Regulation (EC) No 452/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 concerning the production and development of statistics on education and lifelong learning (Text with EEA relevance)

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation establishes a common framework for the systematic production of Community statistics in the field of education and lifelong learning.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation:

(a) ‘Community statistics’ shall be defined as in the first indent of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 322/97;

(b) ‘production of statistics’ shall be defined as in the second indent of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 322/97;

(c) ‘national authorities’ shall be defined as in the third indent of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 322/97;

(d) ‘education’ means organised and sustained communication designed to bring about learning (¹);

(e) ‘lifelong learning’ means all learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective (²);

(f) ‘micro-data’ means individual statistical records;

(g) ‘confidential data’ means data which allow only indirect identification of the statistical units concerned, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 322/97 and Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90.

Article 3

Domains

This Regulation shall apply to the production of statistics in two domains:

(a) Domain 1 shall cover statistics on education and training systems;

(b) Domain 2 shall cover other statistics on education and lifelong learning, such as statistics on human capital and on the social and economic benefits of education, which are not covered by Domain 1 or by Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council (³).

The production of statistics in those domains shall be carried out in accordance with the Annex.

Article 4

Statistical actions

The production of Community statistics in the field of education and lifelong learning shall be implemented by individual statistical actions as follows:

(a) the regular delivery of statistics on education and lifelong learning by the Member States, within specified deadlines for Domain 1;

(b) the use of other statistical information systems and surveys, to provide additional statistical variables and indicators on education and lifelong learning, corresponding to Domain 2;

(c) the development, improvement and updating of standards and manuals on statistical frameworks, concepts and methods;

(d) the improvement of data quality, in the context of the quality framework, to include: — relevance, — accuracy, — timeliness and punctuality, — accessibility and clarity, — comparability, and — coherence.

Available capacities within the Member States for data collection and the processing and development of concepts and methods shall be taken into account by the Commission.

Where appropriate, special attention and consideration shall be given to the regional dimension of the data collected. Where appropriate, data shall be systematically broken down by gender.

Article 5

Transmission of micro-data on individuals

When necessary for the production of Community statistics, Member States shall transmit confidential micro-data resulting from sample surveys to the Commission (Eurostat) in accordance with the provisions on the transmission of data subject to confidentiality set out in Regulation (EC) No 322/97 and in Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90. Member States shall ensure that the transmitted data do not permit the direct identification of the statistical units (individuals).

Article 6

Implementing measures

The following measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation by supplementing it, including measures to take account of economic and technical developments concerning the collection, transmission and processing of the data, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 7(3) with a view to ensuring the transmission of high quality data:

(a) the selection and specification of subjects covered by the domains and their characteristics in response to policy or technical needs;

(b) the breakdowns of characteristics;

(c) the observation period and deadlines for transmission of results;

(d) the quality requirements, including the required precision;

(e) the quality reporting framework.

If these measures lead to a requirement for a significant enlargement of existing data collections or for new data collections or surveys, implementing decisions shall be based on a cost-benefit analysis as part of a comprehensive analysis of the effects and implications, taking into account the benefit of the measures, the costs for the Member States and the burden on respondents.

The measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall take account of the following:

(a) for both Domains, the potential burden on educational institutions and individuals;

(b) for both Domains, the results of the pilot studies referred to in Article 4(3);

(c) for Domain 1, the latest agreements between the UIS, the OECD and the Commission (Eurostat) on concepts, definitions, data collection format, data processing, periodicity and deadlines for transmission of results;

(d) for Domain 2, the availability, suitability and the legal context of existing Community data sources after an exhaustive examination of all existing data sources.

Article 7

Committee

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

Article 8

Entry into force

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

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX

Domain 1: Education and training systems

1. Aim

The aim of this data collection is to provide comparable data on key aspects of education and training systems, specifically on the participation and completion of education programmes, as well as on the cost and type of resources dedicated to education and training.

2. Scope

The data collection shall cover all domestic educational activities regardless of ownership of, or sponsorship by, the institutions concerned (whether public or private, national or foreign) and of the education delivery mechanism. Correspondingly, the coverage of the data collections shall extend to all student types and age groups.

3. Subjects covered

Data shall be collected on:

(a) students’ enrolment, including the characteristics of the students;

(b) entrants;

(c) graduates and graduations;

(d) education expenditure;

(e) educational personnel;

(f) foreign languages learnt;

(g) class sizes;

allowing the calculation of indicators on the inputs, processes and outputs of the education and training systems.

Appropriate information (metadata) shall be transmitted by Member States, describing specificities of national education and training systems and their correspondence with international classifications as well as any deviations from the specifications of the data request and any other information which is essential for the interpretation of data and the compilation of comparable indicators.

4. Periodicity

Data and metadata shall be supplied annually, if not otherwise specified, within the deadlines agreed between the Commission (Eurostat) and the national authorities taking into account the latest agreements between the UIS, the OECD and the Commission (Eurostat).

Domain 2: Other statistics on education and lifelong learning

1. Aim

The aim of this data collection shall be to provide further comparable data on education and lifelong learning to support specific policies at the Community level not included in Domain 1.

2. Scope

Other statistics on education and lifelong learning shall refer to the following aspects:

(a) statistics on education and the economy, required at Community level for monitoring policies on education, research, competitiveness and growth;

(b) statistics on education and the labour market, required at Community level for monitoring employment policies;

(c) statistics on education and social inclusion, required at Community level for monitoring policies on poverty, social inclusion and migrant integration.

For the aspects listed above, the necessary data shall be acquired from existing Community statistical sources.