L 61/6 Official Journal of the European Union 5.3.2008 REGULATION (EC) No 177/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 20 February 2008 establishing a common framework for business registers for statistical purposes and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 2186/93 THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 285(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (}), Whereas: o) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2186/93 (%) established a common framework for setting up business registers for statistical purposes with harmonised definitions, character- istics, scope and updating procedures. In order to maintain the development of business registers in a harmonised framework a new regulation should be adopted. Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community (}) contains the definitions of the statistical unit to be used. The internal market requires improved statistical comparability to meet Community requirements. In order to achieve that improvement, common definitions and descriptions should be adopted for enterprises and other relevant statistical units to be covered. Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 58/97 of 20 Decem- ber 1996 concerning structural business statistics (*) and Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 of 19 May 1998 concerning short-term statistics (°) established a common framework for the collection, compilation, transmission and evaluation of Community statistics on the structure, Opinion of the European Parliament of 1 June 2006 (O] C 298 E, 8.12.2006, p. 127), Council Common Position of 21 May 2007 (O] C 193 E, 21.8.2007, p. 1) and Position of the European Parliament of 25 October 2007 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 21 January 2008. 0J L 196, 5.8.1993, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (O] L 284, 31.10.2003, p. 1). OJ L 76, 30.3.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003. OJ L 14, 17.1.1997, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (O L 393, 30.12.2006, p. 1). OJ L 162, 5.6.1998, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EQ) No 1893/2006. ,.\,.\ D) ~ activity, competitiveness and performance of businesses in the Community. Business registers for statistical purposes represent a basic element of such a common framework, making it possible to organise and coordinate statistical surveys by providing a harmonised sampling frame. Business registers are one method by which to reconcile the conflicting requirements for collating increased informa- tion on enterprises on the one hand and lightening their administrative burden on the other, in particular by using existing information in administrative and legal files, especially in the case of micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises, as defined in Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 (°). Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community Statistics (’) set the framework for establish- ing a Community statistical programme and established a common framework for statistical confidentiality. The specific rules for processing data within the framework of the Community statistical programme do not affect Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (5). Business registers for statistical purposes are the main source for business demography, as they keep track of business creations and closures as well as the structural changes in the economy by concentration or de-concentra- tion, brought about by operations such as mergers, takeovers, break ups, split offs and restructuring. Business registers provide the basic information that is required to meet a strong policy interest in rural development, not only as regards agriculture but also as regards its increasing combination with other activities not covered by product-based agricultural statistics. ) OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36. OJ L 52,22.2.1997, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003. OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31. Directive as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003.