Regulation 2015/759 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (Text with relevance for the EEA and Switzerland) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 123/90

The European Statistical System (‘ESS’), as a partnership, has, in general, successfully consolidated its activities to ensure the development, production and dissemination of high-quality European statistics, including by improving governance of the ESS.

However, some weaknesses have recently been identified, in particular with regard to the statistical quality-management framework.

In its Communication of 15 April 2011 entitled ‘Towards robust quality management for European Statistics’ the Commission suggested action to address those weaknesses and to strengthen governance of the ESS. In particular, it suggested a targeted amendment of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3).

In its conclusions of 20 June 2011, the Council welcomed the Commission's initiative and stressed the importance of continuously improving the governance and efficiency of the ESS.

The impact on the statistical domain of recent developments in the context of the economic-governance framework of the Union should be taken into account, in particular those aspects related to professional independence such as transparent recruitment and dismissal processes, budgetary allocations and release calendars, as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1175/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), as well as those aspects related to the requirement for bodies in charge of monitoring the implementation of national fiscal rules to enjoy functional autonomy, as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 473/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5).

Those aspects that relate to professional independence, such as transparent recruitment and dismissal processes, budgetary allocations and release calendars, should not remain limited to the statistics produced for the purposes of the fiscal surveillance system and the excessive deficit procedure but should apply to all European statistics developed, produced and disseminated by the ESS.

Moreover, the adequacy of resources attributed on an annual or a multiannual basis and available to meet statistical needs is a necessary condition for ensuring the professional independence of statistical authorities and the high quality of statistical data.

To that end, the professional independence of statistical authorities should be strengthened and minimum standards, applicable across the Union, should be ensured. Specific guarantees should be provided to the heads of national statistical institutes (NSIs), in terms of the performance of statistical tasks, organisational management and resource allocation. The procedures for recruitment of heads of NSIs should be transparent and based only on professional criteria. They should ensure that the principle of equal opportunities is respected, in particular with regard to gender.

While credible European statistics require strong professional independence on the part of statisticians, European statistics should also respond to policy needs and...