1. « Management of NUTS change in Portugal « Eurostat – Working Group on
Regional, Urban and Rural Development Statistics
INE | GET
October 2015

2. « Agenda The formal process of PT NUTS amendment
Roadmap for implementation
State of the art
Regulamento comunitário das NUTS 1059/2003:
. Enquadramento
. Critérios de classificação
. Elementos / Anexos
. Regras de alteração aos anexos
Alteração às NUTS portuguesas
. Antecedentes
. Formalização das NUTS 2013
. Síntese das alterações
Implementação das NUTS 2013 no INE
. Impactos na difusão
. Decisões sobre as geografias de referência para a aestruturação de dados
Síntese

3. « A. The formal process of amendment Background «
NUTS were first established in Portugal in 1986 (accession to the EEC)
PT NUTS established in Regulation (EC) 1059/2003 followed the structure established in national law: Decree-Law 244/2002. According to 1059/2003:
NUTS levels 3 and 2 were non-administrative units
30 units of level 3, 7 of level 2 and 3 administrative units of level 1
In the NUTS 2010 revision round Eurostat emphasized the need to deal with NUTS 3 that were not according to the population thresholds (150 to 800 thousand inhab.)
In 2011, Statistics Portugal informed the new Government on the need to amend the NUTS 3 regions and the possible scenarios under non-administrative and administrative units
, with access of Portugal to the European Economic Community (EEC)
Eurostat even made an ad-hoc proposal to change some NUTS 3 regions that were bellow the population thresholds but INE and Eurostat agreed that the change should be made in the next regular revision round based on a sustained solution. In fact
and on the need to take the NUTS amendment into account on the reforms envisaged for the Local Governments

4. « Mapa das NUTS 2002 e população residente dos Censos 2011
Acima dos 800 mil, a vermelho: Grande Porto e Grande Lisboa
Abaixo dos 150 mil, a azul: as restantes 9 em inconformidade

5. « A. The formal process of amendment
PT NUTS 2013 ‘extraordinary’ amendment
In 2012 Statistics Portugal informs the Working Group on the intention to amend PT NUTS 3 regions based on the reform of the Local Authorities Law
In April 2013, the Portuguese Authorities presented to the European Commission the proposal to amend the NUTS based on the Law approved by the Parliament which established the ‘Intermunicipal Entities’. This proposal was sustained on:
Compliance with article 3(1): existing administrative units shall be the first criteria
Existence of a new administrative level consistent with the average dimension established in article 3(2) for NUTS 3
Local Governments reforms
Principles established for the Portuguese Partnership Agreement (2014 – 2020 EU Regional Policy cycle)
, with access of Portugal to the European Economic Community (EEC)
Eurostat even made an ad-hoc proposal to change some NUTS 3 regions that were bellow the population thresholds but INE and Eurostat agreed that the change should be made in the next regular revision round based on a sustained solution. In fact
and on the need to take the NUTS amendment into account on the reforms envisaged for the Local Governments

6. « A. The formal process of amendment
PT NUTS 2013 ‘extraordinary’ amendment
Portuguese authorities decided to retrieve this proposal due to delays on the national legislative, not compatible with the ESSC consultation
A formal process was putted forward evoking article 5(4) of the Regulation, due to the substantial reorganization of the administrative structure in Portugal, after the Law was published in the PT Official Journal → Law n. 75/2013 establishes the EIM and their competences and Law 73/2013 establishes the financial regime of EIM
The EU legislative process regarding the regular amendment of NUTS 2013 couldn’t take into account PT changes → Regulation (EU) n. 1319/2013
The PT amendment process was concluded in 2014 → Regulation (EU) n. 868/2014
Although the amendment shall apply with regard to the transmission of data from 1 January 2016, INE and Eurostat agreed that it would start on 1 January 2015.
, with access of Portugal to the European Economic Community (EEC)
Eurostat even made an ad-hoc proposal to change some NUTS 3 regions that were bellow the population thresholds but INE and Eurostat agreed that the change should be made in the next regular revision round based on a sustained solution. In fact
and on the need to take the NUTS amendment into account on the reforms envisaged for the Local Governments

7. NUTS 2
No territorial changes.
One name change: ‘Lisboa’ to ‘Área Metropolitana de Lisboa’ (following the name given to the same territory at NUTS 3 level).
NUTS 3
Changes only in Portugal mainland.
From 30 to 25 NUTS 3 regions.
8 NUTS 3 don’t change limits: Cávado, Oeste, Alentejo Litoral, Baixo Alentejo, Lezíria, Algarve, Açores and Madeira
Minho-Lima  Alto Minho
16 NUTS 3 change limits
12 NUTS 3 have a new name
(ex: Integrated Territorial Investments in 2014 – 2020 EU regional policy cycle
Aumento da dimensão média; maior coerência do sistema urbano – todas as NUTS passam a ter pelo menos uma cidade estruturante;
Total coincidência entre as NUTS 3 e as áreas metropolitanas do Porto e Lisboa que concentram cerca de 40% (43,6%) da população mas mais de 50% do produto (52,8%).
o desenho das NUTS não permite reconstituir a geografia das CCDR: o novo Médio Tejo, constituído por 13 municípios, reparte-se pelas CCDR de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo e Centro
ITI – Investimentos Territoriais Integrados
Average size increases:
relevant for statistical production
Administrative units:
Relevant for territorial based policies

8. « B. Road map for implementation Main orientations «
The NUTS changes had effect mainly on NUTS 3 regions and therefore did not affect most of the sample surveys (e.g. Labour Force, SILC, dedicated projects on enterprises...)
Inform the statistical Council of the amendment steps since the beginning (Standing Section for Territorial Statistics) and assure a wide communication of the NUTS changes
The impact assessment focused in following main aspects:
The infrastructure to support statistical projects
The calendar for each project: beginning of implementation and historical data
Give special attention to projects with outputs not further than NUTS 3 (eg. Regional Accounts, Regional Development Composite Indicator ...)
The interaction between different statistical projects
Identify initiatives of dissemination to be suspended
, with access of Portugal to the European Economic Community (EEC)
Eurostat even made an ad-hoc proposal to change some NUTS 3 regions that were bellow the population thresholds but INE and Eurostat agreed that the change should be made in the next regular revision round based on a sustained solution. In fact
and on the need to take the NUTS amendment into account on the reforms envisaged for the Local Governments

9. « B. Road map for implementation Main orientations «
Based on a preliminary assessment it was decided that from 1/1/2015:
All projects outputs would have to be structured with NUTS 2013
Suspend the dissemination of all statistical indicators (web DB) with former 2012 NUTS structures
Suspend the dissemination of statistical indicators (web DB) with 2012 NUTS structure taking into account user needs namely reporting obligations in the framework of 2007 – 2013 Cohesion Policy cycle
Take at least 2011 as starting year for all statistical domains
The Unit for the Coordination of Territorial Statistics and the IT and Methodology Department would have to set up the measures to reduce burden across other thematic areas of production, namely on the processes to disseminate indicators on the web DB
, with access of Portugal to the European Economic Community (EEC)
Eurostat even made an ad-hoc proposal to change some NUTS 3 regions that were bellow the population thresholds but INE and Eurostat agreed that the change should be made in the next regular revision round based on a sustained solution. In fact
and on the need to take the NUTS amendment into account on the reforms envisaged for the Local Governments

10. « B. Road map for implementation Main actions «
Implement an automatic process to update NUTS 2 indicators (web DB) → NUTS 2013
Schedule the indicators creation with NUTS 2013 (NUTS 3 or lower) for the thematic areas update the data: 659
Provide a common tool to (re)calculate data according with NUTS 2013 structure
Monitor the implementation process
, with access of Portugal to the European Economic Community (EEC)
Eurostat even made an ad-hoc proposal to change some NUTS 3 regions that were bellow the population thresholds but INE and Eurostat agreed that the change should be made in the next regular revision round based on a sustained solution. In fact
and on the need to take the NUTS amendment into account on the reforms envisaged for the Local Governments

11. « B. Road map for implementation Main actions «
Implement an automatic process to update NUTS 2 indicators (web DB) → NUTS 2013
Schedule the indicators creation with NUTS 2013 (NUTS 3 or lower) for the thematic areas update the data: 826
Provide a common tool to (re)calculate data according with NUTS 2013 structure
Monitor the implementation process
, with access of Portugal to the European Economic Community (EEC)
Eurostat even made an ad-hoc proposal to change some NUTS 3 regions that were bellow the population thresholds but INE and Eurostat agreed that the change should be made in the next regular revision round based on a sustained solution. In fact
and on the need to take the NUTS amendment into account on the reforms envisaged for the Local Governments

12. B. State of the art
Until 15 of October 424 indicators available on the web DB with NUTS 3 disaggregation or further → 541 planned until the end of October
NUTS 2002 indicators to keep in the web DB and updated them until the end of 2016 for 2007 – 2013 Cohesion Policy cycle → 21 indicators define in a WG within the Statistical Council
Wide dissemination of NUTS changes across ONA and other Public Administration Agencies → Seminar on Public Policies and Statistical Information in May and NUTS 2013 Publication published on the same day
All the publications issued in 2015 were based on NUTS 2013
→ Territorial Portrait of Portugal
→ Currently preparing Regional Statistical Yearbooks
, with access of Portugal to the European Economic Community (EEC)
Eurostat even made an ad-hoc proposal to change some NUTS 3 regions that were bellow the population thresholds but INE and Eurostat agreed that the change should be made in the next regular revision round based on a sustained solution. In fact
and on the need to take the NUTS amendment into account on the reforms envisaged for the Local Governments

13. « Thank you very much ! « Eurostat – Working Group on «
Regional, Urban and Rural Development Statistics
INE | GET
October 2015