Data requirements
Article 6
1. The European business statistics shall cover the following domains: (a) short-term business statistics; (b) country-level business statistics; (c) regional business statistics; (d) statistics on international activities. 2. The domains shall include one or more of the following topics as further detailed in Annex I: (a) business population; (b) global value chains; (c) ICT usage and e-commerce; (d) innovation; (e) international trade in goods; (f) international trade in services; (g) investments; (h) labour inputs; (i) outputs and performance; (j) prices; (k) purchases; (l) real estate; (m) R&D inputs. 3. The periodicity, reference period and statistical unit of each topic shall be as specified in Annex II. 4. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 22 in order to amend the detailed topics specified in Annex I. 5. When exercising its power to adopt delegated acts pursuant to paragraph 4, the Commission shall ensure that the following conditions are fulfilled: (a) the delegated acts aim to achieve cost and burden neutrality or reduction and do not, in any case, impose a significant additional cost or burden on the Member States or on the respondents; (b) a maximum of one detailed topic for the domain short-term business statistics, three detailed topics for the domain country-level business statistics, two detailed topics for the domain regional business statistics and two detailed topics for the domain statistics on international activities listed in Annex I are replaced by another detailed topic and a maximum of one detailed topic in total for all domains is added over a period of five consecutive years; (c) the delegated acts are adopted at least 18 months before the end of the reference period of the data, except for the topics of innovation and ICT usage and e‐commerce for which the delegated acts shall be adopted at least six and fifteen months respectively before the end of the reference period of the data; (d) any new detailed topic is assessed in respect of its feasibility by means of pilot studies carried out by the Member States in accordance with Article 20. 6. Point (b) of paragraph 5 shall not apply to: (a) the detailed topics within the topics of innovation, ICT usage and e-commerce and global value chains; (b) amendments that result from the changes to accounting frameworks of national and regional accounts in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 and of balance of payments statistics in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 184/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 25 ) .