Report concerning short term statistics as required by Article 14(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/1998

European short-term business statistics (STS) provide a comprehensive set of indicators such as production, turnover, output prices (often also referred to as producer prices), number of persons employed, hours worked, gross wages and some others for four major economic areas: industry, construction, retail trade and services (excluding financial and public services).

The legal basis of short-term business statistics is Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/1998, as amended by subsequent regulations (the 'STS Regulation'). According to Article 14(2) of the Regulation, the Commission shall, by 11 August 2008 and again every three years thereafter, submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the statistics compiled pursuant to this Regulation and in particular on their relevance and quality and the revision of indicators.

The report shall also specifically address the cost of the statistical system and the burden on business arising from this Regulation in relation to its benefits. It shall report on best practices for lessening the burden on business and shall indicate ways of reducing the burden and costs.

The present report follows up on the reports submitted in June 2008, June 2011, and June 2014 pursuant to the above Article.