Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2529 of 17 November 2023 specifying the technical items of the data set, establishing the technical formats for transmission of information and specifying the detailed arrangements and content of the quality reports on the organisation of a sample survey in the health domain pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/1700 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 October 2019 establishing a common framework for European statistics relating to persons and households, based on data at individual level collected from samples, amending Regulations (EC) No 808/2004, (EC) No 452/2008 and (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1177/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 (1), and in particular Article 7(1), Article 8(3) and Article 13(6) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) is a general population survey in the health domain providing statistical information on health status, health determinants and healthcare activities in the Union. It is a major Union reference source for evidence-based, health-related policies including those on social inclusion and protection, healthy lifestyles, healthy ageing and well-being, health inequalities, healthcare access and quality of healthcare services.

(2) In order to ensure the accurate implementation of the EHIS, the Commission should specify the technical items of the data set, the technical formats for transmission of information from the Member States to the Commission and the detailed arrangements for the content and transmission of the quality reports.

(3) The aim of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (2) is to tackle the entire disease pathway. It is structured around four key action areas where the Union can add the most value, namely prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment and quality of life of cancer patients and survivors. The farm to fork strategy (3) is at the heart of the Commission’s European Green Deal (4), promoting sustainable food consumption and facilitating the shift to healthy, sustainable diets.

(4) Council Recommendation on access to affordable high-quality long-term care (5), accompanying the Commission’s Communication on the European care strategy (6), sets a policy framework to guide the development of sustainable long-term care that ensures better and more affordable access to quality services for all, as well as better working conditions in the sector.

(5) The protection of workers’ health and safety, enshrined in the Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, is a key element for a Union economy that works for people.

(6) The international comparability of national statistics on health requires the use of statistical classifications for the territorial units, education, occupation and economic sector that are compatible with the NUTS (7), ISCED (8), ISCO (9) and NACE (10) classifications.

(7) Council Recommendation on promoting health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) across sectors (11) encourages Member States to adopt cross-sectoral policy approaches and action plans for the promotion of physical activity, and establishes a framework for monitoring the progress of HEPA indicators in relevant thematic areas.

(8) Commission Recommendation (EU) 2023/397 on reference metadata and quality reports (12) invites Member States to ensure that their national statistical authorities apply, when compiling reference metadata and quality reports, the statistical concepts listed in the latest version of the Single Integrated Metadata Structure.

(9) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the European Statistical System Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation specifies the technical items of the data set, establishes the technical formats for the transmission of information from Member States to the Commission (Eurostat) and specifies the detailed arrangements for the content and transmission of the quality reports in the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS).

EHIS shall concern health status, healthcare and health determinants as well as socio-demographic characteristics of the reference population as referred to in Article 4.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘reference period’ means the period to which a particular item of information relates;

(2) ‘current’ refers to the situation at the time of the interview;

(3) ‘proxy’ means, with reference to an interview, a situation where information requested to the selected respondent has been provided by a third person (including another household member or someone outside the household who takes care of the selected respondent) without being validated by the selected respondent. This third person is close and knows the selected respondent very well;

(4) ‘metadata’ means data defining and describing other data, the methodology used and statistical business processes.

Article 3

Statistical concepts and description of variables

(a) the variable identifier;

(b) the variable name;

(c) the reference period;

(d) the modality code and label;

(e) filter.

Article 4

Characteristics of the statistical populations and observation units

Article 5

Reference periods

The reference periods for variables shall be those specified in Annex II.

Article 6

Detailed sample characteristics

(a) the address was impossible to locate;

(b) the address was non-residential or unoccupied;

(c) the person was not found at the address;

(d) the person was unable to respond, including for reasons of incapacity;

(e) a definite refusal of the person to cooperate was received;

(f) the circumstances were endangering the interviewer’s safety.

Article 7

Data gathering periods and methods

(a) suffering from long-term cognitive impairment;

(b) suffering from long-term severe debilitation;

(c) suffering from a long-term sensory impairment that prevents the interaction between interviewer and interviewee;

(d) in hospital, health or social care facility for the entire period of the fieldwork.

Article 8

Common standards for data editing, imputation, weighting and estimation

Article 9

Formats for transmitting information

Member States shall transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) a data set with pre-checked microdata that comply with the characteristics of the variables specified in Annex II to this Regulation, including appropriate weights, using the statistical data and metadata exchange standards set by the Commission (Eurostat) and the single entry point.

Article 10

Quality reporting

Article 11

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of 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.

Done at Brussels, 17 November 2023.

For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 261 I, 14.10.2019, p. 1.

(2) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (COM(2021) 44 final of 3 February 2021).

(3) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, A Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system (COM(2020) 381 final of 20 May 2020).

(4) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, The European Green Deal (COM(2019) 640 final of 11 December 2019).

(5) Council Recommendation of 8 December 2022 on access to affordable high-quality long-term care (OJ C 476, 15.12.2022, p. 1).

(6) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European care strategy (COM(2022) 440 final of 7 September 2022).

(7) Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) (OJ L 154, 21.6.2003, p. 1).

(8) International Standard Classification of Education 2011.

(9) International Standard Classification of Occupations, version 2008.

(10) Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2 and amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 3037/90 as well as certain EC Regulations on specific statistical domains (OJ L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1).

(11) Council Recommendation of 26 November 2013 on promoting health-enhancing physical activity across sectors (OJ C 354, 4.12.2013, p. 1).

(12) OJ L 53, 21.2.2023, p. 104.