The Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics constitutes the legal basis for the preparation of the European statistical programme, providing the framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for a period not exceeding five years.
The current programme covers the period 2008-2012. It was established by the Council Decision 1578/2007/EC of 11 December 2007. The five-year programmes are backed up by annual programmes that set more detailed objectives for each year.
The Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and the Communication on the improvement of coordination of statistical work, adopted by the Commission on 21 February 1996 (SEC (96) 253/4 of 15 February 1996), provide for the Commission adoption of an annual statistical work programme.
This programme is discussed with the Statistical authorities of the Member States and Commission services concerned. The statistical work programme of the Commission comprises the priorities of the Commission as regards the statistical work for 2012. It relates to the 2008–2012 programme and to the political guidelines for the next Commission published on 3 September 2009.
