1. EUROPEAN NEEDS FOR A FUTURE SNA/ESA
Item th Meeting of the Advisory Expert Group April 2016

2. TASK FORCE "EUROPEAN NEEDS FOR A FUTURE SNA"
ITS MANDATE:
Discuss European views and develop recommendations on the development of research work for future versions of SNA/ESA/BPM
ITS COMPOSITION:
11 Member States, and the ECB and OECD
CONTENT OF ITS FINAL REPORT:
Introduction
Results of the prioritisation exercise
Needs of users of national accounts
Presentation and way forward on the selected top priorities

3. FINAL REPORT PART I INTRODUCTION
Need for a stable methodology as expressed by users and the top priority to be given in 2016 to the consolidation of ESA 2010 implementation;
At the same time, areas identified where further progress should be made in future years. The revision process of the international standards takes time and will require international cooperation.
It is important to discuss European interests and how the EU can contribute to and help in the collective task of revision of SNA/BPM/ESA.

4. FINAL REPORT PART II : RESULTS OF THE PRIORITISATION EXERCISE (1)
48 items were prioritised (items included in 2008 SNA Annex 4 Research Agenda and items identified by the Task Force)
7 criteria were defined to be used in the prioritisation of items: impact, relevance,value added, measurability, proportionality, feasibility, timeliness

5. FINAL REPORT PART II : RESULTS OF THE PRIORITISATION EXERCISE (2)
12 "top" issues:
Globalisation
Concept of income
Relationship between national accounts and business accounts
Internet services
Statistical units
Productivity analysis and extension of the asset boundary (marketing,…)
Delineation rules between households and corporations sectors
Distributional aspects of income, consumption and wealth for households
Borderline between payments for services and taxes
Development of aggregates net of the consumption of fixed capital
Measurement of well-being, integrating sustainability and environment
The treatment of establishments

6. FINAL REPORT PART III: RESULTS OF THE ENQUIRY ON THE NEEDS OF USERS OF NATIONAL ACCOUNTS (1)
Preference of users for long, stable and reliable time series, and for solving current problems related to methodology and data availability rather than pursuing conceptual changes in the short term.
Users however recognize and appreciate that SNA should be adapted from time to time to better measure the evolving economy, and most of them approve of the methodological changes made in the 2008 SNA/ESA 2010.

7. FINAL REPORT PART III: RESULTS OF THE ENQUIRY ON THE NEEDS OF USERS OF NATIONAL ACCOUNTS (2)
Most users prefer that a revision of standards is conducted as a big bang rather than having step by step revisions.
Concerning the last revision, they consider having been sufficiently involved, with a satisfactory communication from statisticians, in particular at the end of the revision process, but would appreciate earlier information starting in the discussion phase.

8. FINAL REPORT PART III: RESULTS OF THE ENQUIRY ON THE NEEDS OF USERS OF NATIONAL ACCOUNTS (3)
Most users appreciate the present balance between core and supplementary/satellite accounts
Their main needs (top priorities) are very similar to those expressed in the prioritisation exercise

9. THE AEG IS REQUESTED TO:
Provide its views on the results of the prioritisation exercise and of the questionnaire to users: in particular, is it considered that an important issue is missing in the list of top priorities?