The purpose of this proposal for a regulation is to define Community policy on the production of statistics. A multiannual statistics programme is to be drawn up, consisting of annual sub-programmes, to be implemented by the relevant Community and national agencies. The statistics compiled must therefore comply with the following basic principles: impartiality, reliability, relevance, cost/benefit ratio, confidentiality and transparency. They must also be disseminated impartially, throughout the Community, thanks to suitable cooperation (outlined in the proposal) between the agencies involved (national and Community statistics institutes, Commission, public administrations etc.), although confidential data will be protected. All data which allows statistical units containing personal information to be directly or indirectly identified must be considered confidential, unless the data has been obtained from publicly available sources. Two advisory committees will assist the Commission in implementing future provisions: a committee on statistical confidentiality and a statistical programme committee.�