1. The purpose of this Regulation is:
((a))
to authorise national authorities to transmit confidential statistical data to the Statistical Office of the European Communities (hereinafter referred to as Eurostat);
((b))
to provide a guarantee that the Commission will take all necessary measures to ensure the confidentiality of data thus transmitted.
2. This Regulation shall apply to statistical confidentiality only. It shall not affect special, Community or national provisions safeguarding confidentiality other than statistical confidentiality.