EN Official Journal of the European Union C 97/1

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council setting up a European Advisory Committee on Community Statistical Information Policy

COM(2006) 653 final — 2006/0217 (COD)

(2007/C 97/01)

On 22 December 2006, the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

Given the urgent nature of the work, the European Economic and Social Committee appointed Ms Florio as rapporteur-general at its 433rd plenary session, held on 15 and 16 February 2007 (meeting of 16 February 2007), and adopted the following opinion by 105 votes to none with two abstentions.

1. Background

1.1 In this opinion, the EESC expresses its view on the draft decision of the European Parliament and of the Council presented by the Commission (1), which aims to restructure the CEIES (European Advisory Committee on Statistical Information in the Economic and Social Spheres).

1.2 Since it was formed, the CEIES has acted as a consultative body, promoting dialogue between the producers and users of statistics at Community level.

1.3 In its explanatory memorandum, the Commission underlines that a number of commonly shared objectives emerged from the consultations carried out with a view to reforming the committee: — the need for a smaller and more efficient body; — a reformed CEIES continuing to raise the quality of Community statistics; — a reformed CEIES playing a more strategic role in assisting the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission in coordinating policy objectives and priorities for Community statistics; — a reformed CEIES whose membership reflects all those concerned with European statistics, including civil society players.

2. The Commission proposal

2.1 The Commission's proposal for a decision establishes a new CEIES, and in Article 1 renames it the ‘European Advisory Committee on Community Statistical Information Policy’. It states that the new committee shall assist the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission with the coordination of the priorities and strategic objectives of Community statistical information policy.

2.2 The committee is to play a decisive role in the preparation of the Community's statistical programme. The committee will be consulted by the Commission and will express an opinion on: — the relevance of the programme to the requirements of European integration and development and to the activities of the Community, taking into account economic, social and technical developments; — the resources needed to implement the programme, including the costs.

2.3 The CEIES will also have the task of drawing the Commission's attention to areas in which it may be necessary to develop new statistical activities and it will advise the Commission on how the quality needs of information users can be better met.

2.4 At the request of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the committee will deliver opinions on matters relating to: — user requirements for the development of the Community's statistical information policy; — priorities of the Community statistical programme; — the evaluation of existing statistics; — data quality and dissemination policy.

2.5 The committee may also present reports to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on user requirements and the costs borne by data providers.

2.5.1 The Commission will be required to report on a yearly basis on how it has taken account of the committee's opinions.

2.6 The Commission's draft decision reduces CEIES membership from 79 to 25. Article 4 states that 14 members of the committee shall be appointed by the Commission, after consultation of the European Parliament and the Council. Each Member State shall nominate two candidates with a well-established qualification in the field of statistics. The Commission, meanwhile, shall endeavour to ensure that its 14 appointees fairly reflect civil society, including the scientific community, and adequately cover the various statistical domains covered by the Community statistical programme.

2.6.1 Ten members shall be directly appointed by the bodies to which they belong, as follows: — one representative of the European Parliament; — one representative of the Council; — one representative of the European Economic and Social Committee; — one representative of the Committee of the Regions; — one representative of the ECB; — two representatives from the Statistical Programme Committee; — one representative of UNICE; — one representative of the ETUC; — one representative of the UEAPME.

2.6.2 The Director-General of Eurostat shall be an ex-officio member of the CEIES.

2.7 One of the new elements introduced by the reform is the possibility of setting up temporary working parties, chaired by a member of the CEIES, to prepare opinions on particularly complex statistical issues.

2.8 The Commission's proposal for a decision repeals the previous Council Decision 91/116/EEC.

3. Comments and conclusions

3.1 One of the issues raised by the enlargement of the European Union to 27 countries, and one that is recognised by the CEIES itself, has been the need for it to reform. A body of this kind needs to be as representative as possible of not just the various national situations, but also of European users' and producers' needs.

3.2 Strengthening the strategic role of the CEIES in choosing priorities and in evaluation, and giving it the option of setting up ad hoc working parties, goes a long way towards giving it the responsibilities and resources it deserves.

3.3 One can only applaud the objective of establishing a smaller and more efficient committee, but care must be taken to secure the independence, authority and neutrality of its members. For this reason, the EESC is perplexed by the new membership of the committee. If it is to promote dialogue between the users and producers of statistics, the EESC believes that the number of institutional representatives should be scaled down.

3.4 Furthermore, this membership cannot properly reflect the views of institutions such as the European Parliament, or indeed the European Economic and Social Committee, which represent a diverse range of political views and interest groups.

3.5 The European Economic and Social Committee is the European Union body responsible for representing the various economic and social milieux and civil society players. The fact that it, like the other European institutions, is to be represented on the new European Advisory Committee by just one member appears to downgrade its importance as a European advisory body.

3.6 With its role and unique membership the EESC ought to have more clout in the consultation phase, to reflect not just its institutional role but also its ability to express the viewpoints of European civil society.

3.7 In the draft decision, however, civil society appears to be represented by the 14 members appointed by the Commission, and no criteria are specified for choosing them from the variety of European associations. These are joined by ten representatives of the institutions, the social partners and Eurostat.

3.8 For this reason, while supporting the reform of the CEIES, the EESC calls for its own advisory role in the field of Community statistical information to be recognised and enhanced in the Commission's proposal.

Brussels, 16 February 2007. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

(1) COM(2006) 653 final — 2006/0217 (COD).