This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 5 May 2006.

For the Commission

Joaquín ALMUNIA

Member of the Commission

( 1 ) OJ L 63, 12.3.1999, p. 6 . Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1 ).

( 2 ) OJ L 55, 29.2.2000, p. 53 .

( 3 ) OJ L 15, 17.1.2002, p. 7 .

( 4 ) OJ L 203, 3.8.1999, p. 28 . Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1737/2005 ( OJ L 279, 22.10.2005, p. 11 ).

( 5 ) OJ L 229, 9.9.2000, p. 3 . Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1738/2005 ( OJ L 279, 22.10.2005, p. 32 ).

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 698/2006 of 5 May 2006 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 as regards quality evaluation of structural statistics on labour costs and earnings ANNEX