The first formal (legally established) statistical division of the European Union countries became applicable on 11 July 2003 at the time of entry into force of the 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) (OJ L 154, 21.6.2003, p. 1–41) This classification was later known as NUTS 2003, and it also included changes that occurred as a result of the accession of 10 Central and Southern European countries to the European Union. These modifications were introduced by the Regulation (EC) No 1888/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 amending Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union (OJ L 309, 25.11.2005, p. 1–8).
Statistical division of Poland as introduced by the Classification
With reference to Poland, the following statistical division was introduced:
- 6 regions, each grouping from 2 to 4 voivodships (this division was maintained until the end of 2017)
- 16 voivodships (this division was maintained until the end of 2017);
- 45 podregions (‘subregions’) grouping powiats (this division was maintained until the end of 2007); from 1 to 5 subregions in individual voivodships were introduced.
The list of NUTS 2003 units in Poland (as of 1 May 2004)
The division of Poland into NUTS level 1 units in NUTS 2003 revision
The division of Poland into NUTS level 2 units in NUTS 2003 revision
The division of Poland into NUTS level 3 units in NUTS 2003 revision
Statistical divisions of other EU countries as introduced by the Classification
The division of 15 Member States into NUTS units of three levels came into effect on 11 July 2003. 72 units of the NUTS level 1, 213 units of the NUTS level 2, and 1091 units of the NUTS level 3 were then introduced. In turn, the statistical divisions of 10 countries accessed the European Union in 2004 entered into force on 26 November 2005 (in these countries 17 units of the NUTS level 1, 41 units of the NUTS level 2, and 123 units of the NUTS level 3 were introduced).
The number of NUTS units in the EU Member States according to NUTS 2003 revision
Country |
NUTS 1 |
NUTS 2 |
NUTS 3 |
---|---|---|---|
Austria |
3 |
9 |
35 |
Belgium |
3 |
11 |
43 |
Cyprus |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Czech Republic |
1 |
8 |
14 |
Denmark |
1 |
1 |
15 |
Estonia |
1 |
1 |
5 |
Finland |
2 |
5 |
20 |
France |
9 |
26 |
100 |
Germany |
16 |
41 |
439 |
Greece |
4 |
13 |
51 |
Hungary |
3 |
7 |
20 |
Ireland |
1 |
2 |
8 |
Italy |
5 |
21 |
103 |
Latvia |
1 |
1 |
6 |
Lithuania |
1 |
1 |
10 |
Luxembourg |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Malta |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Netherlands |
4 |
12 |
40 |
Poland |
6 |
16 |
45 |
Portugal |
3 |
7 |
30 |
Slovakia |
1 |
4 |
8 |
Slovenia |
1 |
1 |
12 |
Spain |
7 |
19 |
52 |
Sweden |
1 |
8 |
21 |
United Kingdom |
12 |
37 |
133 |
TOTAL |
89 |
254 |
1214 |
The list of NUTS 2003 revision units in the EU Member States