21.7.2012 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 194/39 COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION of 17 July 2012 on access to and preservation of scientific information (2012/417/EU) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 292 thereof, Whereas: (1) The Communication from the Commission Europe 2020 (1) puts forward the development of an economy based on knowledge and innovation as a priority. (2) The targets set by the Europe 2020 strategy are given in more detail in particular in the Flagship Initiatives ‘Digital Agenda for Europe’ (2) and ‘Innovation Union’ (3). Among the actions to be taken under the ‘Digital Agenda’, publicly funded research should be widely disseminated through open access publication of scientific data and papers. The ‘Innovation Union’ initiative calls for a European Research Area (ERA) framework to be set up to help remove obstacles to mobility and cross-border cooperation. It states that open access to publications and data from publicly funded research should be promoted and access to publications made the general principle for projects funded by the EU research Framework Programmes. (3) On 14 February 2007, the Commission adopted a Communication on scientific information in the digital age: access, dissemination and preservation (4), accompanied by a staff working paper. This provided an overview of the state of play in Europe regarding scientific publishing and the preservation of research results, examining relevant organisational, legal, technical and financial issues. (4) The Communication was followed in November 2007 by Council Conclusions on scientific information in the digital age: access, dissemination and preservation. The Conclusions invited the Commission to experiment with open access to scientific publications resulting from projects funded by EU research framework programmes and included a set of actions to be undertaken by the Member States. There have been advances in some of the areas dealt with in the Conclusions, but not all targets have been met and progress has been uneven among Member States. EU action is needed to make the most of Europe’s research potential. (5) Open access policies aim to provide readers with access to peer-reviewed scientific publications and research data free of charge as early as possible in the dissemination process, and enable the use and reuse of scientific research results. Such policies should be implemented taking into account the challenge of intellectual property rights. (6) Policies on open access to scientific research results should apply to all research that receives public funds. Such policies are expected to improve conditions for conducting research by reducing duplication of efforts and by minimising the time spent searching for information and accessing it. This will speed up scientific progress and make it easier to cooperate across and beyond the EU. Such policies will also respond to calls within the scientific community for greater access to scientific information. (7) Enabling societal actors to interact in the research cycle improves the quality, relevance, acceptability and sustainability of innovation outcomes by integrating society’s expectations, needs, interests and values. Open access is a key feature of Member States’ policies for responsible research and innovation by making the results of research available to all and by facilitating societal engagement. (8) Businesses will also benefit from wider access to scientific research results. Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular will improve their capacity to innovate. Policies on access to scientific information should therefore also facilitate access to scientific information for private companies. (9) The Internet has fundamentally changed the world of science and research. For instance, research communities have been experimenting with new ways to register, certify, disseminate and preserve scientific publications. Research and funding policies need to adapt to this new environment. It should be recommended to Member States to adapt and develop their policies on open access to scientific publications. (10) Open access to scientific research data enhances data quality, reduces the need for duplication of research, speeds up scientific progress and helps to combat scientific fraud. In its final report ‘Riding the wave: How Europe can gain from the rising tide of scientific data’ (5) in October 2010, the High Level Expert Group on Scientific Data emphasised the critical importance of sharing and preserving reliable data produced during the scientific process. Policy action on access to data is therefore urgent and should be recommended to Member States. (11) Preservation of scientific research results is in the public interest. It has traditionally been under the responsibility of libraries, especially national legal deposit libraries. The volume of research results generated is growing tremendously. Mechanisms, infrastructures and software solutions should be in place to enable long-term preservation of research results in digital form. Sustainable funding for preservation is crucial as curation costs for digitised content are still relatively high. Given the importance of preservation for the future use of research results, the establishment or reinforcement of policies in this area should be recommended to Member States. (12) Policies to be developed by Member States should be defined at national or sub-national level depending on the constitutional situation and the distribution of responsibilities for defining research policy. (13) Solid e-infrastructures underpinning the scientific information system will improve access to scientific information and the long-term preservation of it. This can boost collaborative research. According to the Communication of the Commission ‘ICT infrastructures for e-Science’ (6), e-Infrastructures are understood to be ‘an environment where research resources (hardware, software and content) can be readily shared and accessed wherever this is necessary to promote better and more effective research’. The further development of such infrastructures and their interconnection at European level should therefore be recommended. (14) The move towards open access is a worldwide endeavour, demonstrated by the ‘Revised strategy on UNESCO’s contribution to the promotion of open access to scientific information and research’ (7) and the ‘OECD Declaration on Access to Research Data from Public Funding’ (8). Member States should be part of this global endeavour and should set an example by enhancing an open, collaborative research environment based on reciprocity. (15) Given the transitional state of the publishing sector, stakeholders need to come together to accompany the transition process and look for sustainable solutions for the scientific publishing process. (16) On 12 December 2011 the Commission adopted a package consisting of a Communication on open data, a proposal for a Directive amending Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 on reuse of public sector information (9) and new Commission rules on the documents it holds. The package presented the Commission’s strategy on open data in a single coherent framework, encompassing actions including this Recommendation. (17) This Recommendation is accompanied by a Communication in which the Commission defines its policy and vision on open access to research results. It outlines the actions the Commission will take as a body providing funding for scientific research from the Union budget. (18) Together with this Recommendation and the accompanying Communication the Commission is adopting a Communication on ‘A reinforced European Research Area partnership for excellence and growth’ in which it sets out the key priorities for completing the European Research Area, one of which is the optimal circulation, access to and transfer of scientific knowledge, HEREBY RECOMMENDS THAT MEMBER STATES: Open access to scientific publications 1. Define clear policies for the dissemination of and open access to scientific publications resulting from publicly funded research. These policies should provide for: — concrete objectives and indicators to measure progress, — implementation plans, including the allocation of responsibilities, — associated financial planning. Ensure that, as a result of these policies: — there should be open access to publications resulting from publicly funded research as soon as possible, preferably immediately and in any case no later than 6 months after the date of publication, and 12 months for social sciences and humanities, — licensing systems contribute to open access to scientific publications resulting from publicly-funded research in a balanced way, in accordance with and without prejudice to the applicable copyright legislation, and encourage researchers to retain their copyright while granting licences to publishers, — the academic career system supports and rewards researchers who participate in a culture of sharing the results of their research, in particular by ensuring open access to their publications and by developing, encouraging and using new, alternative models of career assessment, metrics and indicators, — transparency is improved, in particular by informing the public about agreements between public institutions or groups of public institutions and publishers for the supply of scientific information. This should include agreements covering the so-called ‘big deals’, i.e. bundles of print and electronic journal subscriptions offered at discounted price, — small and medium-sized enterprises and unaffiliated researchers have the widest and cheapest possible access to scientific publications of the results of research that receives public funding. 2. Ensure that research funding institutions responsible for managing public research funding and academic institutions receiving public funding implement the policies by: — defining institutional policies for the dissemination of and open access to scientific publications; establishing implementation plans at the level of those funding institutions, — making the necessary funding available for dissemination (including open access), allowing for different channels, including digital e-infrastructures where appropriate, as well as new and experimental methods of scholarly communication, — adjusting the recruitment and career evaluation system for researchers and the evaluation system for awarding research grants to researchers so that those who participate in the culture of sharing results of their research are rewarded. Improved systems should take into account research results made available through open access and develop, encourage and use new, alternative models of career assessment, metrics and indicators, — giving guidance to researchers on how to comply with open access policies, especially on managing their intellectual property rights to ensure open access to their publications, — conducting joint negotiations with publishers to obtain the best possible terms for access to publications, including use and reuse, — ensuring that results of research that receives public funding are easily identifiable by appropriate technical means, including through metadata attached to electronic versions of the research output. Open access to research data 3. Define clear policies for the dissemination of and open access to research data resulting from publicly funded research. These policies should provide for: — concrete objectives and indicators to measure progress, — implementation plans, including the allocation of responsibilities (including appropriate licensing), — associated financial planning. Ensure that, as a result of these policies: — research data that result from publicly funded research become publicly accessible, usable and reusable through digital e-infrastructures. Concerns in particular in relation to privacy, trade secrets, national security, legitimate commercial interests and to intellectual property rights shall be duly taken into account. Any data, know-how and/or information whatever their form or nature which are held by private parties in a joint public/private partnership prior to the research action and have been identified as such shall not fall under such an obligation, — datasets are made easily identifiable and can be linked to other datasets and publications through appropriate mechanisms, and additional information is provided to enable their proper evaluation and use, — institutions responsible for managing public research funding and academic institutions that are publicly funded assist in implementing national policy by putting in place mechanisms enabling and rewarding the sharing of research data, — advanced-degree programmes of new professional profiles in the area of data-handling technologies are promoted and/or implemented. Preservation and reuse of scientific information 4. Reinforce the preservation of scientific information, by: — defining and implementing policies, including an allocation of responsibilities for the preservation of scientific information, together with associated financial planning, in order to ensure curation and long-term preservation of research results (primary research data and all other results, including publications), — ensuring that an effective system of deposit for electronic scientific information is in place, covering born-digital publications and, where relevant, the related datasets, — preserving the hardware and software needed to read the information in future, or by migrating the information to new software and hardware environments on a regular basis, — fostering the conditions for stakeholders to offer value-added services based on the reuse of scientific information. E-infrastructures 5. Further develop e-infrastructures underpinning the system for disseminating scientific information by: — Supporting scientific data infrastructures for dissemination of knowledge, research institutions and funding entities to address all stages of the data life cycle. These stages should include acquisition, curation, metadata, provenance, persistent identifiers, authorisation, authentication and data integrity. Approaches need to be developed to provide a common look and feel to data discovery across disciplines, thus reducing the learning curve required to achieve productivity, — supporting the development and training of new cohorts of data-intensive computational science experts, including data specialists, technicians and data managers, — leveraging and building on existing resources to be economically efficient and to innovate in the areas of analysis tools, visualisations, decision-making support, models and modelling tools, simulations, new algorithms and scientific software, — reinforcing the infrastructure for access to and preservation of scientific information at national level, and earmarking the necessary funds, — ensuring the quality and reliability of the infrastructure, including through the use of certification mechanisms for repositories, — ensuring interoperability among e-infrastructures at national and global level. 6. Ensure synergies among national e-infrastructures at European and global level by: — contributing to the interoperability of e-infrastructures, in particular addressing scientific data exchange, taking into account experiences with existing projects, infrastructures and software developed at European and global level, — supporting transnational cooperative efforts that promote the use and development of information and communication technologies infrastructure for higher education and research. Multi-stakeholder dialogue at national, European and international level 7. Participate in multi-stakeholder dialogues at national, European and/or international level on how to foster open access to and preservation of scientific information. Participants should in particular look at: — ways of linking publications to the underlying data, — ways of improving access and keeping costs under control, e.g. through joint negotiations with publishers, — new research indicators and bibliometrics encompassing not only scientific publications but also datasets and other types of output from research activity and the individual researcher’s performance, — new reward systems and structures, — the promotion of open access principles and implementation at international level, especially in the context of bilateral, multilateral and international cooperation initiatives. Structured coordination of Member States at EU level and follow-up to the Recommendation 8. Designate by the end of the year a national point of reference whose tasks will be: — coordinating the measures listed in this Recommendation, — acting as an interlocutor with the European Commission on questions pertaining to access to and preservation of scientific information, in particular better definitions of common principles and standards, implementation measures and new ways of disseminating and sharing research in the European Research Area, — reporting on the follow-up to this Recommendation. Reviewing and reporting 9. Inform the Commission 18 months from the publication of this Recommendation in the Official Journal of the European Union, and every two years thereafter, of action taken in response to the different elements of this Recommendation, in accordance with formalities to be defined and agreed. On this basis, the Commission will review the progress made across the EU to assess whether further action is needed to achieve the objectives laid down in this Recommendation. Done at Brussels, 17 July 2012. For the Commission Neelie KROES Vice-President (1) COM(2010) 2020 final of 3.3.2010, available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:2020:FIN:EN:PDF (2) COM(2010) 245 final/2 of 26.8.2010, available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:0245:FIN:EN:PDF (3) COM(2010) 546 final of 6.10.2010, available at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/pdf/innovation-union-communication_en.pdf#view=fit&pagemode=none (4) COM(2007) 56 final of 14.2.2007; available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52007DC0056:EN:NOT (5) http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/e-infrastructure/docs/hlg-sdi-report.pdf (6) COM(2009) 108 final. (7) http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/images/GOAP/OAF2011/213342e.pdf (8) http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/9/61/38500813.pdf (9) OJ L 345, 31.12.2003, p. 90.

Summary: Access to and preservation of scientific information Access to and preservation of scientific information Proposals to boost access to and the preservation of scientific information aim to give citizens faster and better access to the benefits of scientific discoveries. ACT Commission recommendation 2012/417/EU of 17 July 2012 on access to and preservation of scientific information (2012/417/EU) SUMMARY In July 2012, the European Commission proposed ways for EU countries to improve access to scientific information produced in Europe. Broader and more rapid access to scientific papers and data will make it easier for researchers and businesses to build on the findings of publicly funded research. The idea here is that this will boost Europe’s innovation capacity and give citizens quicker access to the benefits of scientific discoveries. Open access policies aim to provide readers with access to peer-reviewed scientific publications and research data free of charge as early as possible in the dissemination process and enable the use and reuse of scientific research results. Open access to publications The Commission recommends that EU Member States define clear policies to ensure the dissemination of and open access to scientific publications resulting from publicly funded research. Aims of these policies include: open access to publications resulting from publicly funded research as soon as possible, preferably immediately and in any case no later than 6 months after the date of publication (and 12 months for social sciences and humanities); licensing systems that contribute to open access to scientific publications resulting from publicly funded research; an academic career system that supports and rewards researchers who participate in a culture of sharing the results of their research; more transparency, in particular by informing the public about agreements between public institutions or groups of public institutions and publishers for the supply of scientific information; small and medium-sized enterprises and unaffiliated researchers having the widest and cheapest possible access to scientific publications of the results of research that receives public funding. Preservation and reuse of scientific information The Commission also has a range of proposals relating to the preservation and reuse of scientific information. These include ensuring the long-term preservation of research results, ensuring that an effective system of deposit for electronic scientific information is in place and preserving the hardware and software needed to read the information in future or by migrating the information to new software and hardware environments on a regular basis. E-infrastructures The Commission has also come up with a set of recommendations for the further development of e-infrastructures to facilitate the flow of scientific information. One of these is to support the development and training of new cohorts of data-intensive computational science experts, including data specialists, technicians and data managers. The Commission also suggests that EU Member States appoint a national point of reference to: coordinate the measures in this recommendation; act as an interlocutor with the Commission on questions relating to access to and preservation of scientific information; report on the follow-up to this recommendation. REFERENCES Act Entry into force Deadline for transposition in the Member States Official Journal Commission Recommendation 2012/417/EU - - OJ L 194 of 21.7.2012 RELATED DOCUMENTS Commission staff working document: Executive summary of impact assessment accompanying the document Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information. (SWD(2012) 221 final of 17.7.2012) Commission staff working document: Impact assessment accompanying the document Commission recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information in the digital age. (SWD(2012) 222 of 17.7.2012) last update 17.03.2014


18.9.2012 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 251/49 COMMISSION DECISION of 17 September 2012 on Eurostat (2012/504/EU) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Whereas: (1) Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics (1) provides the basic legal framework for European statistics. That Regulation refers to the Commission (Eurostat) as the Union’s statistical authority responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. (2) European statistics should be developed, produced and disseminated by Eurostat in accordance with the statistical principles set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, and further elaborated in the European statistics Code of Practice as reviewed and updated by the European Statistical System Committee on 28 September 2011. (3) Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 also provides for the protection of confidential data, which should be used exclusively for statistical purposes. (4) The Commission has undertaken to reinforce the statistical governance in the Union and to respect the above statistical principles (2). This commitment was confirmed and further developed in the Communication of 15 April 2011 to the European Parliament and the Council ‘Towards robust quality management for European Statistics’ (3). The present Decision should be regarded as a renewed commitment from the Commission on confidence in European statistics developed, produced and disseminated by Eurostat. (5) Recent developments in the Union’s economic governance framework have had an impact on the statistical domain and should be taken into account. This concerns, in particular, statistical independence as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1175/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies (4). (6) In this context, the powers of the Commission as appointing authority with regard to the recruitment, transfer and dismissal of the Director-General of Eurostat should be exercised, in accordance with the Staff Regulations, with due regard to the need to guarantee independence, objectivity and efficiency in the exercise of his or her responsibilities, and following a transparent procedure based on professional criteria only. (7) In addition, Eurostat has been assigned specific tasks by Council Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 of 25 May 2009 on the application of the Protocol on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the Treaty establishing the European Community (5). (8) Furthermore, as set out in the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on ‘the production method of EU statistics: a vision for the next decade’ (6), Eurostat should provide a high-quality statistical service by also enhancing relations with the Union bodies in order to anticipate statistical needs and advance the usage of existing statistics. This also involves building closer relations with other services of the Commission. (9) Statistics should be defined with reference to Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. For the purposes of this Decision, a distinction should also be made between European statistics and other statistics. (10) Setting policy objectives and determining the information required to achieve these objectives is a matter for policymakers. Those activities should therefore fall within the mandate and responsibilities of the concerned Commission services, while Eurostat should ensure the programming of activities related to European statistics, taking into account user needs, relevant policy developments and resource constraints. (11) Commission activities related to other statistics should be subject to a planning and coordination exercise with a view to ensuring consolidated information on these activities. This exercise should be steered by Eurostat and its scope limited to subjects upon which there is mutual agreement between the Commission services concerned and Eurostat. (12) European statistics are determined by the European statistical programme and the corresponding annual work programme. (13) To secure public trust in European statistics and to promote high-quality statistics developed, produced and disseminated by Eurostat, a process for labelling European statistics should be developed and applied. (14) The development, production and dissemination of high-quality European statistics should be safeguarded by the Director-General of Eurostat, who is the Chief Statistician. In addition, his or her tasks should include coordinating the statistical activities of the Commission with a view to ensuring quality and minimising reporting burden. Therefore, the Chief Statistician should also be consulted on the development and production of other statistics. (15) Close cooperation between Eurostat and other Commission services on statistical activities and the appropriate coordination of these activities by the Chief Statistician should ensure the coherence and comparability of European statistics and a better response to future challenges, in particular the need to minimise response burden and administrative burden. For the same purposes, access to administrative data sources within the Commission should be provided to the extent necessary and cost-effective for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. (16) Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (7) is applicable to the extent Eurostat processes personal data. In addition, European statistics produced on the basis of personal data should be gender-disaggregated when relevant. (17) It is therefore necessary to further define and clarify Eurostat’s role and responsibilities within the Commission. (18) Commission Decision 97/281/EC of 21 April 1997 on the role of Eurostat as regards the production of Community statistics (8) should be repealed, HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 Subject matter This Decision defines the role and responsibilities of Eurostat within the internal organisation of the Commission, as regards the development, production and dissemination of statistics. Article 2 Definitions For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘Statistics’ mean statistics as defined in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. They are either European statistics or other statistics; (2) ‘European statistics’ means statistics as referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 and as determined by the European statistics annual work programme; (3) ‘Other statistics’ means statistics that are not European statistics and that are identified in the planning and coordination exercise referred to in Article 5(2). Article 3 Eurostat Eurostat is the statistical authority of the Union referred to in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. It is a service of the Commission, headed by a Director-General. Article 4 Statistical principles Eurostat shall develop, produce and disseminate European statistics in accordance with the statistical principles of professional independence, impartiality, objectivity, reliability, statistical confidentiality and cost-effectiveness as defined in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 and as further elaborated in the European statistics Code of Practice. Article 5 Planning and programming 1. Activities related to European statistics shall be determined by the European statistical programme referred to in Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, and by the annual work programme referred to in Article 17 of that Regulation. 2. Activities related to other statistics shall be subject to and identified through a planning and coordination exercise steered by Eurostat. The scope of this exercise shall be limited to subjects upon which there is mutual agreement between the Commission services concerned and Eurostat. 3. Specific inter-service agreements may be established between Eurostat and the other services of the Commission for the purpose of these activities, including also activities related to administrative records. Article 6 Tasks of Eurostat 1. Eurostat shall be in charge of the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. To this end, Eurostat shall, in particular: (a) collect and aggregate the statistical information necessary to compile European statistics; (b) develop and promote statistical standards, methods and procedures; (c) steer the European Statistical System, strengthen cooperation among its partners, and ensure its leading role in official statistics worldwide; (d) cooperate with international organisations and third countries in order to facilitate the comparability of European statistics with statistics produced in other statistical systems and, where appropriate, support third countries in the improvement of their statistical systems. 2. Eurostat shall ensure that European statistics are made accessible to all users in accordance with statistical principles, in particular the principles of professional independence, impartiality and statistical confidentiality. In this respect, Eurostat shall provide the technical explanations and the support necessary for the use of European statistics and may use appropriate communication channels for the purpose of statistical news releases. 3. Eurostat shall ensure cooperation and regular constructive dialogue with other services of the Commission and, where necessary, with data providers with a view to taking into account user needs, relevant policy developments and other initiatives. To this end, those Commission services that are potential users of specific European statistics shall be informed and involved from an early stage in the development of new or changed statistics, among other things in order to understand the potential policy implications of new or changed statistical methods, standards and definitions. 4. Eurostat shall coordinate the development and production of other statistics. For that purpose, it shall: (a) optimise the use of existing information that can be used for statistical purposes, in order to ensure quality and minimise burden for respondents; Eurostat shall invite any service of the Commission concerned to contribute for that purpose; (b) be informed by all services of the Commission about the scope and quality characteristics of statistics produced by them, about significant changes in the methodology for the production of statistics, and about new data collections planned; (c) provide guidance, appropriate training and expert services to other Commission services necessary for the development and production of other statistics, subject to available resources. Article 7 Director-General of Eurostat 1. With regard to European statistics, the Director-General of Eurostat shall have sole responsibility for deciding on processes, statistical methods, standards and procedures, or on the content and timing of statistical releases, in accordance with the European statistical programme and the annual work programme. When carrying out these statistical tasks, the Director-General of Eurostat shall act in an independent manner; he or she shall neither seek nor take instructions from the Union institutions or bodies, from any government of a Member State, or from any other institution, body, office or entity. 2. The Director-General of Eurostat shall act as authorising officer for the implementation of the appropriations allocated to Eurostat. Article 8 Chief Statistician 1. The Director-General of Eurostat shall be regarded as the Chief Statistician. 2. The Chief Statistician shall: (a) be in charge of the development, production and dissemination of European statistics within the Commission; (b) be responsible for coordination of the development and production of other statistics as referred to in Articles 5(2) and 6(4); (c) represent the Commission in international statistical forums, notably for the purposes of coordinating the statistical activities of the institutions and bodies of the Union as referred to in Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009; (d) chair the European Statistical System Committee referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009; (e) prepare the programmes referred to in Article 5(1) of this Decision in close consultation with other services of the Commission, taking into account as far as possible user needs and other relevant developments; (f) liaise between the European Statistical System (ESS) and the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board in all matters relating to the implementation of the European statistics Code of Practice within the ESS as a whole. 3. Any service that intends to undertake activities involving the production of statistics shall consult the Chief Statistician at an early stage in the preparation of the activities concerned. The Chief Statistician may make recommendations in this regard. Initiatives not related to the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, especially in cases of specific inter-service agreements, shall fall entirely under the responsibility of the concerned service. Article 9 Access to administrative records 1. In order to reduce the burden on respondents, Eurostat shall have the right to access administrative data within the Commission services, subject to confidentiality rules established in Union legislation, and to integrate these administrative data with statistics to the extent that these data are relevant for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. 2. Eurostat shall be consulted on and may be involved in the initial design, subsequent development and discontinuation of administrative registers and databases built up and maintained by other Commission services, in order to facilitate further use of the data contained in these registers and databases for the purposes of European statistics. To that end, Eurostat shall have the right to propose standardisation activities concerning administrative records that are relevant for the production of European statistics. 3. To enhance the effectiveness of the provisions of this Article, each service of the Commission shall ensure that access to administrative data is granted to Eurostat upon request to the extent necessary for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, in accordance with confidentiality rules established in Union legislation. Article 10 European statistics Code of Practice 1. In accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, European statistics shall be developed, produced and disseminated by Eurostat in accordance with the European statistics Code of Practice as reviewed and updated by the European Statistical System Committee. 2. Eurostat shall involve the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board in all actions concerning the European statistics Code of Practice in accordance with the mandate of the Board. 3. Eurostat shall monitor the effective implementation of the European statistics Code of Practice by national statistical authorities. Article 11 Quality assurance and labelling 1. Eurostat shall ensure the quality management of European statistics. For that purpose, and on the basis of established quality criteria, while answering user needs for statistics with different quality profiles, Eurostat shall: (a) monitor and assess the quality of the data that it collects or receives, and report upon the quality of the European statistics that it disseminates; (b) promote and apply a labelling process for European statistics; (c) verify the data that are under Eurostat’s responsibility in the context of the Union’s enhanced economic governance and apply all the powers that have been specifically granted to Eurostat in the relevant procedures. 2. Eurostat shall establish a quality assurance framework, reflecting the measures in place or to be taken in order to ensure the proper implementation of the European statistics Code of Practice. Article 12 Use of confidential data 1. The Director-General of Eurostat shall take all necessary measures to ensure that statistical confidentiality is respected. 2. Data that are considered confidential pursuant to Article 3(7) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 shall, according to the provisions of Chapter V of the same Regulation, be accessible only to officials and other staff of Eurostat and other natural persons working for Eurostat under contract, wherever such data are necessary for the production of European statistics and within their specific domain of work. 3. The Director-General of Eurostat shall, in addition, take all necessary measures to protect data whose disclosure would cause prejudice to Union interests, or to the interests of the Member State to which they relate. Article 13 Repeal Decision 97/281/EC is repealed. References to the repealed Decision shall be construed as references to this Decision. Done at Brussels, 17 September 2012. For the Commission The President José Manuel BARROSO (1) OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164. (2) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and to the Council on the independence, integrity and accountability of the national and Community statistical authorities, COM(2005) 217 final. (3) COM(2011) 211 final. (4) OJ L 306, 23.11.2011, p. 12. (5) OJ L 145, 10.6.2009, p. 1. (6) COM(2009) 404 final. (7) OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1. (8) OJ L 112, 29.4.1997, p. 56.

Summary: Eurostat - the EU’s statistics office Eurostat - the EU’s statistics office SUMMARY OF: Decision 2012/504/EU clarifying the role of Eurostat WHAT IS THE AIM OF THIS DECISION? It clarifies the role and responsibilities of Eurostat as regards the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. KEY POINTS Eurostat is part of the European Commission and headed by a Director-General. Eurostat operates in line with the following statistical principles, as defined in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 and the European Statistics Code of Practice: professional independence;impartiality;objectivity;reliability;statistical confidentiality; andcost-effectiveness. Eurostat implements the European statistical programme and works on the basis of annual work programmes. Eurostat’s main tasks are to: collect and aggregate statistical data to compile European statistics;develop and promote statistical standards, methods and procedures;coordinate the European Statistical System (ESS), encourage cooperation among its partners and ensure it plays a leading role in official statistics at international level;cooperate at international level with other countries and organisations, and support certain non-EU countries in improving their statistical systems. Eurostat’s Director-General, who is also the Chief Statistician: has sole responsibility for deciding on processes, statistical methods, standards and procedures, and the content and timing of statistical releases. The Director-General must act independently and neither ask for nor take instructions from any EU institutions or bodies, from national governments or any other organisations. The Director-General must take all necessary measures to ensure that statistical confidentiality is respected;chairs the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC), which is composed of representatives of EU countries (from national statistics institutes) and which gives guidance to the ESS on developing, compiling and disseminating European statistics;also liaises between the ESS and the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (composed of independent statistics experts) on all matters regarding the implementation of the European Statistics Code of Practice. Subject to EU confidentiality rules, Eurostat can access the Commission services’ administrative data to reduce the workload for respondents. Eurostat is responsible for the quality management of European statistics and must establish a quality assurance system to ensure the European Statistics Code of Practice is properly implemented. Eurostat must ensure that European statistics are accessible to all users in accordance with statistical principles, in particular the principles of professional independence, impartiality and statistical confidentiality. FROM WHEN DOES THE DECISION APPLY? It has applied since 8 October 2012. BACKGROUND For more information, see: Eurostat and the European Statistical System (European Commission). MAIN DOCUMENT Commission Decision 2012/504/EU of 17 September 2012 on Eurostat (OJ L 251, 18.9.2012, pp. 49-52) last update 13.11.2017