REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 on Community statistics on migration and international protection
Date: 2012-09-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, EU visa policy, disclosure of information, migratory movement, right of asylum

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 20.9.2012  
COM(2012) 528 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 on Community statistics on 
migration and international protection 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 on Community statistics on 
migration and international protection 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The main objective of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 11 July 2007 on Community statistics on migration and international protection1 
(hereinafter also referred to as 'the Regulation') is the collection and compilation of European 
statistics on migration and international protection.  

This is the first report that the Commission is required to submit to the European Parliament 
and the Council according to Regulation (EC) No 862/2007.  

In particular, its Article 12 states that 'By 20 August 2012 and every three years thereafter, the 
Commission  shall  submit  a  report  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the 
statistics compiled pursuant to this Regulation and on their quality.'  

This report documents the degree of progress that has been made by Member States, together 
with the Commission (Eurostat), in the implementation of the above Regulation.  

2. 

STATISTICS COVERED BY THE REGULATION  

Regulation  (EC)  No  862/2007  concerns  the  compilation  of  European  statistics  related  to 
migration and international protection (asylum). The principle areas of statistics governed by 
the Regulation are: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

International migration flows disaggregated by group of citizenship, group of country 
of birth, group of country of previous/next residence and by age and sex; population 
stocks  disaggregated  by  group  of  citizenship  and  group  of  country  of  birth  and  by 
age and sex, acquisition of citizenship by country of previous citizenship (Article 3);  

Asylum  applications,  decisions  at  first  instance  and  on  appeal  granting  or 
withdrawing  different  forms  of  international  protection  status,  asylum  applications 
by  unaccompanied  minors,  disaggregated  by  citizenship;  and  statistics  on  the 
operation of the 'Dublin' arrangements for the transfer of asylum applicants between 
Member States (Article 4); 

Third  country  nationals  refused  entry  to  the  Member  State  at  the  external  border, 
third  country  nationals  found  to  be  illegally  present  under  national  immigration 
legislation, disaggregated by citizenship (Article 5); 

Residence  permits  issued  to  third  country  nationals,  disaggregated  by  citizenship, 
length  of  permit  validity  and  by  the  reason  (immigration  category)  for  the  permit 
being issued (Article 6); 

1 

OJ L 199, 31.7.2007, p. 23. 

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• 

Third-country nationals subject to an order to leave the territory of the Member State 
under immigration legislation, and third-country nationals recorded as departing after 
the issue of such an order, disaggregated by citizenship (Article 7).  

As  part  of  the  implementation  process,  the  Commission  has  continued  to  develop  and 
maintain close cooperation with the different national authorities involved in the production 
and supply of data for the Regulation. The statistics on migration flows and population stocks 
are  generally  supplied  to  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  by  the  National  Statistical  Institutes 
(NSI). Statistics on residence permits and asylum are usually supplied directly by Ministries 
of  Interior  or  immigration  services.  Statistics  on  border  controls  and  the  removal  of 
unauthorised migrants may also be provided by Ministries of Interior or immigration services, 
or by police authorities.  

The main characteristics of these statistics are provided in Table 1 below. 

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Table 1: Main characteristics of these statistics 

Article 3 

Migration flows, population stocks, 
acquisition of citizenship 

Article 4 

Asylum 

Articles 5 and 7 

Article 6 

Enforcement of 
immigration legislation 

Residence permits 

Geographical 
coverage 

35 countries (31 EU/EFTA countries 
+ ME+HR+MK+TR) 

31 EU/EFTA countries 

31 EU/EFTA countries 

31 EU/EFTA countries 

First  year  of 
data collection 

2008 

2008 

2008 

Frequency 

Annual 

Monthly/quarterly/annual 

Annual 

2008  

Annual 

for 

Deadline 
data 
transmission 

12 months after the end of the 
reference year 

2 months after 
reference period (RP) for 
monthly/quarterly data 

3 months after RP for 
annual data 

3 months after the end of 
the reference year  

6 months after the end of 
the reference year 

Data providers 

National Statistical Institutes 

Ministries of Interior (or 
related Immigration 
Agencies) 

Ministries of Interior, 
Immigration Agencies or 
Border Police. 

Ministries of Interior (or 
related Immigration 
Agencies) 

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3. 

IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION 

Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 lays down the common framework for compilation of statistics on 
migration  and  international  protection.  However,  in  order  to  produce  comparable  data 
harmonised  between  Member  States,  it  was  necessary  to  complement  it  with  two  associated 
implementing measures adopted by the Commission: 

• 

• 

Commission  Regulation  (EU)  No  216/20102  defines  the  categories  of  reasons  for 
residence permit issue for the statistics supplied under Article 6 of the Regulation. The 
reasons  for  permit  issue  relate  to  the  immigration  categories  and  sub-categories  under 
which third country nationals are permitted to reside (for example, persons permitted to 
reside for employment reasons, with a sub-category for those permissions granted under 
highly-skilled worker programmes); 
Commission  Regulation  (EU)  No  351/20103  defines  the  groups  of  country  of  birth, 
groups of country of previous usual residence, groups of country of next usual residence 
and groups of citizenship for the migration flow and population stock statistics supplied 
under Article 3 of the Regulation. 

4. 

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 

Many  of  the  statistics  covered  by  the  Regulation  had  been  collected  on  a  voluntary  basis  for  a 
number of years prior to the Regulation coming into force. With the adoption of the Regulation, 
significant changes were made to the content and definitions of these statistics to ensure that they 
more closely met the evolving needs of users.  

Prior to the implementation of the Regulation, European migration  statistics were characterised 
by  poor  data  availability  and  a  low  degree  of  harmonisation.  In  many  cases,  basic  EU  level 
aggregates could not meaningfully be produced as the component national data were either not 
available for some Member States or were prepared using widely differing statistical definitions. 
The  lack  of  harmonisation  meant  that  analyses  and  comparisons  of  data  relating  to  different 
Member States were unreliable and potentially misleading. This implied that an important area of 
European public policy lacked appropriate statistics to inform evidence-based decision making.  

The need for a better collection and analysis of statistics on migration and asylum was noted in 
the conclusions of the Thessaloniki European Council in 2003. In the same  year,  the European 
Parliament  noted  the  need  to  introduce  specific  European  statistical  legislation  to  ensure  the 
production  of  comprehensive  statistics  necessary  for  the  development  of  fair  and  effective 
European  policies  on  migration.  This  situation  led  to  the  preparation  of  the  Commission 
legislative proposal for this Regulation.  

2 

3 

Commission Regulation (EU) No 216/2010 of 15 March 2010 implementing Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 
of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  Community  statistics  on  migration  and  international 
protection,  as  regards  the  definitions  of  categories  of  the  reasons  for  the  residence  permits.  (OJ  L  66, 
16.3.2010, p. 1). 
Commission Regulation (EU) No 351/2010 of 23 April 2010 implementing Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 
of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  Community  statistics  on  migration  and  international 
protection as regards the definitions of the categories of the groups of country of birth, groups of country of 
previous usual residence, groups of country of next usual residence and groups of citizenship. (OJ L 104, 
24.4.2010, p. 37).  

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5. 

QUALITY OF THE STATISTICS PRODUCED  

5.1. 

Relevance to users  

Within the Commission, the main user of migration and asylum statistics is DG Home Affairs. 
However, these statistics are also frequently used by other Directorates General, in particular, by 
DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and by DG Justice.  

One  important  use  of  the  statistics  has  been  as  part  of  the  annual  allocation  of  the  budgetary 
envelope for each Member State for the Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows Funds. 
In  accordance  with  the  legislation  establishing  the  Funds,  the  annual  budgetary  allocation  is 
based  primarily  on  migration  and  asylum-related  statistics  collected  by  Eurostat.  The  statistics 
necessary  for  the  Funds  are  now  almost  completely  covered  by  the  Regulation.  A  particular 
advantage  of  this  is  the  increased  availability  of  comprehensive  metadata  for  these  statistics, 
allowing the Commission to more readily assure that the statistics used for the allocation are in-
line with the concepts and requirements set in the legislation for the Funds.  

The statistics are used in several publications of the Commission, as well as in the preparation of 
regular reports, policy proposals and analysis. For example, the Commission's Annual Report on 
Immigration and Asylum4 uses these statistics as a means to quantify progress made towards the 
implementation  of  the  2008  European  Pact  on  Immigration  and  Asylum  and  to  highlight 
recommendations  for  further  actions.  Focussing  specifically  on  immigration,  the  2011 
Commission Communication on Migration5 draws extensively on these statistics, both within the 
text  and  in  separate  statistical  Annexes.  Similarly,  in  the  field  of  asylum,  the  Commission 
Communication on enhanced intra-EU solidarity6 presents detailed statistics on asylum and other 
forms  of  international  protection  supplied  to  and  published  by  Eurostat.  Eurostat's  migration 
statistics  are  also  important  for  publications  such  as  the  European  Commission's  Demography 
Report7 and for reports on the socio-economic situation of migrants in Europe.8 
Migration and asylum statistics are also used by the European Migration Network (EMN)9 as a 
basis  for  its  annual  EU-  and  national-level  statistical  and  analytical  reports.  The  statistics  also 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council:  Annual  Report  on 
Immigration and Asylum (COM(2011) 291 final) 
http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/news/intro/docs/110524/291/1_EN_ACT_part1_v8.pdf 
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social 
Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Communication on Migration (COM(2011) 248 final)  
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0248:FIN:EN:PDF 
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social 
Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Communication on enhanced intra-EU solidarity in the field 
of asylum (COM(2011) 835 final) 
http://ec.europa.eu/homeaffairs/news/intro/docs/201112/1_EN_ACT_part1_v6.pdf 
Commission  Staff  Working  Paper:  Demography  Report  2010  -  Older,  more  numerous  and  diverse 
Europeans 
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KE-ET-10-
001 
Migrants in Europe: a statistical portrait of the first and second generation 
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KS-31-10-
539 
Council  Decision  2008/381/EC  of  14  May  2008  establishing  a  European  Migration  Network  (OJ  L  131, 
21.5.2008, p.7)  

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provide  an  input  to  the  EMN  studies  and  reports  that  address  specific  issues  of  current  policy 
importance.  

A further European-level use of these statistics has been to support the work of migration-related 
European Union agencies such as the External Borders Agency (FRONTEX) and, more recently, 
the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). 

The  statistics  collected  under  the  Regulation  are  widely  used  in  official  publications  and  by  a 
wide range of users. In addition to publication on the Eurostat website and on-line dissemination 
database,  there  are  regular  Eurostat  quarterly  and  annual  publications  that  provide  updated 
statistics and statistical commentary. The statistics produced  under the Regulation are regularly 
used  by  national  administrations,  academic  researchers  and  civil  society  groups  working  on  a 
wide range of topics including the integration of immigrants, the development and monitoring of 
national  asylum  and  immigration  procedures,  and  the  projection  of  the  future  population  and 
labour force.  

Certain  statistical  needs  related  to  migration  and  asylum  that  are  not  met  fully  by  the  statistics 
collected under the Regulation are covered by ongoing "Gentlemen's agreements" with national 
data suppliers. For example, this arrangement applies to statistics on New Asylum Applications 
(as opposed to Total Applications).  

This practice can continue to be applied in the future to help meet new needs for statistics that 
may arise in the context of new legislation, and until such legislation is in force, for instance on 
asylum-seekers  and  persons  enjoying  international  protection,  seasonal  workers,  intra-corporate 
business  transfers,  students  and  researchers,  as  well  as  for  data  categories  not  covered  by  EU 
legislation but which are necessary for the development of EU migratory policies.  

The  shortcomings  concerning  the  limited  statistical  data  on  unaccompanied  minors  were 
addressed in the context of the revision of the Guidelines for data collection under Article 6 of the 
Migration  Statistics  Regulation.  The  revised  Guidelines,  finalised  on  11  January  2011,  enable 
Eurostat to collect data on unaccompanied minors other than those applying for asylum. 

An indicator  of  the  relevance of the migration data to Eurostat's users is the number of data or 
publications downloaded from the Eurostat's website up to 2011. 

The  figures  presented  in  table  2  highlight  that  the  migration  (followed  by  the  asylum)  data 
collection  are  the  most  widely  accessed  data.  They  show an increase  from 2010 to 2011 in the 
data accessed by users.  

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Table  2:  Number  of  accesses  to  Eurostat  publications  and  data  sets  via  the  Eurostat  web  site, 
2010 and 2011 

Data 
collections 

Article 3 

Article 4 

Articles 5 and 7 

Migration 
population 
stocks, 
acquisition of 
citizenship 

Asylum 

Enforcement of 
immigration 
legislation  

Article 6 

Residence 
permits 

TOTAL

2010 

26753 

12452 

3518 

4709 

47432 

2011 
(January 
October) 

to 

48917 

10862 

3881 

3862 

67522 

5.2. 

Accuracy of the data sent to Eurostat 

Direct measures of the accuracy and reliability of the statistics collected under the Regulation are 
not straightforward. Certain indications of the reliability of the data in relation to compliance with 
definitions  can  be  based  on  the  comparability  and  coherence  of  the  data  as  considered  in  5.5 
below. 

The  accuracy  of  the  data  collected  under  Articles  4-7  of  the  Regulation  (and  in  many  Member 
States  under  Article  3)  depend  on  the  accuracy  and  efficiency  of  the  underlying  administrative 
systems.  The  widespread  redevelopment  of  administrative  systems  related  to  asylum  and 
immigration controls, as well as for the registration of the population, has therefore had a strongly 
positive  impact  on  the  accuracy  of  the  statistical  data.  Many  Member  States  have  introduced 
more  integrated  and  comprehensive  administrative  systems  that  make  use  of  modern  IT  and 
communication  methods.  For  example,  border  control  activities  are,  by 
their  nature, 
geographically  spread  and  often  undertaken  by  several  different  authorities.  The  integration  of 
administrative systems has reduced the risk that actions (such as a decision to refuse entry at a 
remote  border  crossing)  are  not  correctly  counted  and  are  not  included  in  the  overall  national-
level  data.  More  sophisticated  systems  have  also  reduced  the  risk  of  over-counting,  such  as  by 
helping  to  identify  where  a  person  has  already  made  an  asylum  application  (and  so  should 
therefore  not  be  counted  again  as  a  first  asylum  applicant).  Similarly,  the  redevelopment  of 
population  registration  systems  has  helped  to  ensure  that  information  on  persons  (who  often 
provide information at a local or regional office) will be correctly and rapidly included in national 
level data. The linking of records across local level systems has also in some cases, provided a 
means to better count emigration.  

Member  States  have  kept  Eurostat  informed  of  ongoing  changes  to  administrative  systems  and 
have  sought  advice  and  confirmation  that  the  data  would  meet  the  requirements  of  the 
Regulation. 

Problems of missing and incomplete data do still occur. These problems can vary from the total 
non-supply  of  any  data  covered  by  an  article  of  the  Regulation  in  the  worst  cases,  to  the  non-
availability  of  a  specific  table  or  disaggregation.  Where  disaggregations  are  lacking,  this  has 

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often been caused by the non-recording of certain information in the administrative systems that 
are  frequently  used  as  data  sources.  This  has  occurred,  for  example,  in  the  non-availability  (or 
limited availability) in some Member States of age and sex information taken from administrative 
records  related  to  immigration  and  asylum  cases.  A  number  of  national  authorities  have 
introduced  improved  procedures  to  ensure  that  the  necessary  information  is  gathered  as  part  of 
the immigration administrative process and better computing systems to allow this information to 
be readily accessed to be included in the statistical data.  

Non-compliance follow-up measures have been launched by the Commission in response to the 
most  serious  cases  of  missing  or  incomplete  data  –  where  for  example,  no  data  have  been 
supplied by a country in response to a data collection.  

Actions  undertaken  have  demonstrated  that  a  large  majority  of  Member  States  make  a  serious 
effort to be compliant. In addition, in several cases, a solution to the difficulties could be found 
thanks to reciprocal collaboration between the national authorities and Commission's services.  

Table  3  highlights  that  completeness  of  the  data  is  an  issue  mainly  for  residence  permit 
information. 

Table 3: Overview of data completeness for each domain (2011 data) 

Article 3 

Migration, 
population stocks, 
acquisition of 
citizenship 

Article 4 

Asylum 

Articles 5 and 7 

Article 6 

Enforcement of 
immigration 
legislation 

Residence permits 

-  Complete  data  for 
26 countries 

-  Complete  data  for 
24 countries 

-  Complete  data  for 
26 countries 

-  Complete  data  for 
22 countries 

-  Incomplete  data  for 
3 countries 

-  Incomplete  data  for 
6 countries 

-  Incomplete  data  for 
4 countries 

-  Incomplete  data  for 
5 countries 

-  No  data 
countries 

for  2 

-  No  data 
country 

for  1 

-  No  data 
country 

for  1 

-  No  data 
countries 

for  4 

5.3. 

Timeliness 

Depending on the type of data concerned, the data covered by the Regulation need to be supplied 
between 2 and 12 months after the end of the reference period.  

Particularly  in  the  first  reference  years  of  the  Regulation,  a  number  of  Member  States  faced 
serious  difficulties  in  meeting  the  timeliness  requirements.  These  problems  have  largely  been 
overcome  through  the  introduction  of  new  statistical  methods  and  procedures  at  national  level. 
Some  remaining  timeliness  issues  are  isolated,  non-recurring,  cases;  for  example,  due  to  staff 
changes or disruption caused by changes to computing systems. Some more systematic timeliness 

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issues  do  remain  in  particular  Member  States  and  mainly  for  the  Enforcement  of  Immigration 
Legislation and for the Residence Permits data collections, but work is ongoing to resolve these.  

Table 4: Overview of the number of countries not providing timely data for each domain 

Article 4 
Asylum 

Articles 5 and 7  
Enforcement of immigration 
legislation 

Article 6  

Residence permits 

Article 5 

Article 7 

Article 3 
Migration, 
population 
stocks, 
acquisition 
of 
citizenship 

1 out of 29 

2 out of 30 

16 out of 30 

15 out of 31  

9 out of 27 

(delay between 1 
to 365 days) 

(delay between 1 to 
29 days) 

(delay between 1 to 
35 days)  

(No data 
supplied by 
2 countries) 

(No data 
supplied by 
1 country) 

(No data supplied 
by 1 country) 

(No data supplied 
by 2 countries) 

(No data supplied by 
4 countries) 

5.4. 

Accessibility of the released data 

The migration data (and meta-data) for all four domains are available free of charge on Eurostat 
website  under  the  theme  'Population  and  social  conditions'.  The  data  are  included  in 
compendium  publications  such  as  the  Eurostat  Yearbook10,  as  well  as  detailed  publications 
focussed  on  specific  migration-related  topics11.  The  'Statistics  Explained'  article  Migration  and 
migrant population statistics12 on the Eurostat website has consistently been among the ten most 
frequently viewed articles.  

The timely and more complete supply of data under the Regulation has, in turn, helped Eurostat 
to improve the timeliness of its data processing and dissemination. The time delay between data 
being  received  by  Eurostat  and  validated  data  being  published  on  the  Eurostat  public 
dissemination database has decreased significantly as the Regulation has been implemented. For 
example,  the  monthly  data  on  asylum  applications  are  now  normally  released  within  4  days  or 
less.  

The statistics are also published at national level. 

10
11 

12

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KS-CD-11-001 
For example, see the Eurostat Statistics in Focus Publications such as Asylum applicants and first instance 
decisions 
11/2012 
second 
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KS-SF-12-011 
or  Immigration  to  EU  Member  States  down  by  6  %  and  emigration  up  by  13  %  in  2008  -  Issue  number 
1/2011 

applications: 

number 

asylum 

quarter 

Issue 

2011 

on 

- 

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Migration_and_migrant_population_statistic
s 

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5.5. 

Comparability and coherence 

5.5.1.  Definitions  

To  ensure  comparability  in  the  statistics  produced,  the  Regulation  establishes  harmonised 
definitions to be applied to the data supplied to the Commission (Eurostat). These definitions are 
based  on  United  Nations  statistical  recommendations,  as  well  as  existing  European  legislation 
relating to asylum, residence permits and controls of the external border.  

The  Regulation  permitted  national  authorities  to  apply  existing  national  definitions  to  the  data 
supplied for the first year of operation of the Regulation (data relating to 2008). This was to allow 
national authorities additional time to make necessary changes to procedures to comply with the 
harmonised definitions. 

As national authorities have implemented changes in the statistical definitions, there has been a 
short-term  loss  of  comparability  between  data  for  different  years,  resulting  in  breaks  in  the 
statistical  time  series.  However,  in  the  medium  to  long-term,  comparability  will  be  greatly 
enhanced by the use of fixed harmonised definitions.  

The application of the harmonised definitions, and the adjustment of data from national sources 
to  meet  these  definitions,  can  be  complex.  Often  the  national  definitions  correspond  to 
administrative practices and rules. 

Definitional problems have been hardest to address with the migration flow and population stock 
statistics covered by Article 3 of the Regulation. It is for these data that the greatest differences 
occur between national systems in terms of the data sources used. For a few countries, it has been 
difficult even to identify appropriate data sources for these data. Seven countries were unable to 
use the 12-month time criteria for defining immigration/emigration flows, for example, because 
the  national  statistical  definition  of  a  migration  (as  opposed  to  a  visit)  was  based  on  a  three-
month criteria (a migrant needing a residence permit for a stay in excess of three months). 

For  Articles  5  and  7  on  the  Enforcement  of  Immigration  Legislation,  11  countries  potentially 
deviated  from  the  standard  definition  in  that  they  were  not  able  to  confirm  that  the  statistics 
counted persons instead of administrative decisions or/and that persons were counted only once 
in the same category within the reference year. 

5.5.2.  Data sources 

Comparability  between  countries  is  hampered  by  the  fact  that  Member  States  vary  greatly  in 
terms  of  the  data  sources  used  to  produce  statistics  on  the  migration  and  residence  of  both  EU 
citizens and third country nationals. The Regulation allows Member States to base the statistical 
data supplied on any appropriate data source according to national availability and practice. The 
statistics  compiled  under  the  Regulation  are  based  on  data  taken  from  border  and  household 
surveys,  population  registers  and  administrative  records  relating  to  border  controls,  asylum 
procedures and the granting of permissions to reside in the Member States’ territories. 

In  practice,  these  differences  in  data  source  impact  only  on  the  annual  statistics  on  migration 
flows and population stocks supplied under Article 3 of the Regulation. As can be noted in Table 
5  below,  the  statistics  supplied  under  the  other  articles  of  the  Regulation  are  all  based  on 
administrative  data  sources.  The  increased  degree  of  harmonisation  in  the  management  of 
immigration  and  asylum  systems  in  the  EU  (for  example,  through  the  implementation  of  the 
Common European Asylum System) has helped to ensure that these administrative sources and 
the resulting statistical data are highly comparable.  

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Article 9(1) of the Regulation also allows for the use of ‘scientifically based and well documented 
statistical estimation methods' as part of the statistical production process. Such estimations can 
be  made  where  directly  observed  data  are  not  available  or,  for  example,  where  data  from 
available  national  sources  have  to  be  adjusted  to  meet  the  required  definitions.  Statistical 
estimations have long been used in a number of countries as part of the production process for 
official  statistics  on  migration,  particularly  where  survey  data  sources  are  predominantly  used. 
The  intention  of  this  provision  was  to  ensure  that,  where  national  authorities  continued  to  use 
estimations, the procedures used for the estimation should be transparent and clearly documented. 
Estimations are generally used only in the preparation of the statistics collected under Article 3 of 
the Regulation. 

Article 4 

Articles 5 and 7 

Article 6 

Asylum 

EIL 
(Enforcement of 
immigration 
legislation) 

Residence 
permits 

Administrative 
sources 

Administrative 
sources 

Administrative 
sources 

Table 5: Overview of data sources 

Article 3 

Migration 

Population register; 
Register/database of foreigners; 
Residence permit register/database; 
Work permit register/database; 
Border sample survey; census; 
household sample survey; 
estimation method; other 

5.5.3.  Coherence 

Where  comparisons  are  possible,  the  results  indicate  a  high  degree  of  coherence  with  data 
collected and published in other exercises and by other authorities. Any differences between the 
data supplied to Eurostat and the statistics published by national authorities can be explained by 
differences  in  definition  where,  for  example,  Member  States  have  chosen  to  retain  existing 
definitions  in  the  nationally  published  statistics.  The  statistics  on  the  resident  population  stock 
collected  under  Article  3  of  the  Regulation  are  coherent  with  the  population  stock  statistics 
collected  separately  by  Eurostat  as  part  of  its  demographic  statistics.  For  the  asylum  statistics 
(Article  4),  taking  into  account  specific  differences  in  definition,  the  data  match  closely 
comparable  data  published  by  the  statistical  department  of  the  United  National  High 
Commissioner for Refugees.  

5.6. 

Further steps to improve quality  

In  addition  to  the  data  required  under  the  Regulation,  Member  States  must  supply  detailed 
metadata  explaining,  among  other  aspects,  the  data  sources  and  procedures,  any  estimation  or 
modelling processes which are applied to the data, and the possible effects of these on the degree 
of compliance with the definitions in the Regulation. Member States have complied well with this 
requirement to supply detailed metadata.  

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Article  10(2)  of  the  Regulation  allows  for  the  introduction  of  a  Commission  implementing 
regulation  'laying  down  the  rules  on  accuracy  and  quality  standards'.  However,  given  that  the 
methods  used  by  Member  States  for  the  production  of  statistics  covered  by  the  Regulation  are 
still  evolving,  and  that  the  levels  of  quality  and  accuracy  are  still  improving,  it  would  be 
premature  at  this  stage  for  the  Commission  to  formulate  a  proposal  for  such  an  implementing 
regulation.  Therefore,  the  Commission  plans  to  proceed  by  way  of  a  gentlemen's  agreement, 
applying  specific  agreed  standards  and  tests  to  be  used  for  the  period  2013-2015  in  assessing 
whether the data are of sufficient quality for publication. This approach is intended to ensure that 
a subsequent implementing regulation would be both realistic and feasible, and would apply the 
highest  possible  quality  standards.  Recommendations  for  the  content  and  scope  of  an 
implementing regulation on quality and accuracy standards will form part of the next report to the 
European Parliament and the Council on the operation of the Regulation (due in August 2015). 
Reports  by  the  Member  States  on  the  quality  of  the  data  submitted  (as  required  under  Article 
12(3) of the Regulation on European statistics (Regulation (EC) 223/2009)) will provide further 
information for the preparation of an implementing regulation. 

The Commission has established a task force comprising experts on migration statistics from six 
National Statistical Institutes to assist it in preparing the specific quality standards to be applied 
to the data from the different data collections covered by the Regulation.  

6. 

COSTS AND BURDEN OF MIGRATION STATISTICS 

The types of statistics required under the Regulation are needed also for national purposes, such 
as  for  the  management  of  the  national  system  for  processing  asylum  applications  or  for  the 
monitoring of border control policies. In almost all cases, the data used to produce the statistics 
are based on existing administrative and statistical systems. The specific burdens placed by the 
Regulation  on  national  authorities  are  therefore  related  to  the  need  to  prepare  particular 
disaggregations or tables that might not otherwise have been produced, and to the need to apply 
the harmonised statistical definitions and concepts. For some national authorities, this resulted in 
one-off costs associated with the necessary adaptations to methods, procedures and systems.  

The extent of the additional burdens varied between Member  States  according to the degree of 
similarity between the existing national systems for migration statistics and the requirements of 
the  Regulation.  However,  in  most  Member  States  and  for  most  of  the  statistics  covered  by  the 
Regulation,  the  additional  costs  and  burden  are  believed  to  be  relatively  limited  and  to  be 
proportionate to the benefits obtained at both EU and national level of having more complete and 
better harmonised migration statistics.  

7. 

COMPLIANCE MONITORING 

The implementation of the Regulation has resulted in increases in the completeness and degree of 
harmonisation of European statistics on migration and international protection. However, despite 
these improvements, further work is still needed for some of the statistics collected and in some 
of  the  Member  States.  The  Regulation  covers  four  major  data  collections  that  each  present 
specific  methodological  difficulties.  Discussions  with  national  data  suppliers  during  the 
preparation  of  the  Regulation  showed  that  the  implementation  process  would  need  to  be 
undertaken  in  an  iterative  manner,  with  ongoing  improvements  taking  place  over  a  number  of 
years.  There  must  though  be  continuing  efforts  to  ensure  that  the  implementation  is  fully 
completed and that remaining problems of non-compliance with the Regulation are overcome. 

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8. 

CONCLUSION 

Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 has resulted in very great improvements to European statistics on 
migration  and  international  protection.  The  data  supplied  by  national  authorities  to  the 
Commission  are  more  complete  and,  in  most  cases,  are  now  based  on  comparable  statistical 
definitions. There has been a corresponding increase in the use made of these statistics by official 
bodies at European and national level, by non-governmental bodies and by the citizen.  

Given  the  wide  range  of  statistics  collected  under  the  Regulation,  and  the  conceptual  and 
methodological  complexities  of  the  statistical  topics  covered,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  the 
implementation  process  would  take  time  and  present  a  number  of  difficulties.  Many  of  the 
problems  identified  early  in  the  implementation  of  the  Regulation  have  been  solved.  However, 
significant  weaknesses  remain  in  the  data  supplied  by  some  Member  States  mostly  in  terms  of 
non-availability of certain  key  statistics, in providing timely data for some domains,  and in the 
incorrect application of the harmonised statistical definitions.  

The data required under the Regulation should reflect the evolving needs of the users, taking into 
account  the  capacity  of  the  data  providers.  This  could  lead  to  future  amendments  of  the 
Regulation in order to add new data categories or specific disaggregations and/or eliminate data 
requirements whenever they are considered less useful.  

There  must  be  renewed  and  concerted  efforts  to  overcome  the  remaining  problems  with  these 
statistics.  This  will  require  continuing  communication  and  cooperation  between  the  relevant 
national authorities and the Commission. 

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