Major Revision of European System of Accounts launched by Eurostat and EU member states
A new system of national and regional accounts has been launched by Eurostat and the EU Member States. An overview has been published by Eurostat. The revised system reflects the European economy’s evolution from manufacturing and agricultural activities over past decades, to a knowledge-based economy in the 21st Century. The new system – known as ESA2010 – also reflects greater interaction between globalisation and regionalisation processes. Eurostat and EU national statistical agencies have also improved data gathering, access, collation and analysis techniques. One of the most important changes is the recalibration of R&D-related data. “Research and development expenditure is recorded as gross fixed capital formation and no longer as current expenditure.” French and German guides have also been published. Technical documentation has been linked from the EUI Library’s Eurostat data resource page.