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CHAPTER VSTATISTICAL CONFIDENTIALITY

Article 20Protection of confidential data

1.The following rules and measures shall apply to ensure that confidential data are exclusively used for statistical purposes and to prevent their unlawful disclosure.

2.Confidential data obtained exclusively for the production of European statistics shall be used by the NSIs and other national authorities and by the Commission (Eurostat) exclusively for statistical purposes unless the statistical unit has unambiguously given its consent to the use for any other purposes.

3.Statistical results which may make it possible to identify a statistical unit may be disseminated by the NSIs and other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) in the following exceptional cases:

(a)where specific conditions and modalities are determined by an act of the European Parliament and of the Council acting in accordance with Article 251 of the Treaty and the statistical results are amended in such a way that their dissemination does not prejudice statistical confidentiality whenever the statistical unit has so requested; or

(b)where the statistical unit has unambiguously agreed to the disclosure of data.

4.Within their respective spheres of competence, the NSIs and other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) shall take all necessary regulatory, administrative, technical and organisational measures to ensure the physical and logical protection of confidential data (statistical disclosure control).

The NSIs and other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) shall take all necessary measures to ensure the harmonisation of principles and guidelines as regards the physical and logical protection of confidential data. Those measures shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 27(2).

5.Officials and other staff of the NSIs and other national authorities having access to confidential data shall be subject to compliance with such confidentiality, even after cessation of their functions.

Article 21Transmission of confidential data

1.Transmission of confidential data from an ESS authority, as referred to in Article 4, that collected the data to another ESS authority may take place provided that this transmission is necessary for the efficient development, production and dissemination of European statistics or for increasing the quality of European statistics.

2.Transmission of confidential data between an ESS authority that collected the data and an ESCB member may take place provided that this transmission is necessary for the efficient development, production and dissemination of European statistics or for increasing the quality of European statistics, within the respective spheres of competence of the ESS and the ESCB, and that this necessity has been justified.

3.Any further transmission beyond the first transmission shall require the explicit authorisation of the authority that collected the data.

4.National rules on statistical confidentiality shall not be invoked to prevent the transmission of confidential data under paragraphs 1 and 2 where an act of the European Parliament and of the Council acting in accordance with Article 251 of the Treaty provides for the transmission of such data.

5.Confidential data transmitted in accordance with this Article shall be used exclusively for statistical purposes and only accessible to staff working in statistical activities within their specific domain of work.

6.The provisions on statistical confidentiality provided for in this Regulation shall apply to all confidential data transmitted within the ESS and between the ESS and the ESCB.

Article 22Protection of confidential data in the Commission (Eurostat)

1.Confidential data shall be accessible, subject to the exceptions laid down in paragraph 2, only to officials of the Commission (Eurostat) within their specific domain of work.

2.The Commission (Eurostat) may in exceptional cases grant access to confidential data to its other staff and to other natural persons working for the Commission (Eurostat) under contract within their specific domain of work.

3.Persons having access to confidential data shall use these data exclusively for statistical purposes. They shall be subject to this restriction even after cessation of their functions.

Article 23Access to confidential data for scientific purposes

Access to confidential data which only allow for indirect identification of the statistical units may be granted to researchers carrying out statistical analyses for scientific purposes by the Commission (Eurostat) or by the NSIs or other national authorities, within their respective spheres of competence. If the data have been transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) the approval of the NSI or other national authority which provided the data is required.

The modalities, rules and conditions for access at Community level shall be established by the Commission. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 27(3).

Article 24Access to administrative records

In order to reduce the burden on respondents, the NSIs and other national authorities and the Commission (Eurostat) shall have access to administrative data sources, from within their respective public administrative system, to the extent that these data are necessary for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics.

The practical arrangements and the conditions for achieving effective access shall be determined where necessary by each Member State and the Commission, within their respective spheres of competence.

Article 25Data from public sources

Data obtained from sources lawfully available to the public and which remain available to the public according to national legislation shall not be considered confidential for the purpose of dissemination of statistics obtained from those data.

Article 26Violation of statistical confidentiality

Member States and the Commission shall take appropriate measures to prevent and sanction any violations of statistical confidentiality.