Consolidated version as of 1 January 2023
REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW
AMENDING LAW NO I-270 ON OFFICIAL STATISTICS
19 July 2022 No XIV-1396
Vilnius
Article 1. New version of Republic of Lithuania Law No I-270 on Official Statistics
Republic of Lithuania Law No I-270 on Official Statistics shall be amended to read as follows:
“REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW ON
OFFICIAL STATISTICS AND STATE DATA GOVERNANCE
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Purpose and scope of the Law
1. This Law shall lay down a procedure for organising official statistics, the principles of organisation thereof, as well as the principles of state data governance, the rights and functions of bodies managing official statistics, the remit of the State Data Agency, the rights and duties of respondents and users of official statistics, the processing of statistical data, statistical information and state data, the duty to protect statistical data, statistical information and state data.
2. This Law shall apply to bodies managing official statistics, data controllers and data processors of registers, state and other information systems (hereinafter: ‘information systems’), state and municipal institutions and agencies, other legal persons, respondents, users of official statistics as well as users of state data being natural persons or legal persons, organisations or divisions thereof using state data, including users of the State Data Governance Information System, namely, legal persons having access to this information system and the natural persons representing them.
3. This Law shall not apply where:
1) bodies, undertakings, organisations or other persons conduct statistical surveys outside the scope of the Official Statistics Programme;
2) primary data processed in registers and information systems are provided to a user of the State Data Governance Information System.
4. This Law shall not affect the duty of data controllers and data processors of registers, information systems to comply with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (the General Data Protection Regulation), as well as the task of supervisory authorities to ensure compliance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
5. The provisions of this Law have been harmonised with the legal act of the European Union specified in the Annex to this Law.
Article 2. Definitions
1. ‘Administrative data’ means data used for public administration, including personal data, with special categories of personal data among them, together with data contained in registers, state and other information systems and documents.
2. ‘European statistics’ means the statistical information necessary for the performance of activities of the European Union, as defined in the European statistical programme.
3. ‘European statistical programme’ means a document adopted by a decision of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union and setting out the framework, the main fields and objectives of the production, development and dissemination of European statistics.
4. ‘Interviewer’ means a natural person collecting statistical data from respondents by way of an interview.
5. ‘Confidential statistical data’ means statistical data obtained exclusively for the purposes of official statistics which allow direct or indirect identification of statistical units, thereby disclosing the data thereof.
6. ‘Indirect identification’ means the identification of a statistical unit by any means other than by way of direct identification.
7. ‘Official statistics’ means a system of the statistical surveys conducted within the framework of the Official Statistics Programme which has the aim of meeting public needs and the needs of public administration.
8. ‘Official Statistics Portal’ means a website which provides multifunctional access to the statistical information produced by the bodies managing official statistics.
9. ‘Official Statistics Programme’ means an annual list of statistical surveys to be conducted for public needs and for the needs of public administration, with bodies managing official statistics being charged with their conduct by legal acts of the European Union, laws of the Republic of Lithuania, resolutions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and resolutions of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania to the extent that this is related to the statistical domains set out in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Bank of Lithuania.
10. ‘User of official statistics’ means a natural person or a legal person, any other organisation or a division thereof using the statistical information produced within the framework of the Official Statistics Programme.
11. ‘Primary data’ means the initial raw data provided for the registration of objects of state and other information systems and registers, including personal data, with special categories of personal data among them.
12. ‘Respondent’ means a natural person or a legal person, a foreign undertaking’s branch registered in Lithuania, any other organisation or a division thereof, also a group of undertakings or a part thereof providing or being under the obligation to provide statistical data to bodies managing official statistics.
13. ‘Statistical information’ means information produced upon the processing and/or aggregation of statistical data as well as state data.
14. “Statistical data” means data of statistical units, including personal data, among them special categories of personal data, collected during a statistical survey for the production of statistical information.
15. ‘Statistical unit’ means the basic observation unit (a household, a natural person, a legal person, a foreign undertaking’s branch registered in Lithuania, a group of undertakings or a part thereof or any other organisation or a division thereof, etc.) possessing the characteristics analysed during a statistical survey.
16. ‘Statistical questionnaire’ means a document form approved and officially published by a body managing official statistics and containing information on a statistical survey and explanations of how to complete this form, as used for the recording and provision of statistical data by electronic means. A list of statistical indicators shall be considered to be equivalent to a statistical questionnaire.
17. ‘Statistical register’ means a list of statistical units and their characteristics compiled on the basis of statistical and administrative data and kept up to date.
18. ‘Statistical survey’ means the collection, accumulation, processing, analysis of statistical data, production of statistical information, dissemination of statistical information and non-confidential statistical data, as well as development of these official statistics processes or methods of official statistics.
19. ‘List of statistical indicators’ means a set of statistical indicators approved and officially published by a body managing official statistics and containing information on a statistical survey and explanations, as used for the provision of statistical data by electronic means.
20. ‘Direct identification’ means the identification of a statistical unit from its name or address, or from a publicly accessible identification number, or from the forename, surname or personal number.
21. ‘State data’ means copies of primary data, administrative data, information, documents and/or copies thereof as well as other data, with the exception of statistical data, as accumulated in the State Data Governance Information System for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law.
22. ‘Providers of state data’ means entities providing state data to the State Data Governance Information System, with the exception of respondents and the Bank of Lithuania.
23. ‘State Data Governance Programme’ means an annual list of activities to be carried out by legal acts of the European Union, laws of the Republic of Lithuania, resolutions of the Government, ordinances of the Prime Minister and, in the event of an emergency and/or an emergency event, by decisions of the commander of operations.
24. ‘General census’ means a nationwide statistical survey conducted by interviewing respondents and/or on the basis of administrative data and aimed at collecting detailed statistical data on all statistical units of the Republic of Lithuania.
25. Other concepts used in this Law shall be interpreted as they are defined in Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Right to Obtain Information and Re-Use of Data, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Management of State Information Resources and the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Administration.
Article 3. Principles of organisation of official statistics
1. The organisation of official statistics shall be based on:
1) the principle of professional independence. Bodies managing official statistics shall, in producing and disseminating statistical information, be independent of other state and municipal institutions and agencies, political parties, as well as of other persons;
2) the principle of impartiality and objectivity. Bodies managing official statistics shall produce and disseminate statistical information in an objective, professional and transparent manner, while ensuring impartiality for all respondents and users of official statistics;
3) the principle of quality. Bodies managing official statistics shall apply the following criteria for the assessment of the quality of statistical information: relevance, accuracy, timeliness, punctuality, accessibility and clarity, comparability and coherence, as defined in Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009;
4) the principle of confidentiality of statistical data. Confidential statistical data shall be used exclusively for the purposes of official statistics, save for the exceptions specified by legal acts of the European Union and this Law;
5) the principle of adequacy of resources and cost effectiveness. In order not to increase the statistical burden on respondents, the costs of producing official statistics must be in proportion to the importance of the results and the benefits sought.
2. In order to ensure public confidence in official statistics, bodies managing official statistics shall be guided by the principles of the European statistics Code of Practice, as set out in Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.
3. The principles referred to in this Article shall be applied by the Bank of Lithuania in accordance with the provisions of Part II of the Official Statistics Programme in the same manner as the European Central Bank applies the principles of the development, production and dissemination of European statistics undertaken within the European System of Central Banks and as set out in Article 3a of Council Regulation (EC) No 2533/98 of 23 November 1998 concerning the collection of statistical information by the European Central Bank (with all amendments).
4. Personal data shall be processed in compliance with the principles governing the processing of personal data as set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
Article 4. Principles of state data governance
1. State data governance shall be based on:
1) the principle of professional independence. In managing and processing state data, the State Data Agency shall be independent of other state and municipal institutions and agencies, political parties, as well as of other persons;
2) the principle of objectivity. The State Data Agency shall manage and process state data in an impartial, professional and transparent manner;
3) the principle of quality. The State Data Agency shall apply to state data governance the following quality assessment criteria: need, accuracy, timeliness, relevance, accessibility, clarity, comparability and coherence;
4) the principle of confidentiality. The State Data Agency shall ensure that state data are accessible only to the users of state data to whom they are addressed;
5) the principle of integrity. The State Data Agency shall guarantee that state data are not tampered with in the course of storage or transmission;
6) the principle of accessibility. The State Data Agency shall ensure access to state data within a reasonable period of time;
7) the principle of lawfulness. In managing and processing state data and granting access to state data to users of the State Data Governance Information System, the State Data Agency shall follow only the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law;
8) the principle of correctness. In managing and processing state data, the State Data Agency shall take all measures to ensure that data controllers and/or data processors of registers and information systems providing state data are responsible for their correctness, accuracy and completeness and, where necessary, rectify them and ensure that the provided state data are kept up to date;
9) the principle of semantic compatibility. In managing and processing state data, the State Data Agency shall semantically link them according to thematic categories of high value data and types of primary data.
2. Personal data shall be processed within the State Data Governance Information System in compliance with the principles governing the processing of personal data as set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
Article 5. State Data Agency
1. The State Data Agency shall be a body of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania participating in the shaping of state policy in the fields of management of official statistics and state data governance assigned to the Minister of Finance, implementing this policy and coordinating the production of official statistics in accordance with the provisions of Part I of the Official Statistics Programme and the processing of state data in accordance with the State Data Governance Programme. The State Data Agency shall be the data controller and the data processor of the State Data Governance Information System intended for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law.
2. The State Data Agency shall perform the following functions:
1) draft and submit to the Minister of Finance for approval Part I of the Official Statistics Programme, the State Data Governance Programme, a report on the implementation of Part I of the Official Statistics Programme and a report on the implementation of the State Data Governance Programme;
2) conduct statistical surveys, submit conclusions on drafts of statistical questionnaires, lists of statistical indicators and methodologies of statistical surveys prepared by other bodies managing official statistics and conducted in accordance with the provisions of Part I of the Official Statistics Programme;
3) determine, for the purposes of official statistics, the type of economic activity carried out by a statistical unit, the institutional sector and the form of ownership thereof, which are not considered to be statistical data;
4) coordinate the activities of other bodies managing official statistics in producing the European statistics referred to in the European statistical programme and in implementing the provisions of Part I of the Official Statistics Programme as well as ensuring compliance with the principles governing the organisation of official statistics, provide recommendations on the implementation thereof;
5) manage and process the state data contained in the State Data Governance Information System in compliance with this Law, regulations of the State Data Governance Information System and other legal acts governing the management of official statistics, the governance, management and processing of state data. The statistical data contained in the State Data Governance Information System and intended exclusively for the purpose of official statistics shall be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, Regulation (EU) 2016/679, this Law and other legal acts governing the management of official statistics and the regulations of the State Data Governance Information System;
6) combine, analyse or otherwise process, aggregate state data, provide them to users of state data, also for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law and/or disseminate the information produced on the basis of the state data, perform other actions of the processing of the state data;
7) coordinate the processing of state data in accordance with the State Data Governance Programme;
8) implement the State Data Governance Programme;
9) approve and publish on the Official Statistics Portal descriptions of the procedure for activities within the framework of the State Data Governance Programme;
10) provide access to additional information technology solutions of the State Data Governance Information System related to anonymisation and opening of data;
11) compile data sets and publish them on the Lithuanian Open Data Portal for re-use in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Law on the Right to Obtain Information and Re-Use of Data;
12) administer the State Data Management Platform, organise and coordinate its use;
13) perform other functions specified in the regulations of the State Data Agency and other legal acts governing the management of official statistics, state data governance, management and processing.
3. In addition to the rights specified in Article 10 of this Law, State Data Agency shall, in performing its functions, have the following rights:
1) to obtain from other bodies managing official statistics information on prospective statistical surveys for the purpose of drafting of Part I of the Official Statistics Programme;
2) to obtain information from other bodies managing official statistics on the conduct of the statistical surveys referred to in Part I of the Official Statistics Programme, on the implementation of the principles governing the organisation of official statistics and on compliance with the guidelines referred to in Article 6(2)(4) of this Law;
3) to obtain information from other bodies managing official statistics on the production, development and dissemination of European statistics referred to in the European statistical programme;
4) to conclude bilateral and multilateral cooperation agreements with the national statistical institutes of foreign states, international organisations, higher education institutions and research institutes, to conclude bilateral and multilateral contracts and agreements with institutions of the European Union, legal persons of the Republic of Lithuania and foreign states;
5) to obtain free of charge primary data and administrative data, information, documents and/or copies thereof for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law and for the performance of the functions specified in this Law, the regulations of the State Data Agency and other legal acts;
6) to obtain free of charge from legal persons, including private legal persons, the data accumulated and processed by them, including personal data, with special categories of personal data among them, for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law and for the performance of the functions specified in this Law, its regulations and other legal acts;
7) to manage and allocate resources of the State Data Management Platform;
8) to provide incentives to the respondents participating in statistical surveys on a voluntary basis;
9) to use personal numbers of natural persons and/or registration numbers of legal persons and/or other identifiers to combine state data for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law;
1) to use and provide state data for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law;
11) to compile statistical registers;
12) to develop technological solutions related to the processing of state data;
13) to perform the activities the costs of performance whereof are borne by the user of state data, provided that such activities do not interfere with the conduct of the statistical surveys specified in Part I of the Official Statistics Programme and the performance of activities within the framework of the State Data Governance Programme and are in conformity with the principles of organisation of official statistics and state data governance. Such activities may be performed using state data, with the exception of personal data, with special categories of personal data among them, also using the data, documents and/or copies thereof provided by the user of state data. The state data may be used for performing such activities only when performing the activities for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law;
14) exercise other rights specified in the regulations of the State Data Agency.
Article 6. Head of the State Data Agency
1. The State Data Agency shall be headed by the Director General. The Director General of the State Data Agency shall be a civil servant acting in the capacity of the head of an agency. No state, municipal institution or agency, political party or other persons may influence the activities of the Director General of the State Data Agency in implementing this Law.
2. The Director General of the State Data Agency shall:
1) be in charge of decision-making regarding processes, statistical methods, standards and procedures, as well as of the statistical information produced, developed and disseminated by the State Data Agency;
2) resolve issues falling within the remit of the State Data Agency as well as issues related to the internal administration of the State Data Agency;
3) publish an annual report on the activities of the State Data Agency and may submit comments to the Government and/or the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania on the issues of appropriations related to the activities of the State Data Agency;
4) lay down a procedure for preparing statistical questionnaires, lists of statistical indicators and methodologies, approve guidelines for the implementation of the provisions of Part I of the Official Statistics Programme by bodies managing official statistics, and be in charge of ensuring compliance with these guidelines by the State Data Agency;
5) approve and publish statistical questionnaires of statistical surveys conducted by the State Data Agency, lists of statistical indicators, lay down a procedure and time limits for the provision of statistical data to the State Data Agency, approve and publish on the Official Statistics Portal the methodologies of the statistical surveys conducted by the State Data Agency;
6) be responsible for the information produced by the State Data Agency on the basis of state data;
7) represent the State Data Agency in the Republic of Lithuania and abroad, also represent the Lithuanian official statistics system in the European Statistical System and international statistical organisations;
8) perform other functions specified in the regulations of the State Data Agency.
Article 7. Statistical Board
1. The Government may set up the Statistical Board, which is an advisory body to the State Data Agency operating on a voluntary basis. The Statistical Board shall consider the issues, as submitted by the Director General of the State Data Agency, which are related to Part I of the Official Statistics Programme, general censuses and other statistical surveys, dissemination of statistical information and protection of statistical data as well as other issues assigned to it by the Government and shall submit proposals to the State Data Agency on the resolution of these issues. Decisions of the Statistical Board shall be advisory.
2. The Statistical Board shall consist of representatives delegated by the Bank of Lithuania, other state and municipal institutions, bodies using and/or managing official statistics, higher education institutions, research institutes, associations, respondents, the media and other institutions concerned. The institutional composition and regulations of the Statistical Board shall be approved by the Government.
3. The personal composition and rules of procedure of the Statistical Board shall be approved by the head of the State Data Agency.
Article 8. State Data Management Board
1. The Government may set up the State Data Management Board, which is an advisory body to the State Data Agency operating on a voluntary basis. The State Data Management Board shall examine the issues submitted by the Director General of the State Data Agency and related to the State Data Governance Programme, state data governance, management, processing, use and protection, consider requests regarding the compliance of the use of the state data with the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law and other issues assigned to it by the Government and submit proposals to the State Data Agency on the resolution of these issues. Decisions of the State Data Management Board shall be advisory.
2. The State Data Management Board shall consist of heads of data controllers and data processors of registers and information systems or persons authorised by them and representatives of users of state data, higher education institutions, research institutes, the private sector and other institutions concerned. Where necessary, the State Data Management Board may involve experts. The institutional composition and regulations of the State Data Management Board shall be approved by the Government.
3. The personal composition and rules of procedure of the State Data Management Board shall be approved by the head of the State Data Agency.
CHAPTER II
ORGANISATION OF OFFICIAL STATISTICS AND DISSEMINATION OF STATISTICAL INFORMATION, TRANSMISSION OF STATISTICAL DATA AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION
Article 9. Bodies managing official statistics
1. The bodies managing official statistics shall be:
1) the State Data Agency;
2) the Bank of Lithuania;
3) other bodies managing official statistics, such as the state and municipal institutions and agencies whereto the function of production of official statistics has been assigned under legal acts, state enterprises, public establishments whereto the function of production of official statistics has been assigned under a law of the Republic of Lithuania and which have been charged with production of statistical information in a specific domain under legal acts of the European Union, laws of the Republic of Lithuania and resolutions of the Government, where the statistical surveys conducted by them are included in Part I of the Official Statistics Programme (hereinafter: ‘other bodies managing official statistics’).
2. The State Data Agency and other bodies managing official statistics which produce the European statistics referred to in the European statistical programme, shall comprise the European Statistical System and shall cooperate in producing, developing and disseminating these statistics.
3. In implementing the Official Statistics Programme and acting pursuant to the provisions of Article 12(2) of this Law, the State Data Agency shall cooperate with the Bank of Lithuania, which performs the functions stipulated in Regulation (EC) No 2533/98.
Article 10. Rights of bodies managing official statistics
1. In implementing the Official Statistics Programme, bodies managing official statistics shall have the following rights:
1) to obtain free of charge from the sources of official statistics indicated in Article 13 of this Law the required statistical data and data which allow direct or indirect identification of a statistical unit, also to combine them with other statistical data and/or state data;
2) to determine the mode of collecting statistical data;
3) to use for a specific statistical survey personal data, with special categories of personal data among them, which, after having been used, must be immediately altered in a manner that does not allow identification of a data subject, except where the personal data, with special categories of personal data among them, are required to combine, compare and ensure the quality of statistical data. The personal data, with special categories of personal data among them, which are no longer required to combine, compare and ensure the quality of statistical data shall be immediately altered in a manner that does not allow identification of the data subject;
4) to use personal numbers of natural persons and/or registration numbers of legal persons and/or other identifiers to combine the data obtained from different sources of official statistics;
5) to verify whether the statistical data provided by respondents are correct, complete, to rectify, adjust and/or supplement the provided erroneous and/or inaccurate statistical data if the respondents fail to rectify, adjust and/or supplement them in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 18(2)(2) of this Law;
6) to determine missing statistical data by employing statistical methods and using sources of data of official statistics;
7) to invite, where necessary, experts to evaluate the reliability of statistical data and/or statistical information;
8) to involve, where necessary, interviewers to conduct statistical surveys;
9) to provide each other with statistical data and statistical information only to the extent necessary for the conduct of a specific statistical survey included in the Official Statistics Programme;
10) to conduct statistical surveys of households/residents on the basis of respondents’ volunteering;
11) to obtain free of charge, process and use contact details of natural and/or legal persons (addresses, fixed-line and mobile telephone numbers, e-mail addresses) for the purpose of conducting statistical surveys. The contact details referred to in this point shall be subject to the measures for the protection of statistical data and statistical information as referred to in Article 26 of this Law;
12) to collect statistical data from natural persons by telephone;
13) to exercise other rights granted by the laws and other legal acts governing official statistics.
2. The bodies managing official statistics may, under contracts entered into with users of official statistics, provide statistical information produced in a manner different from that specified in Official Statistics Programme if this is without prejudice to the principles of organisation of official statistics as stipulated in Article 3(1) of this Law and if the costs of producing such statistical information are borne by these users of official statistics.
3. A body managing official statistics shall have access to results of a statistical analysis carried out for research purposes, where the statistical data used to carry out the analysis have been obtained from this body managing official statistics under a contract referred to in Article 17(4) of this Law, in order to verify whether or not the confidentiality of the statistical data has been compromised.
4. Where bodies managing official statistics use personal data, with special categories of personal data among them, for the purpose of official statistics, it shall be possible for the bodies managing official statistics not to apply the rights of the data subject referred to in Articles 15, 16, 18 and 21 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 to the extent that their application may render it impossible or seriously impair the achievement of specific purposes of official statistics. The derogations from Regulation (EU) 2016/679 as referred to in this paragraph may apply subject to the application, by the bodies managing official statistics, of the conditions and appropriate safeguards for the rights and freedoms of the data subject as referred to in Article 89(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, taking into account the specific circumstances of the processing of personal data.
5. By way of derogation from the information requirements for the data subject set out in Article 14(1) to (4) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 according to the exemptions stipulated in point (b) and/or (c) of Article 14(5) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, bodies managing official statistics must publish on an official website the information referred to in Article 14(1), (2) and (4) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and apply other appropriate safeguards for the rights and freedoms of the data subject, taking into account the specific circumstances of the processing of personal data.
6. In the case referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, bodies managing official statistics shall, taking into account the specific circumstances of the processing of personal data, make public information on the processing of the personal data, carry out a data protection impact assessment, consult with organisations operating in the field of the protection of the rights and freedoms of data subjects, and implement other safeguards to protect the rights and freedoms of the data subject.
7. Bodies managing official statistics must, on a case-by-case basis and in accordance with the established procedure, assess whether to effect full or partial non-application of the rights of data subjects referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article.
8. Bodies managing official statistics must obtain, in respect of non-application of the rights of data subjects referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article in a specific case, an assessment and an opinion of the data protection officer of a body managing official statistics.
9. Reasons for non-application of the rights of the data subjects referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, including an assessment of necessity and proportionality, risks to the rights and freedoms of data subjects, assessments submitted by the data protection officer of a body managing official statistics and an opinion on non-application of the rights of data subjects shall be recorded in writing.
10. A body managing official statistics must monitor whether the reasons for a restriction have disappeared and, if they have disappeared, initiate the lifting of the restrictions applied. The data protection officer of the body managing official statistics must be informed of the results of the review and the lifting of the restrictions.
11. The data protection officer of a body managing official statistics shall be granted access to the records and all documents substantiating the factual and legal reasons for non-application of the rights of data subjects.
Article 11. Other bodies managing official statistics
1. Other bodies managing official statistics shall, for the purpose of conducting the statistical surveys referred to in Part I of the Official Statistics Programme, appoint the persons responsible for the statistical surveys conducted by them.
2. Other bodies managing official statistics shall perform the following functions in implementing Part I of the Official Statistics Programme:
1) prepare statistical questionnaires, lists of statistical indicators and methodologies in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Director General of the State Data Agency;
2) upon coordination with the State Data Agency, approve and publish the statistical questionnaires, lists of statistical indicators and methodologies, lay down a procedure and time limits for the provision of statistical data to another body managing official statistics;
3) conduct statistical surveys;
4) provide this information to the State Data Agency with a view to disseminating statistical information via the Official Statistics Portal;
5) adhere to the recommendations of the State Data Agency on the implementation of Part I of the Official Statistics Programme and to the guidelines approved by the Director General of the State Data Agency, as referred to in Article 6(2)(4) of this Law.
Article 12. Official Statistics Programme
1. The Official Statistics Programme shall consist of:
1) Part I, which includes the statistical surveys conducted by the State Data Agency and other bodies managing official statistics. It shall be approved by the Minister of Finance;
2) Part II, which includes the statistical surveys conducted by the Bank of Lithuania. It shall be approved and its implementation report shall be prepared in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Bank of Lithuania.
2. The State Data Agency and the Bank of Lithuania shall enter into reciprocal agreements on the implementation of the Official Statistics Programme and on the statistical surveys which are conducted by the Bank of Lithuania within the framework of the European statistical programme.
3. The Official Statistics Programme shall indicate:
1) the title, objective, periodicity of a statistical survey, the mandatory nature and mode of provision of statistical data;
2) the legal basis for the statistical survey;
3) the source of statistical data;
4) time limits and mode of publication of statistical information;
5) the body managing official statistics which is responsible for the conduct of the statistical survey;
6) funds required for the conduct of the statistical survey (not applicable to Part II of the Official Statistics Programme);
7) other necessary information concerning statistical surveys being conducted.
4. A report on the implementation of Part I of the Official Statistics Programme shall be approved by the Minister of Finance.
Article 13. Sources of official statistics
Sources of official statistics shall be as follows:
1) statistical data provided by or collected from respondents;
2) administrative data;
3) data of legal and/or natural persons lawfully obtained by bodies managing official statistics and accessible to the public and/or data accumulated and processed by legal persons, including records of electronic transactions or other records, mobile communications data, variable data or other data accumulated and processed by private legal persons, including personal data, with special categories of personal data among them;
4) statistical data of international organisations lawfully obtained by bodies managing official statistics;
5) state data.
Article 14. General censuses
1. Population, housing, agricultural and other general censuses may be conducted in the Republic of Lithuania.
2. A general census and the objective thereof shall be determined by a legal act of the European Union, by a law of the Republic of Lithuania or by a resolution of the Government.
3. A general census shall be organised and conducted by the State Data Agency and/or other bodies managing official statistics.
4. The State Data Agency may involve interviewers to perform the activities of a general census.
Article 15. Confidentiality and use of statistical data
1. The statistical data obtained from publicly available sources which, in accordance with the legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania, are accessible to the public shall not be considered confidential.
2. Confidential statistical data may be used exclusively for the purposes of official statistics, except as referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article.
3. Unless otherwise provided for by legal acts of the European Union, confidential statistical data may be used for purposes other than official statistics:
1) where respondents and/or statistical units allow in writing to disseminate their data;
2) in the cases referred to in Article 17(4) and (5) of this Law.
4. The following data of a statistical unit (except for a household, a natural person) shall not be considered confidential:
1) the registration number;
2) the name;
3) the type of economic activity;
4) the institutional sector;
5) the form of ownership;
6) production according to the PRODCOM list of products of the European Economic Community and income therefrom.
Article 16. Dissemination of statistical information
1. Bodies managing official statistics must, within their remit, publish the statistical information produced within the framework of the Official Statistics Programme.
2. The statistical information produced within the framework of the Official Statistics Programme shall be published in a manner that ensures its simultaneous accessibility to all users of official statistics.
3. The statistical information published by bodies managing official statistics or provided to users of official statistics must be disseminated by indicating the body managing official statistics which has produced the statistical information.
4. Statistical data on statistical units may be disseminated in data sets consisting of anonymised records which have been produced in a manner that does not allow direct and indirect identification.
Article 17. Transmission of statistical data and statistical information
1. Bodies managing official statistics shall exchange among themselves the statistical data necessary for the implementation of the Official Statistics Programme only to the extent necessary to conduct a specific statistical survey included in the Official Statistics Programme in order to reduce the statistical reporting burden on respondents.
2. Statistical data and statistical information shall be transmitted to the European Commission (the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat)) and to the European Central Bank if legal acts of the European Union provide so. Statistical data and statistical information may be provided to institutions of the European Union in fulfilment of the obligations of membership of the Republic of Lithuania in the European Union.
3. Statistical data and statistical information may be transmitted to the statistical offices of the Member States of the European Union and to national central banks and other national statistical authorities in accordance with the procedure laid down in legal acts of the European Union.
4. Bodies managing official statistics may, on the basis of contracts concluded with higher education institutions or research institutes, provide statistical data to researchers of these higher education institutions and research institutes to carry out specific statistical analyses for research purposes. The statistical data must be provided in a manner that does not allow direct identification.
5. Bodies managing official statistics shall cooperate with international organisations in fulfilment of the international obligations of the Republic of Lithuania. Statistical data and statistical information may be provided to the international organisations in fulfilment of the international obligations of the Republic of Lithuania.
CHAPTER III
RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF RESPONDENTS AND USERS OF OFFICIAL STATISTICS
Article 18. Rights and duties of respondents
1. Respondents shall have the following rights:
1) to obtain from bodies managing official statistics information concerning the legal basis of a statistical survey, the purpose of the use of statistical data, the mandatory or voluntary nature of the provision thereof, the mode of the provision thereof, the legal consequences of non-provision of the data as provided for in the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Lithuania;
2) natural persons – the rights of a data subject as stipulated in Regulation (EU) 2016/679, except for the case referred to in Article 10(4) of this Law.
2. Respondents must:
1) provide free of charge correct and complete statistical data and the data which allow direct or indirect identification, as well as records of electronic transactions or other records, mobile communications data, variable data or other data accumulated and processed by private legal persons, including personal data, with special categories of personal data among them, for the purpose of implementation of the Official Statistics Programme and in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts governing the management of official statistics. The respondents being natural persons must, for the purpose of implementation of the Official Statistics Programme, provide statistical data and the data which allow direct or indirect identification, if so provided by legal acts of the European Union or laws of the Republic of Lithuania;
2) rectify, adjust and/or supplement erroneous, inaccurate and/or incomplete statistical data if they find that they have provided such data to a body managing official statistics. The body managing official statistics shall provide the respondents with the possibility to rectify, adjust and/or supplement the statistical data provided by them and inform them of the mode(s) of rectification, adjustment and/or supplementation;
3) when providing statistical data, using an advanced electronic signature or any other mode that allows identification of the natural person who has provided them, confirm the correctness of the statistical data or the fact that the statistical data recorded in a statistical questionnaire or provided according to a list of statistical indicators are consistent with the statements of an interview, except in cases where it is not required to indicate the respondent;
4) create conditions for employees of bodies managing official statistics to collect free of charge publicly accessible statistical data for the purpose of implementation of the Official Statistics Programme;
5) introduce themselves, namely, provide their forename and surname, where respondents being natural persons provide statistical data by telephone.
Article 19. Rights and duties of users of official statistics
1. Users of official statistics shall have the following rights:
1) to access the principles, procedures and methods of producing statistical information;
2) to receive information on the quality of statistical information;
3) to make proposals to bodies managing official statistics concerning the production of statistical information.
2. In disseminating statistical information, users of official statistics must comply with the requirement set out in Article 16(3) of this Law.
CHAPTER IV
ORGANISATION OF THE MANAGEMENT AND PROCESSING OF STATE DATA AND USE OF STATE DATA
Article 20. State data governance and the State Data Governance Information System
1. State data governance shall encompass a set of state data management principles, standards, procedures, organisational arrangements, best practice methods and tools, which allows to ensure the reliability and integrity of state data and enables the processing of state data through centrally managed and operated tools in a single environment by semantically linking these data according to thematic categories of high value data and types of primary data.
2. The State Data Governance Information System shall ensure the production of statistical information by the State Data Agency and the processing of state data for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law in a common technical, organisational and physical environment and provide one-stop-shop access to state data.
3. State and municipal institutions and agencies as well as state and municipal enterprises and public establishments whose owner or stakeholder is the State or a municipality and which are authorised, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Public Administration, to carry out public administration, provide public services or perform other functions specified by law, statutory establishments and other budgetary institutions, regional development councils must be provided with access via the State Data Governance Information System to the data necessary for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law which have been combined or otherwise processed or aggregated by different registers and/or information systems.
4. The State Data Governance Information System shall, through its tools, provide access to state data for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law.
5. For the purposes specified in points 3, 5, 8 and 9 of Article 21(1) of this Law, state data shall be provided only in a manner that does not allow direct identification of a data subject. For the purposes specified in points 3, 5, 8 and 9 of Article 21(1) of this Law, state data which allow indirect identification of the data subject shall be provided only where it is necessary to achieve these purposes. For the purpose specified in Article 21(1)(10) of this Law, state data shall be provided only in such a manner that does not allow direct or indirect identification of the data subject.
6. State data shall be provided for the purpose specified in Article 21(1)(6) of this Law from the State Data Governance Information System where a user of the State Data Manager Information System requires the state data combined or otherwise processed or aggregated by different registers and/or state information systems or where these data must be combined or otherwise processed or aggregated with the data processed on the State Data Management Platform.
7. State data may not be processed for the purpose of taking a decision or carrying out actions having legal consequences for a specific natural or legal person, except where a written consent of the legal person has been obtained for the processing of the legal person’s data of a clearly defined scope for a specific purpose.
8. State data shall be processed within the shortest possible time taking into consideration the purposes of data processing. The time limits for the processing of the state data shall be established by the Government.
9. The processing of personal data, with special categories of personal data among them, within the State Data Governance Information System for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law shall be based on an overriding public interest.
10. The Government shall establish a procedure for obtaining, processing and providing state data.
Article 21. Purposes of management, processing and use of state data
1. State data shall be managed, processed and used for the following purposes:
1) official statistics in implementing the Official Statistics Programme;
2) the implementation of the State Data Governance Programme;
3) monitoring and analysis of the economic and social development and financial stability of the State;
4) data-based decision-making related to public administration in executing resolutions and assignments of the Government;
5) research, experimental development and innovation activities;
6) management of the analytical and strategic processes of state and municipal institutions and agencies as well as state and municipal enterprises and public establishments the owner or stakeholder of which is the State or a municipality and which are authorised, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Public Administration, to carry out public administration, provide public services or perform other functions specified by law, statutory establishments and other budgetary institutions, regional development councils by performing the functions specified in their regulations;
7) emergencies and emergency events, state of emergency and crisis operational management in accordance with paragraph 4 of this Article;
8) education and training in higher education institutions for the purpose of providing and/or acquiring theoretical and/or practical knowledge in the course of teaching or learning under a particular study programme;
9) implementation of surveys, projects and other activities performed by the institutions of the European Union and international organisations in fulfilment of the obligations of the Republic of Lithuania;
10) compilation and publication of state data sets for re-use in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on the Right to Obtain Information and Re-Use of Data and other legal acts regulating the publication of state data for re-use.
2. State data shall be provided only for the purposes specified in paragraph 1 of this Article in accordance with the procedure and under the conditions laid down by the Government.
3. The State Data Agency shall manage, process and ensure the provision of state data exclusively for the purposes specified in paragraph 1 of this Article. When processing state data for the purposes specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, the requirements set out in the Law on Management of State Information Resources regarding conclusion of agreements on the provision of data shall not apply, except for the cases when, for the purposes of official statistics, state data are processed together with statistical data. Instead, use shall be made of standardised descriptions of data or service provision terms prepared by the State Data Agency to be made available to users of the State Data Governance Information System through automated data access created by the State Data Agency or by any other automated means.
4. For the purposes of operational management of emergencies and emergency events, state of emergency and crises, state data shall be managed, processed and provided by a decision of the Government, the State Data Agency or the commander of emergency operations. In the event of introduction of a state of emergency or declaration of an emergency, data controllers and/or data processors of registers and information systems must enable the State Data Agency to receive in the State Data Governance Information System, not later than within five working days from the referral, the data of institutions, registers and information systems necessary for this purpose.
Article 22. Rights and duties of state data providers
1. State data providers shall have the following rights:
1) to access technical and organisational security measures for the management, processing and use of the state data provided by them;
2) to receive information about the purposes of management, processing and use of the state data provided by them;
3) to make use, where necessary, of the functionalities of the State Data Management Platform for processing the data provided by it to the State Data Governance Information System.
2. State data providers must:
1) start, free of charge and within the time limit not exceeding 30 calendar days set by the State Data Agency, providing at its request copies of primary data, administrative data, information, documents and/or copies thereof and other data for the performance of the functions of the State Data Agency and for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law;
2) ensure the relevance, correctness and completeness of the state data provided to the State Data Agency;
3) upon receipt of information from the State Data Agency about the quality of state data, evaluate the quality of the state data in accordance with the procedure laid down by the law and take decisions on the adjustment or modification thereof.
Article 23. Rights and duties of users of state data and users of the State Data Governance Information System
1. Users of state data shall have the following rights:
1) to obtain state data for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law;
2) to access the principles, procedures and methods of the performance of activities within the framework of the State Data Governance Programme;
3) natural persons – the rights of a data subject as provided for in Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
2. In addition to the rights specified in paragraph 1 of this Article, users of the State Data Governance Information System shall have the right of access to the State Data Governance Information System.
3. Users of state data must:
1) when requesting personal data, indicate the purpose of personal data processing, the legal basis(s) thereof, the conditions for the lawful processing of personal data referred to in Regulation (EU) 2016/679, also clearly indicate the scope of the personal data requested that is necessary to achieve a specific purpose and other information specified in the legal acts regulating the receipt and disclosure of personal data, when requesting other state data – specify the purpose of and legal basis for the use of the state data and other information specified in the legal acts regulating the receipt and disclosure of state data;
2) ensure the use of state data only for the purpose for which they have been obtained;
3) ensure adequate state data protection measures, including protection against unauthorised access to personal data.
4. In addition to the duties referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, users of the State Data Governance Information System must comply with the obligations of the procedure for and security of the use of the State Data Governance Information System specified by the State Data Agency.
Article 24. State Data Governance Programme
1. The State Data Governance Programme shall indicate:
1) the name of an activity;
2) the institution or agency responsible for the performance of the activity;
3) the legal basis for the activity;
4) the source of data;
5) the source of financing;
6) other necessary information concerning the activities performed.
2. The State Data Governance Programme for each year shall be approved by the Minister of Finance.
Article 25. Use of the State Data Management Platform
1. The State Data Management Platform shall be a multifunctional and integrated set of technological solutions, technical and software tools designed to provide the entities referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article with a technical, organisational and physical environment for managing, processing and/or exchanging data. The security of the State Data Management Platform shall be ensured by the administrative and technical measures, as established by the State Data Agency, which ensure the protection of the data processed, including personal data, and prevent accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, disclosure and other unlawful processing thereof.
2. The State Data Management Platform may be used for the performance of functions of state and municipal institutions and agencies, also state and municipal undertakings and public establishments the owner or stakeholder of which is the State or a municipality, statutory establishments and other budgetary institutions, regional development councils in implementing the tasks set out in laws or other legal acts, also for the performance of functions of other entities in implementing the tasks of overriding public interest.
3. The State Data Management Platform shall be financed with funds of the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania.
4. The conditions of and the procedure for operating, using the State Data Management Platform shall be established by the Director of the State Data Agency.
CHAPTER V
PROTECTION OF STATISTICAL DATA, STATISTICAL INFORMATION AND STATE DATA
Article 26. Protection of statistical data and statistical information
1. The bodies managing official statistics must take organisational and technical measures ensuring the protection of statistical data and statistical information, introduce information technologies preventing accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, disclosure and other unlawful processing thereof, including encryption of data, application of the need-to-know principle defined in the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on State Secrets and Official Secrets, establishment of the obligation to ensure confidentiality.
2. Higher education institutions and research institutes as well as their researchers receiving statistical data pursuant to Article 17(4) of this Law shall ensure the protection of the confidential statistical data thus obtained against disclosure by transmission or otherwise making them available to third parties who do not have the right of access thereto or against unlawful use or processing thereof for purposes other than those specified in Article 17(4) of this Law.
Article 27. Protection of state data
1. The State Data Agency must take organisational and technical measures ensuring the protection of state data, introduce information technologies preventing accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, disclosure and other unlawful processing thereof, including encryption of data, application of the need-to-know principle defined in the Law on State Secrets and Official Secrets, establishment of the obligation to ensure confidentiality.
2. In defining personal data processing measures and processing personal data, the State Data Agency shall apply technical and organisational measures in order to ensure compliance with the principles of personal data protection and shall integrate the necessary personal data processing safeguards in order to ensure compliance with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and to protect the rights and freedoms of data subjects. These measures shall include pseudonymisation and anonymisation, provided that the objectives specified in Article 21(1) of this Law can be achieved in this manner. Where the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law can be achieved by processing personal data in such a manner that the data subjects are not or no longer identifiable, these purposes shall be pursued in that manner.
Article 28. Duty to protect statistical data and statistical information, state data
1. The officials, civil servants and employees of the bodies managing official statistics who work with statistical data must ensure the protection of confidential statistical data and statistical information and undertake in writing to protect the confidential statistical data and use them exclusively for the purposes of official statistics.
2. An interviewer collecting statistical data by way of an interview shall be responsible for the correctness of the statistical data recorded in a statistical questionnaire and/or provided according to a list of statistical indicators and their consistency with the statistical data and statements provided by the respondent.
3. Civil servants and employees of the State Data Agency who work with state data must ensure the protection of state data, undertake in writing to protect and use state data exclusively for the purposes specified in Article 21(1) of this Law.
4. Expiry of a civil service relationship or termination of an employment relationship shall not release a person from the obligation to protect confidential statistical data, state data and from liability for disclosure of these data.
5. Liability for violations of the procedure for providing and processing statistical data as well as violations of the management of the State Data Governance Information System shall be established in the Code of Administrative Offences.
Annex to
the Republic of Lithuania
Law on Official Statistics and
State Data Governance
LEGAL ACTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IMPLEMENTED BY THIS LAW
1. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities, as last amended by Regulation (EU) 2015/759 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015.”
Article 2. Entry into force, implementation and application of the Law
1. The Law, with the exception of paragraph 2 of this Article, shall enter into force on 1 January 2023.
2. The Government of the Republic of Lithuania or an institution authorised by it and the Director General of Statistics Lithuania shall, prior to the entry into force of this Law, adopt legal acts implementing this Law.
3. The name of the institution, “Statistics Lithuania”, as used in other legal acts shall correspond to the name “State Data Agency”, and references to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Official Statistics shall be construed as references to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Official Statistics and State Data Governance.
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
President of the Republic Gitanas Nausėda