The European Statistical Training Programme (ESTP)

European Statistical week, a study visit to Eurostat

Quiz on the legal framework for European

Statistics and related issues

Luxembourg, 24-28 October 2016

• A) The Council

• B) The Commission

• C) The Council and the European Parliament

1. Which institution or institutions do we call the European legislator?

2. What is the difference between primary and secondary EU legislation?

• A. Primary legislation is all legislation concerning the 4 basic freedoms established by the Treaty while secondary legislation concerns other policy fields of the EU;

• B. Primary legislation is constituted by the Treaties and the protocols annexed thereto while secondary legislation is all instruments adopted by the Council, the Parliament and/or the Commission on the basis of the Treaties;

• C. A basic legal act adopted by the European legislator is called primary legislation, while an implementing act or a delegated act adopted by the Commission is called secondary legislation.

3. Is there a reference to statistics in the primary EU legislation?

• A. Yes – in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

• B. No

• C. Yes — in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics.

4. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European

statistics is a framework regulation. What kind of provisions does it contain?

• A. Basic provisions on the functioning of the European Statistical System

• B. Basic provisions on the different kinds of statistics that should be produced at European level;

• C. Detailed rules for the functioning of the national statistical authorities

5. Are the recitals at the beginning of the Regulation binding (paragraphs 1-32, introduced by a “Whereas”)?

• A. Yes, they clarify the context of the Regulation and provide a justification for the Articles and thus constitute an integral part of the Regulation;

• B. No, they clarify the context of the Regulation and provide a justification for the Articles, but only the Articles are binding;

• C. They are binding only if the Member States make a specific statement to that effect.

6. What does “OJ L” stand for in many of the footnotes?

• A. “Official Journal – Letters”

• B. “Official Journal – Legislation”

• C. "Official Journal – Ludicrous"

7. Which are the 6 statistical principles of the Regulation?

• A. Professional independence, subsidiarity, impartiality, coherence, statistical confidentiality and cost effectiveness

• B. Professional independence, impartiality, objectivity, coherence, flexibility and perseverance

• C. Professional independence, impartiality, objectivity, reliability, statistical confidentiality and cost effectiveness

8. Why are some terms and notions defined in the Regulation?

• A. Definitions clarify how a term or a notion, which could otherwise have different meanings, should be read in the context of all EU legislation in the same domain, both past and future;

• B. Definitions clarify how a term or a notion, which could otherwise have different meanings, should be read in the context of the specific Regulation; they never add something to the substance of the Regulation (=rights and obligations);

• C. Definitions clarify how a term or a notion, which could otherwise have different meanings, should be read in the context of the specific Regulation, and they may also add something to the substance of the Regulation (= rights and obligations).

9. Why do we need a legal framework?

• A. Because legislation is the only basis for producing statistics on EU level;

• B. Because a basic binding structure ensures efficiency and transparency in the collaboration between national and EU levels;

• C. Because lawyers in the European institutions (EP, Council, Commission, Court of Justice) would be out of a job if we did not have legislation.

10. Who are members of the European Statistical System?

• A. The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission (Eurostat);

• B. The national statistical authorities and the statistical authority of the European Union;

• C. The National Statistical Institutes and the Commission (Eurostat)

11. What does the coordinating role given to the NSIs at national level and to Eurostat at European Union level mean in practice?

• A. The NSIs and Eurostat, at their respective levels, are the only bodies responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics;

• B. Only staff from the NSIs have the right to communicate directly with Eurostat;

• C. The NSIs and Eurostat, at their respective levels, are responsible for ensuring a smooth functioning of the ESS and will be the reference point for any issue that cannot be solved directly at technical and operational level between the parties concerned.

12. What is the European Statistics Code of Practice?

• A. A guide established by Eurostat with rules of conduct for its staff

• B. A self-regulatory instrument on statistical principles which all Member States and the Commission are committed to respect;

• C. A binding Code on statistical principles which all Member States and the Commission have to respect.

13. What is the relation between the Code of Practice as revised in 2011 and Regulation No 223/2009?

• A. The Regulation is legally binding; it covers some principles of the Code of Practice, thus putting in place a legal obligation for Member States to comply with these particular elements;

• B. The revised Code of Practice replaced the Regulation

• C. All elements of the Code of Practice are directly legally binding through a reference in the Regulation (Article 11 thereof)

14. How does the ESS plan its statistical work?

• A. It doesn’t plan – depending on the political developments, the ESS produces statistics on demand;

• B. The Commission adopts a multiannual framework programme, which is subsequently specified in annual work programmes adopted by the members of the ESS;

• C. The European legislator adopts a multiannual framework programme, which is subsequently specified in annual work programmes adopted by the Commission

15. Who disseminates European statistics?

• A. Only Eurostat;

• B. All members of the ESS

• C. The Publications Office of the European Union and its equivalents in the Member States

16. Who has access to European statistics?

• A. Access to all statistics produced is given to all users, free of charge, and cases of privileged access are clearly defined and publicised;

• B. Access is given to anyone who can pay for the statistics;

• C. Only policy makers or others with justified needs get access to all the statistics.

17. Who can get access to confidential data which is in the possession of Eurostat?

• A. Only Eurostat staff;

• B. All Commission staff and, under specific conditions, researchers;

• C. Eurostat staff who are assigned to work on the data and, under specific conditions, other people working for Eurostat and researchers

18. The Regulation contains a general and largely enabling clause for the transmission of confidential data. Which of the following statements is correct?

• A. Eurostat may immediately transmit confidential data that it has received from the French NSI to the Spanish NSI;

• B. The Italian NSI may directly transmit its confidential data to the Danish NSI;

• C. The European Central Bank may immediately transmit confidential data that it has received from the German Central Bank to Eurostat;

• D. The Danish NSI may immediately transmit confidential data that it has received from the Swedish NSI to Eurostat

19. In the recently amended Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, do you know which aspect is NOT concerned?

• A. professional independence of national statistical institutes

• B. access to administrative data;

• C. statistical confidentiality.

20. How were Member States involved in the amendment of Regulation No 223/2009?

• A. They were not involved at all;

• B. They participated in a task force at an early stage of drafting the proposal by the Commission and could propose amendments in their capacity as members of the Council;

• C. They prepared the draft regulation in a task force; it was then for the Commission to propose amendments and eventually adopt or reject it.

More detailed questions?

• Please contact:

• Per Bredholt Christensen/Thomas Gföller

• Eurostat, Unit A5 (legal section)

• E-mail: Per_Bredholt.CHRISTENSEN@ec.europa.eu

Thomas.Gfoeller@ec.europa.eu