01 / 20 The regulation behind NACE Rev. 2.1
Who implements NACE and who chairs the committee?
Published Updated
Statistical classification only
Statistical classification only. This guide does not determine any reader's code. Confirm a code with the national statistical institute or the business register that holds the record. This is general information, not advice on any reader's registration.
Implementation of NACE rests with the European Statistical System Committee, a committee of national experts, assisted by and chaired by the European Commission. The EUR-Lex summary states that the committee is responsible for implementing and managing NACE and ensuring it is uniformly applied across the European Union. Eurostat, as the statistical office of the European Union, publishes the guidance that supports that work, including the introductory guidelines, the explanatory notes and the correspondence tables. No single national institute implements the classification alone, and no committee decision assigns a code to a specific business.
What does the committee do?
The EUR-Lex summary lists the work of the committee in four parts. The committee is responsible for implementing and managing NACE and ensuring uniform application across the European Union. It assists, and is chaired by, the European Commission. It deals with issues linked to the classification system, such as interpretation, amendments, coordination, drafting explanatory notes and guidelines, and cooperation with international organisations. Interpretation here means interpretation of the classification system, for consistent statistical use. It does not mean a ruling on the entry held for a particular business in a national register.
The Eurostat manual shows the same structure at work in the review that produced NACE Rev. 2.1. In 2018 (FIXED), the European Statistical System Committee decided to launch a review of NACE Rev. 2. The review was conducted by a task force composed of representatives designated by national statistical institutes of the European Statistical System and chaired by Eurostat, which reported to the Standards Working Group that validated its work. A first stage was completed when the committee validated the structure of NACE Revision 2 Update 1 in May 2022 (FIXED). The committee therefore acts as the forum where national institutes agree the structure, while Eurostat chairs the technical work and publishes the supporting documents.
| Body | Role stated in the sources |
|---|---|
| European Statistical System Committee | Implements and manages NACE, ensures uniform application |
| European Commission | Chairs and is assisted by the committee |
| Eurostat | Publishes guidelines, notes and correspondence tables, chairs the task force |
| National statistical institutes | Designate task force representatives, publish national versions |
What is Eurostat’s part in the work?
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union. Its NACE overview page states that Eurostat and its partners in the European Statistical System prepared the ground for the roll out by publishing introductory guidelines and explanatory notes, updating sectoral legislation on data transfer, and establishing plans for backcasting and double reporting. Double reporting means tabulating data by NACE Rev. 2 and NACE Rev. 2.1 in parallel, according to the overview page. Those are statistical production steps. They prepare comparable series across the change of version, and they do not change the legal effect of a code.
The manual adds a detail on how the classification is disseminated. ShowVoc is described as a web based semantic platform that enables visualisation of the detailed structures of statistical classifications and their correspondence tables developed by Eurostat. The information covers a general description, the structure, the explanatory notes including index entries whenever defined, correspondence tables between classifications, links to legal acts, and methodological documents. The platform is therefore a reading and reference tool for the classification, not a register of businesses.
What does the committee not decide?
The committee does not decide the code for a reader, a business, or an establishment. The EUR-Lex summary gives the committee responsibility for the system: implementation, management, uniform application, interpretation, amendments, coordination, notes, guidelines and international cooperation. The entry for a specific unit is a matter for the national statistical institute or the business register that holds the record, applying the explanatory notes and the classification rules to the information held about that unit. A question about a code must therefore be directed to that institute or register, with the facts about the activity as recorded there, rather than to the committee or to Eurostat as if either held the entry.
The committee also does not decide matters outside statistical purposes. The legislation only applies to the use of the classification for statistical purposes, and it does not oblige member states to collect, publish or supply data. A committee view on interpretation of the classification cannot grant a licence, set a tax rate, or decide eligibility for funding or a collective agreement. Those decisions belong to the authorities that administer them, under their own rules.
Where is the committee role confirmed?
The committee role is confirmed in the EUR-Lex summary, in the passage on the 22 sections, where the committee is introduced immediately after the list of sections. The review history is confirmed in the manual, in the passage on the NACE Rev. 2.1 revision. The roll out work is confirmed on the Eurostat overview page. Together they show a system in which the committee agrees the structure, Eurostat publishes the guidance, national institutes publish national versions, and registers hold individual entries.
Read the EUR-Lex summary for the committee mandate, read the manual for the review that used that mandate, and confirm any entry with the institute or register that holds it.