Economic importance of the Flemish maritime ports: Report 2002

4.6 Size of companiesWhile previous editions of the report examined the presentation based on the way in which the annual accountswere filed in order to establish the distinction between large companies and SMEs, priority is now given to theobjective criteria defined below. It transpires, in fact, that almost 45 p.c. of SMEs file their accounts based on thefull presentation 75 . The criterion of presentation is therefore insufficient.The following are considered to be « large » in the terms of the Companies Code 76 :• companies with an annual average staff of more than 100 employees;• companies that meet more than one of the following criteria:o average annual number of employees: over 50 units;o annual turnover (exc. VAT): over 6,250,000 euro;o balance sheet total: over 3,125,000 euro.In chapter 4, a breakdown of findings between SMEs and large companies is presented in summary form, by port.Details by sector are given in annex 6.5 Indirect effects5.1 National accountsThe national accounts are a detailed and quantified overall representation of the national economy within theaccounting framework. It is structured according to two approaches: by product and by income. The first is a bybranch approach, grouping together all companies producing a similar category of output (chemicals, food,textiles, electricity, car manufacturing industries, etc.). The data for each branch are suitable for studies coveringproduct markets or « input - output » analyses. The second approach relates to sectors. This information is usefulfor studying patterns in terms of investment, financing, wage policy, etc. This notion of sector should not beconfused with the « sectors » that are considered in this report, companies grouped together in accordance withprevious editions of the study.The analysis carried out favours the product approach, which enables interdependence between branches to bestudied and the indirect effects of the activities of the companies of one branch and, by summation, all branches,to be assessed.The Belgian national accounts are drawn up in line with the definitions of the « European System of National andRegional Accounts 1995 » (ESA 1995) 77 , which replaced the ESA 1979 and came into force in 1998. For Belgium,the introduction of ESA 1995 was an opportunity to adopt a new benchmark methodology. New statisticalsources, whether from administrative information or surveys, were used and a complete register of companiesestablished. These efforts resulted in the setting up of a consistent base of statistical information that ensures anexhaustive evaluation of high quality of the national accounts.757677Source: article on non-financial companies (Economic Review 2003/4).Article 15 of the Companies Code (« Code des sociétés » in French and « Wetboek van vennootschappen » in Dutch). For furtherexplanation, see the Central Balance Sheet Office website: http://www.nbb.be/BA/ESA 1995 was adopted in the form of an EU Council Regulation (EC) No. 2223/96 dated 25 June 1996 and its application is obligatory for allMember States as from the reference year, 1998. For further information on the methodology, please see the National Accounts website:http://www.bnb.be/DQ/F/national_acc_1.htm.NBB WORKING PAPER No. 56 - JUNE 2004 81