CHAPTER VIII Pilot studies and financing

Article 21Financing

1.

For the implementation of this Regulation, the Union may provide financial support to the national statistical institutes and other national authorities referred to in the list established pursuant to Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, towards the cost of:

(a)

the development or implementation of data requirements and data processing in the field of business statistics;

(b)

the development of methodologies that aim to increase the quality or reduce the costs and administrative burden of collecting and producing business statistics and to improve the European framework for statistical business registers;

(c)

the development of methodologies that aim to reduce the administrative and financial burden of providing the required information by reporting units, in particular SMEs;

(d)

participation in the pilot studies referred to in Article 20;

(e)

the development or enhancement of processes, IT systems and similar support functions that aim to produce statistics of a higher quality or to reduce the administrative and financial burden.

2.

The Union financial contribution shall be provided in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council26, and Article 6 of Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council27.

3.

This Union financial contribution shall not exceed 95 % of the eligible costs.