Legislative strategy for cross-cutting ESS legislation Item 2.5a Legislative strategy for cross-cutting ESS legislation A. Götzfried Head of Unit B6 IT Directors‘Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

Background The ESS is based on heterogeneous pieces of legislation linked to specific statistical business processes = stove-pipe legislation determining stove-pipe production processes. Heterogeneity of legislation can cause additional costs for the statistical organisations involved (due to different legal standards for certain process steps, e.g. for data transmission). This situation should be improved with the creation of a new generation of statistical cross-cutting legislation stimulating the harmonisation and integration of statistical business processes within the ESS (see also the joint ESS vision adopted by the ESSC of 05/2010). IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

New legislative strategy for the ESS In the ESSC of May 2011: “ A comprehensive legislative policy for the ESS”. Overall legal framework: to be preserved or even strengthened; Horizontal regulations: to be further developed and enlarged to more areas (also to the ESS infrastructure); Indicator regulations: to be developed further (focus on statistics used for direct political or administrative purposes); Sector specific and framework regulations: to be progressively reviewed; broader statistical areas should be addressed; Soft law instruments: could be the preferred choice in the future for statistics which are not used for direct political and administrative purposes. IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

Business Statistics Hard law Soft law Social Statistics Agriculture Accounting Frameworks Infrastructural framework - focus on the enterprise - one statistical unit - common identifier - business register - ESS approach Overall legislative framework Code of Practice Statistical law Multi annual statistical work programs Methodological framework Manual Data/metadata legislation Harmonised data/metadata structures and exchange Data warehousing Confidentiality Harmonised metadata Quality frameworks Infrastructure legislation Annual statistical work programs Harmonized metadata, nomenclatures, etc. Business Statistics Agriculture Geo-spatial Environmental Social Statistics Soft law Hard law - reference manuals, definitions - sources and methods - best practices/guidances Business Data Structures IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

Outcome of the discussion on the new legislative strategy at the ESSC meeting in May 2011 The main results: For the first time a comprehensive ESS legal strategy was presented at the ESS. The discussion was complex and definitely not conclusive at this stage. The distinction and breakdown between hard law and soft law is not sufficiently clear at this stage. Discussions on political aspects of the ESS legislation should take place at political level; discussions on technical aspects of the ESS legislation should take place within the ESS. The general discussion on the new ESS legislative strategy will be continued. IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

Infrastructure/cross-cutting ESS legislation As more and more IT, technical and statistical standards get available, more infrastructural (cross-cutting) ESS legislation will be drawn up; the first two areas for which such legislation is in preparation are: Metadata Data and metadata exchange (incl. SDMX) Two draft EP/Council Regulations were prepared in 2010/2011. Without going into technical details, DIME and the ITDG were already discussing the general ideas. Based on internal management decisions at Eurostat, the “draft EP/Council Regulation on the harmonisation of data and metadata exchange for European statistics” and the “draft EP/Council Regulation on the harmonisation of metadata for European statistics” are submitted to the ITDG for discussion. IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

Proposal for an EP/Council Regulation on the harmonisation of data and metadata exchange for European statistics The main details: draft EP/Council Regulation to which implementing measures (i.e. Commission Regulations) need to be added; The main aim: to establish harmonised processes for data/metadata exchange and harmonised exchange standards for increasing the efficiency of the ESS statistical business processes; The use of the Single Entry Point is made obligatory; for the pull mode: Member states need to make data/metadata available for retrieving them by electronic means; SDMX as data/metadata standards has to be used for aggregated data; for micro-data the technical standards are to be defined in secondary legislation (delegated legal acts); Transitional periods can be granted for up to 5 years. IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

Proposal for an EP/Council Regulation on the harmonisation of metadata for European statistics The main details: draft EP/Council Regulation to which implementing measures (i.e. Commission Regulations) need to be added; Framework regulation for harmonised metadata and underlying metadata concepts to be used across the statistical business process; Aim: increase of efficiency of the statistical business processes used for the production, exchange and dissemination of European statistics; Different types of structural and reference metadata covered, often derived from the SDMX Content-oriented Guidelines; Implementation measures (Commission Regulations) will define the details on the ESMS, ESQRS, standard code lists and other metadata standards; Transitional periods can be granted for up to 5 years. IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

Community grants supporting the implementation of these two cross-cutting ESS legislations The main details: Community grants supporting the implementation of these two cross-cutting legislations are planned for mid 2012; The budget planned for these Community grants is 2 Mio €; Main national actions which could be supported are: the implementation of the SDMX technical, statistical and IT standards; the implementation of the ESS metadata standards, national work on process integration, etc.; A number of countries already showed interest on these grants; IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

Time table Discussion of the draft legislations in Directors’ Groups in the third and fourth quarter 2011; Submission of this legal package to the ESSC for information: 02/2012 Start of the formal legal procedure: first/second quarter 2012 Launch of the Community grants supporting the implementation of the legal package: mid 2012 IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies

Conclusions The two draft EP/Council legislations on data/metadata exchange and on harmonised metadata are fully in line with the ESS vision and the new Eurostat legislative strategy. More communication and discussions on these two draft legislations with Member states will be organised in Directors’ Groups. The time table for further handling of these two legislations was established. Supporting Community grants are planned for mid 2012. IT Directors‘ Group Meeting 18-19 October 2011 Document 2.5a: Legislative package and support policies