52006PC0477

[pic] | COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |

Brussels, 4.9.2006

COM(2006) 477 final

2006/0159 (COD)

Proposal for a

REGULATION (EURATOM, EC) OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Codified version)

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. In the context of a people’s Europe, the Commission attaches great importance to simplifying and clarifying Community law so as to make it clearer and more accessible to the ordinary citizen, thus giving him new opportunities and the chance to make use of the specific rights it gives him.

This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous provisions that have been amended several times, often quite substantially, remain scattered, so that they must be sought partly in the original instrument and partly in later amending ones. Considerable research work, comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the current rules.

For this reason a codification of rules that have frequently been amended is also essential if Community law is to be clear and transparent.

2. On 1 April 1987 the Commission therefore decided[1] to instruct its staff that all legislative acts should be codified after no more than ten amendments, stressing that this is a minimum requirement and that departments should endeavour to codify at even shorter intervals the texts for which they are responsible, to ensure that the Community rules are clear and readily understandable.

3. The Conclusions of the Presidency of the Edinburgh European Council (December 1992) confirmed this[2] stressing the importance of codification as it offers certainty as to the law applicable to a given matter at a given time.

Codification must be undertaken in full compliance with the normal Community legislative procedure.

Given that no changes of substance may be made to the instruments affected by codification , the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have agreed, by an interinstitutional agreement dated 20 December 1994, that an accelerated procedure may be used for the fast-track adoption of codification instruments.

4. The purpose of this proposal is to undertake a codification of Council Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 of 11 June 1990 on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities[3]. The new Regulation will supersede the various acts incorporated in it[4]; this proposal fully preserves the content of the acts being codified and hence does no more than bring them together with only such formal amendments as are required by the codification exercise itself.

5. The codification proposal was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation , in all official languages, of Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 and the instruments amending it, carried out by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, by means of a data-processing system . Where the Articles have been given new numbers, the correlation between the old and the new numbers is shown in a table set out in Annex II to the codified Regulation.

ê 1588/90 (adapted)

2006/0159 (COD)

Proposal for a

REGULATION (EURATOM, EC) OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article Ö 285 Õ thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 187 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee[5],

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty[6],

Whereas:

ê

(1) Council Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 of 11 June 1990 on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities[7] has been substantially amended several times[8]. In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified.

ê 1588/90 Recital 1 (adapted)

(2) To enable it to carry out the duties entrusted to it by the Treaties, the Commission must have full and reliable information. With a view to efficient management, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, hereinafter referred to as Ö “Eurostat”, should Õ be able to obtain all the national statistical information necessary in order to prepare Community statistics and carry out the necessary analyses.

ê 1588/90 Recital 2 (adapted)

(3) Article Ö 10 Õ of the EC Treaty and Article 192 of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, hereinafter referred to as the “Euratom Treaty”, require Member States to facilitate the achievement of the Community's tasks. This obligation extends to providing all the requisite information. Ö Moreover, Õ the absence of confidential statistical data constitutes for Ö Eurostat Õ a considerable loss of information at Community level and makes it difficult to prepare statistics and carry out analyses on the Community.

ê 1588/90 Recital 3 (adapted)

(4) Member States have no further cause to invoke provisions on statistical confidentiality Ö , since Õ it is established that Ö Eurostat Õ offers the same data confidentiality guarantees as the national statistical institutes. These guarantees are already to some extent enshrined in the Community Treaties, notably in Article Ö 287 Õ of the EC Treaty Ö , Õ Article 194(1) of the Euratom Treaty, and Ö Article 17 of Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 of the Council of 29 February 1968 laying down Õ the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities Ö and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities and instituting special measures temporarily applicable to officials of the Commission[9], Õ and can be backed up by appropriate measures under this Regulation.

ê 1588/90 Recital 6

(5) Any violation of statistical confidentiality protected by this Regulation must be dealt with effectively, whoever the offender may be.

ê 1588/90 Recital 7 (adapted)

(6) Any infringement of the rules binding officials and other servants working for Ö Eurostat Õ, whether committed wilfully or through negligence, renders them liable to disciplinary sanctions and, if appropriate, legal penalties for violation of professional secrecy, pursuant to the combined provisions of Articles 12 and 18 of the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Communities Ö [10] Õ .

ê 1588/90 Recital 8 (adapted)

(7) In accordance with Article Ö 288 Õ of the EEC Treaty and Article 188 of the Euratom Treaty, the Community shall make good any damage caused by its institutions or by its servants in the performance of their duties.

ê 1588/90 Recital 9 (adapted)

(8) This Regulation applies only to the transmission to Ö Eurostat Õ of statistical data which, in the national statistical institutes' field of competence, are covered by statistical confidentiality, and does not affect special national or Community provisions relating to the transmission of other types of information to the Commission.

ê 1588/90 Recital 10 (adapted)

(9) This Regulation is to be adopted without prejudice to Article Ö 296(1)(a) Õ of the EC Treaty, under which no Member State is required to supply information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to the essential interests of its security.

ê 1588/90 Recital 13 (adapted)

(10) Implementation of the provisions contained in this Regulation, and in particular those designed to ensure the protection of confidential statistical data transmitted to Ö Eurostat Õ , will require human, technical and financial resources.

ê

(11) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation shall be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission[11],

ê 1588/90

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1. The purpose of this Regulation is:

ê 1588/90 (adapted)

Ö (a) Õ to authorise national authorities to transmit confidential statistical data to the Statistical Office of the European Communities (hereinafter referred to as Ö “Eurostat”); Õ

Ö (b) Õ to provide a guarantee that the Commission will take all necessary measures to ensure the confidentiality of data thus transmitted.

ê 1588/90

2. This Regulation shall apply to statistical confidentiality only. It shall not affect special, Community or national provisions safeguarding confidentiality other than statistical confidentiality.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation, the terms given below are defined as follows:

ê 322/97 Art. 21(2) (adapted)

Ö (a) Õ confidential statistical data: data defined in Article 13 of Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 [12];

ê 1588/90 (adapted)

Ö (b) Õ national authorities: national statistical institutes and other national bodies responsible for the collection and use of statistics for the Communities;

Ö (c) Õ information on the private lives of natural persons: information on the private and family lives of natural persons as defined by national legislation or practices in the various Member States;

Ö (d) Õ use for statistical purposes: use exclusively for the compilation of statistical tables or for statistical economic analyses; may not be used for administrative, legal or tax purposes or for verification against the units surveyed;

Ö (e) Õ statistical unit: basic unit covered by statistical data transmitted to Ö Eurostat Õ ;

Ö (f) Õ direct identification: identification of a statistical unit from its name or address, or from an officially allocated and published identification number;

Ö (g) Õ indirect identification: possibility of deducing the identity of a statistical unit other than from the information mentioned in point Ö (f) Õ ;

Ö (h) Õ officials of Ö Eurostat Õ : officials of the Communities, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities, working at Ö Eurostat Õ ;

Ö (i) Õ other staff of Ö Eurostat Õ : servants of the Communities, within the meaning of Articles 2 to 5 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities, working at Ö Eurostat Õ ;

Ö (j) Õ dissemination: supply of data in any form whatever: publications, access to databases, microfiches, telephone communications, etc.

Article 3

1. The national authorities shall be authorised to transmit confidential statistical data to Ö Eurostat Õ .

2. National rules on statistical confidentiality may not be invoked to prevent the transmission of confidential statistical data to Ö Eurostat Õ where an act of Community law governing a Community statistic provides for the transmission of such data.

3. Transmission to Ö Eurostat Õ of confidential statistical data, within the meaning of paragraph 2, shall be carried out in such a way that statistical units cannot be directly identified. This does not preclude the admissibility of more far-reaching transmission rules in accordance with the legislation of the Member States.

4. National authorities shall not be obliged to transmit information on the private lives of natural persons to Ö Eurostat Õ if the information transmitted could enable those persons to be identified either directly or indirectly.

Article 4

1. The Commission shall take all the necessary regulatory, administrative, technical and organisational measures to ensure the confidentiality of statistical data transmitted by the competent departments of Member States to Ö Eurostat Õ in accordance with Article 3.

Ö 2. Õ The Commission shall establish the procedures for transmitting confidential statistical data to Ö Eurostat Õ and the principles for protection of such data in accordance with the procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 7 Ö (2) Õ .

Article 5

1. The Commission shall instruct the Director-General of Ö Eurostat Õ to ensure the protection of data transmitted to Ö Eurostat Õ by the national departments of the Member States. It shall establish the arrangements for the internal organisation of Ö Eurostat Õ in order to ensure such protection, after consulting the Committee referred to in Article 7 Ö (1) Õ.

2. Confidential statistical data transmitted to Ö Eurostat Õ shall be accessible only to officials of Ö Eurostat Õ and may be used by them exclusively for statistical purposes.

3. However, the Commission may grant access to confidential statistical data to other staff of Ö Eurostat Õ and other natural persons working on the premises of Ö Eurostat Õ under contract, in special cases and exclusively for statistical purposes. The procedures for such access shall be determined by the Commission in accordance with the procedure Ö referred to Õ in Article 7 Ö (2) Õ .

4. Confidential statistical data in Ö Eurostat’s Õ possession may be disseminated only when combined with other data in a form which ensures that statistical units cannot be identified either directly or indirectly.

5. Officials and other staff of Ö Eurostat Õ and other natural persons working on the premises of Ö Eurostat Õ under contract may not use or distribute these data for purposes other than those laid down in this Regulation. This prohibition shall continue to apply following transfer, termination of service or retirement.

ê 1588/90 Art. 4(2) (adapted)

6. The protection measures referred to in Ö paragraphs 1 to 5 Õ shall apply to:

(a) all confidential statistical data the transmission of which to Ö Eurostat Õ is covered by an act of Community law governing a Community statistic Ö ; Õ

(b) all confidential statistical data transmitted voluntarily by Member States to Ö Eurostat Õ .

ê 1588/90 (adapted)

Article 6

Member States shall, before 1 January 1992, take appropriate measures to curb any violations of the obligation to maintain the secrecy of confidential statistical data transmitted in accordance with Article 3. These measures shall concern at least violations committed in the territory of the Member State concerned, by officials or other staff of Ö Eurostat Õ and by the other natural persons working under contract on the premises of Ö Eurostat Õ .

ê 1588/90

Member States shall inform the Commission without delay of the measures taken. The Commission shall pass on this information to the other Member States.

ê 1882/2003 Art. 2 and Annex II, pt. 4 (adapted)

Article 7

1. Ö The Commission shall be assisted by a Õ Committee on Statistical Confidentiality, hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”.

2. Where reference is made to this Ö paragraph Õ, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

ê 1882/2003 Art. 2 and Annex II, pt. 4

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

ê 1588/90

Article 8

The Committee shall examine questions raised by its chairman, either on his own initiative or at the request of the representative of a Member State, relating to the implementation of this Regulation.

ê

Article 9

Regulation ( Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 is repealed.

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex II.

ê 1588/90 Art. 9 (adapted)

Article 10

This Regulation shall enter into force on the Ö twentieth Õ day following Ö that of Õ its publication in the Official Journal of the European Ö Union Õ .

ê 1588/90

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

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

é

ANNEX I

Repealed Regulation with its successive amendments

Council Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 (OJ L 151, 15.6.1990, p. 1) |

Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 (OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1) | Only Article 21(2) |

Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1) | Only Annex II, point 4 |

_____________

ANNEX II

Correlation Table

Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 | This Regulation |

Article 1(1) first and second indents | Article 1(1), points (a) and (b) |

Article 1(2) | Article 1(2) |

Article 2, points (1) to (10) | Article 2, points (a) to (j) |

Article 3(1) | Article 3(1) |

Article 3(2) | Article 3(2) |

Article 3(3) first subparagraph | _____ |

Article 3(3) second subparagraph | Article 3(3) |

Article 3(4) | Article 3(4) |

Article 4(1) | Article 4(1) |

Article 4(2) | Article 5(6) |

Article 4(3) | Article 4(2) |

Article 5(1) to (5) | Article 5(1) to (5) |

Articles 6, 7 and 8 | Articles 6, 7 and 8 |

_____ | Article 9 |

Article 9 | Article 10 |

_____ | Annex I |

_____ | Annex II |

_____________

[1] COM(87) 868 PV.

[2] See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions.

[3] Carried out pursuant to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – Codification of the Acquis communautaire, COM(2001) 645 final.

[4] See Annex I to this proposal.

[5] OJ C […], […], p. […].

[6] OJ C […], […], p. […].

[7] OJ L 151, 15.6.1990, p 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).

[8] See Annex I.

[9] OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2104/2005 (OJ L 337, 22.12.2005, p. 7).

[10] OJ L 152, 13.7.1967, p. 13.

[11] OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

[12] OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1.