What is ShowVoc and how is it used to check a classification?

ShowVoc is the online platform Eurostat uses for the dissemination of its main statistical classifications, metadata catalogues and code lists. The Central Statistics Office states that ShowVoc presents that information in both human readable and machine readable formats. For NACE Rev. 2.1, ShowVoc is the place where the structure, the explanatory notes and the correspondence tables can be consulted in a linked form, rather than as separate documents. ShowVoc is a reference platform. It is not a business register, and it holds no entry for a specific business.

What does ShowVoc present?

ShowVoc presents classifications as linked data, with each category, its code, its title, its place in the hierarchy, and its relationships to other categories and other classifications. The CSO states that the new version of NACE, NACE Rev. 2.1, can be accessed in the EU Official Journal and as Linked Open Data, and that correspondence tables showing the relationship between NACE Rev. 2 and NACE Rev. 2.1 are available on ShowVoc. Eurostat states on its correspondence tables page that correspondence tables between NACE Rev. 2 and NACE Rev. 2.1, and between Main Industrial Groupings and NACE Rev. 2.1, are published through ShowVoc. A reader who opens a category in ShowVoc should therefore expect to see the category in context: its parent, its children, and its correspondence links, in one place. That context is the value of the platform, and it is the reason a ShowVoc check is more informative than a code list alone.

How is a category checked in ShowVoc?

A category is checked by opening the version first, then the category. The version matters because ShowVoc holds more than one version of NACE, and a category code can mean different things in different versions. The CSO page links the NACE Rev. 2.1 structure in ShowVoc, and Eurostat links the NACE Rev. 2.1 version from its overview page. A reader should confirm that the version shown is NACE Rev. 2.1, adopted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/137, which entered into force on 9 February 2023 (FIXED). The reader should then open the section, division, group and class in turn, and read the title at each level. The explanatory note for the class, where it is linked, states what the class includes and excludes. The correspondence link, where it is shown, states how the class relates to the earlier version. A check that opens a class without confirming the version has not checked the category. It has checked a code string, which is not the same thing.

What is the difference between a human readable and a machine readable presentation?

A human readable presentation is a page a reader can open and read, with titles, notes and links. A machine readable presentation is the same information in a structured format that software can read, such as linked data or a code list file. The CSO states that ShowVoc presents information in both formats. The difference matters for reuse. A human readable page is the right source for a citation in a guide, because a reader can open it and verify the statement. A machine readable file is the right source for a dataset, a code list in a database, or a correspondence table applied in bulk, because software can process it without retyping. Both present the same classification, and a discrepancy between them should be treated as a version or update difference and checked, not as a choice between two equally valid texts. The publication in the Official Journal remains the legal text for the structure, and ShowVoc is the dissemination platform for it.

Presentation	Use	Check
Human readable page	Reading a category, note and correspondence link	Confirm the version shown is NACE Rev. 2.1
Machine readable file	Loading a code list or applying a correspondence table	Confirm the version and the file date
Official Journal text	Legal structure of the classification	Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/137, entered into force on 9 February 2023 (FIXED)

The table keeps the three presentations distinct. A machine readable file is not a register entry, and a human readable page is not a legal text. Each presentation answers a different question, and the check column states the verification each one needs.

What does ShowVoc not hold?

ShowVoc does not hold the entry for a specific business, and it does not hold the register record for a unit. It holds the classification, the notes, and the correspondence links. A reader who searches ShowVoc for a company name will not find a company, and a reader who treats a category page as evidence about a business will misread the platform. Confirmation for a specific business comes from the national statistical institute or the business register holding its record. ShowVoc answers the question about the category. The register answers the question about the unit. The two questions need different holders, and ShowVoc is the holder for the first.

Where is a classification checked?

The structure is checked in the Official Journal text and in ShowVoc. The meaning of a category is checked in the explanatory notes, which Eurostat publishes and which the CSO attaches to its NACE page for convenience. The move between versions is checked in the correspondence tables, which Eurostat publishes through ShowVoc. The entry for a specific business is checked in the register that holds it. Open the version first in ShowVoc, read the note and the correspondence link for the class, and confirm any single entry with the institute or register that holds the record.