What does Article 4 say about national versions?

Article 4 of the NACE Regulation governs national versions. The Eurostat manual states that the NACE Regulation allows European Economic Area countries to use a national version derived from NACE for national purposes, that such national versions must fit into the structural and hierarchical framework of NACE, and that the national versions, and any updates to them, must be forwarded to the European Commission for approval before their publication, as set out in Article 4. A national version is therefore a derived version inside a common framework, published only after the approval step described in that article.

What may a national version add?

The manual states that most European Economic Area countries have developed national versions, usually by adding a fifth digit for national purposes. The fifth digit adds national detail below the four digit class level. It does not change the section, division, group or class above it, and it does not create a different European structure. The four level European structure remains the framework, and the national detail sits inside it. A reader who sees a five digit code is therefore seeing a national extension, not a European class, and the meaning of the fifth digit must be checked in the publication of the institute that issued it.

The Central Statistics Office in Ireland describes the same relationship in general terms. NACE is part of a family of international statistical classifications designed to allow comparisons at national, European and global levels, and it is derived from the United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, while being more detailed than that classification at lower levels. The national version is the level at which a country adds the detail its own statistics and registers require, inside the European framework.

Level	European framework	National version
Section	One letter	Same letter
Division	Two digits	Same two digits
Group	Three digits	Same three digits
Class	Four digits	Same four digits
National detail	Not part of the European class	Usually a fifth digit, for national purposes

What does the approval step require?

The approval step, as described in the manual, is a forwarding step before publication. National versions and updates must be forwarded to the European Commission for approval before publication. The manual does not, in the passage cited, set out a timetable for that approval, a form for the forwarding, or a list of grounds for refusal, and this guide does not add any such detail. The point that can be stated from the source is the sequence: derivation inside the framework, forwarding for approval, then publication. A national version that has been published has passed through that sequence. A draft or a proposed national version must not be treated as the published version for the country concerned.

The approval step also explains why national versions differ in timing. Each country prepares its own derived version, forwards it, and publishes it on its own timetable, while the European structure remains common. France, Germany and Italy, for example, each have national versions with their own names and timetables, covered in later clusters of this site from the institute of the country concerned. This guide does not state any national timetable, because national timetables belong to the country guides and must be checked in the institute publication for that country.

What does a national version not change?

A national version does not change the statistical purposes limit. The EUR-Lex summary states that the legislation only applies to the use of the classification for statistical purposes, and that it does not oblige member states to collect, publish or supply data. A national version, even with a fifth digit, does not turn a statistical description into a licence, a tax decision, or an eligibility decision. It does not decide the entry for a specific business. The institute or register that holds the record decides the entry, using the national version as published for that country.

A national version also does not change the meaning of a European category on its own. Where a national version adds detail, the added detail is national detail. Where a reader needs the European meaning of a class, the Eurostat explanatory note for that class is the source. Where a reader needs the national entry, the national version and the register for that country are the sources. The two must not be mixed: a fifth digit from one country must not be read as if it had the same meaning in another country.

Where is a national version confirmed?

A national version is confirmed in the publication of the national statistical institute of the country concerned, after the approval step described in Article 4. The Eurostat manual is the source for the framework rule and the approval sequence. EUR-Lex is the source for the regulation itself. For the entry held for a specific business, confirmation rests with the national statistical institute or the business register that holds the record, in the country concerned.

Read the manual for the framework and approval rule, read the institute publication for the national version itself, and confirm any entry with the institute or register that holds it.