Statistics on population and housing

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs adopted the report by Irena JOVEVA (Renew, SI) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European statistics on population and housing, amending Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 and repealing Regulations (EC) No 763/2008 and (EU) No 1260/2013.

The committee responsible recommended that the position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:

The role of European statistics on population and housing

European statistics on population and housing play a central role in policy-making and decision-making processes and, as such, they are required for the design, implementation and evaluation of Union policies aimed at implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda.

Members also pointed out that statistics on migration and international protection are essential to gain an overview of migratory flows within the European Union and to enable Member States to apply EU law correctly.

Hard-to-reach population groups

European statistics on population and housing should address the persistent lack of data on hard-to-reach population groups, such as people residing in institutions (e.g. military institutions, penal and correctional institutions, school and university dormitories, religious institutions, hospitals, residential care centres, including institutions for disabled people and orphans), people aged over 75, disabled people, homeless people, people with a migrant background and stateless people.

In order to bridge that data divide and to prevent social and economic inequalities arising from it, the Member States should develop strategies and targeted solutions for collecting data about hard-to-reach population groups, in particular with regard to locating, contacting, persuading and interviewing such populations.

Members introduced a definition of ‘hard-to-reach population groups’, i.e. groups of individuals for whom there is a real or perceived barrier to full and representative inclusion in statistical data collection.

Statistical requirements

European statistics on population and housing shall cover the following domains: (a) demography; (b) housing; (c) families; and (d) households.

The topics set out in the demography domain, as well as in other relevant domains, in the Annex should be disaggregated, in accordance with national law and practice on data collection and disclosure, by age, gender and disability and where relevant other characteristics in accordance with the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics.

Data sources and methods

Member States and the Commission (Eurostat) should use data sources provided that the data is collected and processed in accordance with the applicable Union law on data protection, respecting data subjects’ fundamental rights.

Quality requirements and quality reporting

Member States should take appropriate and effective measures to:

- avoid possible risks of undercounting or double counting related to the free movement of persons in the Union, the access of persons to cross-border services linked to vital events and the person rights to buy cross-border, own and use housing property across the Union, for example by introducing single digital identifiers;

- avoid possible risks of undercounting or double counting and ensure better comparability of migration flows.

The Commission should adopt implementing acts defining the practical arrangements for the quality reports and their content. Any major adaptation provided for in these implementing acts could be the subject of financial and technical support or a derogation.

In a duly reasoned request from the Commission (Eurostat), Member States should provide necessary additional clarifications to evaluate the quality of the statistics without undue delay.

Data sharing

Members stated that data sharing should be allowed and could take place on a voluntary basis, provided that it is without prejudice to the rules on the protection of personal data in accordance with Regulations (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and (EU) 2018/1725.

Funding

Member States should apply for support under the Technical Support Instrument to improve the quality of statistics and to develop methods in line with the requirements of the Regulation. The Commission may also provide assistance for the coordination of the exchange of best practices between Member States.

Derogations

Where the application of this Regulation requires major adaptations to be made to a Member State’s national statistical system, the Commission may grant, by means of implementing acts, derogations to that Member State, for a maximum duration of seven years.

Where delegated or implementing acts adopted pursuant to this Regulation require major adaptations to be made to a Member State’s national statistical system, the Commission may grant, by means of implementing acts, derogations to that Member State, for a maximum duration of three years.

The extent of mandatory collection of data should be balanced against the additional administrative burden and the additional costs to the Member States. Taking this into account, it should be possible to grant derogations from the requirements on the timing of data collection.