Article 9Quality assurance

1.Member States shall ensure the quality of the harmonised indices provided. For the purposes of this Regulation, the standard quality criteria set out in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 shall apply.

2.Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with:

(a)annual standard quality reports covering the quality criteria referred to in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009;

(b)annually updated inventories containing details of data sources, definitions and methods used;

(c)further related information at the level of detail necessary to evaluate compliance with the comparability requirements and the quality of the harmonised indices, if requested by the Commission (Eurostat).

3.If a Member State intends to introduce a significant change in the production methods of the harmonised indices or a part thereof, the Member State shall inform the Commission (Eurostat) thereof at the latest three months before any such change would enter into force. The Member State shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with a quantification of the impact of the change.

4.The Commission shall adopt implementing acts establishing technical quality assurance requirements regarding the content of the annual standard quality reports, the deadline for providing the reports to the Commission (Eurostat) and the structure of the inventories and the deadline for providing the inventories to the Commission (Eurostat). Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 11(2).