The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs adopted the report by Tamás MESZERICS (Greens/EFA, HU) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a common framework for European statistics relating to persons and households, based on data at individual level collected from samples.
The committee recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows.
Subject matter: Members stated that this Regulation establishes a common framework for European statistics relating to persons and households, based on data at individual level collected from samples of those persons and households in accordance with the European Statistical Programme.
The report recommended, inter alia:
Fundamental principles: Members believe that the development, production and dissemination of European statistics are governed by the statistical principles of professional independence, impartiality, objectivity reliability and cost-effectiveness. It is essential to invest more in high-quality, more accurate and holistic data collections and not to reduce investments.
Access: policy-makers, public administrations, researchers, trade unions, students and civil society representatives, including non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which should access data freely and easily through Commission (Eurostat) databases on its website.
Furthermore, the Regulation shall ensure the right to respect for private and family life and to the protection of personal data, as provided for in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This Regulation also ensures the protection of individuals as regards the processing of personal data
Union contributions: since the implementation of the Regulation could require major adaptations in national statistical systems, limited derogations should be granted to the Member States. Where appropriate, a financial contribution from the Union should also be provided to the Member States in the form of grants, in particular for capacity-building purposes and to support feasibility studies and pilot studies.