Article 2U.K.Statistical principles
1.The development, production and dissemination of European statistics shall be governed by the following statistical principles:
[(a) ‘ professional independence ’ , meaning that statistics must be developed, produced and disseminated in an independent manner, particularly as regards the selection of techniques, definitions, methodologies and sources to be used, and the timing and content of all forms of dissemination, and that the performance of those tasks is free from any pressures from political or interest groups or from Union or national authorities;]
(b)‘impartiality’, meaning that statistics must be developed, produced and disseminated in a neutral manner, and that all users must be given equal treatment;
(c)‘objectivity’, meaning that statistics must be developed, produced and disseminated in a systematic, reliable and unbiased manner; it implies the use of professional and ethical standards, and that the policies and practices followed are transparent to users and survey respondents;
(d)‘reliability’, meaning that statistics must measure as faithfully, accurately and consistently as possible the reality that they are designed to represent and implying that scientific criteria are used for the selection of sources, methods and procedures;
(e)‘statistical confidentiality’, meaning the protection of confidential data related to single statistical units which are obtained directly for statistical purposes or indirectly from administrative or other sources and implying the prohibition of use for non-statistical purposes of the data obtained and of their unlawful disclosure;
(f)‘cost effectiveness’, meaning that the costs of producing statistics must be in proportion to the importance of the results and the benefits sought, that resources must be optimally used and the response burden minimised. The information requested shall, where possible, be readily extractable from available records or sources.
The statistical principles set out in this paragraph are further elaborated in the Code of Practice in accordance with Article 11.
2.The development, production and dissemination of European statistics shall take into account international recommendations and best practice.