BAKGRUNN (fra europaparlamentets- og rådsforordningen)

(1) Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) establishes the legal framework at Union level for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics.

(2) Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 was amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/759 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) in order to further strengthen the governance of the European Statistical System (ESS), in particular its professional independence. That strengthened governance has proven to be effective.

(3) On 6 March 2023, the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB) published its annual report for 2022. As stated therein, ensuring professional independence is fundamental for providing objective and impartial European statistics and for building public trust in decisions and policies based on them. Therefore, Member States and the Commission are to follow international best practices regarding the selection, appointment and dismissal of the heads of national statistical institutes (NSIs) and the Director-General of the Commission (Eurostat) respectively, on the basis of clear professional criteria such as statistical reputation and a high level of competence in the field of statistics. The reasons for an early termination of the contract are not to compromise the professional independence; they are to be well justified, specified and communicated in an appropriate way, while respecting the rights of the person concerned. Furthermore, the Commission (Eurostat) is to inform ESGAB about any serious concerns it has concerning the implementation of the European Statistics Code of Practice, considering ESGAB’s important role as a Union body tasked with providing an independent assessment of the ESS’s implementation of the European Statistics Code of Practice and advice on strengthening users’ confidence and trust in European statistics.

(4) Digital transformation has ushered in radically different realities and created a new environment with new needs for European statistics. Moreover, recent humanitarian and political events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and the energy and cost-of-living crisis triggered by the Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, have amplified the demands and expectations for timelier, more frequent and more detailed European statistics needed to support Union decision-making and ensure the best possible Union response to crises.

(5) There can be crisis situations in which timely and innovative European statistics are necessary in order to respond to urgent policy needs. For example, the lack of timely data on unit profits and business profits hampers policymakers in their efforts to comprehensively assess the issue of price surges at a time when research is carried out on the impact of corporate policies as a possible contributor to inflation. It is therefore crucial to establish procedures to respond to urgent policy needs for European statistics.

(6) To address growing demands and expectations for timelier, more frequent and more detailed European statistics, as well as for a faster and more coordinated ESS response to urgent statistical demands in times of crisis, it is necessary to amend Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. The purpose of this amending Regulation is to ensure that European statistics remain relevant by taking into account changing and more demanding user needs, in particular by tapping the full potential of digital data sources and technologies and enabling their use for European statistics, by making the ESS more agile and able to respond effectively and swiftly to crises, by allowing data sharing and by strengthening coordination among ESS partners.

(7) To reflect current realities and the digital environment in which the ESS operates, new or updated definitions should be introduced into Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 to clarify the concepts of ‘data’, ‘metadata’, ‘data holder’, ‘data source’, ‘data access’ and ‘use for statistical purposes’.

(8) Recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy and cost-of-living crisis triggered by the Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine demonstrated that the availability of timely, reliable and comparable European statistics is vital to the effectiveness of public authorities’ response to emergency situations. Therefore, it should be possible for the ESS to swiftly initiate coordinated actions if urgent data and statistics needs arise outside the regular planning framework, especially in times of crisis recognised by Union legal acts, such as Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1993 (5), Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (6), Council Regulation (EU) 2016/369 (7), Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2372 (8) and a Regulation establishing a framework of measures related to an internal market emergency and to the resilience of the internal market (Internal Market Emergency and Resilience Act). In such a situation, a data holder should, upon request, make data available to an NSI or the Commission (Eurostat) where that NSI or the Commission (Eurostat) demonstrates an exceptional need to use the data requested, in accordance with the rules laid down in Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9). The Commission (Eurostat) should be able to undertake urgent statistical actions in close cooperation with the European Statistical System Committee (ESS Committee). NSIs and other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics (‘other national authorities’) should be able to participate in such actions on a voluntary basis.

(9) Accessing and using new data sources, including big data, which emerge from digital services and the internet of Things (IoT), is becoming vital for producing timely, suitably frequent and sufficiently detailed European statistics in a more efficient and less costly way. Such new data sources also constitute an important contribution to building statistical sampling frames for ESS purposes. Therefore, access to new data sources in general, and in particular to privately held data, for the development and production of European official statistics on a sustainable basis and according to fair, clear, predictable and proportionate rules, in line with the Union’s fundamental rights framework, should be ensured. Access to privately held data should be ensured in conformity with the principle of cost-effectiveness and is not to entail excessive burdens on economic operators as laid down in Article 338(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

(10) Privately held data refers to the vast amount of data held by private entities obtained as a result of their activity, which could be used by statistical authorities to produce official statistics. It might include data held by civil society organisations, among others. Such data can be key to complementing official statistics and monitoring economic, social, and environmental progress and in particular progress related to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. The use of such data should therefore be strongly encouraged.

(11) Access to new data sources, in particular to privately held data, has been a longstanding request by the ESS, as demonstrated by the ESS position paper on access to privately held data which are of public interest of November 2017, and the ESS position paper on the future Data Act proposal of June 2021.

(12) The use of privately held data and other new data sources should be subject to strict legal, technical and procedural safeguards and guarantees, including applying a high level of security, confidentiality and respect for privacy, as already enshrined in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. Access to privately held data should be limited to the NSIs, acting on their own or on behalf of other national authorities of the ESS, and the Commission (Eurostat) only. The data requested should be strictly necessary for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics and of statistics under development. Such privately held data should be pseudonymised in accordance with Article 89 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council (10) and Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11).

(13) Data requests for privately held data by the NSIs or the Commission (Eurostat) should be transparent and proportionate in terms of their scope and level of detail. In that connection, it is necessary to specify and explain the purpose of the request, the intended use of the data requested, the frequency with which and deadlines by which the data should be made available as well as the operational arrangements for making them available. Any processing of data in connection with such data requests should be without prejudice to Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (12), Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, as appropriate. As official statistics are a public good, the access to data should be free of charge. Where data are requested by an NSI, Member States may provide compensation to the private data holder that is limited to the processing service according to the specifications requested, except where national law does not allow NSIs or other national authorities to compensate data holders. Where data are requested by the Commission (Eurostat), it should propose reasonable compensation to the private data holder that is limited to the specific processing service according to the specifications requested.

(14) When requests for privately held data are issued, the NSI or the Commission (Eurostat) should invite the private data holder to a dialogue to specify the concrete parameters of data requests and other specific arrangements, including how to make data available as well as any organisational and technical measures to protect data confidentiality and trade secrets, with a view to concluding an agreement on those aspects. If no agreement is concluded within three months, or if the private data holder does not comply with the agreement, the NSI should have the possibility to issue a second request to the private data holder to make data available. If the private data holder intentionally or negligently fails to transmit the data within the deadline or transmits incorrect, incomplete or misleading data, the Member State or the Commission should adopt enforcement measures, including the possibility to impose penalties, that should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, taking into account the nature, gravity, recurrence and duration of the infringement, in view of the public interest pursued. Maximum amounts for penalties adopted by the Commission should be established. The Commission can issue guidelines on the calculation of the fines. All decisions taken by the Commission under this amending Regulation are subject to review by the Court of Justice of the European Union in accordance with the TFEU. The Court of Justice of the European Union should have unlimited jurisdiction in respect of fines adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 261 TFEU.

(15) The further integration of statistics and geospatial information should be encouraged to enable a more efficient use of resources and improved integration of data by different public organisations, to produce new statistical outputs, such as spatial analysis, and to improve visualisation and dissemination of data. Such further integration would support decision-making and the monitoring of policy goals at both Union and national level.

(16) The Commission (Eurostat), NSIs and other national authorities should strive to provide access to their databases and supporting metadata and other documentation relevant for quality assessment using up-to-date and easy-to-use technologies.

(17) European statistics are also developed, produced and disseminated by the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) but under a separate legal framework, reflecting the ESCB’s governance structure. Close cooperation and appropriate coordination is required between the ESS and ESCB, in particular to foster the exchange of data between the two systems exclusively for statistical purposes, in line with Article 338(1) TFEU and Article 5 of Protocol No 4 on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank. Furthermore, Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 should apply without prejudice to Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 (13).

(18) The exchange of confidential data contributes to enhanced quality of European statistics. The ESS has been working actively on further developing such exchange of data, including by providing for the transmission of confidential data in various sectoral legislation. Those efforts should be pursued. Mutual exchange of confidential data should be allowed both within the ESS and between the ESS and ESCB, where necessary for the efficient development, production and dissemination of European statistics or for increasing the quality of European statistics. Where confidential data have been transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat), the approval of the NSI or other national authority which provided the data should be required.

(19) It is necessary to ensure that national public and semi-public bodies in charge of administrative data sources, databases, interoperability systems or data relevant for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics allow NSIs and other national authorities to access, use and integrate those data free of charge in time and with sufficient frequency for the purpose of developing, producing and disseminating European statistics. Member States should ensure that it is possible to build statistical sampling frames based on relevant administrative data by the NSIs and other national authorities.

(20) The use of multi-source statistics should be further encouraged, with statistics developed or produced on the basis of a variety of data sources, including by means of modelling techniques and other statistical methods or innovative approaches.

(21) Where the activities to be carried out under Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 involve the processing of personal data for official statistical purposes in accordance with the mandate given to the statistical authorities to request personal data pursuant to the specific methodological description for each statistical product, such processing should comply with relevant Union law on personal data protection, namely Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725. In accordance with the principles set out in those Regulations, such processing should be subject to appropriate safeguards for the rights and freedoms of the data subject. Those safeguards should ensure that technical and organisational measures are in place, in particular in order to ensure respect for the principle of data minimisation. Those measures might include pseudonymisation.

(22) Processing of personal data for the purposes of official statistics by NSIs and other national authorities, which is considered to be in the public interest, should be covered by derogations and subject to appropriate safeguards, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679. For instance, further processing of personal data for statistical purposes should not be considered to be incompatible with the initial purposes for which they were collected. Personal data processed for statistical purposes in the public interest are confidential data and thus are subject to the statistical confidentiality principle, which means that they should only be used for statistical purposes and should never be used for supporting measures or decisions regarding any particular natural person. In that context, the particular safeguards, which should be applied when data sharing under Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 requires personal data to be processed, include technical and organisational measures such as privacy-enhancing technologies and the respect of the principles of purpose limitation, data minimisation, storage limitation and integrity and confidentiality as set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and further elaborated in the European Statistics Code of Practice. In that regard, privacy-enhancing technologies that are specifically designed to implement those principles should be used to share data. Pursuant to Article 89(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, derogations should be granted by national law to the development, production and dissemination of European statistics by NSIs and other national authorities, under the safeguards laid down therein.

(23) To be at the forefront of integrating new technologies and new insights progressively, and thereby ensuring that European statistics continuously stay relevant, rules should be established under which, as part of a collective effort by the ESS, statistics can be developed, in accordance with users’ needs, in specific areas in the form of statistics under development or experimental statistics with the aim of integrating them in the regular production of European statistics. Although not necessarily fulfilling all quality criteria laid down in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, such statistics should be treated as European statistics. Transparent information on the quality of statistics under development or experimental statistics should accompany their publication.

(24) While striving to innovate and develop new statistical outputs, national statistical authorities should take the utmost account of users’ needs as expressed, in particular by national statistical user councils or other appropriate bodies. At Union level, the European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC), established by Decision No 234/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (14) as the main Union body representing users, respondents and producers of European statistics, is to be informed by the Commission on how it has taken into account the ESAC’s opinions, particularly with regard to developing new European statistics.

(25) In order to keep up with the most recent academic trends and to improve the quality of statistical data and methods, statistical authorities should promote, at both national and European level, strong, structured and sustained interdisciplinary cooperation with academic and research institutions, especially when developing new statistics, testing new methods and technologies and promoting innovation and experimentation. For the purposes of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, scientific purposes should cover research activities such as technological development and demonstration, fundamental research or applied research.

(26) Given the trust granted to NSIs and their high technical expertise in data and metadata management, data quality and data protection, Member States should be encouraged, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, to assign to the NSIs an important role in the national data governance frameworks including those provided for in Regulation (EU) 2022/868 of the European Parliament and of the Council (15), with the objective of promoting data sharing, data integration and interoperability, metadata description, quality assurance and standard setting. In that regard, NSIs and other national authorities should be involved in the initial design, subsequent development and discontinuation of administrative data sources, databases or interoperability systems. Such involvement should be reinforced, where appropriate, with a view to ensuring, among other things, consistency and data quality, and with a view to minimising the reporting burden.

(27) Data lawfully available to the public that remain available to the public pursuant to national or Union law should not be considered confidential when used for statistical purposes or for the dissemination of statistics obtained from such data.

(28) In the interest of increased timeliness at Union level, the Commission (Eurostat) should be allowed to disseminate Member States’ European statistics as soon as they have been published nationally, even if they were published ahead of the deadlines for providing the statistics that are set out in the relevant sectoral Union legislation.

(29) Lack of coordination can lead to inefficiencies and inconsistencies and raise issues regarding the quality of European statistics. Union institutions and bodies are to systematically consult the Commission (Eurostat) on statistical methodologies and data quality when developing new statistics in their fields of competence. Coordination should also extend to other statistics that are key to informing policymakers and citizens, in particular because the quality of such statistics could affect the reputation of European statistics.

(30) Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the amendment of the legal framework for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, for reasons of consistency and comparability, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

(31) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission in respect of specifying the urgent statistical actions and setting out the procedure for undertaking them, including the relevant timespan, frequency and quality requirements to be applied by those Member States participating voluntarily in the urgent statistical action, and for extending those urgent actions, as well as in respect of setting out the technical aspects of data sharing between the statistical authorities under that Regulation. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (16).

(32) The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and delivered an opinion on 6 September 2023.

(33) The ESS Committee was consulted,