The 2006 French Census: A New Collection, A New Dissemination. Which Place for a Data Archive?

The 1999 census was the last exhaustive census in France that has moved towards a continuous population census since 2006. At that time, the French national statistical office (INSEE) renewed profoundly his website and propose today several collections of aggregated tables, at municipality level, and more than 10 different microdata files. Anybody can now download these tables and files without any commitment and free of charge. Yet the on-line microdata files are not complete due to confidentiality protection requirements and the standard aggregated tables cannot answer all the questions. The presentation will focus on the evolution of the specific role of the French Data Archives in this new context. The Centre Maurice Halbwachs (CMH), who is in charge within Réseau Quetelet to provide access to government micro data for the researchers, offers in cooperation with INSEE specific ways for tabulations on request. It also provides the annual census survey micro data file. The new remote access built by INSEE in cooperation with the Data Archives will offer other possibilities. Finally, not surprisingly, researchers also continue to turn to CMH for getting help and advice.