1.A series of pilot studies shall be instituted by the Commission and carried out by Member States on a voluntary basis as specified in the Annexes. The Commission shall award grants to national authorities within the meaning of Article 2 of Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community Statistics ( 9 ), following a call for proposals.
2.The pilot studies shall be carried out in order to assess the relevance and feasibility of obtaining data. The results of the pilot studies shall be evaluated by the Commission, taking into account the benefits of the availability of the data in relation to the cost of collection and the burden on businesses.
3.The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council of the results of pilot studies.
4.The measures designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation by supplementing it on the basis of the evaluation of the pilot studies, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 12(3).