Regulation (EC) No 1888/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 amending Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union

of 26 October 2005

amending Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union

Preamble

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 285(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee ¹ ,

After consulting the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty ² ,

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 ³ constitutes the legal framework for the regional classification in order to enable the collection, compilation and dissemination of harmonised regional statistics in the Community.

(2) All Member States' statistics transmitted to the Commission, which are broken down by territorial units, should use the NUTS classification, where applicable.

(3) It is necessary to adapt the Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 to take into account the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union.

(4) Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 is amended as follows:

1. Annex I is amended in accordance with the text shown in Annex I to this Regulation.

2. Annexes II and III are replaced by the text appearing in Annex II and in Annex III to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .

Final provisions

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Strasbourg, 26 October 2005. For the European Parliament The President J. BORRELL FONTELLES For the Council The President D. ALEXANDER

¹ OJ C 157, 28.6.2005, p. 149 .

² Opinion of the European Parliament of 12 April 2005 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 19 September 2005.

³ OJ L 154, 21.6.2003, p. 1 .

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 is amended as follows:

‘ANNEX II Existing administrative units At NUTS level 1 for Belgium “Gewesten/Régions”, for Germany “Länder”, for Portugal “Continente”, “Região dos Açores” and “Região da Madeira”, and for the United Kingdom: Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Government Office Regions of England. At NUTS level 2 for Belgium “Provincies/Provinces”, for Germany “Regierungsbezirke”, for Greece “periferies”, for Spain “comunidades y ciudades autónomas”, for France “régions”, for Ireland “regions”, for Italy “regioni”, for the Netherlands “provincies”, for Austria “Länder” and for Poland “województwa”. At NUTS level 3 for Belgium “arrondissementen/arrondissements”, for the Czech Republic “Kraje”, for Denmark “Amtskommuner”, for Germany “Kreise/kreisfreie Städte”, for Greece “nomoi”, for Spain “provincias”, for France “départements”, for Ireland “regional authority regions”, for Italy “provincie”, for Lithuania “Apskritis”, for Hungary “megyék”, for the Slovak Republic “Kraje”, for Sweden “län” and for Finland “maakunnat/landskap”.’

‘ANNEX III Smaller administrative units For Belgium “Gemeenten/Communes”, for the Czech Republic “Obce”, for Denmark “Kommuner”, for Germany “Gemeinden”, for Estonia “Vald, Linn”, for Greece “Dimoi/Koinotites”, for Spain “Municipios”, for France “Communes”, for Ireland “counties or county boroughs”, for Italy “Comuni”, for Cyprus “Δήμοι/κοινότητες (Dimoi/koinotites)”, for Latvia “Pilsētas, novadi, pagasti”, for Lithuania “Seniūnija”, for Luxembourg “Communes”, for Hungary “Települések”, for Malta “Lokalitajiet”, for the Netherlands “Gemeenten”, for Austria “Gemeinden”, for Poland “Gminy, miasta”, for Portugal “Freguesias”, for Slovenia “Občina”, for the Slovak Republic “Obce”, for Finland “Kunnat/Kommuner”, for Sweden “Kommuner” and for the United Kingdom “Wards”.’

Footnotes

1. . ↩ ↩²

2. Opinion of the European Parliament of 12 April 2005 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 19 September 2005. ↩ ↩²

3. . ↩ ↩²