Legal provisions of COM(2011)928 - European statistical programme 2013-2017

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dossier COM(2011)928 - European statistical programme 2013-2017.
document COM(2011)928 EN
date January 15, 2013

Contents

Article 1 - Establishment of the European statistical programme

The European statistical programme for the period from 2013 to 2017 (‘the programme’) is hereby established.

Article 2 - Added value

The programme represents the added value of ensuring that European statistics are focused on the information needed to design, implement, monitor and evaluate Union policies. In addition, it contributes to the effective use of resources by fostering actions which provide an essential contribution to the development, production and dissemination of harmonised, comparable, reliable, user-friendly and accessible statistical information based on uniform standards and common principles set out in the European Statistics Code of Practice (‘Code of Practice’), as adopted by the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC), in particular the quality criteria of relevance, accuracy and reliability, timeliness and punctuality, accessibility and clarity, and coherence and comparability.

Article 3 - Scope

1. This Regulation provides the programming framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for the period from 2013 to 2017, in accordance with Articles 13 and 14 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.

2. The programme does not cover measures provided for by the Programme for the Modernisation of European Enterprise and Trade Statistics (‘the MEETS Programme’), established by Decision No 1297/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (9), until the end of the MEETS Programme on 31 December 2013, but includes objectives in the area of enterprise and trade statistics planned to be implemented from 2014 to 2017.

Article 4 - Objectives

1. The general objective of the programme is for the European Statistical System (ESS) to continue to be the leading provider of high-quality statistics on Europe.

2. Bearing in mind the available resources both at national and Union level as well as the response burden, the following specific objectives shall be pursued in statistical actions undertaken for the implementation of the programme:

—   Objective 1: provide statistical information, in a timely manner, to support the development, monitoring and evaluation of the policies of the Union properly reflecting priorities, while keeping a balance between economic, social and environmental fields and serving the needs of the wide range of users of European statistics, including other decision-makers, researchers, businesses and European citizens in general, in a cost-effective manner without unnecessary duplication of effort,

—   Objective 2: implement new methods of production of European statistics aiming at efficiency gains and quality improvements,

—   Objective 3: strengthen the partnership within the ESS and beyond in order to further enhance its productivity and its leading role in official statistics worldwide, and

—   Objective 4: ensure that delivery of such statistics is kept consistent throughout the whole duration of the programme, provided that this does not interfere with the priority-setting mechanisms of the ESS.

3. The general and specific objectives referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 are elaborated further in the Annex, together with the indicators used for monitoring the implementation of the programme. In accordance with Articles 13 and 14 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, the programme shall be subject to detailed annual planning which will include a priority-setting mechanism as an integral part of the process. The objectives of the programme shall be achieved through close and coordinated cooperation in the ESS. The programme shall include the development of appropriate instruments resulting in enhanced quality, a greater flexibility of the ESS and the increased ability to satisfy users’ needs in a timely manner. It shall also pioneer the development of reliable indicators able to meet the challenges of the 21st century, namely measuring environmental sustainability, quality of life and social cohesion, and record economic activity in the tertiary sector and the social economy.

Article 5 - Statistical governance, independence, transparency and quality

1. European statistics shall be produced in a professionally independent and transparent manner.

2. The programme shall be implemented in accordance with the principles of the Code of Practice with a view to producing and disseminating high-quality, harmonised and comparable European statistics in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, and ensuring the proper functioning of the ESS as a whole. The national statistical institutes and the Union statistical authority (Commission (Eurostat)) shall ensure, through their professional independence, that European statistics comply with the Code of Practice.

3. The national statistical institutes and other national authorities as designated by the Member States (collectively, ‘national statistical authorities’), and the Commission (Eurostat), which are responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, shall:

—aim to reinforce an institutional and organisational environment which promotes the coordination, effectiveness and credibility of national statistical authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) producing and disseminating European statistics,

—place emphasis on the statistical principles set out in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 and the needs of users,

—serve the needs of Union institutional users in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, and seek to develop statistics which serve a wide range of users of European statistics, including other decision-makers, researchers, businesses and European citizens in general, and

—cooperate with statistical bodies at international level in order to promote the use of international concepts, classifications, methods and other standards, in particular, with a view to ensuring more coherence and better comparability at global level.

4. Each Member State shall endeavour to ensure that its statistical production processes are set up in a standardised manner and are enhanced, to the extent possible, by audit mechanisms.

5. In the interest of transparency, the Commission (Eurostat) shall, where appropriate, disclose publicly its assessment of the quality of national contributions to European statistics as part of the quality reporting and compliance monitoring exercise.

6. The Commission (Eurostat) shall consider how to make its publications, particularly those which are accessible via its website, more user-friendly to non-professionals, and shall allow easy access to complete data series and include intuitive comparative graphs in order to give more added value to citizens. The periodic updates of the Commission (Eurostat) shall provide, where possible, information on each Member State and shall offer annual, monthly and long-term data series, where appropriate, and where the benefits are greater than the costs of collection.

Article 6 - Statistical priority-setting

1. The programme shall ensure statistical initiatives underpinning the development, implementation and monitoring of current Union policies and shall provide statistical support for important requirements resulting from new Union policy initiatives.

2. The Commission shall, in the preparation of the annual work programmes referred to in Article 9, ensure effective priority-setting and an annual review of, and report on, statistical priorities. The annual work programmes will thereby aim to ensure that European statistics can be produced within the available resources at the national and the Union level. Prioritisation shall contribute to the reduction of costs and burdens for new statistical requirements by reducing statistical requirements in existing domains of European statistics and shall be pursued in close cooperation with the Member States.

3. The Commission shall ensure the development and implementation of instruments to annually review the priorities of statistical activities in order to contribute to the reduction of costs and burdens on data providers and producers of statistics.

4. When putting forward new actions or introducing major revisions of existing statistics, the Commission shall duly justify such actions or revisions and shall provide information with input from Member States on response burden and production costs in accordance with Article 14(3) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.

Article 7 - Financing

1. The Union financial envelope for the implementation of the programme for 2013 is set at EUR 57,3 million, covered by the programming period 2007 to 2013.

2. Not later than three months after the adoption of the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-20 (‘MFF 2014 to 2020’), the Commission is invited to submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a legislative proposal introducing the financial allocation for the period 2014 to 2017.

3. The Commission shall implement the Union financial support in accordance with the Financial Regulation.

4. The Commission shall adopt its decision on annual appropriations in compliance with the prerogatives of the budgetary authority.

Article 8 - Administrative and technical assistance

The financial allocation for the programme may cover expenses pertaining to preparatory, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities which are required for the management of the programme and the achievement of its objectives; in particular, studies, meetings of experts, expenses linked to the reimbursement of statistical experts, information and communication actions, expenses linked to IT networks focusing on information processing and exchange, together with all other technical and administrative assistance expenses incurred by the Commission for the management of the programme. The allocation may also cover technical assistance and expertise provided to Member States which are unable to produce certain European statistics or statistics of the required quality due to specific circumstances.

Article 9 - Annual work programmes

In order to implement the programme, the Commission shall adopt annual work programmes which shall satisfy the requirements laid down in Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 and which shall set out the objectives pursued by them and their expected results, in accordance with the general and specific objectives referred to in Article 4(1) and (2) of this Regulation. Each annual work programme shall be communicated to the European Parliament for information purposes.

Article 10 - Types of intervention

Financial contributions by the Union may take the form of grants, public procurement contracts or any other interventions needed for the purposes of achieving the general and specific objectives referred to in Article 4(1) and (2).

Article 11 - Eligible actions

1. A financial contribution by the Union shall support actions for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics needed for the purposes of achieving the general and specific objectives referred to in Article 4(1) and (2). Priority shall be given to actions with high added value for the Union in accordance with Article 2.

2. A financial contribution to support collaborative networks as referred to in Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 may take the form of grants for an action and may cover up to 95 % of the eligible costs.

3. Where appropriate, operating grants, not exceeding 50 % of the eligible costs, may be awarded for the functioning of organisations referred to in Article 12(3).

4. As a contribution to expenses incurred by the Member States in carrying out actions based on data collection, a lump sum per set of data, the complete results of which are to be forwarded to the Commission, may be paid up to a maximum threshold defined per data collection. The amount of the lump sum shall be defined by the Commission taking due account of the complexity of the data collection.

Article 12 - Beneficiaries eligible for grants

1. In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 128(1) of the Financial Regulation, grants to the national statistical authorities identified in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 may be awarded without a call for proposals.

2. Collaborative networks may involve beneficiaries referred to in paragraph 1 and other bodies without a call for proposals in accordance with Article 128(1) of the Financial Regulation.

3. The operating grants referred to in Article 11(3) may be awarded to organisations which comply with both of the following criteria:

(a)they are non-profit making, are independent of industry, commercial and business or other conflicting interests, and have as their primary objectives and activities the promotion and support of the implementation of the Code of Practice and the implementation of new methods of production of European statistics aiming at efficiency gains and quality improvements at Union level; and

(b)they have provided the Commission with satisfactory accounts of their membership, internal rules and sources of funding.

Article 13 - Protection of the financial interests of the Union

1. The Commission shall take appropriate measures to ensure that, when actions financed under this Regulation are implemented, the financial interests of the Union are protected by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by consistent and effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by the recovery of the amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by effective, proportionate and deterrent penalties.

2. The Commission or its representatives and the Court of Auditors shall have the competence to audit, on the basis of documents and on-the-spot checks, all grant beneficiaries, contractors and subcontractors who have received funding within the framework of this Regulation.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) shall, where appropriate, carry out on-the-spot checks and inspections of economic operators concerned directly or indirectly by such funding in accordance with the procedures laid down in Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities’ financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (10), with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with a grant agreement, grant decision or contract funded pursuant to this Regulation.

Without prejudice to the first and second subparagraphs, cooperation agreements with third countries and international organisations, and grant agreements, grant decisions and contracts resulting from the implementation of this Regulation shall expressly empower the Commission, the Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits, on-the-spot checks and inspections.

Article 14 - Participation in the programme by third countries

Participation in the programme shall be open to:

(a)the EEA/EFTA countries, in accordance with the conditions established in the Agreement on the European Economic Area;

(b)Switzerland, in accordance with the conditions established in the Agreement of 26 October 2004 between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on cooperation in the field of statistics (11); and

(c)countries to which the European Neighbourhood Policy applies, countries which have applied for membership of the Union, candidate and acceding countries, and the western Balkan countries included in the stabilisation and association process, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the respective bilateral or multilateral agreements with those countries establishing the general principles for their participation in Union programmes.

Article 15 - Evaluation and review of the programme

1. The Commission shall, after consulting the ESSC, submit an intermediate progress report on the implementation of the programme to the European Parliament and to the Council by 30 June 2015.

2. No later than 31 December 2016, the Commission may, on the basis of the intermediate progress report referred to in paragraph 1, and after consulting the ESSC, submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a proposal for the extension of the programme for the period from 2018 to 2020, while complying with the MFF 2014 to 2020.

3. By 31 December 2018, the Commission shall, after consulting the ESSC and the European Statistical Advisory Committee, submit a final evaluation report on the implementation of the programme to the European Parliament and to the Council.

Article 16 - Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2013.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.