Guidelines for Large Cases Units

Large cases units (LCUs) and similar organisational structures are usually set up by statistical offices as a response to the challenges of globalisation, not only to correctly delineate the structure of multinational enterprise (MNE) groups and their production flows but also to ensure that data on such MNE groups’ activities are recorded and disseminated in a consistent way. Collaboration and coordination between the statistical domains at the national level, but also across different European Union Member States and European Free Trade Association countries, are essential preconditions to achieving consistent MNE groups data in European statistics.

LCUs have proven to offer numerous advantages, both regionally and at the national level, including improving the quality and reliability of MNE groups’ data, strengthening the data used by national accounts and facilitating policy decision-making.

LCUs in EU Member States and European Free Trade Association countries have also encountered certain challenges, with the key ones being the following.

1. National specificities. Each country has its unique set of data sources, production systems and administrative arrangements, which can create barriers to developing a unified, harmonised IT tool across Europe.
2. Complexity. MNE groups’ diversity in terms of the geographical coverage of operations and business models poses significant challenges to understanding and accurately representing these structures within statistical systems and frameworks.
3. Capacity building and knowledge gaps. As LCUs expand, there is a continuous need to build capacity and bridge knowledge gaps among staff. This gap requires ongoing investment in training and development to ensure statistical teams are equipped to handle the complexity of global enterprise data.

In line with the above challenges, MNE group experts in European countries have expressed a need for methodological guidelines that support a systematic and consistent approach to treating MNE groups’ data at the European level.

These guidelines:

• address experts’ needs, describing the main principles and best practices for the statistical work of LCUs at the national level;
• provide guidance on consistency analysis across statistical domains; and
• facilitate comparisons for consistent treatment across European countries when MNE groups’ activities are organised across borders.