In accordance with Decision No 1578/2007/EC1of the European Parliament and of the Council, the Commission presents a report on the final evaluation of the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012 (CSP).

The report summarises the CSP’s main achievements, and presents the outcome of the reprioritisation and the implementation of Eurostat’s Vision communication , a major new initiative that, although issued after the CSP was adopted, reshaped the activities in 2010-12 and is also relevant for going forward.

Main achievements : the CSP contains over 130 objectives, the majority of which achieved a high degree of implementation. Institutional objectives and those aiming to improve the legislative framework had the highest degree of achievement, — 100 % and 95 % respectively of their objectives could be considered achieved — while some 10 % of the production-related objectives were not adequately achieved.

Resources also had to be redeployed to meet new statistical needs that emerged during the CSP period, particularly in the areas of macroeconomic and social statistics due to the financial crisis.

The financial implementation was generally good.

Statistics play an important role in European integration , e.g.:

· the process of preparing the new European system of accounts (ESA 2010) culminated in the adoption of the ESA 2010 Regulation in May 2013

· the implementation of the NACE Rev. 2 classification advanced considerably ;

· a Union register of multinational enterprise groups is expected to be completed by end of 2013 and is already being used ;

· statistical and IT standards for the exchange of data and metadata became increasingly available within the European Statistical System (ESS) ;

· the ESS Committee (ESSC) endorsed a revised version of the European Statistics Code of Practice in 2011 and updated the ESS Quality Assurance Framework (v1.1) at the end of 2012. The European Statistical Governance Advisory Board reports annually to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the Code ;

· the creation of the European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC) helped to improve communication with different types of users ;

· Eurostat collected and published a wide range of data for the enlargement process and, to a lesser extent, for the European Neighbourhood countries;

· there has been an increase in the number of domains now governed by legislation (energy, environmental accounts) in order to ensure timely and complete data transmission by Member States;

· regular compliance monitoring for enhancing the quality of European statistics was implemented ;

· a financing decision was adopted annually for the operational implementation of the work programme. The financial execution of the available credits was satisfactory and monitored at central level;

· new types of collaborative networks (ESSnets) were developed to share expertise and channel knowledge and resources in the ESS;

· following the launch of the revamped website in 2009 with new sections such as ‘Statistics Explained’ and improved functionalities, in 2010 a new dissemination chain was put in place.

With regard to cross-sectional activities , Eurostat published new indicators to replace the structural indicators. The list of sustainable development indicators (SDIs) was updated. The GDP and beyond initiative has led to improvements and the production of new indicators in a number of statistical areas, in particular economic, social and environmental statistics.

2) Redefinition of priorities : a methodology for the reprioritisation process was developed by a task force specifically set up for the purpose. However, this methodology was difficult to implement consistently at national level. Therefore, Eurostat proposed a new strategy-driven approach to the ESS, based on an annual review of existing statistical requirements, on identification of negative priorities and on sunset clauses.

Priority setting was performed during the preparation of the annual work programmes and involved a rolling process of consultation between Eurostat and the other Commission DGs as well as among the various ESS members, including ESAC. The annual priority-setting mechanism actually ensured that annual programmes could cope with emerging statistical priorities.

The report notes that even if there is no evidence that the reprioritisation process was partly guided by systematic considerations on efficiency gains, Eurostat made a big effort to increase the efficiency of the production system.

3) Implementation of Eurostat’s vision: Eurostat’s Vision involves most — if not all — phases of the statistical business process and could not have been completed in only three years. Major developments are provided for in the European Statistical Programme 2013-2017 (ESP) . The report cites the establishment of Sponsorship Groups within the ESS to promote the sharing of knowledge and good practice among ESS members at a strategic level, the launch of the modernisation of social statistics and the introduction of the European Master’s in Official Statistics.

The concrete initiatives mainly consisted of VIP and ESSnet projects . The former addresses cross-cutting domains of development. The latter is an initiative formalising a long-standing tradition of cooperation among ESS members with the final aim of developing tools and common solutions to be widely adopted by all the National Statistical Institutes (NSIs).

The reengineering of statistical operations is a long and complex process, and the results of VIP and ESSnet projects have therefore, in most cases, not yet been included in the production chain of NSIs. NSIs will need resources to invest in the modification of processes, even though they might bring cost-efficiencies in the long-run.

The degree to which NSIs have adopted the ESS Strategy and the Vision is still mixed , with NSI attitudes ranging from enthusiastic to sceptical — if not reluctant. The risk of lacking momentum in a scenario of resources shortage in the ESS can be mitigated by positioning the Vision at the core of the ESP, but this strategy needs to be supported by adequate means, in particular, adequate management should be put in place.

EUR-Lex
COM(2013)0883

This document constitutes the interim report required by Decision No 1578/2007/EC. It summarises the Community Statistical Programme’s (CSP’s) main achievements, looks ahead to the second half of the CSP and deals with specific elements that have to be addressed in the report. It also presents recommendations for the future.

Main achievements of the CSP : the focus here is on the first two years of the programme. The CSP contains around 130 objectives, most of them multiannual and requiring steady implementation over the entire programme period. For each Title of the programme, many of the objectives (around 90 %) are on track and are likely to be achieved by the end of 2012 although resource constraints in the ESS may render this more difficult than expected. Some important objectives had already been met by the end of 2009 (establishment of the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board, adoption of an energy statistics regulation, a more user-friendly Eurostat website). Objectives for which work has yet to begin include the development of indicators for analysing the performance of logistics and intermodal transport, the implementation of NACE rev2 in national accounts and the development of a methodology for assessing the quality of regional data.

In addition, the European Statistical System (ESS) demonstrated its capacity to deal with the statistical consequences of the financial crisis in the areas of macroeconomic and social statistics. Decisions on the statistical treatment of government interventions were issued and appropriate economic and labour market indicators were provided. The existing statistical indicators are being reviewed and several projects aiming to provide additional indicators for policymakers by making better use of existing data are in progress. Given that fewer resources will be available, an even stronger effort to harmonise methodology, concepts and definitions in many areas and to improve standardisation will be needed to meet all the objectives of the CSP by the end of 2012.

Key elements for the second half of the CSP : the report notes that Council Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics was adopted in 2009. It sets out principles enabling all the ESS members to produce and disseminate statistics more efficiently, lays down the structure of the ESS, provides a coordinating role in the statistical system for Eurostat at European level and for the National Statistical Institutes at national level, institutionalises collaborative networks and strengthens requirements for output quality.

Furthermore, a Communication on the production method of EU statistics (COM (2009)0404) was adopted by the Commission in August 2009 and aims to improve the efficiency of statistical production by changing the production method.

In order to bring the Greek statistical system into line with the EU requirements and ESS standards, the ESS will assist the Hellenic Statistical Authority in rebuilding the statistical system so that it is able to produce reliable statistical data, and this assistance will absorb a great deal of resources in the ESS.

Lastly, the process of subjecting all fields to a cost-effectiveness analysis has begun (e.g. development of summary information sheets, cost and burden measurement) but further efforts will be needed.

Specific aspects of reporting : the paper discusses the competitive effects on SMEs due to reduction of administrative burden . Some EUR 200-250 million can be ploughed back into business activities of SMEs if the changes in EU legislation such as limiting the number of surveyed statistical products, increasing the thresholds for enterprises to report Intrastat data and eliminating certain variables reported in SBS are integrated into Member States practices.

On financial burden-sharing between the EU and Member States budgets , the paper states that the fact that between 60 % and 90 % of Member States’statistical work programmes relates to EU work programmes implies that there is a considerable degree of synergy between European and national statistical work programmes. If more precise estimations are to be produced, an appropriate information system on the costs borne by the EU and MS needs to be established.

Follow-up of previous recommendations : the recommendations from the previous evaluation are taken up by introducing mechanisms that will make it possible to link the CSP objectives with the annual work programmes in the planning and reporting processes, thus improving the monitoring of programme implementation.

Definition of new needs for statistical information: new, more complex and timely data needs for policy purposes are likely to arise all the time, e.g. in connection with the Communication on GDP and beyond, the Commission’s report on the measurement of economic performance and social progress, the need for more geo-referenced data, data on disability, indicators on consumer markets and in particular for monitoring detailed product prices on a yearly basis and the Europe 2020 strategy. In order to meet these needs a more integrated approach using multiple and combined data sources together with harmonisation of methodology, concepts and definitions will be required by the ESS. Strengthen partnership in the ESS : adaptation of the annual planning process and programmes will be needed as well as evaluation of the objectives in the CSP. The setting up of more and different integrated cooperation models together with Member States will require greater interaction, increased use of ESS networks and sharing of tools for greater efficiency of the system. Cost-burden analysis and re-prioritisation : reporting on these aspects is required by the CSP. The results of existing cost and burden measurements need to be considered and further reflection is required on how to obtain homogeneous information on cost and burden from all Member States as well as on the use made of statistics. A conceptual approach to reprioritisation of activities should be developed based on available summary information sheets per legal act and a determined effort to implement it should be made. Availability of resources for implementing the programme : an appropriate balance between the objectives as set out in the CSP and the current deteriorating resource situation in many Member States’ statistical offices should be considered at the level of the ESS. A strategic reflection on the objectives for the second half of the programme and additional reassessment of user needs is required at the level of the ESS aiming at setting strategic priorities and making statistics production more efficient.

COM(2010)0346
EUR-Lex

PURPOSE: to establish a comprehensive strategic programme for official Community statistics for the period 2008-2012.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision No 1578/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2007 on the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012.

CONTENT: the Council adopted a Decision establishing a statistical programme for the period 2008-2012 which aims to ensure the consistency and comparability of statistical information in the Community. This programme identifies the approaches, the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged in respect of the policy priorities of the EU. The programme shall be implemented in accordance with the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice with a view to producing and disseminating high-quality, harmonised Community statistics disaggregated by gender, where appropriate, and ensuring the proper functioning of the European statistical system.

The programme shall be guided by the principal Community policy priorities of:

prosperity, competitiveness, innovation and growth; solidarity and human development; economic, social and regional cohesion, sustainable development and demographic challenges; security; further enlargement of the European Union.

The Commission shall, after consulting the Statistical Programme Committee, present an interim progress report and shall submit it to the European Parliament and the Council no later than June 2010. That report shall address, in particular, the period of the second half of the current programme and the issue of the period to be covered by the next multiannual statistical programme, taking into account the term of office of the European Parliament.

In relation to the implementation of the programme, the Commission shall also provide a preliminary analysis of the competitive effects on small and medium-sized enterprises brought about by the proposed cuts in the administrative burden, and of the financial burden-sharing between Community and Member State budgets.

The Commission shall also pay special attention to the issue of necessary datasets, tools and methodologies which shall serve as the basis for the production of unbiased and objective analysis of the social and economic impacts of important areas which are in need of constant monitoring and review such as the common agricultural policy, the services in the internal market and the next multiannual financial framework.

At the end of the period covered by the programme, the Commission, after consulting the Statistical Programme Committee, shall present an evaluation report on the implementation of the programme, taking into account the views of independent experts. That report shall be completed by the end of 2013 and subsequently submitted to the European Parliament and the Council.

The financial envelope for the period 2008-2012 is set at EUR 274 200 000 .

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 31/12/2007.

Decision 2007/1578
OJ L 344 28.12.2007, p. 0015

03654/2007/LEX

Following the priorities set-out in the ECOFIN Council on 8 November 2005 on statistical governance, on 7 November 2006 on the Status Report on Information Requirements in EMU and on the public communication of major statistical revisions, and on 28 November 2006 on the reduction of the administrative burden related to statistics, the ECOFIN Council reviewed progress made in these areas. It adopted the following conclusions:

2007 EFC Status Report on Information Requirements : the Council endorses the 2007 EFC Status Report on Information Requirements in the EMU. In particular, it welcomes the progress achieved with the Principal European Economic Indicators (PEEIs), following the recommendations of the 2006 EFC Status Report. It encourages ongoing efforts to promote best practices and data sharing and reiterates the need to strengthen the accuracy and reliability of the indicators. The Council calls upon the European Statistical System to step up efforts to also ensure the regular availability and high quality of the statistics for structural analysis. Eurostat and the ECB are invited to provide an updated Status Report on the fulfilment of EMU statistical requirements in 2008 and to review the scope, timeliness and quality of the PEEIs in the light of the results achieved, the constraints encountered and the evolving users’ needs for economic and monetary policy purposes.

Reduction of statistical burden : noting that available measurements have not indicated a significant reduction in the overall statistical burden since 2006, the Council underlines that the right balance has to be found between minimising the response burden and providing sufficiently high quality statistics for Community policies. The Council in particular: i) emphasises the desirability of respondents to report only once by combining reporting for different purposes and make the best use of the data that is already available by integrating existing statistics, including administrative data, to the extent possible; ii) welcomes the examination by the Commission (Eurostat), the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC) and the Committee for Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) regarding the simplification of Intrastat; iii) agrees with the objective to reduce the coverage ratio in the short term while preparing a move to an alternative method in the long term, such as the single flow method, which requires further study; iv) invites the Commission to step up its efforts to enhance the measurement of the statistical response burden with a view to develop agreed criteria to assess progress objectively and to make a further assessment of the change in overall burden by October 2008.

Statistical Governance : the Council welcomes the agreement reached with the European Parliament and the Commission on the establishment of the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB) and the European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC), and anticipates their swift establishment. Furthermore, it welcomes the initiative to modernise the current legal framework governing the development, production and dissemination of European Statistics and takes note that the Commission forwarded to the Council, in accordance with the procedure laid down in article 251 of the Treaty (co-decision), a proposal for a Regulation on European Statistics. The Council recognises the major efforts required by National Statistical Institutes and Eurostat in the peer review exercise, as well as the high commitment of the partners involved. It looks forward to the report to the European Parliament and the Council on progress with the compliance with the European Statistics Code of Practice in 2008 and underlines the importance that all Member States provide the necessary input to Eurostat according to the agreed timetable.

Communication of Major Statistical Revisions : the Council underlines that major revisions of macro-economic and social statistics in Member States can have substantive implications for European economic policies and for the credibility of the European Statistical System as a whole. It believes that a proper communication of the impacts of major revisions within the EU is crucial. Therefore, the Council welcomes the guidelines on the public communication of major statistical revisions in the European Union as set up by the CMFB, in response to the conclusions of the Ecofin Council of 7 November 2006. Lastly, it invites Member States to follow these guidelines.

SP(2007)4170

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted the report by Zsolt Laszlo BECSEY (EPP-ED, HU) on the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012. The main amendments introduced at Plenary are as follows:

- the programme shall be guided by the principal Community policy priorities of: (i) innovation, and growth; (ii) solidarity and human development; (iii) economic, social and regional cohesion, sustainable development and demographic challenges;

- Community statistics shall be disaggregated by gender, where appropriate;

- national authorities and the Community statistical authority shall: a) establish an institutional and organisational environment which promotes the effectiveness and credibility of national and Community statistical authorities producing and disseminating official statistics, including regional statistics based on the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS); b) cooperate with statistical bodies at international level in order to promote the use of international concepts, classifications and methods; c) provide, where requested and warranted, the necessary technical support in the area of statistical organisation, and enable good practice to be shared with other bodies or third countries; d) place emphasis on the quality of the statistical information (above all its reliability and comparability), taking due care to ensure the chronological continuity of the data collected and the possibility of scientific processing thereof;

- the Commission shall, in the preparation of the annual statistical work programmes, take account of the cost-effectiveness of the statistics produced and ensure an ongoing review of statistical priorities, with a view to making best use of available resources of the Member States and the Commission and to minimising the burden imposed on respondents. Prioritisation shall aim at balancing additional costs and burdens for new statistical requirements by reducing statistical requirements in existing domains of Community statistics and shall take place in close co-operation with the Member States;

- the Commission, after consulting the Statistical Programme Committee, shall present an intermediate progress report. This report will be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council not later than June 2010. It will address in particular the period of the second half of the current programme and the issue of the period to be covered by the next multi-annual statistical programme, taking into account the term of office of the European Parliament;

- related to the implementation of the programme, the Commission shall also provide a preliminary analysis of the competitive effects on small and medium-sized enterprises brought about by the proposed cuts in the administrative burden, and of the financial burden-sharing between Community and Member States budgets;

- the Commission shall also pay special attention to the issue of necessary datasets, tools and methodologies which will serve as the basis for the production of unbiased and objective analysis of the social and economic impacts of important areas which are in need of constant monitoring and review such as the Common Agricultural Policy, the services in the internal market and the next multiannual financial framework;

- at the end of the period covered by the programme, the Commission, after consulting the Statistical Programme Committee, shall present an evaluation report on the implementation of the programme, taking into account the views of independent experts.

T6-0341/2007

Debate in Parliament

A6-0240/2007

A6-0240/2007

The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted the report by Zsolt Laszlo BECSEY (EPP-ED, HU) amending - at first reading of the codecision procedure - the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012.

The main amendments adopted in the committee are as follows:

- according the committee, the programme shall be guided by the principal Community policy priorities of: (i) prosperity, competitiveness, innovation, and growth; (ii) solidarity and human development; (iii) economic, social and territorial cohesion, sustainable development and demographic challenges.

- in the production and dissemination of Community statistics, efforts should be made to promote convergence in terms of the statistical information gathered and the possibility of scientific treatment thereof;

- national authorities and the Community statistical authority shall : (a) ensure that Community statistics comply with the European quality standards and serve the needs of European Union institutional users, governments, regional and local authorities; (b) ensure that the aggregates compiled

are of a standard that makes community statistics coherent and comparable with world statistics; (c) provide, where requested and warranted, the necessary technical support in the area of statistical organisation, and enable good practice to be shared with other bodies or third countries;

- MEPs specify that t he programme shall ensure continued statistical support for decisions and evaluations in current Community policy areas and provide statistical support for any additional requirements arising from new Community policy initiatives, with emphasis being placed on the reliability, quality and comparability of the statistical information;

- when preparing the annual statistical work programmes, the Commission should carry out ex-ante studies of the financial implications of any planned new statistical activities which impose additional burdens on the Member States. The programme shall also guarantee convergence in terms of the quality of the statistical material gathered and the possibility of scientific processing thereof;

- the intermediate progress report due in 2010 shall also be sent to the European Parliament and to the Council. This report shall include:

a) if appropriate, a proposal by the Commission to bring the cycle for the production of the Community Statistical Programme into line with the European Parliament's election cycle by 2014 and in accordance with any future modification of EC Treaty;

b) an analysis of the competitive effects on SMEs brought about by the proposed cuts in the administrative burden, particularly with reference to INTRASTAT data supply;

c) special attention shall be paid as part of the intended review to the issue of necessary datasets, tools and methodologies which will serve as the basis for the production of unbiased and objective analyses of the social and economic impacts of important areas which are in need of constant monitoring and review such as the Financial Perspectives, the internal market, the Common Agricultural Policy and the Stability and Growth Pact;

d) new policy areas such as innovation, energy, migration and fiscal data supply should be incorporated in the intended statistical review in 2010 to produce an unbiased objective dataset serving as a basis for evaluating developments in the new areas in question;

e) financial burden-sharing between the Community and Member State budgets related to the implementation of the programme as well as the institution capacities of the Member States should also be duly analysed taking into account the interests of the Member States that acceded to the European Union in 2004 and 2007.

CES0790/2007

PE386.349

PE386.539

PE386.506

PE386.520

The Council adopted a series of conclusions on the issue of Community statistics, they can be summarised as follows:

- it notes that while the statistical burden accounts for relatively small part of the total administrative burden, the overall statistical burden has continued to increase despite the initiatives launched in recent years in reviewing statistical priorities and reducing statistical requirements for areas which are now considered to be of lesser importance;

- it recalls the Council conclusions of 8 November 2005 which required putting reprioritisation into practice and recommended incorporating it into the forthcoming multiannual statistical programme for 2008-2012;

- it welcomes the strategic approach and work plan set out in the Commission Communication which combines concrete actions to simplify statistical requirements in specific areas, proposals for the application of various tools to reduce the respondent burden by changing the way certain statistics are produced, a wider use of modern information and communication technologies and a proposal for a systematic priority setting for major statistical projects and in the multi-annual statistical programme 2008-2012.

- fully supports the Commission's ambitious goals on the simplification of Intrastat, which will be a key factor in reaching the overall reduction in the statistical reporting burden; and in particular welcomes the twin-track approach, in which a further substantial progress on traditional simplification would be complemented by a switch to single-flow reporting in the medium-term. However, the Council stresses that the implementation of any other method that leads to a significant reduction in the statistical response burden, must not affect the availability, timeliness and quality of those national statistics that are crucial for European economic policy purposes, such as national accounts and the data on aggregate flows between the euro area and other EU Member States. It should also be accompanied with the necessary measures to ensure confidentiality when exchanging micro-data among the producers of official statistics in Europe. In parallel to this analysis, concrete progress in the short-term should be made on traditional simplification; and the Commission, together with Member States, should make progress in overcoming the current challenges related to Intrastat.

PURPOSE: to establish a Community Statistical Programme 2008-2012.

PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.

BACKGROUND: trustworthy statistical information about the economic, social and environmental situation in the EU and its components at national and regional level is a necessary precondition for the European integration process. The requirement for a multi-annual Community Statistical Programme (CSP) follows from Council Regulation 322/97/EC according to which the CSP shall define the approaches, the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for a period not exceeding five years and constitute the framework for the production of all Community statistics. The current CSP, Decision 2367/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, covers the period 2003-2007 and is the sixth of its kind.

CONTENT: the proposal establishes the Community Statistical Programme for the period from 2008 to 2012. The programme defines the approaches, the main fields and objectives of the actions envisaged, and it also provides a summary of statistical needs and requirements viewed from the perspective of the policy needs of the European Union.

This programme should comprise the production and delivery of products and services to the users, the improvement of the quality of statistics and the further development of the European Statistical System (ESS - the partnership comprising Eurostat, national statistical authorities and other national authorities responsible in each Member State for producing and disseminating European Statistics).

Taking account of the available resources of the national authorities and the Commission, the programme shall be guided by the principal Community policy priorities of:

prosperity, competitiveness and growth, solidarity, economic and social cohesion and sustainable development, security, and further enlargement of the European Union.

For more information concerning the financial implications of this proposal, please refer to the financial statement.

COM(2006)0687
EUR-Lex

PURPOSE: to establish a Community Statistical Programme 2008-2012.

PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.

BACKGROUND: trustworthy statistical information about the economic, social and environmental situation in the EU and its components at national and regional level is a necessary precondition for the European integration process. The requirement for a multi-annual Community Statistical Programme (CSP) follows from Council Regulation 322/97/EC according to which the CSP shall define the approaches, the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for a period not exceeding five years and constitute the framework for the production of all Community statistics. The current CSP, Decision 2367/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, covers the period 2003-2007 and is the sixth of its kind.

CONTENT: the proposal establishes the Community Statistical Programme for the period from 2008 to 2012. The programme defines the approaches, the main fields and objectives of the actions envisaged, and it also provides a summary of statistical needs and requirements viewed from the perspective of the policy needs of the European Union.

This programme should comprise the production and delivery of products and services to the users, the improvement of the quality of statistics and the further development of the European Statistical System (ESS - the partnership comprising Eurostat, national statistical authorities and other national authorities responsible in each Member State for producing and disseminating European Statistics).

Taking account of the available resources of the national authorities and the Commission, the programme shall be guided by the principal Community policy priorities of:

prosperity, competitiveness and growth, solidarity, economic and social cohesion and sustainable development, security, and further enlargement of the European Union.

For more information concerning the financial implications of this proposal, please refer to the financial statement.

COM(2006)0687
EUR-Lex