CIMES-Eurostat

Access to microdata for scientific purposes

in European countries

 

Access to microdata for scientific purposes at Eurostat

Contact

Name of the microdata access service

Access to European microdata

Postal address

5, rue Alphonse Weicker
L-2721 Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

Email

estat-microdata-access@ec.europa.eu

Website

https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata

Access conditions

General conditions

Eurostat grants access to European microdata for scientific purposes only.

To apply for access to European microdata released by Eurostat, the researchers must belong to an organisation recognised by Eurostat as a research entity. In general, the researcher entities are: 

  • universities, research institutions and alike
  • research departments in: 
    • public administration,
    • central bank,
    • statistical institute etc.

Consult the list of recognised research entities to check if your organisation is recognised. 

The eligibility of the researcher's  institution is the first access step. The second step is submission of the research project in which the need of access to microdata is well justified.  

Conditions for non-resident researchers

There are no restrictions for submission of applications for recognition as a research entity and requests for access to microdata.

Conditions for students

Only PhD students can request access to microdata. PhD student can participate in the project using microdata but they cannot be principal researchers of the project submitted to Eurostat.

Legal framework 

Regulation (EU) No 557/2013 on access to confidential data for scientific purposes.

How much does it cost?

Free of charge.

How long does it take to obtain data?

  • Step 1 – recognition of the research organisation as a research entity takes around 4 weeks.
  • Step 2 – validation of the research proposal explaining the planned use of microdata takes around 8-10 weeks.

Types of microdata available at Eurostat

Public Use Files (PUF)

Fully anonymised microdata available for  download from Eurostat website: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/public-microdata

Scientific Use Files (SUF)

Anonymised microdata available for download for researchers respecting access conditions described on Eurostat website: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata

Secure Use Files (SecUF)

Microdata without direct identifiers  available in secure on-site or remote environment for researchers respecting access conditions described on Eurostat website: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata

 

Access to microdata by type of person

Access to microdata depend on the type of person and type of microdata.

 

 

Public Use Files

Scientific Use Files

Secure Use Files

Public

Yes

No

No

Students

Yes

No

No

PhD students

Yes

Yes

Yes

Researchers

Yes

Yes

Yes

Foreign researchers

Yes

Yes

Yes

Modes of access by microdata type

Modes of access to microdata are adapted to the microdata type. 

 

 

Public Use Files

Scientific Use Files

Secure Use Files

Online access

Yes

No

No

For download

Yes

Yes

No

Onsite access

No

No

Yes

Remote access

No

No

Yes

Remote execution

N/A

N/A

N/A

Microdatasets available at Eurostat

Other access points in Europe

Disclaimer

The pages above provide information on microdata disseminated at the national level by the statistical institutes in the European countries and on microdata disseminated by Eurostat.  The pages describe the data and the procedures for requesting access as well as the available types of microdata files (Public Use Files, Scientific Use Files, and Secure Use Files).

This information was initially collected by CASD/GENES for the CIMES database developed for Data without Boundaries project (funded by the 7th Framework Programme, the EU's research funding programme between 2007 and 2013). CIMES stands for Centralising and Integrating Metadata from European Statistics. Various organisations (ADP, CED, CNRS-Réseau Quetelet, FORS, GESIS, RODA, ONS, and UL) contributed to the creation of CIMES by collecting and structuring the metadata for the period of the Data without Boundaries project (2011-2015). In 2021, Eurostat moved the CIMES database to the CROS platform to facilitate updates of countries' information. Eurostat would like to thank all CIMES developers, especially CASD, for sharing the CIMES database and for all efficient collaboration.