EN Official Journal of the European Union C 134/27

Statement of the Council’s reasons: Position (EU) No 5/2015 of the Council at first reading with a view to the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European studies

(2015/C 134/04)

I. INTRODUCTION

The Commission transmitted its proposal on 12 July 2010 (1).

The European Parliament adopted its position at first reading at its plenary session on 21 November 2013 (2). The European Central Bank gave its opinion on 6 November 2012 (3).

The Working Party on Statistics examined the proposed regulation for over two years.

At the trialogue on 3 December 2014, a consensus was reached between the two legislators with a view to quickly concluding a second reading agreement.

On 9 January 2015, the Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) of the European Parliament sent a letter to the Presidency indicating that, should the Council formally transmit its position to the Parliament in the form contained in the Annex to that letter, the Committee would recommend to the plenary that it should accept the Council’s position without amendments.

On 27 January 2015, the Council approved the version of the text that was agreed at the trialogue on 3 December 2014 (4). Taking into account the aforementioned agreement and after revision by the lawyer-linguists, the Council adopted its position at first reading on 5 March 2015 in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure provided for in Article 294 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

II. OBJECTIVE

Developing the EU’s economic governance requires reliable statistics, since the latter play an essential role in the planning, decision-making and follow-up stages of the EU’s political initiatives. The amendment of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics is an essential part of the process of reinforcing the reliability of European statistics.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COUNCIL’S POSITION AT FIRST READING

The compromise reached at the trialogue on 3 December 2014 is as follows:

— Immediately after being appointed, the Director-General of Eurostat will appear before the European Parliament.

— The head of each National Statistical Institute (NSI), being professionally independent, must be appointed solely on the basis of their professional qualifications. At recruitment, equal opportunities for women and men will be taken into consideration.

— The relationship between the European Statistical System (ESS) and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) has been clarified. The compromise provides that the ESS and the ESCB are to cooperate closely, as equal partners. The national authorities will decide the roles to be assigned to the National Statistical Institute and to the National Central Bank (NCB) at national level. However, it should be noted that to the extent the NCB collects statistics that are within the scope of the NSI’s responsibility, such collection must be made in accordance with the principles set out in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.

— Inspection visits within Member States will be possible to the extent permitted by the Treaties, and then only where sectoral legislation provides a legal basis for such initiatives.

— The ‘Commitment on Confidence in Statistics’ has been clarified.

IV. CONCLUSION

The compromise reached was drafted with the aim of addressing the principal concerns of the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission. Indeed, whilst it should be noted that this compromise is a fair balance between differing positions, the three institutions have come to a fair and viable agreement that will contribute significantly towards reinforcing the reliability of European statistics.

(1) 9122/12 STATIS 29 ECOFIN 354 CODEC 1071

(2) 16317/13 CODEC 2608 STATIS 120 ECOFIN 1025 PE 540

(3) OJ C 374, 4.12.2012, p. 2.

(4) 17113/14 STATIS 143 ECOFIN 1218 CODEC 2556 + COR 1 + COR 2.