In May 2015, as a result of a long legislative procedure, the EU legal framework for European statistics has been substantially amended. The Regulation (EU) 2015/759 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 amending Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 19 May 2015.

Main modifications of the 223/2009 regulation relate to:

• strengthening the power of the national statistical institutes (NSIs) while executing coordinating responsibility on other national authorities (ONAs) responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. The head of NSI is now entitled to produce national guidelines, with the purpose of ensuring quality in the development, production and dissemination of all European statistics within the national statistical system. Implementation of such guidelines is to be monitored and reviewed also by head of NSI;
• ensuring the professional independence of head of NSI. Procedures for the recruitment and appointment of head of NSI shall be transparent and based on professional criteria only. The reasons for dismissal or transfer to another position cannot compromise their professional independence;

• committing member states to maintaining trust in European statistics, which is to be done by full implementation of the statistical principles contained in the “Code of Practice”. This is to be accomplished by adopting “Commitments on Confidence in Statistics” by every member state in a form relevant to their legal and administrative systems;
• granting NSIs, ONAs and the Commission (Eurostat), within their own respective public administrative system, right to access and use, promptly and free of charge, all administrative records, and to integrate those administrative records with statistics, to the extent necessary for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. Furthermore, NSIs shall be consulted on, and involved in the development of administrative records maintained by other bodies.

More information about European statistics: EUROPEAN STATISTICAL SYSTEM and EUROSTAT