01 / 20 The regulation behind NACE Rev. 2.1
What does Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 do?
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.
Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 establishes the statistical classification of economic activities known as NACE Revision 2, for use across the European Union so that statistics can be compared. The EUR-Lex summary states that the regulation defines a four digit hierarchical classification, and that its purpose is comparability of statistics. The regulation is the legal foundation on which the later update to NACE Rev. 2.1 rests. It does not, on its own, decide the entry held for a specific business, and it applies only to the use of the classification for statistical purposes.
Which instrument is it, and when did it start to apply?
Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 is a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council dated 20 December 2006 (FIXED). The EUR-Lex summary states that it has applied since 1 January 2008 (FIXED). The Eurostat manual states that the regulation started to apply to data transmitted by European Economic Area countries to Eurostat on 1 January 2008 (FIXED), and that it imposes the mandatory use of NACE in the European Economic Area. Statistics produced by those countries and presented according to economic activities must therefore be compiled according to NACE, or according to a national classification derived from NACE.
The full citation in the EUR-Lex summary gives the Official Journal reference as OJ L 393, 30 December 2006 (FIXED), pages 1 to 39. Successive amendments have been incorporated into the consolidated text. The EUR-Lex summary notes that the consolidated version is of documentary value only, which means that the consolidated text is a reading aid and the amending instruments remain the legal record of each change.
| Element | What the source states |
|---|---|
| Instrument | Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 |
| Date of the instrument | 20 December 2006 (FIXED) |
| Application | Since 1 January 2008 (FIXED) |
| Subject | Statistical classification of economic activities, NACE Revision 2 |
| Later update | Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/137 |
What does mandatory use mean in practice?
Mandatory use means that the classification is the common standard for statistics presented by economic activity. The Eurostat manual states that all statistics produced by European Economic Area countries and presented according to economic activities must be compiled according to NACE or a national classification derived from it. A national version must fit into the structural and hierarchical framework of NACE. Most European Economic Area countries have developed national versions, usually by adding a fifth digit for national purposes, according to the manual.
The same passage sets a control on national versions. National NACE versions, and any updates to them, must be forwarded to the European Commission for approval before publication, as set out in Article 4 of the NACE Regulation. That approval step is part of the legal structure, not a check on an individual entry. A reader who needs the national version for a particular country must therefore look to the national statistical institute of that country, and to the version that institute publishes, rather than treating the European structure as the national entry.
What does the regulation not do?
The EUR-Lex summary states two limits in plain terms. The legislation only applies to the use of the classification for statistical purposes, and it does not oblige European Union member states to collect, publish or supply data. Those limits matter because a code is often read as if it carried wider legal effects. The regulation does not grant a licence, set a tax rate, decide employment status, or decide eligibility for funding or a collective agreement. Eurostat states in the manual that NACE does not draw distinctions according to the kind of ownership of a production unit, its type of legal organisation, or its mode of operation, because those criteria do not relate to the characteristics of the activity itself.
A code under this regulation is therefore a statistical description. It groups an activity so that statistics can be compared. It does not record a decision about a business, and a change in the classification does not by itself change a registration, a tax treatment, or a licence. Where a register holds an entry, the register and the institute behind it remain the place where that entry is confirmed.
Where is the regulation confirmed?
The text of the regulation is on EUR-Lex, and the Eurostat manual reproduces the legal basis in its annex. The EUR-Lex summary gives the aims, the key points, and the application dates in one place, and it links to the main documents. For the meaning of a category within the classification, the Eurostat explanatory notes and introductory guidelines are the next sources. For the entry held for a specific business, confirmation rests with the national statistical institute or the business register that holds the record.
Read the EUR-Lex summary for the scope and the application date, read the manual for how mandatory use and national versions are described, and confirm any entry with the institute or register that holds it.