Abstract

Statistical offices currently navigate an increasingly digitalized and interconnected data landscape, facing heightened expectations from policymakers, researchers, the media, and civil society for more transparent, detailed, timely and easily accessible statistical data. From a legal standpoint, data governance frameworks for official statistics must respond to an increasingly complex myriad of imperatives and restrictions, that range from fostering data sharing and reuse to ensuring statistical confidentiality and protecting the rights of individuals and organizations. The European Union (EU) regulatory framework for official statistics has recently undergone a major transformation with Regulation (EU) 2024/3018 amending Regulation (EC) 223/2009 on European statistics, adopted on November 27, 2024 to introduce new definitions, encourage the progressive integration of new technologies, strengthen timely access to administrative data and to data held by the private sector, promote data sharing within the European Statistical System (ESS) and ultimately define new roles for National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) in national data governance frameworks, in alignment with the European Data Strategy. The ESS Innovation Agenda (2023–2027) also outlines a strategic vision to enhance the use of digital technologies, broaden the range of data sources, adopt emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and promote innovative practices through several projects that are currently being implemented. The lack of legal scholarship addressing data governance in the context of official statistics suggests that a foundational analytical mapping of this domain is a timely and valuable contribution. In light of the ongoing transformations, the present research therefore intends to provide such an analysis for European statistics, examining the current needs and challenges faced by its data governance frameworks and its interoperability with the recent developments in general EU data law.