Commission Regulation (EC) No 606/2008 of 26 June 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 831/2002 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, concerning access to confidential data for scientific purposes (Text with EEA relevance)

27.6.2008 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 166/16
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 606/2008
of 26 June 2008
amending Regulation (EC) No 831/2002 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, concerning access to confidential data for scientific purposes
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community Statistics (1) and in particular Articles 17(2) and 20(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 831/2002 (2) establishes, for the purpose of enabling statistical conclusions to be drawn for scientific purposes, the conditions under which access to confidential data transmitted to the Community authority may be granted. It lists the different surveys and data sources to which it applies.
(2) There is growing demand from researchers and the scientific community in general to have access for scientific purposes also to confidential data from the Farm Structure Survey (FSS). Access to the FSS microdata would enable researchers to study the relationships between the different characteristics of individual agricultural holdings, such as the types of crops grown, livestock and labour force. It would also enable researchers to improve regional agri-environmental models and indicators that are currently based on aggregated data. This survey should therefore be added to the list in Regulation (EC) No 831/2002.
(3) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Statistical Confidentiality,