1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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