The European Statistical System and its governance bodies

Eurostat Unit A1

Cristina Pereira de Sá

21 April 2016

ESS basics

Main governance bodies in the ESS: Traditional: • European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) • Partnership Group (PG) • DGINS Conference

Response to change: • ESS Vision 2020 implementation (VIG and VIN) Advisory structures: • European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC) • European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB) European statistics produced outside the ESS • European Statistical Forum (ESF) and its Bureau

Today we will cover:

Article 4 of Regulation 223/2009:

"The ESS is the partnership between the Community statistical authority, which is the Commission (Eurostat), and the national statistical institutes (NSIs) and other national authorities responsible in each Member State for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics".

European Statistical System (ESS)

ESS members collect and process national data

• Network and in partnership

• Partnership: cooperation and coordination between Eurostat, the EU Member States + EFTA

European Statistical System (ESS)

Eurostat processes data received and disseminates official European statistics

• Leader of the system (for European statistics).

• Political: initiate and develop the WP, speak on behalf of the ESS, develop/adapt professional and ethical standards.

• Managerial: facilitate cooperation between NSIs, cooperate with the ECB and the ESCB, promote best practices for more comparability, coordinate official statistics within the Commission.

• Technical: organising the transmission of data, compile and disseminate European statistics, harmonise methods, verify and validate national contributions.

• Administrative: maintain the infrastructure for ESS communication (meetings, CIRCABC) and administration (staff exchanges, training).

• Verification: developing and implementing a preventive approach to the verification of statistics such as government finance ones (monitoring upstream data, identifying risks, and enhancing quality)

Eurostat's roles in the ESS

ESS governance structure

Council

WGs Task

Forces

Commission European

Parliament

Working

Groups

DIRECTORS’

GROUPS

ESAC

ESS

ESGAB

DGINS

ESSC

VIG

PG

VIN

ESCB

ESF

Bureau

ESF

STC

ESS core

European Statistical System Committee (ESSC)

• At the heart of the ESS

• Established by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009

• Chair: Director General of Eurostat

• Participants: 28 Heads of National Statistical Institutes (NSI)

+ Observers: EFTA, ECB, OECD, IMF, UNSD, etc.

• Membership linked to function, no terms

• Meets 4 times a year

ESSC tasks

• Professional guidance for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics

• Implements actions that the Commission intends to take in the field of statistics

• Comitology committee=NSIs act as Member State delegations, voting

• Advisory function: reports from sub-structures, discussion, opinions

• Main decision making body in the ESS

The Partnership Group (PG)

• Established by the ESSC to facilitate its work

• 10 Members of the ESSC on 2-year terms

Chair: elected from a Member State (SI)

Vice-Chair: Eurostat’s Director General

Eurostat Deputy DG

Heads of NSIs of the previous, current and next Council Presidencies (LU, NL, SK)

four elected Heads of NSIs (IT, DK, HU + 1)

PG Tasks

• Prepares agenda and discussions at strategic level

• Fosters cooperation between NSIs

• Strengthens the strategic capacities of the ESS through internal discussions, stakeholder dialogues, etc.

• Meets 4 times a year in the country of the Chair

The DGINS Conference

Organised every September jointly by hosting Member State and Eurostat to discuss:

• ESS internal issues

• Thematic topic • 2012 Czech Republic: “Green economy” and “Geospatial statistics”

• 2013 The Netherlands: "Big Data"

• 2014 Latvia: "Towards global business statistics"

• 2015 Lisbon: "Indicators for decision making and monitoring"

• 2016 Vienna: Statistics on income, consumption and wealth"

• Open to Candidate and Western Balkan countries

ESS and change

"Official statistics have always strived to adapt to major developments in society and the economy" ESS Vision 2020, May 2014

Vision Implementation Group (VIG) and Network (VIN)

• Established by the ESSC

• VIG oversees implementation of the Vision 2020

• Portfolio of projects and cross-cutting actions

• Chaired by Eurostat, Vice-Chair a MS

• Members 10 Members States at deputy-DG level, 2-year terms

• VIN to ensure input from all MS

Advisory bodies to the European Statistical System

European Statistics Code of Practice

• Self-regulatory instrument adopted by the NSIs in 2005, revised in 2011

• Structured around 15 principles under 3 sections:

• institutional environment

• statistical processes

• statistical output

• Key indicators of good practice for each principle

European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB)

Members:

• 7 members for 3-year term, renewable once, non-remunerated

• Nominated by Parliament and the Council

• Eurostat represented as an observer

• ESGAB was created in 2008; ESGAB III started in 2015

Annual report to EP and Council on compliance with the Code

• 2015 report: Eurostat's peer review and challenges faced by the ESS

Opinions on:

• Revision of the Code of Practice

• Communication "Towards robust quality management"

• ESA 2010

Letters to Member States on governance issues

European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC)

Members:

• 24 for 5-year-term, renewable once, non-remunerated

• Members a mix of users, respondents, producers and stakeholders:

o 11 appointed by the Commission

o Eurostat Director General ex-officio

o 12 appointed by EU institutions and bodies, ESSC, number of associations operating at European level

• ESAC was created in 2008; second terms started in 2013

Opinions and advice:

• Work programmes, burden

• Own initiatives: e.g. resources, migration

• Relevance of European statistics

Seminars on selected topics:

• Quality of Life, Indicators, Conf. on European Statistics Stakeholders

Cooperation between the European Statistical System (ESS) and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB)

European Statistical Forum (ESF) and Bureau

ESF created by the MoU between the members of the ESS and the members of the ESCB - April 2013

• Co-Chaired by Chair of ESSC (Eurostat) + Chair of STC (ECB)

• Members = ESSC + STC

• Meets once a year

Tasks:

• Cooperation between both systems

• Exchange of information

• Work programme and priorities for cooperation

Bureau

• 2 Co-Chairs of the Forum

• Members: Chair and Vice-Chair of the CMFB, 2 NSI and 2 NCB representatives

• Meets three months before the Forum

• Prepares ESF meetings

Further information

• Eurostat: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

• ESS Website: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/ess/latest-news

• ESSC: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/ess/about-us/ess-gov-bodies/essc

• ESGAB. http://ec.europa.eu/esgab

• ESAC: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/european-statistical-advisory-

committee-esac/overview