The criteria for the evaluation of quality and the contents of the quality reports to be provided by the Member States are laid down in the Annex.

The data and metadata supplied for quality reports shall be transmitted or uploaded in electronic format to the single entry point for data at the Commission (Eurostat) by any organisation designated by the national authorities. Transmission shall comply with an appropriate interchange standard specified by Eurostat.

The first quality report, for the data for the reference year 2008, shall be delivered by 31 March 2011. An extra 3 months for transmission of the quality reports for the reference year 2008 has been granted to Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania and the United Kingdom. Subsequent reports shall be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) at the latest 27 months after the end of the reference period for which the data were collected.

The Commission (Eurostat) shall evaluate the quality of the data transmitted and shall prepare and publish reports on the quality of European statistics.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.