WRITTEN QUESTION No. 343/99 by Wilmya ZIMMERMANN 'EU Labour Force Survey' data administered by Eurostat
Date: 1999-02-23
Institutions: European Parliament, ZIMMERMANN
Subjects: EU statistics, Eurostat, confidentiality, data protection, dissemination of EU information, payable service, working population

C 341/96

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

29.11.1999

Under the rules governing the publication of infringement procedures, details of the procedure are
confidential. A rule such as this ensures the smooth handling of the case by the Court of Justice, and upholds
the rights of the defence of the defending Member State.

(1) OJ L 163, 14.6.1989.
(2) OJ L 203, 15.7.1989.

(1999/C 341/135)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0343/99

by Wilmya Zimmermann (PSE) to the Commission

(23 February 1999)

Subject:

‘EU Labour Force Survey’ data administered by Eurostat

Would it be possible in future for access to be granted to the anonymous data base ‘EU Labour Force Survey’
(LFS)? The information it contains could be relevant to university studies in the field of social and economic
sciences.

Furthermore, could unrestricted access to this data be given free of charge?

This question was prompted by the inadequate nature of the agreements between the leader of the Effnatis
project and Eurostat. More detailed studies could be carried out and further progress made in research if
Eurostat could make the LFS data it manages available, in anonymous form, and in principle free of charge, to
European research organisations.

Answer given by Mr de Silguy on behalf of the Commission

(9 April 1999)

The handling of confidential data by the Commission is subject to Community legislation, including Council
Regulation (EC) 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community statistics (1) and Council Regulation (EEC) 1588/
90 of 11 June 1990 on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality (2). This legislative
framework does not permit the Commission to release confidential data under normal circumstances to any
outside body. Discussions in the context of the working party on employment statistics have indicated that
micro-data from the labour force survey could be released only if they could be classified as non-confidential,
meaning not simply that they should be anonymous but that a method should be employed to make it virtually
impossible to identify individuals. The possibility of devising such a method will be examined by the
committee on statistical confidentiality.

The pricing of labour force survey data is subject to the general pricing policy adopted within the European
statistical system. This takes account of the cost of collecting and processing the data by the national statistical
offices and by the Commission. In most Member States, a charge is made for providing data to users, whether
in printed or electronic form. It would therefore not be feasible for the Commission to release data at a price
lower than is currently charged in the Member States, since this would effectively damage sales there and thus
endanger the co-operation between the Commission and the national statistical offices from which the data
ultimately derive. The specific question of the pricing of labour force survey micro-data will be examined by
the working party on data dissemination, which is responsible for pricing policy.

(1) OJ L 52, 22.2.1997.
(2) OJ L 151, 15.6.1990.