EN    EN 
 
 
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION   
Brussels, 10.3.2015  
COM(2015) 125 final  
2012/0084 (COD)  
  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION  
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
 
pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  
 
concerning the  
position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics  
(Text with relevance for the EEA and Switzerland)   
 
EN 2   EN 2012/0084 (COD)  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION  
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
 
pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  
 
concerning the  
position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics  
(Text with relev ance for the EEA and Switzerland)  
1. BACKGROUND  
Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council  
(document COM(2012) 167 final – 2012/0084 COD):  17 April 2012  
Date of the opinion of the European Economic and Social 
Committee:  N/A 
Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading:  21 November 2013  
Date of transmission of the amended proposal:  N/A 
Date of adoption of the position of the Council:  5 March 2015  
2. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROP OSAL FROM THE COMMIS SION  
The proposal calls for a revision of the current basic legal framework for European statistics, 
by adapting it to meet the policy needs and challenges created for European statistics by 
recent developments in the global economy. The main goal is to fu rther strengthen 
governance in the European Statistical System in order to safeguard its high credibility and to 
respond adequately to data needs resulting from the enhanced economic -policy coordination 
in the European Union. The four more specific objecti ves contributing to this aim are: 
strengthening of the professional independence of national statistical authorities; clarification 
of the coordinating role of national statistical institutes (NSIs) in the national statistical 
systems; establishment of ‘Co mmitments on Confidence in Statistics’; and enhancement of 
the access to and use of administrative data for statistical purposes.  
In particular, unconditional professional independence of national statistical authorities is a 
key pre -requisite for maintain ing high credibility of European statistics in their core 
supporting role for economic governance and in general, for evidence based policy -making. 
The proposal refers explicitly to the Heads of NSIs as persons whose independence in 
performing their duties  is a pre -condition for establishing the independence of the respective 
institutions. To that end, Heads of NSIs should have the freedom to decide on processes, 
statistical methods, standards and procedures, and on the content and timing of statistical 
releases and publications for all European statistics. They must also be forbidden from 
 
EN 3   EN seeking, and protected from receiving, instructions from national governments and other 
institutions. Moreover, Heads of NSIs should be granted considerable autonomy in de ciding 
on the internal management of the statistical office and allowed to publicly comment on the 
budget allocated to the NSI in the context of statistical tasks to be performed. Furthermore, 
there must exist transparent rules for the appointment, transfe r and dismissal of Heads of NSI, 
based solely on professional criteria.  
As stipulated by the Commission in its Communication ‘Towards robust quality management 
for European Statistics’ (COM(2011) 211 final), the proposal also includes the establishment 
of ‘Commitments on Confidence in Statistics’, i.e. declarations of respect of the European 
Statistics Code of Practice, and notably of the principle of independence of NSIs. According 
to the proposal, they should be signed by the governments of all Member Sta tes and counter -
signed by the Commission. Each CoC is intended to be country -specific and contain 
improvement actions. The actual implementation of these actions would be monitored by 
Eurostat as part of the already established regular assessment of Member  States’ compliance 
with the European Statistics Code of Practice.  
The proposal further attempts to clarify the coordinating role of NSIs in the national statistical 
systems by explicitly referring to institutions and functions that need to be coordinated . 
Another major objective of the proposal is to strengthen the use of administrative data sources 
for the production of European statistics without increasing the burden on respondents, NSIs 
and other national authorities. To that end, NSIs should be invol ved, to the extent necessary, 
in decisions on the design, development and discontinuation of administrative records which 
could be used in the production of statistical data. Free and timely access to administrative 
records should be granted to NSIs, other  national authorities and Eurostat, but only within 
their own respective public administrative system and to the extent necessary for the 
development, production and dissemination of European statistics.  
Moreover, in order to simplify budget planning for s tatistical activities and to make it more 
stable, the proposal brings the programming period of the European statistical programme into 
line with the Union’s multi -annual financial framework.  
Finally, the proposed amendment of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 t akes account of the 
necessary adjustments to the Lisbon Treaty as regards granting the Commission delegated and 
implementing powers.  
3. COMMENTS ON THE POSIT ION OF THE COUNCIL  
The position of the Council reflects the political agreement reached between the  European 
Parliament and the Council on 3 December  2014 and includes elements proposed by both 
institutions. The Commission supports this agreement.  
The main amendments included in this position, as compared to the Commission's proposal, 
are the following:  
For the specific situation of NSIs, amendments are made that limit the scope of the statistical 
decision -taking power of the Heads of NSIs as proposed by the Commission, notably to 
matters within their own institutions. Furthermore, the  provision on profe ssional 
independence is extended to cover, in addition to Heads of NSIs, also the ‘statistical heads of 
other national authorities’.  
For the specific situation of Eurostat, an additional Article is introduced, largely based on 
elements already provided fo r in the Commission Decision on Eurostat (2012/504/EU), that 
focusses on the professional independence of the Director General of Eurostat to ensure 
 
EN 4   EN correspondence with the respective provisions applying to Heads of NSIs. The compromise 
formalises, in part icular, that a statistical dialogue will enable every year for a direct exchange 
of views between the Director -General of EUROSTAT and the relevant Committee of the 
European Parliament on statistical matters.    
The provision on establishment by Member Sta tes of ‘Commitments on Confidence in 
Statistics’ is weakened but combined with a more detailed description of the applicable 
monitoring and reporting process by the Commission.  
In response to the European Parliament's request for stronger quality monitorin g and 
enforcement, provisions have been introduced foreseeing publication of Commission’s 
concerns regarding the quality of national contributions to European statistics and recalling 
the possibility for the Commission to conduct investigations on suspecte d misrepresentation 
of statistical data, provided that fines are applicable in such cases by virtue of sectoral 
legislation.  
Finally, additional references to the cooperation between the European Statistical System and 
the European System of Central Banks on compilation of European statistics have been 
added.  
4. CONCLUSION  
The Commission accepts the results of the inter -institutional negotiations and can therefore 
support the Council's position at first reading.