26/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - Adopting a report on Tuesday 24 March 2009 by Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP-ED, Finland) by 550 to 14 with 32 abstentions, the European Parliament approved a recommendation by the European Central Bank (ECB|) for a Council regulation on the collection of statistics by the ECB (consultation procedure). The ECB's recommendation amends Regulation 2533/98/EC of 23 November 1998 to update the collection of statistics through the two networks of statistics collecting bodies, namely the European Statistics System (ESS) and the European Central Bank System (ECBS) comprising the ECB and national central banks. (A.B./transl.fl)