THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS)(1), and in particular Articles 3(4), 4(1) and 5(4) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 establishes a common classification of territorial units to enable the collection, compilation and dissemination of harmonised regional statistics in the Union.
(2) The Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 list the territorial units to be used for statistics.
(3) In accordance with Article 5(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003, amendments to the NUTS classification are to be adopted in the second half of the calendar year, and usually not more frequently than every three years.
(4) The NUTS classification was last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/2066(2).
(5) According to the information provided to the Commission by Member States, the territorial division of several Member States has changed since the NUTS classification was last amended.
(6) Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 should therefore be amended accordingly,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/2066 of 21 November 2016 amending the annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) (OJ L 322, 29.11.2016, p. 1).