Article 1 Subject matter
This Regulation establishes a common legal framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics on population and vital events.
Article 2 Definitions
For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions apply: (a) ‘national’ refers to the territory of a Member State within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 applicable at the reference time; (b) ‘regional’ means NUTS level 1, NUTS level 2 or NUTS level 3 within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 applicable at the reference time; where this term is used in connection with countries that are not members of the Union, ‘regional’ means the statistical regions at level 1, 2 or 3, as agreed between those countries and the Commission (Eurostat), at the reference time; (c) ‘usually resident population’ means all persons having their usual residence in a Member State at the reference time; (d) ‘usual residence’ means the place where a person normally spends the daily period of rest, regardless of temporary absences for purposes of recreation, holidays, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage. The following persons alone shall be considered to be usual residents of a specific geographical area: (i) those who have lived in their place of usual residence for a continuous period of at least 12 months before the reference time; or (ii) those who arrived in their place of usual residence during the 12 months before the reference time with the intention of staying there for at least one year. Where the circumstances described in point (i) or (ii) cannot be established, ‘usual residence’ can be taken to mean the place of legal or registered residence, except for the purposes of Article 4. In applying the definition of ‘usual residence’, Member States shall treat special cases in accordance with the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1201/2009 ( 9 ) ; (e) ‘live birth’ means the birth of a child who breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles, regardless of gestational age; (f) ‘death’ means the permanent disappearance of all evidence of life at any time after live birth has taken place (post-natal cessation of vital functions without capability of resuscitation); (g) ‘vital events’ means live births and deaths as defined in points (e) and (f).
Article 3 Data on population and on vital events
1. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data on their usually resident population at the reference time. The data provided shall cover population by age, sex and region of residence. 2. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data on their vital events that occurred during the reference period. Member States shall use the same population definition that they use for the data referred to in paragraph 1. The data provided shall cover the following variables: (a) live births by sex, month of occurrence, live birth-order, mother’s age, mother’s year of birth, mother’s country of birth, mother’s country of citizenship and mother’s region of residence; (b) deaths by age, sex, year of birth, region of residence, country of birth, country of citizenship and month of occurrence. 3. Member States shall use the same definition of population for all ‘national’ and ‘regional’ levels as defined by this Regulation. 4. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down uniform conditions for the breakdown of data referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, for deadlines and for revisions of data. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 10(2).
Article 4 Total population for specific Union purposes
1. For the purposes of qualified majority voting in the Council, Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data on the total population at national level at the reference time, in accordance with Article 2(c), within eight months of the end of the reference year. 2. Member States may estimate the total population referred to in paragraph 1 from the legally resident or registered population using scientifically-based, well-documented, and publicly available statistical estimation methods.
Article 5 Frequency and reference time
1. Each year, Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data on their population and on their vital events for the previous year referred to in Article 3(1) and in points (a) and (b) of Article 3(2). 2. Each year Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data on the total population at national level referred to in Article 4. 3. For the purposes of this Regulation, the reference time shall mean either the reference date referred to in paragraph 4 or the reference period referred to in paragraph 5, as appropriate. 4. The reference date for population data shall be the end of the reference period (midnight of 31 December). The first reference date shall be in 2013 and the last reference date shall be in 2027. 5. The reference period for vital events data shall be the calendar year in which the events occurred. The first reference period shall be 2013 and the last reference period shall be 2027.
Article 6 Provision of data and metadata
Member States shall make available to the Commission (Eurostat) the data and metadata required under this Regulation in accordance with the data and metadata exchange standards specified by the Commission (Eurostat). Member States shall either provide those data and metadata through the Single Entry Point services so that the Commission (Eurostat) can retrieve them, or shall transmit them using the Single Entry Point services.
Article 7 Data sources
The data shall be based on the data sources chosen by the Member State in accordance with national law and practice. Scientifically-based and well-documented statistical estimation methods shall be used, where appropriate.
Article 8 Feasibility studies
1. Member States shall carry out feasibility studies on the use of the definition of ‘usual residence’ for population and vital events as referred to in Article 3(1) and (2). 2. The results of the feasibility studies referred to in paragraph 1 shall be transmitted to the Commission by 31 December 2016. 3. In order to facilitate the carrying out of the feasibility studies referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the Union may provide financial support to the national statistical institutes and other national authorities referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.
Article 9 Quality requirements
1. Member States shall ensure the quality of the data transmitted. 2. For the purposes of this Regulation, the quality criteria referred to in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 shall apply to the data to be transmitted. 3. Member States shall report to the Commission (Eurostat) on reference metadata, using the European Statistical System standards, and in particular on the data sources, definitions and estimation methods used for the first reference year, and Member States shall keep the Commission (Eurostat) informed of any changes thereto. 4. At the request of the Commission (Eurostat), Member States shall provide it with all the information necessary to evaluate the quality of the statistical information. 5. Member States shall ensure that the data on population required by Article 3 of this Regulation are consistent with those required by point (c) of Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007.
Article 10 Committee procedure
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the European Statistical System Committee established by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.
Article 11 Review Clause
1. The Commission shall submit a first report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the implementation of this Regulation by 31 December 2018, and a second report by 31 December 2023. In those reports, the Commission shall take account of relevant information provided by Member States and shall evaluate the quality of the data transmitted, the data collection methods used, the additional burden imposed on the Member States and on the respondents, and the comparability of those statistics. Those reports shall evaluate the use of scientifically-based, well-documented statistical estimation methods, for the estimation of the ‘usually resident population’ from the legally resident or registered population. The first report shall also cover the results of the feasibility studies referred to in Article 8. 2. If appropriate, those reports shall be accompanied by proposals designed to further improve the common legal framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics on population and vital events under this Regulation.
Article 12 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 cease to apply on 31 August 2028.