Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics
Date: 2023-07-10
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU statistics, European Statistical System, data collection, data protection, data sharing, data-processing law, personal data, source of information

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 10.7.2023  COM(2023) 402 final 2023/0237 (COD)  Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (Text with EEA relevance) {SEC(2023) 269 final} - {SWD(2023) 240 final} - {SWD(2023) 241 final}  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

Since 1953 along with the evolution of the European Union, European statistics have played 
an increasingly important role for underpinning the EU activities, policies and legislative acts, 
from their design and implementation to their monitoring and evaluation.  

The current  legal  framework  governing European statistics  is  Regulation  (EC)  No 223/2009 
that was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in 2009. It was revised in 2015 
to  strengthen the overall governance of the  European Statistical  System  (ESS) and, notably, 
its  professional  independence.  Since  then,  this  strengthened  governance  has  proved  to  be 
effective. 

The  recent  financial,  migration  and  Covid-19  crises  followed  by  the  Russian  military 
aggression  against  Ukraine  have,  however,  amplified  demands  for  and  expectations  of 
timelier  and  more  detailed  European  statistics,  needed  to  inform  EU  decision-making  and 
ensure  the  best  possible  EU  response  to  crises.  In  the  recent  past,  the  EU  has  undertaken 
several  legislative  initiatives  to  build  comprehensive  crisis-response  mechanisms  through 
proposals  such  as  the  Civil  Protection  mechanism,  the  European  Health  Emergency 
Preparedness  and  Response  Authority  (HERA),  the  Market  Correction  Mechanism,  or  the 
Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI). 

At the same time, the ESS operates in a context driven by profound digital transformation that 
have  created  new  information  needs  alongside  the  emergence  of  many  digital  data  sources. 
These sources are ready to be tapped and can help generate European statistics that can meet 
these  needs  in  a  more  efficient,  extensive,  and  timelier  manner.  This  can,  in  turn,  increase 
economic  growth,  spur  innovation,  support  democratic  accountability  and  the  overall  well-
being of society. 

As a result, users’ expectations of European statistics have changed, with increasing demands 
for  more  detailed  information,  produced  more  quickly,  at  a  higher  frequency  and  offering 
more  in-depth  insights  in  support  of  evidence-based  EU  policies.  New  data  protection  rules 
under  the  General  Data  Protection  Regulation  (GDPR),  as  well  as  new  privacy  protection 
parameters,  have  also  become  key  parts  of  this  new  environment.  With  current  production 
methods  for  European  statistics  limited  to  traditional  data  sources  (e.g.,  surveys  and 
administrative records), these increasing demands have become difficult, if not impossible, to 
meet, even with additional resources having been allocated to statistical authorities. 

The  general  objective  of  this  proposal  is  therefore  to  make  the  legal  framework  governing 
European statistics fit for the future and significantly improve the responsiveness of the ESS 
to data needs. The ESS will be able to produce statistics that are more relevant, available more 
promptly, and more detailed. This will improve efficiency and reduce the costs and burdens 
on  the  Member  States  and  survey  respondents.  This  initiative  also  seeks  to  provide  a 
mechanism and tools for the ESS to react swiftly and in a collective and coordinated manner, 
to urgent data demands in times of crises. 

More specifically, the proposal seeks to allow statistical authorities to tap the full potential of 
digital  data  sources  and  technologies  by  enabling  their  reuse  for  European  statistics.  The 
proposal will help make the ESS more efficient and effective by promoting data sharing and 
strengthening  its  coordination;  strictly  preserve  statistical  confidentiality  and  data  privacy; 
update  the  tasks  of  ESS  partners;  outline  possible  roles  for  using  opportunities  offered  by 
digital transformation for more cost-efficient and less burdensome statistical production, and 

EN 

1 

  EN 

specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and 
national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle.  

• 

Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area 

The proposal is fully consistent with existing provisions in EU legislation on statistics. 

• 

Consistency with other EU policies 

This proposal is consistent with existing rules on: 

- processing of personal data (including the General Data Protection Regulation, (GDPR)); 

- strengthened mechanisms to increase data availability (the Data Governance Act); 

-  the  general  approach  for  making  data  available  to  public  sector  bodies  in  situations  of 
exceptional need as foreseen in the Data Act proposal currently under discussion; 

-  protecting  privacy  and  the  confidentiality  of  communications,  as  well  as  any  (personal  or 
non-personal)  data  stored  in  and  accessed  from  terminal  equipment  (this  is  the  ePrivacy 
Directive,  which  will  be  replaced  by  the  ePrivacy  Regulation  that  is  currently  being 
negotiated between the European Parliament and the Council). 

2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

The legal basis for this proposal is Article 338(1) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European 
Union  (TFEU).  Acting  in  accordance  with  the  ordinary  legislative  procedure,  the  European 
Parliament  and  the  Council  adopt  measures  for  the  production  of  statistics  where  necessary 
for the performance of the activities of the Union.  

Furthermore, Article 338(2) TFEU sets out the requirements for producing European statistics, 
stating  that  they  must  conform  to  standards  of  impartiality,  reliability,  objectivity,  scientific 
independence,  cost-effectiveness  and  statistical  confidentiality  without  putting  an  excessive 
burden on economic operators. 

• 

Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)  

The  subsidiarity  principle  applies  because  the  proposal  does  not  fall  within  the  exclusive 
competence of the EU. This means that the EU only acts because this would be more effective 
than action taken at national, regional or local level. 

For  the  ESS  to  be  able  to  produce  more  relevant,  timelier  and  more  detailed  European 
statistics, legal provisions at  EU level are needed to make new data sources  available to the 
national  statistical  institutes  (NSIs)  and  the  Commission  (Eurostat),  so  they  can  compile 
European statistics in a sustainable manner.  

Currently, where Member States allow privately held data to be re-used for official statistics, 
the  conditions  and  safeguards  differ  across  Member  States.  A  harmonised  approach  at  EU 
level  would  bring  legal  clarity  and  ensure  fair  treatment  for  private  data  holders  who  are 
active in multiple Member States. 

For the ESS to be responsive to crises, specific references should be introduced in the overall 
legislative framework governing European statistics that will allow swift reaction at EU level 
and  will  also  ensure  that  the  statistical  response  is  consistent  across  Member  States.  The 
proposed  response  mechanism  would  improve  effectiveness  through  strengthened  statistical 
coordination,  while  respecting  the  remit  and  responsibilities  of  the  national  statistical 

EN 

2 

  EN 

authorities. Moreover, it could be used in addition to existing EU crisis response instruments 
with  the  objective  of  ensuring  timely  and  relevant  statistics  for  evidence-based  decision-
making within those instruments. 

To  reduce  the  burden  on  businesses  and  citizens  and  increase  efficiency  and  quality,  the 
processes within the ESS need to be optimised. These processes include data collection and 
data sharing arrangements  related to phenomena  that occur in  more than  one Member State 
such as multinationals’ activities.  

Without further legislative action at EU level, the problems that have developed will continue 
and may gradually worsen considering the increased digitalisation of society and changes in 
users’ demand. 

The  EU  may  therefore  adopt  the  proposed  measures  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of 
subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. 

• 

Proportionality 

The proposal complies with the proportionality principle as described below. 

The initiative aims to make the ESS fit for the future. It has been assessed to be suitable for 
this purpose , resulting in total benefits to society that are considerably higher than the total 
costs,  as  demonstrated  by  the  impact  assessment.  Procedural  safeguards  ensure  that 
proportionality  is  applied  at  all  stages  of  implementating  the  revised  Regulation  (EC)  No 
223/2009. 

The initiative is proportional because it only addresses existing barriers to compiling timelier 
and more detailed European statistics. It also involves and relies on the work of the national 
authorities and consolidates the strong involvement of relevant stakeholders within the ESS. 
The preferred policy option does not exceed what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the 
Treaties. 

• 

Choice of instrument 

Given  that  the  subject  matter  of  the  proposal  is  already  covered  by  a  regulation,  that  this 
proposal will amend, the most appropriate instrument is a regulation. 

3. 

• 

RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

Stakeholder consultations 

In  preparing  this  proposal,  stakeholders  were  consulted  in  various  ways.  The  public 
consultation  collected  views  from  stakeholders  on  options  to  ensure  that  European  statistics 
will be fit for the future. Feedback was received from various stakeholder groups. Their views 
can be found in detail in the annex to the impact assessment staff working document. 
A  public  consultation  was  conducted  from  19  July  to  25  October  20221.  In  total,  204  valid 
responses  were  received.  Respondents  expressed  support  for  action  at  EU  level  to  make 
digital data held by the private sector available  to produce European official statistics, since 
83%  of  the  respondents  considered  this  being  of  very  high  or  high  importance.  11%  of  the 
respondents  considered  that  European  official  statistics  are  sufficiently  responsive  to 
emerging  user  demand,  including  during  public  emergencies  and  crises,  whereas  72% 
considered them somewhat responsive, but not enough. As regards purposes for which easier 

1 

See the details on Have your say. 

EN 

3 

  EN 

                                                 
and  more  systematic  data  sharing  between  statistics  authorities  would  be  helpful  within  the 
European Statistical System, 72% of respondents considered it helpful to reduce the response 
burden and allow for re-use of already collected data. Finally, 85% of the respondents, agreed 
or  strongly  agreed  that  Statistics  authorities  should  provide  professional  advice  to 
organisations  within  their  ecosystem  on  issues  related  to  data  and  data  processing,  such  as 
quality, data re-use, intellectual property, confidentiality, security and metadata. 

Stakeholder views  were  also  collected through the “Study to  support an  Impact  Assessment 
for the revision of Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009 on European Statistics”, which based itself 
on material such as stakeholder interviews carried out between October and November 2022, 
an  online  survey  (run  from  5  October  to  7  November  2022),  and  an  online  stakeholder 
workshop carried out on 8 November 2022.  

In  conclusion,  users  and  producers  of  European  statistics  expressed  support  for  reviewing 
Regulation  (EC)  No  223/2009  along  the  lines  of  this  proposal,  although  statistics  producers 
(i.e.  the  partners  of  the  ESS)  noted  the  budget  consequences.  The  general  public  were  also 
supportive,  given  the  significant  benefits  for  society,  but  since  the  private  sector  data  to  be 
reused  for  European  statistics  may  to  some  extent  be  personal  data,  they  requested  strong 
confidentiality safeguards, although they recognised that the ESS already provides very solid 
safeguards regarding confidentiality.  

Businesses,  in  their  role  as  data  holders,  may  incur  costs  and  as  such  they  considered  it 
essential to respect their interests. But they were open to the preferred option, provided that a 
fair solution could be found to the issue of cost compensation. The possible reduction of the 
burden on businesses and households by the replacement of surveys through the use of new 
data sources is appreciated by all. 

Finally, for years the ESS has repeatedly called for the issue of access to privately held data 
for statistical purposes to be addressed at European level. This started with the ESS position 
paper  on  access  to  privately  held  data  which  are  of  public  interest  of  November  20172  and 
more recently with the ESS position paper on the future Data Act proposal3. 

• 

Collection and use of expertise 

The  proposal  was  supported  by  several  documents,  studies,  recommendations,  conferences 
and other expert inputs, including: 

- Report by the Expert Group on facilitating the use of new data sources for official statistics: 
Empowering  society  by  reusing  privately-held  data  for  official  statistics  –  a  European 
approach4; 

- Study to support an Impact Assessment for the revision of Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009 on 
European Statistics; 

-  High-level  meeting  organised  organised  by  the  French  Presidency  in  Lyon  on  7-8  April 
2022 on ‘Making the European Statistical System fit for the future’; 

- Meeting of the Presidents and Directors-general of the NSIs of the ESS in Luxembourg on 
18 May 2022 to further discuss two specific topics: sustainable access to privately held data 
and data sharing in the ESS for producing European statistics. 

2 

3 
4 

European Statistical System position paper on access to privately held data which are of public interest, 
November 2017. 
European Statistical System (ESS) position paper on the future Data Act, June 2021. 
Final expert group report on Empowering society by reusing privately held data for official statistics - A 
European approach, 2022 edition. 

EN 

4 

  EN 

                                                 
• 

Impact assessment 

The proposal is  accompanied by an impact  assessment that was submitted to the European 
Commission’s Regulatory Scrutiny Board on 14 December 2022 and 6 March 2023. On 27 
March 2023, the Board issued a positive opinion with reservations. In addition to a dynamic 
baseline option (PO0) that takes into account the larger European Data Strategy and entails 
no  revision  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  223/2009,  two  other  legislative  options  were  assessed: 
(PO1) that introduces legislative measures of low intensity; and option (PO2) that introduces 
more  thorough  legislative  measures,  imposing  obligations  on  the  data  holders  and  on  the 
national statistical authorities of the Member States. For each policy option several specific 
policy measures were defined. 

The comparative assessment of the three policy options showed that the baseline option (PO0) 
has the least desirable outcome in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, and coherence, and the 
first policy option (PO1) the most desirable, with the second policy option in between. This is 
true for each of the specific goals. PO1 is less effective but more efficient and coherent than 
PO2. Moreover, it is also more feasible and supported by stakeholders. This clearly points to 
choosing PO1 as the preferred option.  

The preferred option covers measures which will  

(i)  ensure  sustainable  and  fair  use  of  digital  data  sources  for  European  statistics  by 
establishing a mechanism whereby private data holders can be required on a mandatory basis 
to  enable  the  reuse  of  the  data  they  hold  for  the  purpose  of  developing  and  producing  such 
statistics;  

(ii) allow to initiate statistical actions conducted directly at EU level in response to crisis and 
extraordinary circumstances;  

(iii)  mandate  data  sharing  among  the  partners  of  the  ESS  for  statistical  purposes  where 
relevant and justified;  

(iv) allow the Commission (Eurostat) to share data with the NSIs via a secure infrastructure; 
and  

(v)  enable  the  NSIs  to  assume  data  governance  in  their  respective  data  ecosystems,  thereby 
enhancing data interoperability and standardisation. 

• 

Fundamental rights 

The impact assessment has not identified any potential direct impacts on fundamental rights. 
The only fundamental right that may be indirectly at stake is data protection when promoting 
data  sharing  and  strengthening  coordination  within  ESS.  However,  such  enhanced  data 
sharing will be organised while strictly preserving statistical confidentiality and data privacy. 
Any  processing  of  personal  data  in  accordance  with  this  Regulation  will  comply  with  all 
conditions  and  rules  provided  by  data  protection  legislation,  such  as  the  Regulation  (EU) 
2016/6795 and Regulation (EU) 2018/17256. 

5 

6 

Regulation  (EU)  2016/679  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  27  April  2016  on  the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of 
such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, 
p. 1). 
Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the  processing of personal data by the Union institutions, 
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 
45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39). 

EN 

5 

  EN 

                                                 
4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

The proposal has no budgetary implications. 

5. 

• 

OTHER ELEMENTS 

Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements 

The  proposed  regulation  is  expected  to  be  adopted  by  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council in 2024, with the Commission’s implementing measures to be adopted shortly after 
that. The regulation will be directly applicable in all EU Member States without any need for 
an implementation plan. 

In  line  with  the  impact  assessment,  the  implementation  of  the  adopted  regulation  will  be 
monitored  and  evaluated  regularly.  The  impact  assessment  also  contains  monitoring 
arrangements including proposals for indicators to be used. 

• 

Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal 

Introducing new key definitions or adapting existing ones (proposal to amend Article 3) 

It is proposed to introduce a new definition of “multi-source statistics” to reflect the fact that 
European statistics can be compiled using  a combination of different data sources. This will 
enable statistical authorities to seek the most relevant and cost-effective mix of primary data 
sources for the development and production of various European official statistics. 

To better reflect the realities of the digital age in which the ESS operates, it is also proposed 
to introduce new definitions such as ‘data’, ‘metadata’, ‘data holders’, ‘data sharing’ and ‘data 
source’.  The  existing  definition  of  ‘statistical  purposes’  also  needs  to  be  adapted  so  that 
research  activities  carried  out  by  statistical  authorities,  or  the  establishment  of  sampling 
frames explicitly become part of such statistical purposes. 

Increasing the capacity of the ESS to react swiftly and in a collective and coordinated manner 
to urgent data demands in times of crisis (proposal for a new Article 16a) 

In general, demands for more detailed and timelier, often close to real time official statistics 
are increasing but the ability to meet those demands is especially crucial in times of crisis, as 
lately  experienced  during  the  Covid-19  pandemic  and  the  energy  crisis  triggered  by  the 
Russian military aggression against Ukraine. Within the usual planning cycle, the incubation 
time  for  a  new  statistic  typically  covers  several  years,  but  if  the  demand  is  urgent  and 
important, a fast-track solution is needed with appropriate safeguards for all partners and for 
the  quality  and  harmonisation  of  the  resulting  statistical  information.  The  ESS  needs  to  be 
able  to  react  quicker  or  innovate  proactively  to  respond  with  European  statistics  to  such 
exceptional and unplanned political demands that cannot be met under the implementation of 
the  European  statistical  programme’s  7-year  programming  timeline.  The  possibility  for  the 
Commission  to  adopt  specific  actions  to  implement  the  European  statistical  programme  in 
accordance with Article 14(2) of Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009 is therefore not sufficient. 

A  new  provision  is  thus  proposed  that  provides  for  possible  statistical  actions  at  European 
level  to  meet  urgent  information  needs  arising  in  times  of  crisis  and  following  emergency 
mechanisms activated in accordance with procedures established by Union law. 

In such situations, the Commission (Eurostat) should examine temporary statistical actions to 
be initiated and conducted at European level, in close collaboration with the ESS Committee. 
The  benefit  for  political  stakeholders  and  policymakers  of  such  enhanced  immediate 
responsiveness  within  the  ESS  would  be  to  receive  in  sufficiently  timely  manner  statistical 
outputs and insights that are comparable across the EU Member States. 

EN 

6 

  EN 

These  statistical  actions  can  comprise  the  production  of  statistics  based  on  new  temporary 
data collections, or the provision of additional insights based on existing data. The actions can 
also  include  development  new  methodologies  and  other  coordinated  measures  aimed  at 
ensuring continuity, consistency and comparability of European statistics delivered in times of 
crises.  

In  identifying  the  need  for  a  statistical  action,  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  must  inform  and 
consult the ESS Committee in a timely and transparent manner. NSIs may decide to join and 
participate  in  the  statistical  actions.  The  Commission  should  also  be  empowered  to  adopt 
implementing acts that specify the relevant timespan, frequency and quality requirements for 
these statistical actions.  

Moreover,  it  could  be  used  in  parallel  with  already  existing  EU  crisis  response  instruments 
with  the  objective  of  ensuring  timely  and  relevant  statistics  for  evidence-based  decision-
making within those instruments. 

Strengthening timely access to administrative data for European statistics (proposal to amend 
Article 17a) 

It  is  proposed  to  strengthen  the  requirement  that  the  national  public  bodies  in  charge  of 
administrative  data  sources  relevant  for  development,  production  and  dissemination  of 
European  statistics  shall  allow  the  NSIs  and  other  national  authorities7  to  access,  reuse  and 
integrate  administrative  data  free  of  charge  in  time  and  frequency  sufficient  to  produce  and 
submit  statistics  to  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  within  the  deadlines  and  in  line  with  quality 
requirements defined in statistical legislation. 

In addition, a refinement and clarification is introduced that the Commission (Eurostat) shall 
be allowed, upon request, to access and reuse in a timely manner relevant data and metadata 
from databases and interoperability systems maintained by Union bodies and agencies, when 
it is necessary for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics.  For 
this purpose, the Commission (Eurostat) shall cooperate with the relevant Union bodies and 
agencies to specify the customised data and metadata required, the operational modalities for 
data reuse and the necessary physical and logical safeguards. 

Ensuring  sustainable  access  to  privately  held  data  that  emerge  as  a  by-product  of  digital 
services and the Internet of Things for European statistics (proposal for new Articles 17b, 17c, 
17d and 17e) 

In  the  new  Articles  17b,  17c,  17d  and  17e,  in  Chapter  III  on  ‘Production  of  European 
statistics’,  it  is  proposed  to  introduce  an  obligation  for  private  data  holders  to  make  data 
available, on request, to the NSIs or the Commission (Eurostat), under certain conditions. The 
proposed  mechanism  represents  a  proportionate,  limited  and  predictable  framework  at 
European  level  that  is  both  effective  in  making  these  data  available  for  the  production  of 
European statistics and, at the same time, ensures legal certainty and minimises the response 
burden  on  businesses.  This  mechanism  is  however  without  prejudice  to  the  reporting 
obligations upon statistical respondents laid down in sectoral legislation, nor to the obligation 
for  data  holders  to  make  data  available  based  on  exceptional  needs  in  accordance  with  the 
Data Act8. 

A two-stage level  justification procedure is  envisaged by the proposal,  whereby the need to 
access  a  new  data  source  will  have  to  be  established  first  at  the  level  of  an  annual  work 

7 

8 

According to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, other national authorities, along with NSIs and 
Eurostat, make up the partnership, the ESS. 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on  harmonised rules on fair 
access to and use of data (Data Act), (COM/2022/68 final). 

EN 

7 

  EN 

                                                 
programme of European Statistics. The justification in the annual work programme would be 
a  pre-condition  for  the  second  stage  when  the  NSIs  or  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  will 
effectively submit individual requests to private data holders to make some data available for 
the  compilation  of  certain  statistics  (within  the  scope  of  the  first-stage  justification).  Such 
requests will need to be commensurate with the statistical needs, clearly indicate the purpose 
of the request and respect the interests of the private data holder requested to make the data 
available.  

While NSIs will be the primary points of access to privately held data for compiling European 
statistics, the Commission (Eurostat) may in some cases be better placed to be the first access 
point  to  data  from  businesses.  This  particularly  applies  to  domains  where  an  ESS  data 
collection approach could be more effective such as when data is held by companies operating 
at  a  Union  wide  scale.  Furthermore,  the  proposal  aims  to  establish  an  obligation  of 
cooperation  and  mutual  assistance  between  NSIs  in  order  to  avoid  excessive  requests  on 
private data holders and to ensure a data minimisation approach. 

The Commission should be granted the power to specify by means of implementing acts, the 
arrangements  for  making  the  data  available,  such  as  the  data  format,  the  meta-data 
requirements, a common template to be used when submitting a request or the actual way for 
accessing  the  data  with  the  obligation  to  make  data  available  clearly  covering  different 
possibilities, including the transmission of data, the use of a secure computation framework of 
a third party or the sending of an algorithm to the private data holder. 

The provisions specify obligations for the NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) when reusing 
data made available for the development and production of European statistics. In particular, 
the  NSIs  and  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  should  use  this  data  exclusively  for  statistical 
purposes in conformity with principles of statistical confidentiality and cost-effectiveness and 
shall not share them with third parties unless the data holder has agreed. In addition, the NSIs 
and  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall  take  appropriate  measures  to  protect  statistical 
confidentiality  and  trade  secrets  as  well  as  to  preserve  other  legitimate  concerns  of  private 
data  holders  including  the  cost  and  effort  required  to  make  the  data  available.  The 
Commission  (Eurostat) shall publish a  description of the main  categories of costs  related to 
the data processing for which compensation may be granted to the data holder as well as the 
methodology for calculating these costs. 

Fostering data sharing within the ESS (proposal for a new Article 17f) 

It is proposed to introduce into the current Chapter III on ‘Production of European statistics’ 
new  provisions  on  data  sharing  between  NSIs  and  between  NSIs  and  the  Commission 
(Eurostat), exclusively for the purpose of developing and producing European  statistics, and 
for improving their quality, where relevant and necessary. For instance, in cases such as the 
observation  of  cross-border  phenomena  which  cannot  be  measured  as  a  sum  of  national 
estimates. 

Data sharing is regarded as a way to increase access to data sources within the ESS for both 
statistical  development  and  production  and  to  support  data  analysis  purposes.  NSIs  and  the 
Commission  (Eurostat)  participating  in  the  data  sharing  within  the  ESS  shall  provide  all 
necessary  safeguards  regarding  the  physical  and  logical  protection  of  data  confidentiality. 
Data  sharing  should  be  facilitated  by  the  use  of  a  secure  infrastructure,  that  ensures  the 
technical integrity and confidentiality of data processing. 

When  the  data  concerned  is  confidential  data  within  the  meaning  of  Article  3  of  this 
Regulation or personal data according to Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725, the 

EN 

8 

  EN 

sharing  of  such  data  shall  be  allowed  and  may  take  place  on  a  voluntary  basis,  based  on 
privacy enhancing technologies. 

Development  of  European  statistics  (proposal  for  a  new  Chapter  IIIa  on  ‘Development  of 
European statistics’ with a new Article 17g) 

The  proposal  introduces  a  new  Chapter  IIIa  on  ‘Development  of  European  statistics’ 
addressing the issue of statistics under development, sometimes referred to as “experimental 
statistics”.  The  objective  is  to  create  a  framework  under  which  European  statistics  can  be 
developed in specific areas as part of a collective effort by the ESS, thereby integrating new 
technologies  and  new  insights  progressively.  The  Commission  (Eurostat)  may  initiate,  in 
close collaboration with the ESS Committee, the development of new statistical outputs and 
insights in a coordinated manner across the ESS. 

Dissemination of European statistics (proposal for a new paragraph 4 in Article 18) 

It is proposed to benefit from the fact that Member States will sometimes publish European 
statistics at national level ahead of the transmission deadlines set out in the relevant sectoral 
legislation.  Once  these  data  is  published,  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  should  be  able  to 
disseminate  that  same  data  immediately  afterwards  and  thereby  contribute  to  increased 
timeliness at European level, as long as they respect relevant definitions and classification. 

Reuse of publicly available data (proposal for a modified Article 25) 

To ensure a more efficient use of publicly available data, it is proposed to amend the wording 
of Article 25. 

New  functions  of  NSIs  in  the  national  data  governance  frameworks  (proposal  for  a  new 
Article 26a)  

It is also proposed that, in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, NSIs may assume at 
national level functions in the national data governance frameworks including those foreseen 
in  the  Data  Governance  Act,  with  the  objective  to  promote  data  integration  and  inter-
operability,  metadata  description,  quality  assurance  and  standards-setting  and  identify  new 
data  sources  to  be  used  for  statistics  under  development.  These  functions  must  be 
implemented in accordance with the statistical principles laid down in this Regulation.  

Evaluation and review clause (proposal for a new Article 27a) 

In  line  with  the  agreement  on  Better  Law-making  between  the  European  Parliament,  the 
Council and the Commission it is proposed to insert a review clause.  

EN 

9 

  EN 

2023/0237 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 338(1) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

9 

Regulation  (EC)  No 223/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council9 
establishes  the  legal  framework  at  Union  level  for  the  development,  production  and 
dissemination of European statistics. 

Regulation  (EC)  No 223/2009  was  amended  in  2015  to  further  strengthen  the 
governance  in  the  European  Statistical  System  (ESS)  in  particular  its  professional 
independence, and since then the strengthened governance has proven to be effective. 

Digital  transformation  has  ushered  in  radically  different  realities  and  created  a  new 
environment  with  new  needs  for  European  statistics.  Moreover,  the  recent  Covid-19 
crisis  and  the  energy  crisis  triggered  by  the  Russian  military  aggression  against 
Ukraine have amplified the demands and expectations for timelier, more frequent and 
more  detailed  European  statistics  needed  to  inform  EU  decision-making  and  ensure 
the best possible Union response to crises. 

To  address  growing  expectations  for  timelier,  more  frequent  and  more  detailed 
European statistics as well as for a faster and more coordinated ESS response to urgent 
statistical  demands  in  times  of  crisis,  it  is  necessary  to  amend  Regulation  (EC) 
No 223/2009. The purpose of this Regulation is to ensure that European statistics stay 
relevant  by  taking  into  account  those  changing  and  more  demanding  user  needs, 
notably  by  tapping  the  full  potential  of  digital  data  sources  and  technologies,  by 
enabling their re-use for European statistics, by making the ESS more agile and able to 
respond  effectively  and  swiftly  to  crises,  and  by  promoting  data  sharing  and 
strengthening coordination among ESS partners. 

Regulation  (EC)  No 223/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  March  2009  on 
European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament 
and  of  the  Council  on  the  transmission  of  data  subject  to  statistical  confidentiality  to  the  Statistical 
Office  of  the  European  Communities,  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  322/97  on  Community  Statistics, 
and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programme of 
the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164). 

EN 

10 

  EN 

                                                 
(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

To  reflect  today’s  realities  and  the  digital  age  in  which  the  ESS  operates,  new  or 
updated definitions should be introduced into Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 to clarify 
the concepts of ‘data’, ‘metadata’, ‘data holders’, ‘reuse of data’, ‘data sharing’, ‘data 
source’, ‘multi-source statistics’, ‘use for statistical purposes’, and ‘crisis’. 

The  recent  Covid  pandemic  demonstrated  that  timely,  reliable  and  comparable 
European  statistics  are  vital  to  the  effectiveness  of  public  authorities’  response  to 
emergency  situations.  Therefore,  the  ESS  should  be  given  the  possibility  to  swiftly 
initiate coordinated actions if urgent data and statistics needs arise outside the regular 
planning  framework,  especially  in  times  of  crisis.  In  such  situation,  a  data  holder 
should make, upon request, data available to a national statistical institute (NSI) or the 
Commission  (Eurostat)  that  demonstrates  an  exceptional  need  to  use  the  data 
requested, in accordance with the rules laid down in the Data Act10. 

Accessing  and  re-using  new  data  sources,  which  emerge  as  by-products  of  digital 
services  and  the  Internet  of  Things  (IoT),  is  becoming  vital  for  producing  timely, 
suitably  frequent  and sufficiently detailed European statistics  in  a more efficient and 
less  costly  way.  Therefore,  access  to  new  data  sources  in  general  and  particularly  to 
privately held data for the development and production of European official statistics 
on  a  sustainable  basis  and  according  to  fair,  clear  and  predictable  rules  should  be 
ensured. 

Access  to  new  data  sources,  including  particularly  to  privately  held  data,  has  been  a 
longstanding request by the ESS as demonstrated by the ESS Position Paper on access 
to privately held data which are of public interest from November 2017, and the ESS 
Position Paper on the future Data Act proposal from June 2021. 

The reuse of privately held data and other new data sources should be subject to strict 
legal,  technical  and  procedural  safeguards  and  guarantees,  including  applying  a  high 
level  of  security,  confidentiality  and  respect  for  privacy,  as  already  enshrined  in 
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. The possibility to request access to privately held data 
should be limited to the national statistical institutes (NSIs), acting on their own or on 
behalf of another national  authority of the ESS, and the Commission (Eurostat) only 
and  should,  as  a  pre-requisite,  be  established  in  an  annual  work  programme  and 
restricted  to  cases  where,  on  the  one  hand,  the  data  requested  is  necessary  for  the 
development  and  production  of  European  statistics  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  data 
cannot be readily obtained otherwise or the data reuse would result in a considerable 
reduction in the response burden on data holders and other businesses. 

(10)  Data  requests  by  the  NSIs  or  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  should  be  transparent  and 
proportionate  in  terms  of  their  scope  and  level  of  detail.  In  that  connection,  it  is 
necessary  to  specify  and  explain  the  purpose  of  the  request,  the  intended  use  of  the 
data requested, the frequency  with  which  and deadlines  by which the data  should be 
made available as well as the operational arrangements for making them available. 

(11)  With  the  data  requests,  the  NSI  or  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  should  invite  the  data 
holder to a dialogue to specify the concrete parameters of data requests, arrangements, 
measures  to  offset  potential  costs  incurred  to  make  data  available  as  well  as  any 
organisational and technical measures to protect data confidentiality and trade secrets, 
with a view to concluding an agreement on those aspects. If no agreement is concluded 
within three months, the NSI or the Commission should have the possibility to adopt a 

10 

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on harmonised rules on fair 
access to and use of data (Data Act), (COM/2022/68 final). 

EN 

11 

  EN 

                                                 
decision  requiring  the  private  data  holder  to  make  data  available.  If  the  data  holder 
intentionally or negligently fails to transmit the requested data within the set period or 
transmits incorrect, incomplete or misleading data, the NSI or the Commission should 
have  the  possibility  to  adopt  penalties  that  should  be  effective,  proportionate  and 
dissuasive,  taking  into  account  the  nature,  gravity,  recurrence  and  duration  of  the 
violation,  in  view  of  the  public  interest  pursued.  The  penalties  adopted  by  the  NSIs 
should be equivalent to penalties regarding infringements of similar national rules.  All 
decisions taken by the Commission under this Regulation are subject to review by the 
Court  of  Justice  of  the  European  Union  in  accordance  with  the  Treaty  on  the 
Functioning  of  the  European  Union.  The  Court  of  Justice  of  the  European  Union 
should  have  unlimited  jurisdiction  in  respect  of  fines  adopted  by  the  Commission  in 
accordance with Article 261 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 

(12)  The  further  integration  of  statistics  and  geospatial  information  should  also  be 
encouraged  to  enable  a  more  efficient  use  of  resources  and  improved  integration  of 
data by different  public  organisations and to  produce new statistical  outputs, such as 
spatial  analysis,  and  visualisation  and  dissemination  of  data.  These  will  support 
decision-making and the monitoring of policy goals at both Union and national level. 

(13) 

It  is  necessary  to  ensure  that  national  public  bodies  in  charge  of  administrative  data 
sources relevant for development, production and dissemination of European statistics 
allow  national  statistical  authorities  to  access,  reuse  and  integrate  this  data  free  of 
charge  in  time  and  with  sufficient  frequency  for  the  purposes  of  producing  and 
transmitting  statistics  to  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  within  the  deadlines  and  in 
accordance with quality requirements defined in Union statistical legislation. 

(14)  Where the activities to be carried out under this Regulation involve the processing of 
personal  data,  such  processing  should  comply  with  the  relevant  EU  legislation  on 
personal  data  protection,  namely  Regulation  (EU)  2018/1725  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council11  and  Regulation  (EU)  2016/679  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council12.  In  accordance  with  the  data  minimisation  principle 
set  out  in  these  regulations,  data  provided  under  this  Regulation  should  normally  be 
aggregated to such a degree that individuals cannot be identified. 

(15)  Processing of personal data for the purposes of official statistics by national statistical 
authorities,  which  is  considered  to  be  in  the  public  interest,  should  be  covered  by 
derogations and subject to appropriate safeguards, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 
2016/679.  For  instance,  further  processing  of  personal  data  for  statistical  purposes 
should not be considered to be incompatible with the initial purposes for which they 
were collected. In that context, the particular safeguards which should be applied when 
data  sharing  according  to  this  Regulation  requires  personal  data  to  be  processed, 
include the principles of purpose limitation, data minimisation, storage limitation and 
integrity and confidentiality as set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/679. In that regard, the 
use  of  privacy  enhancing  technologies  that  are  specifically  designed  to  implement 
these principles should be the way to share data. 

11 

12 

Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the  processing of personal data by the Union institutions, 
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 
45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39). 
Regulation  (EU)  2016/679  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  27  April  2016  on  the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of 
such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, 
p. 1). 

EN 

12 

  EN 

                                                 
(16)  To be on the forefront of integrating new technologies and new insights progressively, 
and thereby to ensure that European statistics continuously stay relevant, rules should 
be established under which, as part of a collective effort by the ESS, statistics can be 
developed in specific areas with the aim of integrating them in the regular production 
of European Statistics. Although not necessarily fulfilling all quality criteria laid down 
in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, those statistics should be treated as 
European statistics.  

(17)  While striving to  continuously innovate and develop  new statistical  outputs,  national 
statistical  authorities  should  take  the  utmost  account  of  users’  needs  as  expressed 
notably  by  national  statistical  user  councils.  At Union  level,  the  European  Statistical 
Advisory  Committee  (ESAC),  established  by  Decision  No  234/2008/EC  of  the 
European Parliament and of the Council13 as the main Union body representing users, 
respondents  and  producers  of  European  statistics,  should  be  informed  by  the 
Commission on how it has taken into account the ESAC’s opinions, particularly with 
regard to developing new European statistics. 

(18)  Statistical  authorities  should  also  promote,  at  both  national  and  European  level,  a 
strong,  structured  and  sustained  interdisciplinary  cooperation  with  academic  and 
research institutions, especially  when developing new statistics, testing new methods 
and technologies and promoting innovation and experimentation. 

(19)  Given the trust granted to NSIs and their high technical expertise in data management, 
data quality and data protection, Member States should be encouraged, in accordance 
with the principle of subsidiarity, to assign to the NSIs certain functions in the national 
data  governance  frameworks  including  those  foreseen  in  the  Data  Governance  Act, 
with  the  objective  of  promoting  data  integration  and  inter-operability,  metadata 
description, quality assurance and standard setting. In that regard, the involvement of 
initial  design,  subsequent  development  and  discontinuation  of 
NSIs 
administrative  records  should  be  recalled  and  reinforced  when  appropriate,  with  a 
view to ensuring, among other things, consistency and data quality and to minimising 
the reporting burden. 

the 

in 

(20)  Data  that  is  lawfully  available  to  the  public  should  not  be  considered  confidential 

when used for statistical purposes. 

(21) 

In  the  interest  of  increased  timeliness  at  Union  level,  the  Commission  (Eurostat) 
should be allowed to disseminate Member States’ European statistics as soon as they 
have  been  published  nationally,  even  if  this  was  done  ahead  of  the  deadlines  for 
providing the statistics that are set out in the relevant sectoral Union legislation. 

(22)  Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the amendment of the legal framework 
for  developing,  producing  and  disseminating  European  statistics,  cannot  be 
sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, for reasons of consistency 
and comparability, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures to 
achieve  that  objective,  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of  subsidiarity  as  set  out  in 
Article  5  of  the  Treaty  on  European  Union.  In  accordance  with  the  principle  of 
proportionality  as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not  go beyond what is 
necessary in order to achieve that objective. 

13 

Decision  No  234/2008/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  March  2008 
establishing the European Statistical Advisory Committee and repealing Council Decision 91/116/EEC 
(OJ L 73, 15.3.2008, p. 13). 

EN 

13 

  EN 

                                                 
(23) 

In  order  to  ensure  uniform  conditions  for  the  implementation  of  this  Regulation, 
implementing  powers  should  be  conferred  on  the  Commission  in  respect  of  the 
temporary  statistical  actions  to  be  undertaken,  including  the  relevant  timespan, 
frequency and quality requirements, of the general technical arrangements for making 
privately  held  data  available  to  the  NSIs  and  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  and  of  the 
technical  aspects  of  data  sharing  between  the  statistical  authorities.  Those  powers 
should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council14. 

(24)  The  European  Data  Protection  Supervisor  was  consulted  in  accordance  with 
Article 42(1)  of  Regulation  (EU)  2018/1725  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council15 and delivered an opinion on [xxx]. 

(25)  The European Statistical System (ESS) Committee was consulted, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 
Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 223/2009  

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

Article 3 is amended as follows: 

(a) the following points 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d and 4e are inserted: 

‘4a.  ‘data’  means  any  digital  or  non-digital  representation  of  acts,  facts  and 
information; 

4b. ‘metadata’ means any data that defines and describes other data and processes, or 
is used in this way; 

4c. ‘data holder’ means a legal or natural person who has the right, in accordance with 
applicable  Union  or  national  legislation  implementing  Union  law,  or  the  ability,  to 
make available certain data; 

4d.  ‘reuse  of  data’  means  the  use  by  national  statistical  authorities  and  the 
Commission  (Eurostat)  of  data  held  and  made  available  by  data  holders  for  the 
development, production and dissemination of European statistics;  

4e.  ‘data  sharing’  means  the  provision  of  data  or  the  permission  of  data  reuse  by  a 
statistical authority to another statistical authority for the purpose of joint or individual 
use of such data for statistical purposes;’; 

(b) the following points 5a, 5b and 5c are inserted: 

‘5a.  ‘data  source’  means  a  source  providing  data  that  is  relevant,  in  itself  or  in 
combination  with  data  from  other  sources,  for  the  development  and  production  of 
statistics,  including  surveys,  censuses,  administrative  records  or  data  made  available 
by data holders on request; 

14 

15 

Regulation  (EU)  No  182/2011  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16  February  2011 
laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States 
of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (OJ L55, 28.2.2011, p. 13). 
Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of  23 October 2018 on the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the  processing of personal data by the Union institutions, 
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 
45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39). 

EN 

14 

  EN 

                                                 
5b. ‘data access’ means processing by a national statistical institute or the Commission 
(Eurostat) of data that has been provided by a private data holder, in accordance with 
specific technical,  legal  or organisational requirements, without necessarily  requiring 
the transmission or downloading of such data; 
5c.  ‘multi-source  statistics’  mean  statistics  developed  or  produced  on  the  basis  of  a 
variety of data sources, including by means of modelling techniques;’; 

(c) point 8 is replaced by the following: 

‘8.  ‘use  for  statistical  purposes’  means  the  exclusive  use  for  the  development  and 
production  of  statistical  results  and  analyses,  including  for  related  research  and 
scientific activities or the establishment of sampling frames;’; 

(d)  the following point 8a is inserted: 

‘8a  ‘crisis’  means  a  situation  of  wide-ranging  impact  or  political  significance 
generating an immediate and unforeseen demand for European statistics;’; 

(2) 

the following Article 16a is inserted: 

‘Article 16a 
Statistical response to crisis 

1. 

The Commission (Eurostat) shall examine temporary statistical actions and undertake 
them as appropriate, subject to the procedures set out in this Article, where both of the 
following conditions are met: 

(a) it is necessary to respond to urgent information needs which arise from a crisis and 
following,  existing  or  future,  emergency  mechanisms  activated  in  accordance  with 
Union legal acts, such as: 

(i) the temporary protection under Council Directive 2001/55/EC16; 

(ii) the Union civil protection mechanism under Decision 1313/2013/EU of the 
European Parliament and of the Council17; 
(iii) the emergency support under Council Regulation (EU) 2016/36918  
(iv) the emergency framework under Council Regulation (EU) 2022/237219;  

(v)  the  market  correction  mechanism  under  Council  Regulation  (EU) 
2022/257820; 

(vi) the emergency mode under Regulation of the European Parliament and of 
the Council (EU) xx/xx (to be adopted21); 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection 
in  the  event  of  a  mass  influx  of  displaced  persons  and  on  measures  promoting  a  balance  of  efforts 
between  Member  States  in  receiving  such  persons  and  bearing  the  consequences  thereof  (OJ  L  212, 
7.8.2001, p. 12). 
Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on a 
Union Civil Protection Mechanism  (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 924). 
Council Regulation (EU) 2016/369 of 15 March 2016 on the provision of emergency support within the  
Union (OJ L 70, 16.3.2016, p. 1). 
Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2372 of 24 October 2022 on a framework of measures for ensuring the 
supply of crisis-relevant medical countermeasures in the event of a public health emergency at Union 
level (OJ L 314, 6.12.2022, p. 64). 
Council Regulation (EU) 2022/2578 of 22 December 2022 establishing a market correction mechanism 
to  protect  Union  citizens  and  the  economy  against  excessively  high  prices  (OJ  L  335,  29.12.2022,  p. 
45). 

EN 

15 

  EN 

                                                 
(b)  those  urgent  information  needs  cannot  be  met  under  the  European  statistical 
programme.  

2. 

The temporary statistical actions referred to in paragraph 1 shall be carried out by the 
Commission (Eurostat) at Union level and may include: 

(a) producing European statistics based on new data collections;  

(b) providing new statistical indicators and insights based on existing data; 

(c)  developing  harmonised  statistical  methodologies  and  related  methodological 
guidelines,  to  ensure  that  statistics  across  Member  States  are  comparable  and 
consistent;  
(d) other coordinated action at Union level that aims to provide a timely and relevant 
statistical response to the specific situation. 

When assessing the need for temporary statistical actions, the Commission (Eurostat) 
shall  promptly  inform  and  consult  the  ESS  Committee  and  take  into  account  its 
professional guidance. 

The  NSIs  may  decide,  separately  and  on  a  voluntary  basis,  to  participate  in  these 
temporary  statistical  actions,  but  shall,  together  with  the  Commission  (Eurostat), 
ensure  the  relevance  and  sufficient  coverage  of  those  actions  at  Union  level.  When 
participating in temporary statistical actions, the NSIs shall comply with the common 
timespan,  frequency  and quality  requirements  for  the national  data to  be provided to 
the Commission (Eurostat). 

The Commission may, by way of implementing acts, define the temporary statistical 
actions  and  set  out  the  procedure  for  undertaking  them,  including  the  relevant 
timespan,  frequency  and  quality  requirements  to  be  applied  by  those  NSIs 
participating in the temporary statistical action. Those implementing acts shall adopted 
in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27(2). 

Measures adopted under paragraph 5 shall remain in force for a period not exceeding 
24 months.’; 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

(3) 

in Article 17a, the title is replaced by the following:  

‘Access,  reuse  and  integration  of  administrative  records  for  the  development  and 
production of European statistics’; 

(4) 

in Article 17a, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: 

‘1. 

National  public  bodies  in  charge  of  administrative  data  sources  relevant  for 
development, production and dissemination of European statistics shall allow the NSIs 
and  other  national  authorities  (hereafter  ‘ONA’)  referred  to  in  Article  4,  to  access, 
reuse  and  integrate,  free  of  charge,  this  data  and  the  relevant  metadata,  in  timely 
manner  and  with  sufficient  frequency  for  the  purpose  of  producing  and  transmitting 
statistics  to  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  within  the  deadlines  and  in  accordance  with 
quality requirements laid down in Union statistical legislation.’; 

(5) 

in Article 17a, the following paragraph 2a is inserted: 

21 

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Single Market 
emergency instrument and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 2679/98 (COM(2022)459 final). 

EN 

16 

  EN 

                                                                                                                                                         
‘2a. 

For the purpose of this Regulation, the Commission (Eurostat) shall be allowed, upon 
request, to access, reuse and integrate in a timely manner relevant data and metadata 
from databases and interoperability systems maintained by Union bodies and agencies, 
and  without  prejudice 
these  databases  and 
interoperability systems. For this purpose, the Commission (Eurostat) shall cooperate 
with  the  relevant  Union  bodies  and  agencies  to  specify  the  customised  data  and 
metadata required, the operational modalities for data reuse and the necessary physical 
and logical safeguards.’; 

the  Union  acts  establishing 

to 

(6) 

in Article 17a, paragraph 5 is replaced by the following: 

‘5. 

The  NSIs  and  owners  of  administrative  records  shall  establish  the  necessary 
cooperation mechanisms. Those mechanisms shall also provide the possibility for the 
NSIs  to  perform  data  quality  checks  and  build  statistical  frames  based  on  relevant 
administrative records.’; 

(7) 

the following Articles 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e and 17f are inserted: 

‘Article 17b 
Obligation of private data holders to make data available for developing and 
producing European statistics 

Without prejudice to reporting obligations laid down in sectoral  statistical legislation 
of  the  Union  nor  to  the  obligation  for  data  holders  to  make  data  available  based  on 
exceptional  need  in  accordance  with  the  Data  Act,  an  NSI  or  the  Commission 
(Eurostat)  may  request  a  private  data  holder  to  make  data  and  the  relevant  metadata 
available for the development and production of European statistics if the annual work 
programme has established the following conditions: 
(a)  the  data  requested  is  necessary  for  the  development  and  production  of  European 
statistics; and 

(b) the data cannot be readily obtained by alternative means such as surveys or reuse 
of administrative records, or their reuse  will result in  a considerable reduction  in  the 
response burden on data holders and other businesses. 

As coordinator of the national statistical system, an NSI may submit a request for data 
to a private data holder on behalf of an ONA, when the data requested is necessary for 
European statistics developed and produced by that ONA. 

The NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) shall cooperate and mutually assist each other 
in order to avoid excessive requests on private data holders and to determine who is to 
submit  requests  for  data.  In  particular,  the  request  for  data  shall  be  submitted  to  a 
private  data  holder  by  the  Commission  (Eurostat),  in  agreement  with  the  NSIs,  when 
such an approach is more efficient, for instance in the case of data holders operating on 
a Union wide scale. 

The  Commission  (Eurostat)  may,  in  agreement  with  the  NSIs,  set  up  a  secure 
infrastructure  to  facilitate  the  further  sharing  with  the  NSIs  of  data  that  has  been 
accessed in accordance with paragraph 2. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

EN 

17 

  EN 

5.  

This Article shall not apply to small and micro enterprises as defined in Article 2 of the 
Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC22. 

Article 17c 
Requests for data and arrangements for making data available for development and 
production of European statistics  

1. 

When  requesting  data  in  accordance  with  Article  17b,  the  NSIs  or  the  Commission 
(Eurostat) shall: 

(a) specify what data is required; 

(b) demonstrate the statistical need for which the data is requested in accordance with 
Article 17b(1); 

(c) specify the frequency with which and the deadlines by which the data is to be made 
available; 

(d) specify the operational arrangements for making the data available; 

(e) invite the data holder to the dialogue under paragraph 3. 

2. 

Requests for data referred to in paragraph 1 shall:  

(a)  follow  the  principle  of  data  minimisation  and  be  proportionate  to  the  statistical 
need in terms of the level of detail, volume and frequency of the data; 

(b) concern, insofar as possible, non-personal data. 

Following  a  request  for  data  referred  to  in  paragraph  1,  a  dialogue  shall  take  place 
between  the  NSI  or  the  Commission  (Eurostat)  and  the  concerned  data  holder  to 
discuss  aspects  such  as  the  level  of  aggregation  of  the  data,  the  deadline  and 
arrangements for the provision of the data, the security and confidentiality protection 
measures as well as possible cost compensation aspects, with the aim of concluding an 
agreement on those aspects.  

If  no  agreement  is  concluded  within  three  months  following  the  notification  of  the 
request  for  data  referred  to  in  paragraph  1,  the  NSI  or  the  Commission  may,  by 
decision, require the private data holder to make the data available. The decision shall 
be specific as required under paragraph 1 letters (a) to (d) and shall take into account 
issues on which views may have converged during the dialogue with the data holder. 
The decision may also include compensation for the private data holder that shall not 
exceed  the  marginal  costs  related  to  the  preparation  required  for  making  the  data 
available. The period for making the data available may not be shorter than 15 days. 
Before adopting the decision, the NSI or the Commission shall give the data holder the 
opportunity of being heard on the measures that the NSI or the Commission intend to 
take.  The  decision  shall  indicate  the  fines  provided  for  under  paragraph  6  and  the 
means of redress against it.  

Without prejudice to reporting obligations laid down in sectoral  statistical legislation 
of  the  Union,  a  data  holder  shall  make  the  relevant  data  available  to  the  NSI  or  the 
Commission  (Eurostat)  within  the  period  specified  in  the  decision  pursuant  to 
paragraph 4 of this Article. 

Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small 
and medium-sized enterprises (OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36). 

3. 

4. 

5. 

22 

EN 

18 

  EN 

                                                 
6. 

7. 

8.  

9. 

10. 

The Member States and the Commission shall take appropriate measures to ensure the 
effective enforcement of the decisions adopted in accordance with paragraph 4. Those 
measures may include the adoption of fines where the private data holder intentionally 
or  negligently  fails  to  supply  the  data  requested  by  decision  within  the  set  period  or 
supplies  incorrect,  incomplete  or  misleading  data.  In  fixing  the  amount  of  the  fines, 
the  Member  State  and  the  Commission  shall  have  regard  to  the  nature,  gravity, 
duration and recurrence of the infringement. 

In order to comply with paragraph 6, the Commission may adopt decisions imposing 
fines of maximum EUR 25 000. In case of recurrence within three years the fine may 
reach  EUR  50  000.  The  Commission  may  issue  guidelines  on  the  calculation  of  the 
fine. 

The Commission may adopt a decision imposing a fine within one year following the 
deadline for the submission of data laid down in its decision under paragraph 4 where 
the  data  holder  fails  to  submit  any  data  or  within  one  year  of  the  submission  of 
incorrect, incomplete or misleading data. 

The power of the Commission to enforce decisions imposing a fine shall be subject to 
a  limitation  period  of  five  years.  Time  shall  begin  to  run  on  the  day  on  which  the 
decision becomes final. 

Before adopting a decision pursuant to paragraph 6 of this Article, the Member States 
and  the  Commission  shall  give  the  data  holder  the  opportunity  of  being  heard  on 
preliminary  findings  and  measures  that  the  Member  State  or  the  Commission  may 
intend to take in view of the preliminary findings. 
The  Commission  shall  establish,  by  way  of  implementing  acts,  the  general  technical 
arrangements  for  making  data  available  under  this  Article.  Those  implementing  acts 
shall be adopted in  accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 
27(2). 

Article 17d 
Review of decisions imposing fines by the Court of justice of the European Union 

In  accordance  with  Article  261  TFEU,  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  European  Union  has 
unlimited  jurisdiction  to  review  decisions  by  which  the  Commission  has  imposed  fines.  It 
may cancel, reduce or increase the fine imposed. 

Article 17e 
Obligations of NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) in reusing data made available for 
development and production of European statistics 

1. 

The NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) shall use data made available in accordance 
with Article 17b for the development and production of European statistics:  

(a) exclusively for statistical purposes; 

(b)  in  conformity  with  principles  of  statistical  confidentiality  and  cost-effectiveness; 
and  

(c) with the obligation not to share them with third parties unless the data holder has 
agreed. 

2. 

The NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) shall: 

EN 

19 

  EN 

(a) take appropriate measures to protect statistical confidentiality and trade secrets and 
to  preserve  other  legitimate  concerns  of  private  data  holders  including  the  cost  and 
effort required to make the data available; 

(b)  implement,  insofar  as  the  processing  of  personal  data  is  necessary,  technical  and 
organisational measures which safeguard the rights and freedoms of data subjects.  

Paragraphs  1  and  2  of  this  Article  shall  apply  to  an  ONA  that  has  received  data 
following  a  request  submitted  on  its  behalf  by  a  NSI  in  accordance  with  Article 
17b(2). 

The Commission (Eurostat) shall publish a description of the main categories of costs 
related  to  the  data  processing  for  which  compensation  may  be  granted  to  the  data 
holder and the methodology for calculating these costs. 

Article 17f 
Data sharing in the ESS 

Data shall be shared between NSIs and between NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) 
exclusively  for  statistical  purposes  and  for  improving  the  quality  of  European 
statistics. 

Data  sharing  shall  take  place  upon  request  by  an  NSI  or  the  Commission  (Eurostat) 
where  this  is  relevant  and  necessary.  Data  sharing  shall  also  take  place  when  the 
request is put forward by an NSI on behalf of an ONA and the data is used exclusively 
for statistical purposes and for improving the quality of European statistics developed 
and produced by that ONA. 

The  NSIs,  and  when  relevant  the  ONAs,  participating  in  the  data  sharing  within  the 
ESS  shall  provide  all  necessary  safeguards  with  regard  to  the  physical  and  logical 
protection  of  data  confidentiality.  The  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall  set  up  a  secure 
infrastructure to facilitate data sharing. The NSIs, and when relevant the ONAs, may 
use that secure data sharing infrastructure for the purpose specified in paragraph 1. 

When the data concerned is confidential data within the meaning of Article 3 of this 
Regulation  or  is  personal  data  as  defined  in  Regulations  (EU)  2016/679  and  (EU) 
2018/1725,  the  sharing  of  such  data  shall  be  allowed  and  may  take  place  on  a 
voluntary basis provided it fulfils all of the following conditions: 

(a) 

(b) 

it  is  based  on  a  request  justifying  the  necessity  to  share  the  data  in  each 
individual  case,  in  particular  with  regard  to  the  quality  issues  that  are  to  be 
specifically addressed; 

it is based on privacy-enhancing technologies that are specifically designed to 
comply with Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725, with particular 
regard  to  purpose  limitation,  data  minimisation,  storage  limitation,  integrity 
and confidentiality; 

(c) 

it does not affect Chapter V of this Regulation. 

The  data  requested  under  this  Article  shall  not  pertain  to  issues  of  national  security 
and military matters. 

The Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, set out the technical aspects of 
data  sharing  between  the  statistical  authorities  referred  to  in  this  Article.  Those 

3. 

4. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

EN 

20 

  EN 

 
7. 

(8) 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

implementing  acts  shall  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  examination  procedure 
referred to in Article 27(2). 

This Article is without prejudice to Article 21 of this Regulation.’; 

the following Chapter IIIa is inserted: 

‘CHAPTER IIIa 

DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN STATISTICS 

Article 17g 
Statistics under development 

The NSIs, the ONAs and the Commission (Eurostat) shall endeavour to continuously 
innovate and develop  new statistical  outputs and insights  based on all  available data 
sources and to use state of the art technologies, with the aim of integrating them in the 
regular production of European statistics. 

European statistics shall be developed in full compliance with the statistical principles, 
as  set  out  in  Article  2(1).  Statistics  under  development  may  not  necessarily  fulfil  all 
the quality criteria set out in Article 12(1). 

The  Commission  (Eurostat)  shall  disseminate  European  statistics  under  development 
with  the  agreement  of  the  NSIs  and  shall  explicitly  indicate  that  these  statistics  are 
under development. 

The  Commission  (Eurostat)  may  initiate,  in  close  cooperation  with  the  ESS 
Committee,  the  development  of  new  statistical  outputs  and  insights  in  a  coordinated 
manner across the ESS. Those statistical outputs and insights shall be included in the 
annual  work  programme  and  implemented  through  individual  statistical  actions 
referred to in Article 14(1).’; 

(9) 

in Article 18, the following paragraph 4 is inserted: 

‘4. 

The Commission (Eurostat) may use European statistics published at national level by 
the  Member  States  ahead  of  the  deadlines  set  out  in  the  relevant  sectoral  legislation 
and disseminate these statistics before the time envisaged in that sectoral legislation, 
providing it complies with the definitions and classification.’; 

(10) 

Article 25 is replaced by the following: 

‘Article 25 
Publicly available data 

Data that is lawfully available to the public shall not be considered confidential when 
used for statistical purposes.’; 

(11) 

the following Article 26a is inserted: 

‘Article 26a 
Contribution to new national data governance frameworks 

1. 

In compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, the NSIs may assume at national level 
functions  as  laid  down  in  the  national  data  governance  frameworks  with  the  goal  of 

EN 

21 

  EN 

promoting  data  integration  and  inter-operability,  metadata  description,  quality 
assurance  and  standard  setting,  as  well  as  other  tasks  and  functions  laid  down  in 
Regulation  (EU) 2022/868  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council,23  and 
identify new data sources to be used for the development and production of statistics. 

2. 

The performance of such functions by the NSIs shall be compatible with the statistical 
principles, as set out in Article 2(1).’; 

(12) 

the following Article 27a is inserted: 

‘Article 27a 
Evaluation and review 

By [five years after the entry into force of this amending Regulation], the Commission shall 
carry  out  an  evaluation  of  this  Regulation  and  submit  a  report  on  its  main  findings  to  the 
European Parliament and to the Council. That evaluation shall assess, in particular: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

the statistical response to crisis under Article 16a; 

the obligation of data holders to allow their data to be reused for European statistics 
in accordance with Articles 17b, 17c, 17d and 17e; 

the data sharing in the ESS under Article 17f; 

the development of European statistics under Chapter IIIa.’. 

Article 2 

Entry into force 

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union. 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 

For the Council 

The President 

The President 

23 

Regulation (EU) 2022/868 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 on European 
data  governance  and  amending  Regulation  (EU) 2018/1724  (Data  Governance  Act)  (OJ  L  152, 
3.6.2022, p. 1). 

EN 

22 

  EN