The European Commission has adopted a proposal aimed at making the European Statistical System (ESS) considerably more responsive to the growing demand for more detailed information, produced more quickly and at a higher frequency. To achieve this objective, the initiative provides for the establishment of a solid legal framework enabling the full potential of data sources and digital technologies to be made use of for European statistics.
The text amends Regulation 223/2009 on European statistics, which was previously revised in 2015 to strengthen the governance of the ESS.
The proposal will help to increase the effectiveness of the ESS by encouraging the sharing of data and strengthening coordination. However, it will also ensure that statistical confidentiality and data secrecy are strictly preserved. More specifically, the proposal will establish a mechanism for private data holders to authorise the reuse of their data for the production of European statistics, thereby ensuring sustainable and fair use of digital data sources.
The proposal will also make it easier to initiate EU statistical actions in response to crises and exceptional circumstances by making it compulsory for Member States and the European institutions to share data.
In addition, the text aims to streamline the exchange of data between Member States and obliges the national statistical authorities to cooperate more closely for statistical purposes, where this is relevant and justified.
Finally, the proposal will enable Eurostat, the European Commission’s Directorate-General responsible for statistical information at Community level, to share data with national statistical authorities via a secure digital infrastructure. It will also further the interoperability and standardisation of data between national statistical authorities.
The text must now be submitted to the co-legislators, the European Parliament and the EU Council.
Read the proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/80v (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)