CELEX: 51989PC0003
Language: en
Date: 1989-03-03
Title: Draft COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC/Euratom) on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities (presented by the Commission)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (89) 3
Vol. 1989/0001
 ---pagebreak--- Disclaimer
Conformément au règlement (CEE, Euratom) n° 354/83 du Conseil du 1er février 1983 concernant
l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique européenne et de
la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983, p. 1) modifié en dernier
lieu par le règlement (UE) 2015/496 du Conseil du 17 mars 2015 (JO L79 du 25. 3.2015, p. 1), ce
dossier est ouvert au public. Le cas échéant, les documents classifiés présents dans ce dossier
ont été déclassifiés conformément à l'article 5 dudit règlement ou sont considérés déclassifiés
conformément aux articles 26(3) et 59(2) de la décision (UE, Euratom) 2015/444 de la
Commission du 13 mars 2015 concernant les règles de sécurité aux fins de la protection des
informations classifiées de l'Union européenne.
In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983 concerning
the opening to the public of the historical archives of the European Economic Community and the
European Atomic Energy Community (OJ L 43, 15.2.1983, p. 1), as last amended by Council
Regulation (EU) 2015/496 of 17 March 2015 (OJ L 79, 27.3.2015, p. 1), this file is open to the
public. Where necessary, classified documents in this file have been declassified in conformity
with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation or are considered declassified in conformity with
Articles (26.3) and 59(2) of the Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 of 13 March 2015
on the security rules for protecting EU classified information.
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom 1. Februar
1983 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und
der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L 43 vom 15.2.1983, S. 1), zuletzt geändert durch die
Verordnung (EU) Nr. 2015/496 vom 17. März 2015 (ABI. L 79 vom 25.3.2015, S. 1), ist dieser Akt
der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich. Soweit erforderlich, wurden die Verschlusssachen in diesem Akt in
Übereinstimmung mit Artikel 5 der genannten Verordnung freigegeben; beziehungsweise werden
sie auf Grundlage von Artikel 26(3) und 59(2) der Entscheidung der Kommission (EU, Euratom)
2015/444 vom      13.   März 2015     über die   Sicherheitsvorschriften für den Schutz von  EU-
Verschlusssachen als herabgestuft angesehen.
 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                       COM(89 ) 3 final
                                                       Brussels , 3 March 1989
                                                  Draf t
                       COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC / Euratom )
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     on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality
                       to the Statistical Office of the
                                European Communities
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 ---pagebreak--- I. Introduction
1 . ALL nationaL LegisLative texts on statistics set forth the principLe of
     non-di vuLgence to third parties , naturaL persons , LegaL entities or
     administrations of individuaL information obtained by statisticaL
     offices from surveys of persons or companies .
     Methods guaranteeing the protection afforded by the confidentiaL nature
     of individuaL data or of data which can aLLow an           individuaL to be
     identified have generaLLy been developed by statisticaL               offices
     themselves and vary widely from one country to another .
     To some extent ,       respect of statisticaL confidentiality is          the
     counterpart of the obligation to respond to statisticaL surveys ,         but
     above all it does enable the necessary atmosphere of mutual trust to be
     achieved between survey organizers and survey subjects , thus ensuring
     that correct and reliable information is obtained .
2 . The rules on confidentiality are strictly applied by national
     statistical offices ,      both nationally and internationally . ~ The
     Statistical Office of the European Commmunities is therefore regarded by
     these offices as a third party to whom confidential information may not
     be divulged unless otherwise laid down in the regulation governing the
     Community survey .    The result is that national statistical institutes,
     before sending data to the SOEC , remove all information classed as
     confidentiaL under their national rules , either by deleting it or by
     amalgamating it with other figures .             „                      ^
3 . The SOEC has long been concerned with the negative effects on community
     statistics resulting from the application by the Member States of
     national rules governing statistical confidentiality .
     In 1961 an initial study was carried out in the six Member            States ,
     followed in 1976 by a further study on " confidentiality and          company
     statistics in the European Community" which provided                 a very
     comprehensive report on the situation in the nine Member States      and made
     proposals for possible solutions to the problem .
II .    The impact of statistical confidentiality on Community statistics
1 . The biggest problem    which statistical confidentiality presents for the
     community is the        considerable loss of information caused by
     non-communication to   the SOEC of part of the data collected .      The more
     complex and detailed   the statistiscs, the greater this loss turns out to
     be .
     There are good grounds for applying statistical confidentiality to
     individual data on companies , such as establishing an atmosphere of
     mutual trust between survey subjects and survey organizers ,              and
     protecting " business secrets " from competitors . However , it is becoming
     more and more difficult to justify the confidentiality of certain
     information , particularly on the structure of industry and agriculture ,
     on employment , production and investment , divulgence of which in an
     aggregated form could not by prejudicial to the parties concerned .
2 . A brief look at the results of the annual survey on industrial activity
     ( Council Directive N°72 / 221 / EEC of 6 June 1972 ) shows that obtaining a
     Community total from the sum of national data is only possible for
 ---pagebreak---     around 20% of the industrial sectors covered and that the headings
    classed as confidential by the smaller Member States account for around
    30 to 50% of the field covered . This situation is no better in the case
    c‘ the coordinated annual survey of investment in industry ( Council
    Directive N°64 / 475 / EEC of 30 July 1964 ).
    The question of confidentiality is even more critical when survey
    results have to be prepared at a more detailed level such as the
    regional distribution of certain variables or the breakdown of certain
    figures by size category of enterprise , the latter category being the
    only source of information currently available on the position of small -
    and medium-sized enterprises in the industrial economy .
3 . Industrial production statistics reveal many serious gaps .             As
    concentration in industry has increased , the statistical situation has
    deteriorated even further in recent years and much of the information
    which was formerly available to the public has now become confidential .
    The situation is all the more worrying in that the loss of information
    is also considerable in the high-technology industries , the very sectors
    which represent the priority poles of development in Community industry .
    Examples are electronics , informatics , telecommunications , etc .
4 . While industrial statistics are the worst affected , they are by no means
    the only sector involved .         External trade statistics are seriously
    impaired as are national accounts , regional and agricultural statistics .
    The successive enlargements of the Community have only made the
    situation worse as the statistical treatment of confidential data varies
    from one country to another .
    The high-technology sectors are also particularly affected as far as
    external trade statistics are concerned .        In many cases , it is not
    possible to establish a Community total for imports or exports because
    there is only one importer or exporter in a single Member State .
    National accounts are also affected by the amalgamation of branches by
    certain countries in respect of both annual data on these branches and
    the preparation of input-output tables .
    In addition , for agricultural surveys , some Member States are unwilling
    or may even refuse to communicate individual data , setting their own
    national legislation on statistical confidentiality against the lack of
    any Community legislation on the subject .
5 . The application of statistical confidentiality , perfectly legitimate at
    national level , thus considerably exacerbates the loss of information at
    Community level and the difficulty of establishing comparable statistics
    between Member States .         It also causes significant delay in the
    dissemination of information and adds considerably to the cost of
    surveys .    The problem has grown steadily worse with the successive
    enlargements of the Community .
    In order to guarantee complete and reliable statistical information ,
    permitting the Commission to carry out its tasks with maximum
    efficiency , particularly in respect of industrial , agricultural , social
    and regional policy , the SOEC must have access to the maximum amount of
    information available in order to produce the statistics which are
    essential at community level and to carry out the necessary analysis .
 ---pagebreak---     At the same time , it can maintain the confidential status of information
    received from the national statistical offices with respect to both
    third parties and other Commission departments .
6 . Moreover , the provisions of the Sinqle European Act , which aims to
    complete the large single market by 1992 , will make it even more
    essential for the SOEC to have all the national statistical information
    required to apprehend overall community phenomena and with the greatest
    possible accuracy .     This aim cannot easily be reconciled with the
    current gaps arising from the application of statistical confidentiality
    in the Member States .
Ill .  Aims of the draft proposal for a Council Regulation
1 . The draft Council Regulation is intended to establish a broad legal
    framework , freeing Member States from the obligation to maintain
    statistical confidentiality vis-a-vis the SOEC , while offering the
    national statistical institutes gruarantees that this confidentiality
    will be respected .
2 . It applies to all types of confidential statistical data ,          either
    individual data or data already aggregated , but allowing indirect
    identification of statistical units .
    It does not apply to information on the private life of natural persons ,
    the need for protection of whom is universally recognized and poses no
    problem for Community statistics .
3 . This framework regulation does not mean that the SOEC is asking Member
    States to transmit all types of confidential data without taking any
    other legal or practical precautions .       On the contrary, the SOEC
    recommends that working parties , where they do not already exist , are
    set up on the bases of the framework ; their task would be to prepare
    legal acts to solve the problems step by step and according to the
    fields of application .
4 . At the same time , the Commission recognizes the critical importance of
    maintaining the confidentiality of the data sent to the SOEC .          In
    consequence , one of the main concerns will be the safeguard of this
    information , particularly that stored in data banks .    This requirement
    has already been taken into account in the informatics architecture
    currently installed at the SOEC and in data dissemination procedures .
    Confidentiality will henceforth be a prime factor in any further
    development of informatics systems . This will require the allocation of
    additional technical , human and financial resources .
 ---pagebreak---  IV . Explanatory mémorandum
Recitais
1 . The legal basis established in the Treaties enabling legislation to
be passed both on collection of statistical data from individual
businesses and on the necessary Community guarantees to maintain
statistical confidentiality is supplied by Articles 213 EEC and 187
EAEC , which rule that :
" The Commission may , within the limits and under conditions laid down
by the Council in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty ,
collect any information and carry out any checks required for the
performance of the tasks entrusted to it ".
2 . Complete statistical information is required by the Commission in
order to ensure that the Community is in possession of all information
relevant to the performance of these tasks .     Articles 5 EEC and 192
EAEC oblige the Member States to facilitate the achievement of the
Community 's tasks .
Completion of the internal market by the end of 1992 as defined in
Article 8A EEC will further increase the importance to the SOEC of
receiving all national statistical information to enable phenomena
thoughout the Community as a whole to be identified as precisely as
possible .
3 . Until now , the transmission of confidential statistical data to the
SOEC has been hampered by national legislation on statistical
confidentiality , although protection of these data is already covered
to a large extent by a set of legal provisions on :
a ) Professional secrecy
- Article 214 EEC : " The members of the institutions of the Community ,
the members of committees , and the officials and other servants of the
Community shall be required , even after their duties have ceased , not
to disclose information of the kind covered by the obligation of
professional secrecy , in particular information about undertakings ,
their business relations or their cost components ".
- Article 17 of the Communities' Staff Regulations : " An official shall
exercise the greatest discretion with regard to all facts and
information coming to his knowledge in the course of or in connection
with the performance of his duties ; he shall not in any manner
whatsoever disclose to any unauthorized person any document or
information not already made public . He shall continue to be bound by
this obligation after leaving the service ".
b ) The disciplinay measures and possible criminal proceedings
applicable in the event of violation of professional secrecy . The
disciplinary measures extend to removal from post and withdrawal of
entitlement to retirement pension ( Article 86 of the Staff
Regulat ions ) .
 ---pagebreak--- c ) Payment of damages by the Community ( Articles 215 EEC and 188
EAEC ) : " In the case of non-contractual liability , the Community shall ,
 in accordance with the general principles common to the laws of the
Member States , make good any damage caused by its institutions or by
its servants in the performance of their duties ".
The measures provided for in these texts may be backed up by others in
application of this Regulation .
4 . The present draft Regulation concerns only statistical data the
transmission of which to the SOEC is prevented by the application of
national rules on statistical confidentiality .      It does not appply to
information transmitted by the Member States to other Commission
services .
5.     Article 223 EEC states : " No Member State shall be obliged to
stppply information the disclosure of which is considered contrary to
the essential interests of its security . " The present draft Regulation
will obviously be subject to this Article .
6.     The present draft Regulation will not call into question the
transmission of confidential statistical data currently carried out by
the Member States under Article 47 ECSC .
Article 1
This Article defines the dual aims of the draft Regulation :
- to free national authorities from the obligation currently imposed by
national legislation or accepted practice to withhold confidential
informat i on ;
- to guarantee the protection of confidential statistical data
transmitted to the SOEC by instituting the necessary procedures at
Community level .
The draft Regulation will not prevent the application of provisions on
confidentiality in other fields , e.g. banking , taxation or medical and
mi litary secrets .
Article 2
This Article contains definitions of the terms used in the rest of the
Regulation . The concepts " confidential statistical data " and " private
life " will continue to be defined by national legislation or accepted
prac tice .
Article 3
1.     This Article expands on the first aim of the draft Regulation .
Paragraph 1 postulates the general principle of lifting the bar on
transmitting confidential statistical information to the SOEC , and the
subsequent paragraphs define the conditions to be met if the bar is to
be lifted .
First of all , a Community legal act must be established in respect of
the statistics concerned , implementing the present draft framework
Regulation .    In particular , any such act must specify which statistics
are to be transmitted and how .
 ---pagebreak--- As regards Community Law on statistics already in force when this
framework Regulation is implemented , there are two possible courses of
action :
- if statistical confidentiality is adequately dealt with by these
laws , no change will be necessary ;
- if ,    however ,  they provide for exceptions in the transmission of
confidential statistical data to the SOEC ,      changes may be necessary to
delete these exceptions with         reference to the present      framework
Regulation .
In the latter case ,    the Commission will investigate the possibility of
drawing up a single act amending all the texts concerned .
3.  Confidential statistical data will be transmitted to EUROSTAT in a
form preserving their anonymity .     This basic principle may , however , be
contravered by a Community legal act , with the particular aim of
enabling the framework Regulation to be appplied to panels which the
SOEC may see fit to set up in the future .
4 . Finally , Member States are not obliged to transmit information on
the private lives of natural persons if such information may enable
these persons to be identified either directly or indirectly . In the
unlikely event that such data were transmitted to EUROSTAT , they would
obviously be protected as confidential data .
Article 4
1.     This Article expands on the second aim of the draft Regulation ,
which is to guarantee the protection of confidential statistical data
transmitted to the SOEC by instituting the necessary procedures at
Commun ity l eve l .
2.     The protective measures will of course apply to statistical data
covered by a Community legal act as provided for in Article 3.2 as well
as those transmitted to the SOEC under a " gentlemen 's agreement ".       In
the latter case , there can by definition be no obligation on Member
States to transmit confidential statistical data .       If , however , such
data are transmitted on a voluntary basis , the SOEC undertakes to
afford them the same protection as those specified in Article 3(2 ) by
applying the protective measures laid down in Article 5 of the
Regulation .
3 . The general regulations to be applied by Member States and EUROSTAT
when transmitting confidential statistical data will be laid down by
the   Commission after    consultation with   the Committee on Statistical
Confidenti ality .
These regulations are intended to maximize protection of data
transferred between the Member State and EUROSTAT , irrespective of the
medium used ( paper , magnetic medium , telecommunication network , etc ).
The practical procedures for implementing the general regulations will ,
if necessary , be prescribed subsequently by the Community legal act
referred to in Article 3 ( 2 ).
 ---pagebreak--- Artide 5
1 . The first paragraph of this article is intended to place full
responsibility for safeguarding confidential statistical data
transmitted in accordance with the regulations described in Article 6
with     EUROSTAT ,   represented   by   its   Director-General .   This
 responsibility cannot be diluted , for example , being assured by the
Committee on Statistical Secrecy .
2.   Only staff employed by EUROSTAT in its offices will have access to
confidential statistical data . These may include :
- officials in the strict sense as defined in the staff regulations of
officials of the European Communities ;
- other employees as defined in the " conditions of employment of other
servants of the European Communities " ;
- other natural persons working under contract for the SOEC on its
premi ses .
It is impossible for EUROSTAT to completely exclude the latter two
groups from access to confidential statistical data , as such staff are
often employed to carry out economic or statistical analyses and
research as well as for the development of new projects .
Where this type of work necessitates access to confidential statistical
data , EUROSTAT will make every effort to ensure that Community
officials are used as far as possible . Where this is impracticable ,
care will be taken to ensure that access to such data is kept to a
minimum .
Under no circumstances will confidential statistical data be allowed to
leave EUROSTAT premises . In cases where certain studies are entrusted
to external bodies , for example , any necessary processing of the data
will be carried out by EUROSTAT with its own personnel .
3.    The general regulations governing access of non-officials to
confidential statistical data will be drawn up by the Commission after
consultation with the Committee on Statistical Confidentiality . The
procedures adopted will be flexible , compatible with the effective
running of the service , and will leave the supervisory powers of Member
States intact without delegating EUROSTAT 'S ultimate responsibility for
safeguarding statistical confidentiality to other authorities .
The possibility of drawing up a standard contract attaching such
persons to the Commission may be included as an item for consideration
by the Committee .
4 . EUROSTAT must also assume full responsibility for dissemination ,
ensuring that information published in any form does not contain
confidential statistical data . It will be supported by the working
parties comprising members from various Member States which already
exist in many statistical fields and which occasionally participate in
planning the publication of statistics falling within their area of
responsibi lity .
                                                                         3
 ---pagebreak--- Artide 6
1 . In accordance with the EEC Treaty , the Council has adopted a series
of regulations and directives which provided for Member States to take
appropriate action against violations of the regulations they contain .
These provisions do not affect the powers of national legislatures to
decide upon the nature and gravity of penalties imposed for violation
of obligations laid down by Community taw . As a result , the penalties
required under Community law can only be applied via national laws
implementing the Community law . Such penal legislation can therefore
not be applied directly ,   but has the force of a directive .    It can be
included    along   with  other  directly   applicable   provisions   of  a
regulation , since Community regulations may contain directive elements .
2 . In the field of statistics , this kind of penal legislation has been
included in the legal texts adopted by the Council on the basis of
Article 213 EEC .      For example , Article 5 of Council Regulation
Nr . 178 / 74 of 21.1.1974 on the organization of a survey of earnings in
wholesale and retail distribution , banking and insurance ( OJ L 21 of
21.1.1974 , p. 2 ) states :
" Individual items of information supplied for purposes of the survey
shall be used for statistical purposes only . It shall be prohibited to
use the information for taxation purposes or to communicate it to third
parties .
Member States shall take appropriate measures to avoid any infringement
of :
a ) the obligation to supply the information referred to in the second
sub-paragraph of Article 2 ;
b ) the obligation , under the first paragraph of this Article ,         to
maintain secrecy as regards the information obtained ".
3 . The present draft Regulation is within the guidelines thus laid
down . Article 6 provides for Member States to take appropriate measures
by 1 January 1991 to deal with any violation of the confidentiality of
the statistical data transmitted to the SOEC in accordance with this
Regulation .    This means that Member States whose own national
legislation does not allow for appropriate penal or administrative
measures to be taken against violation of statistical confidentiality
as protected by the present Regulation by officials or other employees
of the SOEC will have to amend their criminal        laws in the field of
statistical confidentiality once the present Regulation enters into
force .
The powers of each member State to take proceedings in the event of the
present Regulation are governed by the general provisions of its legal
system as applied to criminal matters or administrative penalties . This
will not be affected by application of the present Regulation .
The rules on the powers of individual countries regarding penal
measures or administrative penalties are not , of course , exactly the
same in each of the 12 Member States .             However ,   criminal or
administrative law generally states that a country is empowered to
punish offences committed on its territory .    There should therefore be
no gaps as regards penal measures for any violation of statistical
 ---pagebreak---  confidentiality once all the Member States have , in accordance with
Article 6 of the draft Regulation , ensured that their legislation
 provides for penal measures or administrative penalties in cases of
violation of statistical confidentiality .
Effective application of penal measures may depend on adequate
cooperation between the relevant authorities of different Member
States , particularly in cases where confidential information is
disclosed in a Member State other than in which the officials and other
employees of the SOEC are based . It does not , however , appear necessary
to specify in the Regulation that a Member State must take proceedings
against all breaches of statistical confidentiality within its
jurisdiction which are brought to its attention , nor the necessity for
one Member State to alert another to violations not falling within its
own jurisdiction .
Such cooperation is of course inherent in the concept " appropriate
measures " which Member States are bound to implement in accordance with
Article 6 of the draft Regulation , and falls within the general rules
applicable to Member States regarding mutual assistance in legal
matters which is , moreover ,       covered by several bilateral and
multilateral conventions including ,      in particular ,    the European
Convention on Extradition and the European Convention on Mutual
Assistance in Criminal Matters , drawn up by the Council of Europe and
dating from 13 December 1957 and 20 April 1959 respectively .
For its part , the Commission is called upon to cooperate in the
effective prosecution of violations of statistical confidentiality
protected by the present Regulation, particularly in implementing the
disciplinary measures laid down in the Staff Regulations against
officials and other servants commiting such a violation . A recital to
this effect is contained in the draft Regulation .
4 . The system as described above may be modified later if this is
considered necessary . Any such improvements could also be based on
common rules on the liability and protection under criminal law of
officials and other servants of the European Communities , which would
be adopted into Community legislation . In 1976 , the Commission proposed
a Regulation along these lines containing specific rulings on the
transfer of proceedings and mutual assistance in criminal matters , in
the form of a draft amendment of the Community Treaties ( 0J C 222 of
22.9.1976 ).
5 . Finally ,   Article 6 states that the Member States shall inform the
Commission , which shall pass on the information to other Member States ,
of the measures specified under paragraph 1 of this Article . That
information of course includes the penalties already provided for on
the date on which the Regulation comes into force .
Article 7
This Article adopts the text of Article 2 , Procedure I of Council
Decision Nr 87 /373 / EEC of 13 July 1987 ( 0J Nr L 197 of 18.7.1987)
laying down the procedures for the exercise of implemeting powers
conferred on the Commission .
 ---pagebreak---  In doing so , the Commission is paying heed to the declaration annexed
 to the Single European Act on the exercise of implemeting powers
conferred on the Commission , which provides for a significant role for
 the advisory committee procedure .
However , in the discussions leading up to this proposal for a
Regulation , the national statistical institutes repeatedly stressed
their preference for the management committee procedure .
Article 8
The aim of this Article is to define Committee and referral procedures
more clearly . It should be noted that paragraph 3 enables Member States
to refer directly to the Committee to examine procedures implemented to
guarantee the confidentiality of data . This possibility means the
Member States play a more significant role than is usual for an
advisory committee .
Article 9
This Article is designed to give the Commission the wherewithal to set
up the measures for protecting confidential statistical data
transmitted to the SOEC under this Regulation .        Details of these
mesaures                                 will be laid down subsequent to
consultation of the Committee on Statistical Confidentiality .
Article 10
This Article brings in a delay between the entry into force of Article
4 of the Regulation and its applicability :
- the whole of the Regulation will enter into force , as is customary ,
on the third day following its publication in the official Journal of
the European Communities ;
- the whole of the Regulation , with the exception of Article 3 , will be
applicable as soon as it comes into force ;
- Article 3 ,     which makes transmission to the SOEC of certain
confidential data compulsory , under certain conditions , will apply only
from 1 January 1991 .
The period between the two dates will enable the Committee on
Statistical Confidentiality to be set up , as laid down in Article 7,
and the Commission to take the necessary measures to ensure the
confidentiality of the data . It will also enable the Member States to
take appropriate measures to deal with any violations of the
confidentiality of statistical data , in accordance with Article 6 .
 ---pagebreak---                                      Draf t
                             COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC / Euratom )
     on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality
            to the Statistical Office of the European Communities .
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
and in particular Article 213 thereof ,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy
Community , and in particular Article 187 thereof ,
Having regard to the draft regulation submitted by the Commission ,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament ,
Whereas to enable it to carry out the duties entrusted to it            by the
Treaties ,  and especially in the light of the Internal Market as provided
for in Article 8a of the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community , the Commission must have full and reliable information; whereas,
with a view to efficient management , the Statistical Office of the European
Communities must be able to obtain all the national statistical information
necessary in order     to prepare   Community statistics     and carry out the
necessary analyses ;
Whereas’ Article 5 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community and Article 192 of the Euratom Treaty require the Member States
to facilitate the achievement of the Community 's tasks ; whereas this
obligation extends to providing all the requisite information; whereas
Member States have hitherto opposed the transmission of confidential
statistical data to the Statistical Office of the European Communities,
invoking national legislation on statistical confidentiality ; whereas this
results in a considerable loss of information at Community level and makes
it difficult to prepare statistics and carry out analyses on the Community;
Whereas the Member States will have no further cause to invoke national
legislation on statistical confidentiality once it has been established
that the Statistical Office of the European Communities offers the same
data confidentiality guarantees as the national statistical institutes ;
whereas these guarantees are already to some extent enshrined in the
Community Treaties and in the Staff Regulations applicable to officials of
the European Communities and can be backed up by appropriate measures
 under this Regulation ;
Whereas , in accordance with Article 214 of the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community and Article 194 ( 1 ) of the Treaty
establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, the officials and other
servants of the Community are required , even after their duties have
ceased , not to disclose information of the kind covered by the obligation,
of professional secrecy ;
Whereas Article 17 of the Staff Regulations of officials of the European
Communities requires them to respect the confidentiality of all facts and
information coming to their knowledge in the course of or in connection
with the performance of their duties , and they remain bound by this
obligation after leaving the service ;
 ---pagebreak---                                           - 2 -
   Whereas any infringement of the rules binding officials and other servants
   working for the SOEC , whether committed wilfully or through negligence ,
  renders them Liable to di sc i p l /i nary sanctions and , if appropriate ,
   legal penalties for violation of professional secrecy , pursuant to the
   combined provisions of Articles 12 and 18 of the Protocol on the privileges
   and immunities of the European Communities ;
   Whereas , in accordance with Article 215 of the Treaty establishing the
   European Economic Community and Article 188 of the Treaty establishing the
  European Atomic Energy Community, the Community shall make good any damage
  caused by its institutions or by its servants in the performance of their
  duties ;
  Whereas this Regulation applies only to the transmission to the Statistical
  Office of the European Communities of statistical data which , in the
  national statistical institutes’ field of competence , are covered by
  statistical confidentiality , and whereas it does not affect special
  national or community provisions relating to the transmission of other
  types of information to the Commission ;
 Whereas this Regulation is without prejudice to the provisions of Article
 223 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community , under which
 no Member State is reouired to supply information the disclosure of which
  it considers contrary to the essential interests of their security ;
 Whereas , in accordance with article 4? of the Treaty establishing the
 European Coal and Steel Community , the Commission has adopted in particular
 Decision 1566 / 86 / ECSC ( 1 ) and whereas such              decisions         are
 not affected by this Regulation , in compliance with Article 232 of the
 Treaty establishing the European Economic Community ;
 Whereas the establishment under this Regulation of an Advisory Committee on
 Statistical Confidentiality accords with Council Decision 87 / 373 / EEC of
 12 July 1987 laying down the procedures for the exercise of the implementing powers conferred
 on the Commission (2);
 Whereas implementation of the provisions contained in this Regulation , and
 in particular those designed to ensure the protection of confidential
 statistical data transmitted to the Statistical Office of the European
 Communities ,       will  reauire technical , human and financial resources .
 HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
 Article 1
1 . The      purpose of this Regulation is :
-     to authorize national bodies to transmit confidential statistical data
      to the     Statistical Office of    the   European    Communities     ( hereinafter
      SOEC ) ;
-     to provide a guarantee that the Commission will take all the necessary
      measures to ensure the confidentiality of data thus transmitted .
2 . This       Regulation  shall   apply  to   statistical     confidentiality only .
      It dees not offset Special Community or national provisions safeguardi ng confidentiality
      other than statistical confidentiality .
'<1 ) OJ No L~"1 4 ì , 28.5.1986, p . 1
 ( 2 ) OJ No L 197 , 18.7.198 7, p.33 .
 ---pagebreak---                                       - 3 -
Artide 2
For the purposes of the Regulation the terms given below are defined as
follows :
1.   Confidential statistical data : data declared confidential by the Member
     States in line with national legislation or practices governing
     statistical confidentiality .
2.   National authorities : national statistical institutes and other public
     Hiooies responsible for collection of statistics for the Communities .
3.   Information on the private lives of natural persons : information on the
     private and family lives of natural persons as defined by national
     legislation or practices in the various Member States .
4.   Use for statistical purposes :    use exclusively for the compilation of
     statistical tables or for Statistical economic analyses ; may not be
     used for administrative , legal or tax purposes or for verification
     against the units surveyed .
5.   Statistical unit :   basic unit covered by statistical data transmitted
     to the SOEC .
6.   Direct identification :   immediate identification of a statistical unit
     from res name or adoress .
7.   Indirect identification : possiblity of working out the identity of one
     or more statistical units from statistical data, even when aggregated .
8 . Officials of the SOEC : officials of the Communities , within the meaning of
     Artie le 1 o? the Staff Regulations for officials of the European
     Communities , working for the SOEC .
9.   Other servants of the SOEC : servants of the Communities , within the meaning
     of Articles 2 and 5 of the Regulations governing other servants of the
     European Communities , working for the SOEC .
10 . Dissemination : supply of data in any form whatever : publication ,
     access to data bases , microfiches, telephone communications, etc .
Article 3
1.   The national authorities shall be authorized to transmit confidential
     statistical data to the SOEC .
2.   National rules on statistical secrecy shall not apply to the
     transmission of statistical data to the SOEC where there is a Community
     legal act relating to Community statistics and providing for such
     transmission .
3.   Confidential data shall be transmitted to the SOEC in a form precluding
     direct identification of the units surveyed , unless a Community legal
     act decides otherwise .
 ---pagebreak---                                               - 4 -
        ” 1     .       a.u ,or 'it'ies shall not be obliged to forward information on
        the private lives of natural persons to the SOEC if this could enable
       these persons to be identified either directly or indirectly .
  Article 4
  1 . The Commission shall take all the necessary regulatory, administrative ,
       technical and organizational measures to ensure the confidentiality of
       data transmitted by the Member States in accordance with Article 3 .
  2 . The protection measures referred to in Article 5 shall apply :
       a . to all confidential statistical data the transmission to the SOEC of which is
            covered by a Community legal act ;
       b. to   alt confidential statistical data transmitted voluntarily by
            Member States to the SOEC .
 3 . The Commission shall establish the procedures for transmitting
       confidential statistical data to the SOEC after consultation with the
      Advisory
      Article 7 .
                   Committee on Statistical Confidentiality provided for in
 Article 5
 1.   The Commission shall instruct the Director-General of the SOEC to
      ensure the confidentiality of data transmitted to the SOEC by national
      authorities,          and shall establish the procedures for this after
      consultation with the Committee on Statistical Confidentiality provided
      for by Article 7 .
 2 . Confidential statistical data transmitted to the SOEC shall only be
      accessible to officials of the SOEC and may only be used for
      exclusively statistical purposes .
 3.   However,     the commission may grant access to confidential statistical
      data to other servants of the SOEC and other natural persons working on the premises of the
      SOEC under contract , in special cases and exclusively for statistical
      purposes .      The procedures for such acces shall be laid down by the
      Commission       after       consulting     the      Committee      on    Statistical
      Confidentiality provided for by Article 7 .
4.    Confidential statistical data in the SOEC 's possession may not be
      disseminated unless it can be guaranteed that the statistical units
      concerned cannot be identified either directly or indirectly .
5.    Officials or other servants of and other              natural persons working for
      the SOEC under contract may not use these             data for purposes other than
      those laid down in this Regulation .           This   prohibition shall also apply
      following transfer , termination of service           or retirement .
 Article 6
Member States shall ,            by 1 January 1991 , take appropriate measures to
deal with any violations of the obligation to maintain secrecy on
confidential statistical          data transmitted in accordance with Article 3 .
Member States shall inform the Commission without delay of the measures taken, and the Commissi or,
shall pass on this information to the other Member States .
                                                                                                    Æ.
 ---pagebreak--- Artide 7
1.    An Advisory Committee on Statistical Confidentiality shall be set up,
      composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by a
      representative of the Commission ( the Directoi General of the SOEC or
      another person designated by him ).
2.    The Chairman shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to
      be taken .    The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within
      a time limit which the Chairman may lay down according to the urgency
      of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote .
3.    The opinion of the Committee shall be recorded in the minutes .                    Each
      Member State shall have the right to ask to have its position recorded
      in the minutes .
A.    The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered
      by the Committee .      It shall inform the Committee of the manner in which
      its opinion has been taken into account .
Article 8
1.    The Committee may be consulted by the Commission on all questions
      concerning this Regulation .
2.    The Committee shall be consulted by the Commission prior to adopting
      the measures provided for in Article 4(3 ) and in Article 5(1 ) and ( 3 ),
3.    The Committee may , at the request of the Chairman or one of its
      members , examine the procedures implemented to guarantee statistical
      confidentiality where confidential statistics have been transmitted to
      the SOEC .
4.    The Committee shall lay down its rules of procedure .
Article 9
The financial resources to be allocated in the general budget of the
European Communities ,           estimated as necessary for the Commission to
implement this Regulation, are :
      1 000 000 ecus for the year 1990
         500 000 ecus for each year 1991 , 1992 and 1993 .
Article 10
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
 However, Article 3 shall apply from 1 January 1991 .
  Ihis Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States .
 Done at     Brussels                                            For the Counci l
 ---pagebreak---                                                                    Task Force PMF
                   COMPETITIVENESS AND EMPLOYMENT IMPACT STATEMENT
I.    What is the main reason for introducing the Measure?
       Authorize the national statistical authorities to transmit to the SOEC
       data declared confidential in line with national legislation or practices
       governing statistical confidentiality .
II .  Features of the business in question . In particular :
                       not applicable
      a ) are there Many SMEs ?
      b ) are they concentrated in regions which are :
          i . eligible for regional aid in the Member States ?
          ii . eligible under the ERDF ?
III . What direct obligations does this measure impose on usinesses ?
         None
IV .  What indirect obligations are local authorities likely to impose on
      businesses ?
      The draft regulation does not establish any new obligation for
      the businesses .
V.    Are there any special measures in respect of SMEs ? Please specify .
         No
VI .  What is the likely effect on :
      a ) the competitiveness of bunisesses?         None
      b ) employment ?                               None
VII . Have both sides of industry been consulted? No
      Please indicate their opinions .
                                                                                  Ai