and questions from the Member States. The proposal would be negotiated in the Working Party on Competitiveness and Growth. The Member States were therefore encouraged to give their opinion on the issues related to statistics in the SMCP to their national Nominated Delegate.

The second item on the agenda was a presentation by the Commission and an article-by-article reading of a proposal for a new regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European fisheries and aquaculture statistics (EFAS). during the meeting, the first eight articles were covered leaving the remaining ten articles, recitals and the annex for the next CWPS meeting on 5 November. 

The EU approves the mandate to negotiate the CREI regulation
On 15 October, the Committee of the Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States to the European Union(COREPER 2) approved the mandate to commence the inter-institutional negotiations on the regulation on non-financial commercial real estate statistics (CREI).

The general aim of this proposal is to establish a legal framework for the production of comparable statistics on commercial real estate statistics in the Member States of a quality suitable for macro-prudential monitoring and policy-making.

This initiative comes as a response to a demand emphasized by the European Systemic Risk Board which is tasked with providing macro-prudential oversight of the EU financial system.

The CREI proposal was discussed atWorking Party meetings both under the Polish and the Danish Presidency in April, May, June, July, and September of 2025, until it achieved broad support from the delegations.

Following the Septemberber meeting, the Danish Presidency sent a consultation to the countries – a so called ‘non-objection procedure’ – confirming support for the Presidency’s compromise proposal. The procedure closed on 9 October with no objections and the file went to the COREPER meeting on 15 October where the negotiating mandate was approved. This concluded the Presidency’s work on the compromise text for CREI which is a milestone for the CWPS to be celebrated. 

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First meeting

12 August 2025

The first meeting of the Council Working Party on Statistics (CWPS) under the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union took place in Brussels on Wednesday 23 July. The CWPS convened for a full-day meeting with two items on the agenda. Under the first agenda item, representatives from the European Central Bank presented the Recommendation for amending the Council Regulation on the statistical information by the European Central Bank (ECB). After that the Member States asked clarifying questions to the ECB and gave their preliminary views on the proposal. Under the second agenda item, the CWPS discussed the second compromise proposal prepared by the Danish Presidency, article by article. Good progress was achieved and all articles and recitals except article 5 and related recitals and points in the annex were closed. Finally, the Presidency reported on the progress of other ongoing statistical dossiers.

The Presidency also informed that the CWPS meeting that was scheduled for 10 September is cancelled, and the next meeting will be 24 September.

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Handover of the Presidency of the Council Working Party on Statistics from Poland to Denmark

1 July 2025

On 24 June 2025, the official handover of the Presidency of the Council Working Party on Statistics from Poland to Denmark took place in Warsaw. The meeting was attended by the representatives from the National Statistical Institutes of Poland, Denmark, and Cyprus as well as the European Commission (Eurostat).

The progress of the current legislative dossiers was discussed in detail and the Polish Presidency shared valuable insights and expertise related to the role of acting as Presidency as well as incoming dossiers that will likely fall under the Danish Presidency.

The Danish Presidency team looks forward to taking over the responsibility and the positive collaboration in the Council Working Party on Statistics.

 

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