COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION - SYNOPSIS REPORT Accompanying the document Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on European statistics on population and housing, amending Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 763/2008 and (EU) No 1260/2013
Date: 2023-01-20
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU statistics, census, data collection, exchange of information, family, household, population census, population statistics, statistical method

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 20.1.2023  SWD(2023) 15 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION - SYNOPSIS REPORT  Accompanying the document Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on European statistics on population and housing, amending Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 763/2008 and (EU) No 1260/2013  {COM(2023) 31 final} - {SEC(2023) 38 final} - {SWD(2023) 11 final} - {SWD(2023) 12 final} - {SWD(2023) 13 final} - {SWD(2023) 14 final}  
 
 
Contents 

1. 

Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 2 

2.  Consultation strategy .......................................................................................................... 2 

3.  Methodology and tools used to process the results ............................................................ 3 

4.  Stakeholder participation .................................................................................................... 4 

5.  Main results from the stakeholder consultation ................................................................. 6 

5.1.  General feedback on current statistics ......................................................................... 6 

5.2.  Harmonisation of statistics, their concepts and definitions ......................................... 7 

5.3. 

5.4. 

Integration of statistical processes ............................................................................... 7 

Improvement of statistical output ................................................................................ 8 

5.4.1. 

Improvements in migration statistics ................................................................... 8 

5.4.2. 

Information on specific population groups .......................................................... 8 

5.4.3.  Geographical granularity of statistics ................................................................... 9 

5.4.4.  Other ..................................................................................................................... 9 

5.5.  Flexibility of the legal framework ............................................................................. 10 

6.  Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 10 

1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Introduction 

European  statistics  on  population  (ESOP)  comprise  demographic,  migration1,  and 
population  and  housing  census  data.  Eurostat  currently  collects  these  data  from  Member 
States separately, with different periodicities and according to different legal bases. The new 
initiative2  included  in  the  Commission’s  2022  work  programme3  aims  to  ensure  that 
population statistics remain relevant, coherent and comparable  at EU and other levels in the 
face of demographic, migratory, social and economic changes in society.  

This  staff  working  document  presents  a  synopsis  of  the  consultation  activities  related  to 
ESOP,  as  set  out  in  the  consultation  strategy  for  the  initiative  and  implemented  during  the 
back-to-back  evaluation  and  impact  assessment.  It  covers  the  consultation  on  the 
evaluation  roadmap/inception  impact  assessment,  the  open  public  consultation,  targeted 
consultations,  as  well  as  feedback  received  during  workshops,  interviews  and  expert  group 
meetings. The stakeholder consultation took place from May 2021 to January 2022 inclusive. 
Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyse stakeholder input. 

2. Consultation strategy 

In  line  with  the  European  Commission’s  Better  Regulation  guidelines,  the  consultation 
strategy aimed to gather input on the following issues: 

  whether population statistics continue to provide the necessary evidence base for EU 

policies and other relevant use cases;  
if there are new and emerging data needs and potential obsolete data requirements;  
the cost and burden of statistics;  
the potential to improve efficiency and the potential for regulatory simplification.  

 
 
 

Meeting  the  needs  of  the  back-to-back  evaluation  and  impact  assessment  involved  looking 
back  (exploring  what  works  well  and  what  works  less  well  in  the  current  legal  base)  and 
looking  forward  (at  the  impacts  of  the  improvement  options  on  all  relevant  stakeholder 
groups). 

There were three main stakeholder groups:  

Data  providers  fell  into  two  categories:  administrative  data  providers  that  are  public 
administrations  providing  source  data  to  statistical  authorities  for  producing  European 
statistics,  and  individual  respondents  who  are  individuals  participating  directly  in  data 
collection (sample survey, population and housing census enumeration).  

Statistics  producers  were  the  national  statistical  institutes  (NSIs)  and  other  national 
authorities  collecting,  treating  and  transmitting  to  Eurostat  statistics  on  population, 
demography, migration and censuses.  

Asylum and managed migration statistics are not included under this initiative as they are out of scope due 

1  
to the nature of the statistics and data sources used. 
2  
statistics-on-population-ESOP-_en  
3 
2022_en, see Annex II: REFIT initiatives to simplify existing legislation. 

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12958-Data-collection-European-

https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy-documents/commission-work-programme/commission-work-programme-

2 

 
 
                                                 
Statistics users were a diverse group, including institutional users that are directly involved 
in EU policymaking. At EU level, these were the actual policymakers, while at international 
and national levels, they support policymaking and contribute to it. Institutional users include 
EU bodies, international organisations, national ministries and government research institutes.  

Other  professional  users  also  contribute  occasionally  and  indirectly  to  the  policymaking 
process  at  EU  level.  These  were  universities,  research  institutes,  professional  organisations, 
advisory councils, NGOs, individual private companies and business associations. The media 
and the general public were also part of the users’ group. 

The strategy envisaged the use of different consultation activities per stakeholder, as shown in 
Table 1. 

Table 1 

Consultation activities per user group 

data 

Stakeholder 
group/Activity 
Administrative 
providers 
Individual respondents 
Statistics producers 
Institutional users 
Other 
professional 
users,  incl.  academia 
and research 
Media 
General public 

Public 
consultation 

Targeted 
consultations 

Targeted 
workshops 

Expert group 
consultations 

Interviews 

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 
X 
X 

X 

3. Methodology and tools used to process the results 

A  mixed-methods  approach  was  chosen  for  the  consultation.  This  included  the  following 
activities: public and targeted consultations, targeted workshops, expert group consultations, 
interviews with key stakeholders, and desk research. 

targeted  consultation  with  national  statistics 

To gather feedback for its evaluation roadmap/inception impact assessment consultation, open 
public  consultation  and 
the 
Commission  (Eurostat) used  online tools,  including EUSurvey questionnaires.  For the open 
consultation, respondents also had the possibility to upload documents. Replies to the targeted 
consultation with statistical correspondents from the Commission departments were collected 
by  email.  All  workshops,  expert  group  meetings  and  interviews  took  place  as  virtual 
meetings  due  to  health  considerations  and  specific  working  arrangements  related  to  the 
COVID-19 pandemic. 

institutes, 

The  evaluation  roadmap/inception  impact  assessment  consultation  and  the  open  public 
consultation4  ran  via  the  Commission’s  Have  Your  Say  website5.  The  open  public 
consultation was available in all official EU languages. These consultations aimed  to  gather 

See  the  factual summary report on the  open  public consultation:  https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-

4  
regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12958-Data-collection-European-statistics-on-population-ESOP-/F_en  
5 
population-ESOP/public-consultation_en  

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12958-European-statistics-on-

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
information and feedback from the general public and all relevant stakeholder groups as input 
into the evaluation and impact assessment, as a step towards preparing a legislative proposal. 

The  open  public  consultation  was  promoted  via  different  channels:  Have  Your  Say,  the 
Eurostat  homepage  and  domain  website,  a  dedicated  news  item  on  30 September 2021,  two 
social  media  campaigns  and  Eurostat  email  banners  and  emails  to  stakeholders.  It  was  also 
promoted  nationally  by  several  NSIs.  The  questionnaire  covered  four  sections,  including 
mostly closed and a few open questions. Section 1 collected information about the respondent 
or organisation that the respondent represents. Section 2 collected feedback on how European 
statistics on population have performed until now, while Section 3 sought opinions on how to 
improve  these  statistics  going  forward.  Section  4  included  a  few  closing  questions  and  an 
option to submit any documents. 

The  questionnaire  sent  for  the  purpose  of  the  targeted  consultation  with  NSIs  asked 
statistics producers for more detailed opinions. The survey contained five mandatory sections. 
Section 1 asked for information about the organisation. Section 2 collected information about 
the national system of producing and releasing population statistics, while Section 3 collected 
feedback  on  how  European  statistics  on  population  have  performed  until  now.  Section  4 
sought  opinions  on  some  specific  aspects  of  how  to  improve  these  statistics  going  forward, 
and Section 5 included a few closing questions. 

The targeted consultation with statistical correspondents from Commission departments 
collected information on new and emerging statistical needs in different EU policy areas, but 
without the use of a structured questionnaire. 

Interviews  took  one  of  two  forms:  scoping  interviews  and  in-depth  interviews.  They  had  a 
semi-structured  format.  In  total,  five  workshops  were  scheduled  around  the  inception  and 
impacts validation phases. The first two workshops, with participation of NSIs and statistics 
users, discussed the inception results of the evaluation and impact assessment. The remaining 
three workshops, with  statistics  users including  EU institutional  users and NSIs,  focused on 
the draft study results including impact validation. 

Consultation results were presented and discussed with Commission informal expert groups. 
These were mostly meetings of Eurostat-led expert groups with the participation of Member 
State experts, namely a dedicated task force, the Working Group on Population Statistics, the 
Working Group on Population  and Housing Censuses, the Directors of Social  Statistics and 
the  European  Statistical  System  Committee.  There  were  10  meetings  in  total.  Eurostat  also 
gave  presentations  at  a  meeting  of  the  Statistical  Correspondents  Network  within  the 
Commission  (10 May 2021),  the  Expert  Sub-group  on  Equality  Data  to  the  EU  Agency  for 
Fundamental  Rights  (8 October 2021)  and  the  Commission  High-Level  Group  on  Non-
Discrimination Equality and Diversity (22 November 2021). 

The responses to consultation activities were carefully analysed. Analysis of the two targeted 
consultation surveys was straightforward as these mapped well onto specific user groups. To 
analyse the public consultation results, all replies were first mapped onto the key stakeholder 
groups  and  then  assessed  by  each  group.  Where  relevant,  the  synopsis  report  presents  the 
diverging views of various groups of stakeholders on the same issue. 

4 

 
 
4. Stakeholder participation  

The consultation activities mentioned above were implemented by Eurostat and/or by ICF SA 
Belgium,  the  contractor  supporting  Eurostat  during  the  evaluation  and  impact  assessment. 
Table 2 presents the timeline of key consultation actions. 

Table 2 

Timeline of key consultation actions 

Consultation action 
Evaluation  roadmap/inception  impact  assessment 
consultation 
Open public consultation 
Targeted 
consultation 
correspondents from the Commission 
Targeted consultation with NSIs 
Inception workshops 
Final workshops 

statistical 

with 

Timeline 
7 April until 5 May 2021 

30 September until 23 December 2021 
11 May until 11 June 2021 

11 May until 11 June 2021 
23 and 29 September 2021 
19, 20 and 21 January 2022 

In terms of the level of participation, 4 replies were received during the 4-week consultation 
on  the  evaluation  roadmap/inception  impact  assessment,  while  the  open  public  consultation 
resulted  in  172  replies.  The  workshop  attendance  was  from  8  to  54  registered  participants 
depending on the event. While the public consultation also engaged several respondents who 
have  not  used  European  statistics  on  population  published  by  Eurostat  (21.5%  of  the  total), 
other  consultation  activities  involved  mainly  stakeholders  who  use  these  statistics  regularly. 
Responses to the public consultation came from all Member States but one (Cyprus), with the 
number  of  contributions  ranging  from  1  to  20  per  country.  The  number  of  replies  did  not 
correlate to the Member States’ population size. 

There  were  also  5  scoping  and  47  in-depth  interviews  conducted  (in  total  182  people  were 
contacted). The scoping interviews asked for the views of Commission institutional users (2), 
researchers  (2)  and  the  dissemination  unit  of  Eurostat  (1).  The  interviewed  researchers  also 
play  specific  roles  within  the  European  Statistical  Advisory  Committee  and  Population 
Europe,  the  network  of  Europe’s  leading  demographic  research  centres.  Since  the  study 
supporting  the  evaluation  included  case  studies  on  the  use  of  population  definitions  in 
statistics  in  5  Member  States,  18  of  the  47  in-depth  interviews  were  conducted  in  the 
participating countries (France – 4, Germany – 3, Spain – 4, the Netherlands – 3, Slovenia – 
4). The in-depth interviews covered academia and research institutes (18), NGOs (6), public 
authorities  and  international  organisations  (14),  media  organisations  (1)  and  business  and 
other private institutions (2). To compensate for the lack of a wide response from the media, 
extra efforts were made to reach representatives from business organisations and engaged two 
prominent international market data providers. 

The  consultation  ensured  appropriate  stakeholder  coverage  for  statistics  producers  and 
several types of statistics users. The various consultation activities involved all EU Member 
State and EFTA country NSIs in charge of compiling European statistics on population and 
transmitting  them  to  Eurostat.  Institutional  users  from  public  authorities  represented  almost 
20% of respondents to the open public consultation and took part in 14 out of 49 interviews in 
total. Professional statistics users from NGOs and academia and research took part the public 
consultation  (13.4%  and  9.3%  of  respondents  respectively)  and  in  6  and  18  interviews 
respectively. Statistics users from the Commission were involved as well, directly or through 

5 

 
 
their statistical correspondents. EU citizens (86) provided half of the replies in the open public 
consultation, often identifying themselves as statistics users.  Some 29 EU citizens identified 
themselves  as  respondents  to  population  and  housing  census  questionnaires.  Business 
organisations,  trade  unions  and  non-EU  citizens  each  represented  less  than  1%  of  the 
respondents  in  the  open  public  consultation.  Two  interviews  took  place  with  companies  as 
well.  Limited  feedback  was  obtained  from  administrative  data  providers  (one  reply  to  the 
open public consultation) and media organisations (one interview), despite attempts to involve 
them more extensively. 

During the open public consultation, there was no input from national parliaments, although 
two local and three regional authorities submitted replies. Among EU bodies and agencies, the 
EU Fundamental Rights Agency contributed input on data needs in the areas of equality and 
non-discrimination of persons. 

5. Main results of the stakeholder consultation 

5.1.  General feedback on current statistics 

Statistics users widely acknowledged across consultation activities that the implementation of 
existing  EU  statistical  regulations  led  to  improved  harmonisation  and  higher  quality  of 
statistics.  EU  institutional  users  were  somewhat  less  satisfied  than  other  user  groups  in 
general regarding the availability of statistics to meet their data needs. Nonetheless, a majority 
of respondents to the open public consultation across all stakeholder groups except statistics 
producers agreed that the existing legislation is only ‘somewhat’ fit for purpose and overall 
does not adapt quickly to new data needs. 

According to the public and targeted consultations, workshops and interviews, both statistics 
producers and statistics users were of a view that important areas persist for improvement 
of statistics: 

According to statistics users, these areas were:  

further harmonisation of statistics, including concepts and definitions;  

 
  availability  of  data  on  subgroups  at  risk  of  inequality  or  discrimination  (such  as 

LGBTI groups and ethnic minorities);  

  availability of data on EU internal and external migration;  
 

improvements  in  the  detail,  frequency,  timeliness  and  geographical  granularity  of 
statistics.  

In replies and position papers submitted to the open consultation, NGOs cited statistics gaps 
regarding:  

  missing children;  
  children in alternative care;  
  employment, living conditions and social inclusion of young people;  
  sex, gender identity and sexual orientation;  
  disability; and  
  Roma as an ethnic group.  

6 

 
 
In addition, professional users, particularly researchers, wanted improved metadata utility and 
user-friendliness of Eurostat’s dissemination. 

Statistics producers had similar views as users, with two exceptions. On the harmonisation 
of  population  definitions,  NSIs  were  split  between  using  a  single  common  definition  and 
maintaining  the  status  quo.  The  majority  of  NSIs  considered  information  on  gender,  sexual 
orientation,  ethnicity,  race  and  disability  important  but  too  sensitive  to  be  dealt  with  in 
population and housing censuses. 

In the open public consultation, respondents aggregated over all stakeholder groups found the 
following existing statistics a high priority for improvement until 2030:  

  migration within the EU (66% high priority);  
  migration to and from the EU (62%);  
  population census outputs (59%);  
  population stock and balance (48%);  
  housing census outputs (41%).  

Overall,  consultation  activities  showed  that  the  top  priority  for  institutional  and  other 
professional  users  was  migration  statistics.  For  statistics  producers,  the  top  priorities  in  the 
open public consultation were the outputs of the population and housing census, while at the 
final  workshop  with  NSIs,  the  priority  was  migration  statistics.  EU  institutional  users, 
researchers and NGOs made very strong calls for improved availability of official statistics on 
population groups from equality and non-discrimination perspectives. 

Statistics  on  fertility  and  mortality  appeared  as  a  moderate  priority  for  improvement 
according to all stakeholder groups. 

Respondents  to  the  public  consultation  across  all  stakeholder  groups  except  for  statistics 
producers  could  not  assess  the  priorities  for  statistics  on  divorces  (77%  ‘don’t  know’), 
marriage  (75%)  and  acquisition  and  loss  of  citizenship  (45%).  Thus,  the  three  statistical 
domains were ranked with a lower priority than the other topics asked. 

5.2.  Harmonisation of statistics, their concepts and definitions 

Except  for statistics  producers and researchers, statistics users  typically  were not  aware that 
the EU-level comparability of population statistics is currently reduced by the prevailing use 
of national population base definitions. For example, in the institutional user group, around 
half  of  the  respondents  knew  about  this  gap.  The  NSI  survey  and  in-depth  interviews 
highlighted that NSIs consider their national definitions to be adapted to national contexts and 
that the benefits of the current use of national definitions centre  on meeting current national 
requirements.  Most  of  the  NSI  survey  respondents  conceded  that  this  status  quo  leads  to 
reduced  statistics  utility  at  EU  level,  and  acknowledged  that  the  use  of  national  definitions 
was a trade-off given the production costs involved in achieving harmonisation. On the other 
hand, a majority across all groups including statistics producers agreed, often even ‘strongly’, 
that harmonisation was important. Users also noted that they needed information on the exact 
definitions used. Some international partners of Eurostat also highlighted the need to ensure 
consistency  between  the  EU’s  definition  of  population  and  the  definitions  used  at 
international level, e.g. by the United Nations and OECD. In this regard, a definition based on 
the strict usual residence concept was generally deemed preferable. 

7 

 
Most  often,  professional  users  (EU  and  other)  noted  the  improved  harmonisation  of 
migration  statistics  compared  to  the  pre-EU  regulation  time,  when  all  collected  data  were 
submitted voluntarily. At the same time, they saw the current completeness and comparability 
gaps as being most critical in the datasets on international migration, both from/to and within 
the EU. 

5.3. 

Integration of statistical processes 

At the targeted workshops, NSIs strongly favoured the integration between Eurostat and NSIs 
of data collection processes for demography, international migration and the population and 
housing  census  statistics,  thus  avoiding  duplicate  data  collections  and  reducing  costs. 
However, they were reluctant to support such integration when coupled with a major increase 
in statistical output. Users except for EU institutional users were rather indifferent regarding 
the integration of statistics processes. 

Another element in the integration of statistical (production) processes is the extent to which 
the  initiative  can  and  should  foster  the  setting  up  and  maintenance  of  national  statistical 
population  registers  by  Member  States.  According  to  the  targeted  NSI  survey,  13  Member 
States already have a national statistical population register and 9 more are planning one. The 
main  reasons  for  not  (yet)  having  one  indicated  by  the  17  affected  NSIs  are  the  current 
national  legal  framework  (mentioned  7  times)  followed  by  historic  context  (mentioned  6 
times).  

5.4. 

Improving statistical output 

5.4.1.  Improvements in migration statistics 

Existing  migration  statistics  were  mostly  perceived  as  insufficient  by  key  users  of  the  data, 
who noted a complete lack of sub-national data on migration (stocks and flows). For instance, 
during  the  open  public  consultation  large  majorities  in  all  stakeholder  groups  including 
statistics producers considered it a high priority to provide migration data at regional level. 
Similarly, large majorities in all stakeholder groups except statistics producers considered it a 
high priority to define migrant groups in more detail, while most of them, particularly NGOs, 
also called for including socio-economic details of migrant groups. 

During  the  workshops,  NSIs  and  users  indicated  that  datasets  on  intra-  and  extra-EU 
migration are a priority for future improvements. In the NSI survey, 79% of NSIs reported 
migration  from/to  other  EU  Member  States  and  from/to  third  countries  as  being  among  the 
types  of  data  most  requested.  In  the  open  public  consultation,  migration  within  and  from/to 
the EU were ranked among the top priorities to be improved by 2030, with migration within 
the EU in particular posing increased challenges due to the freedom of movement leading to 
reduced  availability  of  administrative  information  on  such  intra-EU  movements.  Moreover, 
the quality of emigration data may be limited and may underestimate the true scale of the 
phenomenon,  as  existing  data  collection  processes  may  not  be  sufficiently  sensitive  to 
disaggregate emigration by detailed characteristics. At expert meetings, NSIs underlined that 
further improvements in migration statistics should take place, but that this would represent a 
major challenge. Therefore, they called for prioritisation and gradual implementation. 

8 

 
5.4.2.  Information on specific population groups 

In  practically  all  consultation  activities,  statistics  users  identified  a  lack  of  complete 
information regarding the six Treaties grounds for discrimination (variables) that are relevant 
for non-discrimination policies at EU level:  sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, 
disability,  age,  and  sexual  orientation.  To  date,  European  equality  statistics  in  the  area  of 
population  statistics  exist  for  the  basic  demographic  characteristics,  sex6  and  age.  In  the 
opinion  of  respondents  from  professional  user  groups,  the  equality  data  ranked  the  lowest 
among all data topics regarding the sufficiency of currently available data (only 18% of the 
respondent group that expressed an opinion found the current data sufficient). 

EU institutional  users, researchers and  NGOs noted the data  gaps most often. They insisted 
that  statistics  should  cover  all  grounds  for  discrimination.  In  consultation  responses  and 
interviews, including via position papers, NGOs asked for information on sexual orientation, 
gender identity and sex (with differentiation between ‘sex’ and ‘sex at birth’), disability, and 
ethnicity  (e.g.  Roma  population  as  the  largest  ethnic  minority  in  the  EU,  Jewish  population 
covered by the EU antisemitism strategy).  

In  the  public  consultation  and  in  the  impact  validation  workshop  with  non-NSIs,  some 
participants (mainly NGOs) highlighted that a lack of data on equality characteristics hinders 
the effective combating of discrimination. However, in the impact validation workshop with 
NSIs, there was a strong view that the collection of data on self-declared characteristics (e.g. 
gender identity, sexual orientation) contravenes the Charter on Fundamental Rights. 

According to expert group discussions and the final workshop with NSIs, statistics producers 
preferred  to  have  data  collection  on  gender,  sexual  orientation,  ethnicity/race  and  disability 
implemented  in  sample  surveys  rather  than  in  the  population  and  housing  census  or 
population  statistics.  Their  main  reason  was  that  such  information  should  be  based  on  the 
person’s self-declaration and that this is typically missing in administrative records. 

NGOs  commented  on  other  aspects  such  as  the  lack  of  or  insufficient  statistics  on  missing 
children  in  migration,  runaway  children  and  children  in  healthcare.  These  gaps  may 
possibly  be  addressed  outside  of  population  statistics  (e.g.  asylum  and  managed  migration, 
crime or health statistics). 

5.4.3.  Geographical granularity of statistics 

In  the  open  public  consultation,  respondents  across  all  stakeholder  groups  cited  insufficient 
geographic  detail  as  the  second  most  frequent  critical  gap  (after  insufficient  detail  of 
characteristics)  for  any  statistical  topic.  Among  respondents  from  professional  user  groups, 
only  minorities  found  the  data  on  urban  (47%)  and  rural  (44%)  populations  sufficient, 
which also ranked among the lowest scoring data topics. 

Consequently, majorities of respondents across almost all stakeholder groups (typically except 
statistics producers) assigned high priority to a future initiative that would (i) add mandatory 
regional  detail  to  annual  demographic  and  migration  statistics;  and  (ii)  provide 
functional  typologies (degree of urbanisation, cities, functional  areas) and 1 km square 

6 The  currently prevailing statistical concept of  ‘sex’ at European and international levels is linked to (binary) 
biological sex at birth, whereas equality and non-discrimination policies typically require data evidence on self-
identified (non-binary) gender. 

9 

 
                                                 
grid  data  annually.  This  was  in  line  with  the  findings  from  the  targeted  consultation  of 
Commission statistical correspondents.  

5.4.4.  Other 

Housing was the second lowest rated data topic (after equality data) from professional users 
among  open  public  consultation  respondents  (only  24%  of  the  respondent  group  that 
expressed  an  opinion  found  the  current  data  sufficient).  Also  during  the  consultation  of 
Commission  statistical  correspondents,  a  need  was  cited  for  more  frequent  and  timelier 
housing  data,  including  appropriate  variables  to  capture  energy  efficiency  of  housing  and 
other  aspects  relevant  to  EU  Green  Deal  monitoring.  In  expert  group  meetings,  NSIs 
mentioned  a  certain  degree  of  availability  of  related  information  in  national  administrative 
sources, but thought that this data request fell outside the scope of population statistics. 

NGOs found statistics on legally induced abortions and infant mortality important, contrary 
to the NSIs’ view on their declining relevance.  

According to the open public consultation, 46% of respondents have used European weekly 
deaths and excess mortality statistics established as a voluntary data collection in response to 
the  COVID-19  pandemic.  Half  of  the  respondents  in  the  public  consultation  expressed  a 
positive opinion on the potential  regular  availability of  monthly  data on population,  births, 
deaths and migration. 

In  the  public  consultation,  both  users  and  producers  supported  an  improvement  in  the 
timeliness  of  statistics,  as  well  as  splitting  the  current  decennial  EU  census  outputs  into 
annual and decennial parts in the future. 

While the majority of users across all groups were in favour of transforming the voluntary 
data requirements into mandatory ones, statistics producers opposed this. 

Individual statistics users requested availability of specific  age breakdowns complementing 
the  currently  prevalent  5-year  age  bands  to  categorise  children,  young  people  and  elderly 
groups more accurately. 

5.5.  Flexibility of the legal framework 

In the open public consultation, large majorities in almost all stakeholder groups (all except 
statistics  producers)  assigned  high  priority  to  introducing  flexibility,  including  regulatory 
mechanisms  in  a  new  legal  framework.  One  third  of  respondents  aggregated  over  all 
stakeholder groups – mostly users – supported the inclusion of effective mechanisms to adapt 
statistics  more  quickly  and  efficiently  (e.g.  to  meet  emerging  user  needs,  exploit  new  data 
sources or methods), where the administrative cost and burden are proportionate to the added 
value  for  the  EU.  At  expert  meetings,  statistics  producers  also  expressed  cautious  support, 
while mentioning that safeguards are needed to keep the burden on NSIs under control. 

6. Conclusions 

The  stakeholder  consultation  was  implemented  in  line  with  the  Commission’s  Better 
Regulation  guidelines.  It  successfully  reached  the  intended  stakeholder  groups,  except  for 

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administrative  data  providers  and  media  organisations.  Given  the  subject’s  technical  nature, 
the  respondents’  overall  engagement  was  considered  sufficient  to  support  the  back-to-back 
evaluation and impact assessment of European statistics on population.   

The  consultation  supported  the  ongoing  Commission  initiative  on  ESOP  and  acknowledged 
significant improvements since the previous policy intervention in demography, international 
migration  and  population,  and  housing  census  statistics.  However,  the  consultation  also 
pointed  to  the  existence  of  statistical  gaps  and  the  emergence  of  new  statistical  needs  that 
cannot be satisfied within the current legal framework. 

All  stakeholders  confirmed  the  need  to  plan  statistical  improvements,  although  they  did  not 
always agree on the level of ambition regarding such improvements. Statistics producers were 
somewhat more conservative than statistics users regarding changes.  

Statistical  topics  that  gathered  support  across  all  stakeholder  groups  as  priority  topics  were 
improved migration statistics, more detailed geographical detail and more timely and frequent 
statistics. While all stakeholders acknowledged the issue of harmonising the population base 
as very important, some statistical producers opposed a change.  

The main statistical topics where producer and user views parted concerned equality data and 
making existing voluntary data collection mandatory. To a lesser extent, producers and users 
had  different  views  regarding  statistics  on  housing,  legally  induced  abortions  and  infant 
mortality. 

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