Article 1 
Subject matter and scope This Regulation establishes a legal framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. In compliance with the principle of subsidiarity and in accordance with the independence, integrity and accountability of the national and the Community authorities, European statistics are relevant statistics necessary for the performance of the activities of the Community. European statistics are determined in the European statistical programme. They shall be developed, produced and disseminated in conformity with the statistical principles as set out in Article 285(2) of the Treaty and further elaborated in the European statistics Code of Practice in accordance with Article 11. They shall be implemented in accordance with this Regulation.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 1 Subject matter and scope):
This Regulation establishes a legal framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. In compliance with the principle of subsidiarity and in accordance with the independence, integrity and accountability of the national and the Community authorities, European statistics are relevant statistics necessary for the performance of the activities of the Community. European statistics are determined in the European statistical programme. They shall be developed, produced and disseminated in conformity with the statistical principles as set out in Article 285(2) of the Treaty and further elaborated in the European statistics Code of Practice in accordance with Article 11. They shall be implemented in accordance with this Regulation.
Article 2 
Statistical principles 1. The development, production and dissemination of European statistics shall be governed by the following statistical principles: (a) ‘professional independence’, meaning that statistics must be developed, produced and disseminated in an independent manner, particularly as regards the selection of techniques, definitions, methodologies and sources to be used, and the timing and content of all forms of dissemination, and that the performance of those tasks is free from any pressures from political or interest groups or from Union or national authorities; (b) ‘impartiality’, meaning that statistics must be developed, produced and disseminated in a neutral manner, and that all users must be given equal treatment; (c) ‘objectivity’, meaning that statistics must be developed, produced and disseminated in a systematic, reliable and unbiased manner; it implies the use of professional and ethical standards, and that the policies and practices followed are transparent to users and survey respondents; (d) ‘reliability’, meaning that statistics must measure as faithfully, accurately and consistently as possible the reality that they are designed to represent and implying that scientific criteria are used for the selection of sources, methods and procedures; (e) ‘statistical confidentiality’, meaning the protection of confidential data related to single statistical units which are obtained directly for statistical purposes or indirectly from administrative or other sources and implying the prohibition of use for non-statistical purposes of the data obtained and of their unlawful disclosure; (f) ‘cost effectiveness’, meaning that the costs of producing statistics must be in proportion to the importance of the results and the benefits sought, that resources must be optimally used and the response burden minimised. The information requested shall, where possible, be readily extractable from available records or sources. The statistical principles set out in this paragraph are further elaborated in the Code of Practice in accordance with Article 11. 2. The development, production and dissemination of European statistics shall take into account international recommendations and best practice.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle.
Article 3 
Definitions For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply: 1. ‘statistics’ means quantitative and qualitative, aggregated and representative information characterising a collective phenomenon in a considered population; 2. ‘development’ means the activities aiming at setting up, strengthening and improving the statistical methods, standards and procedures used for the production and dissemination of statistics as well as at designing new statistics and indicators; 3. ‘production’ means all the activities related to the collection, storage, processing, and analysis necessary for compiling statistics; 4. ‘dissemination’ means the activity of making statistics and statistical analysis accessible to users; 5. ‘data collection’ means surveys and all other methods of deriving information from different sources, including administrative sources; 6. ‘statistical unit’ means the basic observation unit, namely a natural person, a household, an economic operator and other undertakings, referred to by the data; 7. ‘confidential data’ means data which allow statistical units to be identified, either directly or indirectly, thereby disclosing individual information. To determine whether a statistical unit is identifiable, account shall be taken of all relevant means that might reasonably be used by a third party to identify the statistical unit; 8. ‘use for statistical purposes’ means the exclusive use for the development and production of statistical results and analyses; 9. ‘direct identification’ means the identification of a statistical unit from its name or address, or from a publicly accessible identification number; 10. ‘indirect identification’ means the identification of a statistical unit by any other means than by way of direct identification; 11. ‘officials of the Commission (Eurostat)’ means the officials of the Communities, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities, working at the Community statistical authority; 12. ‘other staff of the Commission (Eurostat)’ means the servants of the Communities, within the meaning of Articles 2 to 5 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, working at the Community statistical authority.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 3 Definitions):
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply: 1. ‘statistics’ means quantitative and qualitative, aggregated and representative information characterising a collective phenomenon in a considered population; 2. ‘development’ means the activities aiming at setting up, strengthening and improving the statistical methods, standards and procedures used for the production and dissemination of statistics as well as at designing new statistics and indicators; 3. ‘production’ means all the activities related to the collection, storage, processing, and analysis necessary for compiling statistics; 4. ‘dissemination’ means the activity of making statistics and statistical analysis accessible to users; 4a. ‘data’ means any digital or non-digital representation of acts, facts or information and any compilation of such acts, facts or information on the units observed; 4b. ‘metadata’ means any information that defines and describes data and processes; 4c. ‘data holder’ means a legal or natural person or any other entity that has the right, in accordance with applicable Union or national law, and the ability to manage and make available data obtained as a result of their activity; 5. ‘data collection’ means surveys and all other methods of deriving information from different sources, including administrative sources; 5a. ‘data source’ means a source providing data that is relevant and necessary, in itself or in combination with data from other sources, for the development and production of statistics, including surveys, censuses, administrative data or data made available by data holders on request; 5b. ‘data access’ means the processing by a national statistical institute or other national authorities or by the Commission (Eurostat) of data that have been provided or made available by a data holder, in accordance with specific technical, legal or organisational requirements; 6. ‘statistical unit’ means the basic observation unit, namely a natural person, a household, an economic operator and other undertakings, referred to by the data; 7. ‘confidential data’ means data which allow statistical units to be identified, either directly or indirectly, thereby disclosing individual information. To determine whether a statistical unit is identifiable, account shall be taken of all relevant means that might reasonably be used by a third party to identify the statistical unit; 8. ‘use for statistical purposes’ means the exclusive use for the development, production and dissemination of statistical results and analyses by statistical authorities, including for research and scientific activities, or the establishment of sampling frames; 9. ‘direct identification’ means the identification of a statistical unit from its name or address, or from a publicly accessible identification number; 10. ‘indirect identification’ means the identification of a statistical unit by any other means than by way of direct identification; 11. ‘officials of the Commission (Eurostat)’ means the officials of the Communities, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities, working at the Community statistical authority; 12. ‘other staff of the Commission (Eurostat)’ means the servants of the Communities, within the meaning of Articles 2 to 5 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, working at the Community statistical authority.
Article 4 
The European Statistical System The European Statistical System (ESS) is the partnership between the Community statistical authority, which is the Commission (Eurostat), and the national statistical institutes (NSIs) and other national authorities responsible in each Member State for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 4 The European Statistical System):
The European Statistical System (ESS) is the partnership between the Community statistical authority, which is the Commission (Eurostat), and the national statistical institutes (NSIs) and other national authorities responsible in each Member State for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics.
Article 5 
National statistical institutes and other national authorities 1. The national statistical authority designated by each Member State as the body having the responsibility for coordinating all activities at national level for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, which are determined in the European statistical programme in accordance with Article 1, (the NSI) shall act in this regard as the sole contact point for the Commission (Eurostat) on statistical matters. The coordinating responsibility of the NSI shall cover all other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, which are determined in the European statistical programme in accordance with Article 1. The NSI shall, in particular, be responsible at the national level for coordinating statistical programming and reporting, quality monitoring, methodology, data transmission and communication on ESS statistical actions. To the extent that some of those European statistics may be compiled by National Central Banks (NCBs) in their capacity as members of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), the NSIs and the NCBs shall cooperate closely in accordance with national arrangements with a view to ensuring the production of complete and coherent European statistics, while ensuring the necessary cooperation between the ESS and the ESCB as set out in Article 9. 2. The Commission (Eurostat) shall maintain and publish on its website a list of NSIs and other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics as designated by Member States. 3. The NSIs and the other national authorities included in the list referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article may receive grants without a call for proposals, in accordance with Article 168(1)(d) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 5 National statistical institutes and other national authorities):
1. The national statistical authority designated by each Member State as the body having the responsibility for coordinating all activities at national level for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, which are determined in the European statistical programme in accordance with Article 1, (the NSI) shall act in this regard as the sole contact point for the Commission (Eurostat) on statistical matters. The coordinating responsibility of the NSI shall cover all other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, which are determined in the European statistical programme in accordance with Article 1. The NSI shall, in particular, be responsible at the national level for coordinating statistical programming and reporting, quality monitoring, methodology, data transmission and communication on ESS statistical actions. To the extent that some of those European statistics may be compiled by National Central Banks (NCBs) in their capacity as members of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), the NSIs and the NCBs shall cooperate closely in accordance with national arrangements with a view to ensuring the production of complete and coherent European statistics, while ensuring the necessary cooperation between the ESS and the ESCB as set out in Article 9. 2. The Commission (Eurostat) shall maintain and publish on its website a list of NSIs and other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics as designated by Member States. 3. The NSIs and the other national authorities included in the list referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article may receive grants without a call for proposals, in accordance with Article 168(1)(d) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002.
Article 5a Heads of NSIs and statistical heads of other national authorities
1. Within their national statistical system, Member States shall ensure the professional independence of officials responsible for the tasks set out in this Regulation. 2. To that end, the heads of NSIs shall: (a) have the sole responsibility for deciding on processes, statistical methods, standards and procedures, and on the content and timing of statistical releases and publications for European statistics developed, produced and disseminated by the NSI; (b) be empowered to decide on all matters regarding the internal management of the NSI; (c) act in an independent manner while performing their statistical tasks; and neither seek nor take instructions from any government or other institution, body, office or entity; (d) be responsible for the statistical activities and budget execution of the NSI; (e) publish an annual report and may express comments on budget allocation issues related to the statistical activities of the NSI; (f) coordinate the statistical activities of all national authorities that are responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, as set out in Article 5(1); (g) produce national guidelines, where this is necessary to ensure quality in the development, production and dissemination of all European statistics within their national statistical system and monitor and review their implementation; while being responsible for ensuring compliance with those guidelines solely within the NSI; and (h) represent their national statistical system within the ESS. 3. Each Member State shall ensure that other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics carry out such tasks in accordance with the national guidelines produced by the head of the NSI. 4. Member States shall ensure that the procedures for the recruitment and appointment of heads of NSIs and, where appropriate, statistical heads of other national authorities producing European statistics, are transparent and based only on professional criteria. Those procedures shall ensure that the principle of equal opportunities is respected, in particular with regard to gender. The reasons for dismissal of heads of NSIs or their transfer to another position shall not compromise professional independence. 5. Each Member State may establish a national body for assuring the professional independence of the producers of European statistics. The heads of NSIs and, where appropriate, the statistical heads of other national authorities producing European statistics may take advice from such bodies. The procedures for the recruitment, transfer and dismissal of the members of such bodies shall be transparent and based only on professional criteria. Those procedures shall ensure that the principle of equal opportunities is respected, in particular with regard to gender.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 5a Heads of NSIs and statistical heads of other national authorities):
1. Within their national statistical system, Member States shall ensure the professional independence of officials responsible for the tasks set out in this Regulation. 3. Each Member State shall ensure that other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics carry out such tasks in accordance with the national guidelines produced by the head of the NSI. 4. Member States shall ensure that the procedures for the recruitment and appointment of heads of NSIs and, where appropriate, statistical heads of other national authorities producing European statistics, are transparent and based only on professional criteria. Those procedures shall ensure that the principle of equal opportunities is respected, in particular with regard to gender. The reasons for dismissal of heads of NSIs or their transfer to another position shall not compromise professional independence. 5. Each Member State may establish a national body for assuring the professional independence of the producers of European statistics. The heads of NSIs and, where appropriate, the statistical heads of other national authorities producing European statistics may take advice from such bodies. The procedures for the recruitment, transfer and dismissal of the members of such bodies shall be transparent and based only on professional criteria. Those procedures shall ensure that the principle of equal opportunities is respected, in particular with regard to gender.
Article 6 
Commission (Eurostat) 1. The Community statistical authority, as designated by the Commission to develop, produce and disseminate European statistics, shall be referred to as ‘the Commission (Eurostat)’ in this Regulation. 2. At Union level, the Commission (Eurostat) shall act independently in ensuring the production of European statistics according to established rules and statistical principles. 3. Without prejudice to Article 5 of the Protocol No 4 on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, the Commission (Eurostat) shall coordinate the statistical activities of the institutions and bodies of the Union, in particular with a view to ensuring consistency and quality of the data and minimising reporting burden. To that end, the Commission (Eurostat) may invite any institution or body of the Union to consult or cooperate with it for the purpose of developing methods and systems for statistical purposes in their respective field of competence. Any of those institutions or bodies which propose to produce statistics shall consult the Commission (Eurostat) and take into account any recommendation that it may make to this effect.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 6 Commission (Eurostat)):
1. The Community statistical authority, as designated by the Commission to develop, produce and disseminate European statistics, shall be referred to as ‘the Commission (Eurostat)’ in this Regulation. 2. At Union level, the Commission (Eurostat) shall act independently in ensuring the production of European statistics according to established rules and statistical principles. 3. Without prejudice to Article 5 of the Protocol No 4 on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the European Central Bank, the Commission (Eurostat) shall coordinate the statistical activities of the institutions and bodies of the Union, in particular with a view to ensuring consistency and quality of the data and minimising reporting burden. To that end, the Commission (Eurostat) may invite any institution or body of the Union to consult or cooperate with it for the purpose of developing methods and systems for statistical purposes in their respective field of competence. Any of those institutions or bodies which propose to produce statistics shall consult the Commission (Eurostat) and take into account any recommendation that it may make to this effect.
Article 6a Director-General of the Commission (Eurostat)
1. Eurostat is the statistical authority of the Union and a Directorate-General of the Commission. It shall be headed by a Director-General. 2. The Commission shall ensure that the procedure for the recruitment of the Director-General of Eurostat is transparent and based on professional criteria. The procedure shall ensure that the principle of equal opportunities is respected, in particular with regard to gender. 3. The Director-General shall have sole responsibility for deciding on processes, statistical methods, standards and procedures, and on the content and timing of statistical releases and publications for all statistics produced by Eurostat. When carrying out those statistical tasks, the Director-General shall act in an independent manner and shall neither seek nor take instructions from the Union institutions or bodies, from any government or other institution, body, office or agency. 4. The Director-General of Eurostat shall be responsible for the statistical activities of Eurostat. The Director-General of Eurostat shall appear immediately after appointment by the Commission, and annually thereafter, in the framework of the statistical dialogue before the relevant committee of the European Parliament to discuss matters pertaining to statistical governance, methodology and statistical innovation. The Director-General of Eurostat shall publish an annual report.
Article 7 
European Statistical System Committee 1. The European Statistical System Committee (ESS Committee) is hereby established. It shall provide professional guidance to the ESS for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics in line with the statistical principles set out in Article 2(1). 2. The ESS Committee shall be composed of the representatives of the NSIs who are national specialists for statistics. It shall be chaired by the Commission (Eurostat). 3. The ESS Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure, which shall reflect its tasks. 4. The ESS Committee shall be consulted by the Commission in regard to: (a) the measures which the Commission intends to take for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, their justification on a cost-effectiveness basis, the means and timetables for achieving them, the response burden on survey respondents; (b) proposed developments and priorities in the European statistical programme; (c) initiatives to bring into practice the reprioritisation and reduction of the response burden; (d) issues concerning statistical confidentiality; (e) the further development of the Code of Practice; and (f) any other question, in particular issues of methodology, arising from the establishment or implementation of statistical programmes that are raised by its Chair, either on its own initiative or at the request of a Member State.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 7 European Statistical System Committee):
1. The European Statistical System Committee (ESS Committee) is hereby established. It shall provide professional guidance to the ESS for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics in line with the statistical principles set out in Article 2(1). 2. The ESS Committee shall be composed of the representatives of the NSIs who are national specialists for statistics. It shall be chaired by the Commission (Eurostat). 3. The ESS Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure, which shall reflect its tasks.
Article 8 
Cooperation with other bodies The European Statistical Advisory Committee and the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board shall be consulted in accordance with their respective competence.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 8 Cooperation with other bodies):
The European Statistical Advisory Committee and the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board shall be consulted in accordance with their respective competence.
Article 9 
Cooperation with the ESCB To minimise the reporting burden and guarantee the coherence necessary to produce European statistics, the ESS and the ESCB shall cooperate closely, while complying with the statistical principles as set out in Article 2(1).
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 9 Cooperation with the ESCB):
To minimise the reporting burden and guarantee the coherence necessary to produce European statistics, the ESS and the ESCB shall cooperate closely, while complying with the statistical principles as set out in Article 2(1).
Article 10 
International cooperation Without prejudice to the position and the role of individual Member States, the position of the ESS as regards issues of particular relevance to European statistics at international level as well as the specific arrangements for representation in the international statistical bodies shall be prepared by the ESS Committee and coordinated by the Commission (Eurostat).
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 10 International cooperation):
Without prejudice to the position and the role of individual Member States, the position of the ESS as regards issues of particular relevance to European statistics at international level as well as the specific arrangements for representation in the international statistical bodies shall be prepared by the ESS Committee and coordinated by the Commission (Eurostat).
Article 11 
European statistics Code of Practice 1. The Code of Practice shall aim at ensuring public trust in European statistics by establishing how European statistics are to be developed, produced and disseminated in conformity with the statistical principles as set out in Article 2(1) and best international statistical practice. 2. The Code of Practice shall be reviewed and updated as necessary by the ESS Committee. The Commission shall publish amendments thereto. 3. Member States and the Commission shall take all the necessary measures to maintain confidence in European statistics. To this effect, ‘Commitments on Confidence in Statistics’ (the Commitments) by Member States and by the Commission shall further aim to ensure public trust in European statistics and progress in the implementation of the statistical principles contained in the Code of Practice. The Commitments shall include specific policy commitments to improve or maintain, as necessary, the conditions for the implementation of the Code of Practice and shall be published with a citizen's summary. 4. The Commitments by Member States shall be monitored regularly by the Commission on the basis of annual reports sent by Member States and shall be updated as necessary. In the absence of the publication of a Commitment by 9 June 2017, a Member State shall submit to the Commission and make public a progress report on the implementation of the Code of Practice and, where applicable, on the efforts undertaken towards the establishment of a Commitment. Those progress reports shall be updated periodically, at least every two years following their initial publication. The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the published Commitments and, where appropriate, progress reports, by 9 June 2018 and every two years thereafter. 5. The Commitment established by the Commission shall be regularly monitored by European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB). ESGAB's assessment of the implementation of the Commitment shall be included in its annual report submitted to the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with Decision No 235/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 21 ). ESGAB shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the Commitment by 9 June 2018.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 11 European statistics Code of Practice):
1. The Code of Practice shall aim at ensuring public trust in European statistics by establishing how European statistics are to be developed, produced and disseminated in conformity with the statistical principles as set out in Article 2(1) and best international statistical practice. 2. The Code of Practice shall be reviewed and updated as necessary by the ESS Committee. The Commission shall publish amendments thereto. 3. Member States and the Commission shall take all the necessary measures to maintain confidence in European statistics. To this effect, ‘Commitments on Confidence in Statistics’ (the Commitments) by Member States and by the Commission shall further aim to ensure public trust in European statistics and progress in the implementation of the statistical principles contained in the Code of Practice. The Commitments shall include specific policy commitments to improve or maintain, as necessary, the conditions for the implementation of the Code of Practice and shall be published with a citizen's summary. 4. The Commitments by Member States shall be monitored regularly by the Commission on the basis of annual reports sent by Member States and shall be updated as necessary. In the absence of the publication of a Commitment by 9 June 2017, a Member State shall submit to the Commission and make public a progress report on the implementation of the Code of Practice and, where applicable, on the efforts undertaken towards the establishment of a Commitment. Those progress reports shall be updated periodically, at least every two years following their initial publication. The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the published Commitments and, where appropriate, progress reports, by 9 June 2018 and every two years thereafter. 5. The Commitment established by the Commission shall be regularly monitored by European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB). ESGAB's assessment of the implementation of the Commitment shall be included in its annual report submitted to the European Parliament and the Council in accordance with Decision No 235/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 1 ). ESGAB shall report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the Commitment by 9 June 2018.
Article 12 
Statistical quality 1. To guarantee the quality of results, European statistics shall be developed, produced and disseminated on the basis of uniform standards and of harmonised methods. In this respect, the following quality criteria shall apply: (a) ‘relevance’, which refers to the degree to which statistics meet current and potential needs of the users; (b) ‘accuracy’, which refers to the closeness of estimates to the unknown true values; (c) ‘timeliness’, which refers to the period between the availability of the information and the event or phenomenon it describes; (d) ‘punctuality’, which refers to the delay between the date of the release of the data and the target date (the date by which the data should have been delivered); (e) ‘accessibility’ and ‘clarity’, which refer to the conditions and modalities by which users can obtain, use and interpret data; (f) ‘comparability’, which refers to the measurement of the impact of differences in applied statistical concepts, measurement tools and procedures where statistics are compared between geographical areas, sectoral domains or over time; (g) ‘coherence’, which refers to the adequacy of the data to be reliably combined in different ways and for various uses. 2. Specific quality requirements, such as target values and minimum standards for the production of statistics, may also be laid down in sectoral legislation. In order to ensure the uniform application of the quality criteria laid down in paragraph 1 to the data covered by sectoral legislation in specific statistical domains, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down the modalities, structure and periodicity of quality reports covered by sectoral legislation. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27(2). 3. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with reports on the quality of data transmitted, including any concerns they have regarding the accuracy of the data. The Commission (Eurostat) shall assess the quality of the data transmitted, on the basis of appropriate analysis, and shall prepare and publish reports and communications on the quality of European statistics. 4. In the interest of transparency, the Commission (Eurostat) shall, where appropriate, make public its assessment of the quality of national contributions to European statistics. 5. Where sectoral legislation provides for fines in cases where Member States misrepresent statistical data, the Commission may, in accordance with the Treaties and such sectoral legislation, initiate and conduct investigations as necessary including, where appropriate, on-site inspections in order to establish whether such misrepresentation was serious and intentional or grossly negligent.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 12 Statistical quality):
2. Specific quality requirements, such as target values and minimum standards for the production of statistics, may also be laid down in sectoral legislation. In order to ensure the uniform application of the quality criteria laid down in paragraph 1 to the data covered by sectoral legislation in specific statistical domains, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down the modalities, structure and periodicity of quality reports covered by sectoral legislation. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27(2). 3. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with reports on the quality of data transmitted, including any concerns they have regarding the accuracy of the data. The Commission (Eurostat) shall assess the quality of the data transmitted, on the basis of appropriate analysis, and shall prepare and publish reports and communications on the quality of European statistics. 4. In the interest of transparency, the Commission (Eurostat) shall, where appropriate, make public its assessment of the quality of national contributions to European statistics. 5. Where sectoral legislation provides for fines in cases where Member States misrepresent statistical data, the Commission may, in accordance with the Treaties and such sectoral legislation, initiate and conduct investigations as necessary including, where appropriate, on-site inspections in order to establish whether such misrepresentation was serious and intentional or grossly negligent.
Article 13 
European statistical programme 1. The European statistical programme shall provide the framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, setting out the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for a period corresponding to that of the multiannual financial framework. It shall be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. Its impact and cost effectiveness shall be assessed with input from independent experts. 2. The European statistical programme shall lay down priorities concerning the needs for information for the purpose of carrying out the activities of the Community. Those needs shall be weighed against the resources needed at Community and national level to provide the required statistics, and also against the response burden and the respondent's associated costs. 3. The Commission shall introduce initiatives to set priorities and reduce the response burden for all or part of the European statistical programme. 4. The Commission shall submit the draft European statistical programme to the ESS Committee for prior examination. 5. For each European statistical programme, the Commission shall, after consulting the ESS Committee, present an intermediate progress report and a final evaluation report and shall submit them to the European Parliament and to the Council.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 13 European statistical programme):
1. The European statistical programme shall provide the framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, setting out the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for a period corresponding to that of the multiannual financial framework. It shall be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. Its impact and cost effectiveness shall be assessed with input from independent experts. 2. The European statistical programme shall lay down priorities concerning the needs for information for the purpose of carrying out the activities of the Community. Those needs shall be weighed against the resources needed at Community and national level to provide the required statistics, and also against the response burden and the respondent's associated costs. 3. The Commission shall introduce initiatives to set priorities and reduce the response burden for all or part of the European statistical programme. 4. The Commission shall submit the draft European statistical programme to the ESS Committee for prior examination. 5. For each European statistical programme, the Commission shall, after consulting the ESS Committee, present an intermediate progress report and a final evaluation report and shall submit them to the European Parliament and to the Council.
Article 14 
Implementation of the European statistical programme 1. The European statistical programme shall be implemented by individual statistical actions which shall be decided: (a) by the European Parliament and the Council; (b) by the Commission, in specific and duly justified cases, in particular to meet unexpected needs, in accordance with the provisions in paragraph 2; or (c) by means of agreement between the NSIs or other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat), within their respective spheres of competence. Such agreements shall be in writing. 2. The Commission may, by means of implementing acts, decide on a temporary direct statistical action provided that: (a) the action does not provide for data collection covering more than three reference years; (b) the data are already available or accessible within the NSIs and other national authorities responsible, or can be obtained directly, using the appropriate samples for the observation of the statistical population at Union level with the adequate coordination with the NSIs and other national authorities; and (c) the Union makes financial contributions to the NSIs and other national authorities to cover the incremental costs incurred by them, in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 22 ). Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27(2). 3. In putting forward an action to be decided under paragraph 1(a) or (b), the Commission shall provide information on: (a) the reasons justifying the action, notably in the light of the aims of the Community policy concerned; (b) the objectives for the action and the expected results; (c) a cost-effectiveness analysis, including an assessment of the burden on respondents and of the production costs; and (d) the ways in which the action is to be carried out, including its duration and the role of the Commission and the Member States.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle.
Article 15 
Collaborative networks In the individual statistical actions, synergies shall be developed, when possible, within the ESS through collaborative networks, by the sharing of expertise and results or by fostering specialisation on specific tasks. To this end, an adequate financial structure shall be developed. The outcome of those actions, such as joint structures, tools, processes and methods shall be made available throughout the ESS. The initiatives for the creation of collaborative networks as well as the outcomes shall be examined by the ESS Committee.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 15 Collaborative networks):
In the individual statistical actions, synergies shall be developed, when possible, within the ESS through collaborative networks, by the sharing of expertise and results or by fostering specialisation on specific tasks. To this end, an adequate financial structure shall be developed. The outcome of those actions, such as joint structures, tools, processes and methods shall be made available throughout the ESS. The initiatives for the creation of collaborative networks as well as the outcomes shall be examined by the ESS Committee.
Article 16 
European approach to statistics 1. In specific and duly justified cases and within the framework of the European statistical programme, the European approach to statistics aims at: (a) maximising the availability of statistical aggregates at European level and improving the timeliness of European statistics; (b) reducing the burden on the respondents, the NSIs and other national authorities based on a cost-effectiveness analysis. 2. The cases where the European approach to statistics is relevant include: (a) the production of European statistics by use of: (i) non-published national contributions or national contributions from a subset of Member States; (ii) specifically designed survey schemes; (iii) partial information by modelling techniques; (a) the production of European statistics by use of: (i) non-published national contributions or national contributions from a subset of Member States; (ii) specifically designed survey schemes; (iii) partial information by modelling techniques; (b) the dissemination of statistical aggregates at European level by applying specific statistical disclosure control techniques without national dissemination provisions being impaired. 3. Measures to implement the European approach to statistics shall be carried out with the full involvement of Member States. The measures for the implementation of the European approach to statistics shall be laid down in the individual statistical actions referred to in Article 14(1). 4. If necessary, a coordinated release and revision policy shall be established in cooperation with Member States.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 16 European approach to statistics):
1. In specific and duly justified cases and within the framework of the European statistical programme, the European approach to statistics aims at: (a) maximising the availability of statistical aggregates at European level and improving the timeliness of European statistics; (b) reducing the burden on the respondents, the NSIs and other national authorities based on a cost-effectiveness analysis. 3. Measures to implement the European approach to statistics shall be carried out with the full involvement of Member States. The measures for the implementation of the European approach to statistics shall be laid down in the individual statistical actions referred to in Article 14(1). 4. If necessary, a coordinated release and revision policy shall be established in cooperation with Member States.
Article 17 Annual work programme
The Commission shall submit to the ESS Committee its annual work programme by 30 April for the following year. In preparing each annual work programme, the Commission shall ensure effective priority setting, including reviewing, reporting on statistical priorities and allocation of financial resources. The Commission shall take the utmost account of the comments of the ESS Committee. Each annual work programme shall be based on the European statistical programme and shall indicate, in particular: (a) the actions which the Commission considers to have priority, taking account of Union policy needs, national and Union financial constraints and the response burden; (b) initiatives regarding the review of priorities, including negative priorities, and the reduction of the burden on both data providers and producers of statistics; and (c) the procedures and any legal instruments envisaged by the Commission for implementation of the annual work programme.
Article 17a Access, use and integration of administrative records
1. In order to reduce the burden on respondents, the NSIs, other national authorities as referred to in Article 4, and the Commission (Eurostat) shall have the right to access and use, promptly and free of charge, all administrative records and to integrate those administrative records with statistics, to the extent necessary for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, which are determined in the European Statistical Programme in accordance with Article 1. 2. The NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) shall be consulted on, and involved in, the initial design, subsequent development and discontinuation of administrative records built up and maintained by other bodies, thus facilitating the further use of those records for the purpose of producing European statistics. They shall be involved in the standardisation activities concerning administrative records that are relevant for the production of European statistics. 3. Access by, and involvement of the NSIs, other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) pursuant to paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be limited to administrative records within their own respective public administrative system. 4. Administrative records made available by their owners to the NSIs, other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) in order to be used for the production of European statistics shall be accompanied by relevant metadata. 5. The NSIs and owners of administrative records shall establish the necessary cooperation mechanisms.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 17a Access to and use and integration of administrative data for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics):
1. National public and semi-public bodies under national law in charge of administrative data sources, databases, interoperability systems or data relevant and necessary for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics shall allow the NSIs and other national authorities to access, use and integrate, free of charge, those data and the relevant metadata, in a timely manner and with sufficient frequency and granularity for the purpose of developing, producing and disseminating European statistics. 2. The NSIs and the Commission (Eurostat) shall be consulted on, and involved in, the initial design, subsequent development and discontinuation of administrative data sources, databases or interoperability systems built up and maintained by other bodies, thus facilitating the further use of those data sources, databases or interoperability systems for the purpose of producing European statistics. They shall also be involved in the standardisation activities concerning administrative data sources, databases or interoperability systems that are relevant for the production of European statistics. 2a. For the purposes of this Regulation, the Commission (Eurostat) shall be allowed, upon request, to access, use and integrate in a timely manner relevant data and metadata from databases and interoperability systems maintained by Union bodies and agencies, and without prejudice to the Union acts establishing those databases and interoperability systems, including the central repository for reporting and statistics (CRRS) established by Regulation (EU) 2019/817 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 7 ). For that purpose, the Commission (Eurostat) shall cooperate with the relevant Union bodies and agencies to specify the customised data and metadata required, the operational arrangements for data use and the necessary physical and logical safeguards. Where data and metadata needed for European statistics are only available in databases and interoperability systems maintained by Union bodies and agencies, the Commission (Eurostat) may, upon request, share those data with the relevant NSIs or other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, without prejudice to the Union acts establishing those databases and interoperability systems. 3. Access by, and the involvement of, the NSIs, other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 2a shall be limited to administrative data sources, databases or interoperability systems within their own respective public administrative system. 4. Administrative data sources, databases or interoperability systems made available by their owners to the NSIs, other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) in order to be used for the production of European statistics shall be accompanied by relevant metadata. 5. The NSIs, other national authorities and bodies referred to in paragraph 1 shall establish the necessary cooperation mechanisms in accordance with national specificities. Those mechanisms shall also provide the possibility for the NSIs to perform data quality checks and build statistical frames based on the relevant administrative data accessed.
Article 18 
Dissemination measures 1. The dissemination of European statistics shall be undertaken in full compliance with the statistical principles, as set out in Article 2(1), particularly in respect of protecting statistical confidentiality and ensuring equality of access as required under the principle of impartiality. 2. The dissemination of European statistics shall be carried out by the Commission (Eurostat), the NSIs and other national authorities, within their respective spheres of competence. 3. Member States and the Commission, within their respective spheres of competence, shall provide the necessary support to ensure equality of access to European statistics for all users.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 18 Dissemination measures):
1. The dissemination of European statistics shall be undertaken in full compliance with the statistical principles, as set out in Article 2(1), particularly in respect of protecting statistical confidentiality and ensuring equality of access as required under the principle of impartiality. 2. The dissemination of European statistics shall be carried out by the Commission (Eurostat), the NSIs and other national authorities, within their respective spheres of competence. 3. Member States and the Commission, within their respective spheres of competence, shall provide the necessary support to ensure equality of access to European statistics for all users. 4. The Commission (Eurostat) may disseminate European statistics already published at national level by the Member States ahead of the deadlines set out in the relevant sectoral legislation, provided that such statistics comply with the relevant definitions and classification.
Article 19 
Public use files Data on individual statistical units may be disseminated in the form of a public use file consisting of anonymised records which have been prepared in such a way that the statistical unit cannot be identified, either directly or indirectly, when account is taken of all relevant means that might reasonably be used by a third party. If the data have been transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) the explicit approval of the NSI or other national authority which provided the data is required.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 19 Public use files):
Data on individual statistical units may be disseminated in the form of a public use file consisting of anonymised records which have been prepared in such a way that the statistical unit cannot be identified, either directly or indirectly, when account is taken of all relevant means that might reasonably be used by a third party. If the data have been transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) the explicit approval of the NSI or other national authority which provided the data is required.
Article 20 
Protection of confidential data 1. The following rules and measures shall apply to ensure that confidential data are exclusively used for statistical purposes and to prevent their unlawful disclosure. 2. Confidential data obtained exclusively for the production of European statistics shall be used by the NSIs and other national authorities and by the Commission (Eurostat) exclusively for statistical purposes unless the statistical unit has unambiguously given its consent to the use for any other purposes. 3. Statistical results which may make it possible to identify a statistical unit may be disseminated by the NSIs and other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) in the following exceptional cases: (a) where specific conditions and modalities are determined by an act of the European Parliament and of the Council acting in accordance with Article 251 of the Treaty and the statistical results are amended in such a way that their dissemination does not prejudice statistical confidentiality whenever the statistical unit has so requested; or (b) where the statistical unit has unambiguously agreed to the disclosure of data. 4. Within their respective spheres of competence, the NSIs and other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) shall take all necessary regulatory, administrative, technical and organisational measures to ensure the physical and logical protection of confidential data (statistical disclosure control). The NSIs, other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) shall take all necessary measures to ensure the alignment of principles and guidelines with regard to the physical and logical protection of confidential data. The Commission shall ensure such alignment by means of implementing acts, without supplementing this Regulation. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27(2). 5. Officials and other staff of the NSIs and other national authorities having access to confidential data shall be subject to compliance with such confidentiality, even after cessation of their functions.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 20 Protection of confidential data):
1. The following rules and measures shall apply to ensure that confidential data are exclusively used for statistical purposes and to prevent their unlawful disclosure. 2. Confidential data obtained exclusively for the production of European statistics shall be used by the NSIs and other national authorities and by the Commission (Eurostat) exclusively for statistical purposes unless the statistical unit has unambiguously given its consent to the use for any other purposes. 3. Statistical results which may make it possible to identify a statistical unit may be disseminated by the NSIs and other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) in the following exceptional cases: (a) where specific conditions and modalities are determined by an act of the European Parliament and of the Council acting in accordance with Article 251 of the Treaty and the statistical results are amended in such a way that their dissemination does not prejudice statistical confidentiality whenever the statistical unit has so requested; or (b) where the statistical unit has unambiguously agreed to the disclosure of data. 4. Within their respective spheres of competence, the NSIs and other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) shall take all necessary regulatory, administrative, technical and organisational measures to ensure the physical and logical protection of confidential data (statistical disclosure control). The NSIs, other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) shall take all necessary measures to ensure the alignment of principles and guidelines with regard to the physical and logical protection of confidential data. The Commission shall ensure such alignment by means of implementing acts, without supplementing this Regulation. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27(2). 5. Officials and other staff of the NSIs and other national authorities having access to confidential data shall be subject to compliance with such confidentiality, even after cessation of their functions.
Article 21 
Transmission of confidential data 1. Transmission of confidential data from an ESS authority, as referred to in Article 4, that collected the data to another ESS authority may take place provided that this transmission is necessary for the efficient development, production and dissemination of European statistics or for increasing the quality of European statistics. 2. Transmission of confidential data between an ESS authority that collected the data and an ESCB member may take place provided that this transmission is necessary for the efficient development, production and dissemination of European statistics or for increasing the quality of European statistics, within the respective spheres of competence of the ESS and the ESCB, and that this necessity has been justified. 3. Any further transmission beyond the first transmission shall require the explicit authorisation of the authority that collected the data. 4. National rules on statistical confidentiality shall not be invoked to prevent the transmission of confidential data under paragraphs 1 and 2 where an act of the European Parliament and of the Council acting in accordance with Article 251 of the Treaty provides for the transmission of such data. 5. Confidential data transmitted in accordance with this Article shall be used exclusively for statistical purposes and only accessible to staff working in statistical activities within their specific domain of work. 6. The provisions on statistical confidentiality provided for in this Regulation shall apply to all confidential data transmitted within the ESS and between the ESS and the ESCB.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 21 Transmission of confidential data):
1. Transmission of confidential data from an ESS authority, as referred to in Article 4, that collected the data to another ESS authority shall be allowed, provided that the transmission is necessary for the efficient development, production and dissemination of European statistics or for increasing the quality of European statistics. If the data have been transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat), the approval of the NSI or other national authority which provided the data is required. 2. Transmission of confidential data between an ESS authority that collected the data and an ESCB member shall be allowed, provided that the transmission is necessary for the efficient development, production and dissemination of European statistics or for increasing the quality of European statistics, within the respective spheres of competence of the ESS and the ESCB, and that that necessity has been justified. If the data have been transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat), the approval of the NSI or other national authority which provided the data is required. 3. Any further transmission beyond the first transmission shall require the explicit authorisation of the authority that collected the data. 4. National rules on statistical confidentiality shall not be invoked to prevent the transmission of confidential data under paragraphs 1 and 2 where an act of the European Parliament and of the Council acting in accordance with Article 251 of the Treaty provides for the transmission of such data. 5. Confidential data transmitted in accordance with this Article shall be used exclusively for statistical purposes and only accessible to staff working in statistical activities within their specific domain of work. 6. The provisions on statistical confidentiality provided for in this Regulation shall apply to all confidential data transmitted within the ESS and between the ESS and the ESCB.
Article 22 
Protection of confidential data in the Commission (Eurostat) 1. Confidential data shall be accessible, subject to the exceptions laid down in paragraph 2, only to officials of the Commission (Eurostat) within their specific domain of work. 2. The Commission (Eurostat) may in exceptional cases grant access to confidential data to its other staff and to other natural persons working for the Commission (Eurostat) under contract within their specific domain of work. 3. Persons having access to confidential data shall use these data exclusively for statistical purposes. They shall be subject to this restriction even after cessation of their functions.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 22 Protection of confidential data in the Commission (Eurostat)):
1. Confidential data shall be accessible, subject to the exceptions laid down in paragraph 2, only to officials of the Commission (Eurostat) within their specific domain of work. 2. The Commission (Eurostat) may in exceptional cases grant access to confidential data to its other staff and to other natural persons working for the Commission (Eurostat) under contract within their specific domain of work. 3. Persons having access to confidential data shall use these data exclusively for statistical purposes. They shall be subject to this restriction even after cessation of their functions.
Article 23 
Access to confidential data for scientific purposes Access to confidential data which only allow for indirect identification of the statistical units may be granted to researchers carrying out statistical analyses for scientific purposes by the Commission (Eurostat) or by the NSIs or other national authorities, within their respective spheres of competence. If the data have been transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) the approval of the NSI or other national authority which provided the data is required. The Commission shall establish, by means of implementing acts, the arrangements, rules and conditions for access at Union level. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27(2).
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 23 Access to confidential data for research purposes):
Access to confidential data, including data made available by private data holders, which only allow for the indirect identification of the statistical units may be granted to researchers carrying out statistical analyses for scientific purposes by the Commission (Eurostat) or by the NSIs or other national authorities, within their respective spheres of competence. If the data have been transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat), the approval of the NSI or other national authority which provided the data is required. The Commission shall establish, by means of implementing acts, the arrangements, rules and conditions for access at Union level. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 27(2). For the purposes of this Regulation, research purposes shall cover research activities such as technological development and demonstration, fundamental research and applied research.
Article 25 
Data from public sources Data obtained from sources lawfully available to the public and which remain available to the public according to national legislation shall not be considered confidential for the purpose of dissemination of statistics obtained from those data.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 25 Publicly available data):
Data lawfully available to the public that remain available to the public pursuant to national or Union law shall not be considered confidential when used for statistical purposes or for the dissemination of statistics obtained from such data. Such data shall include in particular data on key attributes of individual companies as listed in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/138 ( 12 ).
Article 26 Violation of statistical confidentiality
Member States and the Commission shall take appropriate measures to prevent and penalise any violations of statistical confidentiality. The penalties provided for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Article 27 Committee procedure
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the ESS Committee. That Committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 23 ). 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.
Article 28 
Repeal 1. Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. References to the Committee on Statistical Confidentiality established under the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to the ESS Committee established by Article 7 of this Regulation. 2. Regulation (EC) No 322/97 is hereby repealed. 3. Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom is hereby repealed. References to the Statistical Programme Committee shall be construed as references to the ESS Committee established by Article 7 of this Regulation.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 28 Repeal):
1. Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. References to the Committee on Statistical Confidentiality established under the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to the ESS Committee established by Article 7 of this Regulation. 2. Regulation (EC) No 322/97 is hereby repealed. References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. 3. Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom is hereby repealed. References to the Statistical Programme Committee shall be construed as references to the ESS Committee established by Article 7 of this Regulation.
Article 29 
Entry into force This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following 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.
Amendment rationale: 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 specify new functions that statistical authorities could perform in the emerging European and national data ecosystems, while complying fully with the subsidiarity principle. 
Revised version (Article 29 Entry into force):
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .