Choose the experimental features you want to try

This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website

Demography statistics

SUMMARY OF:

Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 on European demographic statistics

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE REGULATION?

  • Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 seeks to regulate the harmonisation and provision of data on population and on vital events (i.e. births and deaths) linked to the population.
  • It lays down common definitions, subjects covered and characteristics of the required information, coverage, quality criteria and reporting deadlines and results, although European Union (EU) Member States will compile the data using their own national sources and practices.

KEY POINTS

Why are these statistics important?

  1. High-quality population estimates are vital for the EU’s democratic process, i.e. they are important in the calculation of the weighting of votes, as in the case of qualified majority voting in the Council of the European Union. Since , a qualified majority has been defined as at least 55 % of the members of the Council, comprising at least 15 of them and representing Member States comprising at least 65 % of the population of the EU (double majority).
  2. The long-term assessment of the sustainability of Member States’ public finances is, among other things, conducted on the basis of Eurostat population projections; these, in turn, require timely, accurate, reliable and consistent time series on population, births and deaths, together with sound assumptions concerning the future development of fertility, life expectancy and migration flows.
  3. Progress of the EU’s sustainable development strategy is assessed via the Eurostat monitoring report, which uses time series on old-age dependency ratios, fertility rates and life expectancy in the EU.
  4. Trends in achieving economic, social and territorial cohesion are assessed on the basis of regional demographic data.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 205/2014 lays down uniform conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 as regards the breakdown (i.e. disaggregation) of data, deadlines and data revisions.

Repeal

Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 will be repealed and replaced by Regulation (EU) 2025/2458 (see summary) as of .

FROM WHEN DOES THE REGULATION APPLY?

It has applied since .

BACKGROUND

For further information see:

MAIN DOCUMENT

Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of on European demographic statistics (OJ L 330, , pp. 39‒43).

last update

Top