EN    EN  
 EUROPEAN COMMISSION 
Brussels, 21.12.2011 
SEC(2011) 1625 final 
  
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER 
IMPACT ASSESSMENT 
Accompanying the document 
Proposal for a  
REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 
on the European statis tical programme 2013-2017 
{COM(2011) 928 final} 
{SEC(2011) 1623 final}  
EN 2   EN TABLE OF CONTENTS 
1. PROCEDURAL ISSUES AND CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES... 5 
1.1. Identification ............................................................................................................ .... 5 
1.2. Legal framework .......................................................................................................... 5  
1.3. Organisation and timing............................................................................................... 6 1.4. Consultation of the IAB ............................................................................................... 6 1.5. Consultations with stakeholders................................................................................... 6 1.6. Methodological approach........................................................................................... 10 2. PROBLEM DEFINITION ......................................................................................... 10 2.1. Problem description ................................................................................................... 10 2.2. Justification for EU acti on: subsidiarity and added value of EU involvement .......... 13 
3. OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................ 15 4. POLICY OPTIONS ................................................................................................... 17 4.1. Option 1: "zero option" with no European  Statistical Programme (no EU action) ... 17 
4.2. Option 2: ESP 2013-17 will be a repetiti on of the CSP 2008-2012 (no change option)18 
4.3. Option 3: a new five-year European St atistical Programme is established ............... 19 
4.4. Other options considered but not further analysed .................................................... 20 5. ANALYSIS OF IMPACTS ....................................................................................... 20 5.1. Option 1: "zero option" with no European Statistical Programme ............................ 23 
5.2. Option 2: ESP 2013-17 will be a repetition of the CSP 2008-1012........................... 24 5.3. Option 3: a new five-year European St atistical Programme is established ............... 25 
6. COMPARING THE OPTIONS ................................................................................. 26 6.1. Option 1: "zero option" with no European Statistical Programme ............................ 26 
6.2. Option 2: ESP 2013-17 will be a repetition of the CSP 2008-1012........................... 26 6.3. Option 3: a new five-year European St atistical Programme is established ............... 26 
6.4. The preferred option................................................................................................... 26 6.5. Financial needs of the ESP 2013-2017 ...................................................................... 29 7. MONITORING AND EVALUATION ..................................................................... 29 
Reference documents ............................................................................................................ ... 38 
EN 3   EN INTRODUCTION   
This Impact Assessment concerns the proposal for the European Statistical Programme (ESP) 
2013-2017 which is a logical and necessary follow -up of the current multi-annual programme, 
the Community Statistical Programme1 (CSP) that covers the period 2008-2012. It is the 
seventh programme of this kind. 
Official Statistics in the European Union are rooted in the Treaties, currently in the TFEU2. In 
accordance with Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics3, European Statistical 
Programmes (ESPs) provide the framewor k for the development, production and 
dissemination of European statistics and the ma in fields and objectives to be pursued. ESPs 
lay down priorities concerning th e needs for information for the purpose of carrying out the 
activities of the European Union. 
The economic and social policy debate in the European Uni on over recent years is being 
driven by the multifaceted policy response to  the financial and economic crisis, the 
confidence crisis that emerged after Greece's misreporting of EDP-related budgetary figures 
in fall 2009, and the very intense debate how  to enhance economic governance of the Union 
building upon Commission's proposals adopted in September 2010. One core trait of the latter 
proposals is to introduce wider and more intense use of European statis tics and indicators as 
one key and reliable underpinning for monito ring, decision-making and policy evaluation of 
economic and social policies and reforms at national and EU levels.  
At the same time, fast-evolving and pressing  needs for relevant and reliable European 
statistics have to be confronted with the real ity that producing high-qualit y European statistics 
up to the expectations is not a straightforward business. Ind eed, the European Statistical 
System (ESS) is composed by 27+1 partners, 30 0 processes and 50 000 stat isticians in total. 
Numerous actors strive to m eet numerous competing priori ties and policy demands for 
official and reliable information and hard-data, to adapt to tight requirements in terms of respecting the principles of subsidiarity and cost-effectiveness while being confronted with 
severe strains in terms of hu man and financial resources.  
The debate on economic governance and the pr ogressive establishmen t of new Community 
policies - such as home and just ice affairs, climate change, research and innovation - and the 
policy initiatives and reforms that follow suit, al l speak clearly of the strategic importance for 
the Commission to steer the European Statistical System into a joint commitment to develop, produce and preserve the highest quality  standards for European statistics. 
Previous Community Statistical Programmes (CSPs) have proved their value as powerful 
programming tools at the European  level to steer and lever out efforts within the ESS in order 
to square all competing needs and priorities to gether. They have served efficiently for the 
Commission – and Eurostat, in its full capacity as the co-ordinator  of statistical activities at 
Community level – to build the necessary brid ge between the short-term immediate policy 
needs and the long-term strate gic planning for the ESS.  
                                                
 
1 Decision No 1578/2007/EC of the European Parliament and the Council, OJ L344, pp. 15-43.  
2 Article 338 
3 OJ L 87, p. 164. 
EN 4   EN The present proposal for the European Stat istical Programme (ESP) 2013-2017 signals one 
powerful step towards the materialisation of far-reaching, all-encompassing policy initiatives 
such as the GDP and beyond Initiative4, the revision of the Eur opean System of National 
Accounts (ESA2010) or the follow-up to the St iglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Co mmission report on the 
measurement of economic perf ormance and social progress5. It also aims at bringing to reality 
the statistical priori ties and initiatives as decided by the Commission since late 2009.  
In this context, the following key elements of legislation on European statistics need to be 
highlighted: the above-mentioned framework Regul ation on European st atistics, the amended 
Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 on excessi ve deficit procedure statistics6, and the Commission 
Communication on the production method of EU statistics7 as well as the joint European 
Statistical System (ESS) strategy paper8and the Commission Co mmunication on the robust 
quality management system  for European statistics9.  
The ESP 2013-2017 needs to be embedded in this complex and interrelated set of political 
and legislative framework. In order to ensure th at the programme adapts as much as possible 
to the continuously evolving requirements as rega rds European statistics, detailed information 
on the set of specific objectives, targets and indi cators will be provided for in the form of 
annual statistical work programmes and annual management plans whic h will be planned, 
approved, monitored and evaluated accord ing to the standard procedures.  
The ESP 2013-2017 covers all Eurostat's opera tional activities and bud get (with year 2013 
being the only exception as this is the last year of the ongoing Modernisation of European 
Enterprise and Trade Statistics Programme, MEETS).   
As mentioned above, the current proposal is a l ogical follow-up of the Community Statistical 
Programme 2008-2012. On the one hand, this Europ ean statistical infras tructure, which has 
been developed over the last 60 years, has to be maintain ed and regularly updated. This 
corresponds to the strong need of continuation and consistency. On the other hand, there is a 
significant need for a review of the progr amme and the production method of official 
statistics. Efficiency improvements are to be prepared with sound methodology so as to 
ensure that European Statistics can continue to play its important role for European policies.  
The new Statistical Programme 2013-2017 is focuse d on the future struct ure of the portfolio 
of European Statistics as well as the re-engineer ing of the production system. In relation to the 
existing infrastructure, it outlines changes, chan ges with their objectives and main features. 
This five-year programme is a framework progra mme and does therefore not provide detailed 
elements as this is the object ive for the annual programmes whic h will be developed under the 
general structure provided by the ESP. This is  in line with recommendations following 
evaluations of previous multi-annual programmes. 
                                                 
4 COM(2009)433 final 
5 Report on the Measurement of Economic Performa nce and Social Progress,  J.E. Stiglitz, A.Sen, 
J. -P. Fitoussi, 2009  (hereinafter referred to as Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Report ) 
6 OJ L 145, 10.6.2009, p.1 
7 Communication on the production method of EU statistics: a vision for the next decade - COM(2009) 
404 final of 10.08.2009  
8 Presented at the ESS Committee meeting on 20.05.2010 (doc. No. ESSC/2010/05/6) 
9 COM(2011) 211 final 
EN 5   EN 1. PROCEDURAL  ISSUES  AND  CONSULTATION  OF INTERESTED  PARTIES 
1.1. Identification 
Draft proposal for a Decision of  the European Parliament (EP) and of the Council on the 
European Statistical Programme 2013-2017. 
Leading service: Eurostat Agenda planning identifica tion number: 2010/ESTAT/003. 
1.2. Legal framework 
The establishment of the ESP has its lega l basis in Article 13 of Regulation (EC) 
No 223/2009
10. The Regulation stipulates that: 
"The European Statistical Programme shall provide the framework for the development, 
production and dissemination of European statistics, the main fields and the objectives of the 
actions envisaged for a period not exceeding five years. It shall be decided upon by the 
European Parliament and the Council. The European Statistical Programme shall la y down priorities concerning the needs for 
information for the purpose of carrying out the activities of the Community. Those needs shall 
be weighted against the resources needed at  Community and national level to provide the 
required statistics, and also against the response burden and the respondent's associated 
costs. The Commission shall introduce initiatives to set priorities and reduce the response burden 
for all or part of the Eu ropean Statistical Programme. 
The Commission shall submit the draft European Statistical Programme to the European Statistical System Committee
11 for prior examination". 
In addition, Article 1 of Regula tion (EC) No 223/2009 defines Eu ropean statistics as those 
determined in the ESP, which clearly illust rates the necessity of the programme for the 
development, production and disse mination of those statistics. 
The Decision of the EP and the Council on the current Community Statistical Programme 
(CSP) 2008-2012 includes a specific indication with  regard to the duration of the next multi-
annual programme, i.e. Article 6 "Reports" states  that "The Commission shall […] present an 
interim progress report […]. Th at report shall address, […] th e issue of the period to be 
covered by the next multi-annual statistical progr amme, taking into account the term of office 
of the European Parliament". 
The Commission's report to the EP and the C ouncil on the mid-term evaluation of the CSP 
2008-2012 highlighted the following poi nts to be taken into acc ount in future programmes: 
                                                 
10 EP and Council Decision No. 223/2009, 11.3.2009 
11 The European Statistical System Committee is the highest level committee within the European 
Statistical System (ESS) established by the Regulation No. 223/2009 on European statistics. The 
Committee is chaired by the Commission (Eurostat) an d composed of the representatives of Member 
States' National Statistical Institutes. EEA-EFTA countr ies' National Statistical Institutes participate as 
observers. Observers from European Central Bank, Organisation of Organisation for Economic 
Cooperation and Development etc. may partic ipate in the meetings of the Committee.  
EN 6   EN Definition of new needs for statistical information. A more integrated approach using multiple 
and combined data sources together with  harmonisation of methodology, concepts and 
definitions is required. 
Strengthened partnership in the ESS. Establishment of more and different integration 
cooperation models with the Me mber States was emphasised. 
Reflection on conceptual approach to reprior itisation of activities and availability of 
resources for implementing the CSP in order to reduce response burden and producers costs 
was considered necessary . 
1.3. Organisation and timing 
The meeting of the Impact Assessment St eering Group took place on 19 September 2011 with 
the participation of the Secretariat-Genera l, DG AGRI, DG ECFIN, DG ELARG, DG EMPL, 
DG SANCO and DGT. Prior to th e meeting of the Steering Group comments on the draft 
Impact Assessment were submitted in a written format from the Secretariat-General, DG COMM, DG ENTR, DG ENV, DG  RTD, DG TAXUD and DGT. 
Following the meeting of the Impact Assessm ent Steering Group a revi sed version of the 
Impact Assessment was prepared and submitted to the Impact Assessment Board together with the minutes of the meeting of the Stee ring Group and an executive summary of the 
Impact Assessment itself. 
1.4. Consultation of the IAB 
The Impact Assessment Board examined the Imp act Assessment for the European Statistical 
Programme 2013-2017 by written procedure on 19 October 2011 and sent their opinion to Eurostat on 21 October 2011. 
This new version of the Impact Assessment in corporates the recommendations made by the 
Impact Assessment Board elaborating especially  the problem definition, objectives, options 
and their impacts and the ev aluation of the programme. 
1.5. Consultations with stakeholders 
The development, production and dissemination of European statistics w ithin the legislative 
framework of the European Statistical Programme 2013-2017 are achieved by Eurostat 
through close and coordinated cooperation in th e European Statistical System building upon 
partnership between Eurostat and the National Statis tical Institutes as well as all other relevant 
authorities. 
1.5.1. Process of stakeholder consultations  
Extensive consultation of both users and producer s of statistics took place before and during 
the preparation of the draft ESP 2013-2017. 
Prior to the preparation of  the draft ESP 2013-2017, the Di rectorates-General of the 
Commission, the European Central Bank and th e European Statistical Advisory Committee
12, 
were consulted during the summer of 2010 on th eir needs for European statistics in the 
                                                 
12 Established by the Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council No 234/2008/EC 
EN 7   EN reference period. In addition, special stake holder dialogues with se veral Commission DGs 
(REGIO, RTD, ECFIN and AGRI), the ECON Comm ittee of the EP and ESS representatives 
at top management level have been organi sed to address future  statistical needs. 
Member States, EFTA Countries and Candidate C ountries have been directly involved in the 
preparation of the proposal. The consultati on was carried out in the following way: 
Firstly, the Directors’ Groups in different statistical domains, representing producers of 
European statistics in different areas of statistic s, were consulted on th eir needs for the period 
2013-2017 during summer 2010. Secondly, the DGINS (Directors General of  the National Statistical Institutes)
13 were 
consulted on priorities for the period of  2013-2017 during their meeting on 29-30 September 
2010. 
As a major milestone of the stakeholder consul tations, a meeting between the representatives 
of the ECON Committee of the European Parl iament and Eurostat took place in March 2011. 
During the discussion, particular emphasis was placed on the commitment of the political 
level to provide guidance and support for the ESS in its efforts to further strengthen its priority-setting mechanism with the objective of  satisfying the increasing needs of users of 
European statistics while taking into account the resource cons traints at both national and 
European level. At the same time, Eurostat confirmed the Commission's commitment to take 
new political initiatives in order to develop a more proactive and robust framework approach 
aiming at the complementation of the statis tical dimension of the Economic Governance 
Package. 
Based on the outcome of ESS consultations with stakeholders on their statistical needs for the 
period 2013-2017, the firs t draft of the ESP 2013-2017 was prepar ed for internal and external 
consultation. It was presented to the Eu ropean Statistical System Committee (ESSC)
14 in May 
2011. The European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC)15, the Committee on Monetary, 
Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB)16 and the Working Group ESS 
Programming and Coordination we re consulted in parallel. 
A second round of consultations within the ESS took place during July-August 2011. The 
results of this consu ltation have been taken into account when the new draft of the ESP 2013-
2017 was prepared. 
                                                 
13 DGINS Conference is held once a year with the ai m of discussing topics related to the statistical 
programme and methods and processes for the produc tion of Community statistics. It is hosted each 
year by a different Member State and the Director-General of the ho st country chairs the conference. 
14 The European Statistical System Committee is the highest level committee within the European 
Statistical System (ESS) established by the Regulation No. 223/2009 on European statistics. The 
Committee is chaired by the Commission (Eurostat) an d composed of the representatives of Member 
States' National Statistical Institutes. EEA-EFTA countr ies' National Statistical Institutes participate as 
observers. Observers from European Central Bank, Organisation of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development etc. may partic ipate in the meetings of the Committee. 
15 Established by Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council No 234/2008/EC 
16 Established by Council Decision 2006/856/EC of 13 November 2006 
EN 8   EN 1.5.2 Summary of responses 
1.5.2.a Summary of responses of users of European statistics 
Fourteen Directorates-General of the Commi ssion and the European Central Bank replied to 
Eurostat’s request on their needs for European  statistics for 2013-2017. Most of them listed 
detailed requirements for statistics require d to back up European  policies under their 
responsibility. Although all thes e requirements are not mentione d explicitly in the proposed 
framework programme, they have been carefully analysed by Eurostat and taken into account 
when drafting the objecti ves of the programme. 
1.5.2.b Summary of responses of produ cers of European statistics 
Six Directors' Groups replied to Eurostat's request on their needs for 2013-2017 (Directors' 
Group on Methodology, IT Directors' Group, Directors of Social Sta tistics, Directors' meeting 
on regional, spatial, environment statistics a nd accounts, Standard Co mmittee for Agricultural 
Statistics and the Business St atistics Directors' Group). Di rectors Groups' emphasised the 
need to balance the increasing need for new statis tics with reduced available resources. In this 
context, it was recommended to maximise the us e of existing data inst ead of launching new 
data collections; liaise with ot her data providers in order to  optimise the use of available 
information, including administra tive data; reduce the level of detail of data required; improve 
efficiency in data collection by using mode rn ICT technologies; analyse the consistency 
between different legal acts and decouple statis tical instruments and users by setting up single 
survey for different purposes. In addition, the need to strengthen the role of Eurostat as the 
coordinator of the production of  statistics was mentioned. Thes e and other concrete comments 
have, to the extent possible, b een taken into account when draf ting the objectives of the ESP. 
During their meeting on 29-30 September 2010, DGI NS endorsed the approach proposed for 
the ESP and the priority areas of the ESP stressing the need for a sufficiently flexible ESP, allowing concrete actions to be included in the annual progra mming cycle. Due to serious 
resource constraints both at national and Europ ean level and the need to further reduce the 
administrative burden, DGINS stre ssed the importance of effective priority-setting in the next 
multi-annual programme based on a strategy-driven approach. 
1.5.2.c Summary of main comments on the draft ESP 2013-2017  
The ESSC meeting in May 2011 expressed gene ral support for the conceptual approach. 
A number of delegations mentioned the high leve l of ambition of the ESP and expressed their 
concerns about the gap between the resource co nstraints at national le vel and the amount of 
new initiatives at EU level included in the ESP. 
Although acknowledging the need for a flexible programme, some delegations questioned the 
generality and the lack of detail of the ESP and stressed the need to link it more closely with 
future Annual Statistical Work Programmes. 
Doubts were expressed by some delegations wh ether financing of new initiatives through 
efficiency gains in the new production method of  European statistics was realistic. Some 
delegates stressed the need to contemplate othe r ways to achieve such gains (e.g. increased 
priority-setting, improved effici ency, better use of administra tive data, increased use of 
technology and sharing of good practices). 
EN 9   EN The importance of emphasising more clearly the need to reduce the response burden was 
underlined by some delegations. 
Several delegations welcomed the strengthenin g of partnership in the ESS and beyond and 
stressed the importance of increased cooperation , both within the ESS and with the European 
System of Central Banks and international organisations. 
The above points were also the main outcome  of the consultation of the Working Group 
Programming and Coordination. 
General support for the ESP was stated by the majority of National Statistical Institutes 
(NSIs), but reservations were  expressed concerning the formulation of the objective on the 
new method of production of European statis tics and regarding the legislative policy. 
The European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC) represents users, respondents and 
other stakeholders of European Statistics (including the scientific community, social partners 
and civil society) as well as institutional us ers (like e.g. the Council and the European 
Parliament). The Committee plays an important role in ensuring that user requirements as 
well as the response burden on information provi ders and producers are ta ken into account in 
developing the Statistical Programmes. It de livers its opinion on the multi-annual statistical 
programme (the ESP), addressing in particular its relevance to  the requirements of European 
integration. It also gives its view on the balanc e (priorities and resources) between different 
areas of the multi-annual statistical programme as well as the annual statistical work programme of the Commission. In  its opinion on the draft progr amme, ESAC also addressed 
the issue of resource constraints and the need to  continue to work on priority-setting to define 
negative priorities. While acknowledging that the di fferent stages of matu rity of statistical 
systems in the Member States was problematic, ES AC highlighted in this context the need to 
increase efficiency through gr eater use of technology and expl oitation of data collected for 
other purposes. ESAC also stressed the importa nce of knowledge-sharing, encouraging this to 
include development activities to reduce the cost of new research. Furthermore, ESAC 
highlighted the importance of maximising data us e and further integration and use of existing 
data. In a statement following the ECOFIN Co uncil discussions, ESAC outlined the growing 
challenges the ESS is currently faced with; i.a. the need for high quality  and timely statistical 
indicators which is of utmost importance especi ally in the light of the global economic and 
financial crisis which has shaken European economies; the importance of statistics which are fit for purpose in underpinning decision-making, th at is policy relevant, reliable and up-to-
date statistics, collected in a transparent way to ensure that they are not vulnerable to political 
interference; and the need to achieve an appropriate balance between nationally/locally 
specific and cross-nationally harmonise d data, the correct application of 
European/international standards to ensure that  key statistical series  are comparable across 
Europe. ESAC expressed their serious concerns that in the face of severe budget pressures, 
EU statistical offices will not have the adequate  resources to cope with these major challenges 
and be able to deliver on the tasks for whic h they are responsible. Although acknowledging 
the need to restore the balance of public fina nces, ESAC stressed the fact that good decisions, 
whether in politics, business,  science or society, need good data, and good statistical data 
requires sufficient resources 
In its opinion on the draft programme, the CMFB expressed its general support for ESP and 
the main priorities and objectives defined rela ting to the development and coordination of 
monetary, financial and balance of payment sta tistics. The CMFB stressed the importance of 
integration across statistical domains and across the ESS for producing multi-purpose 
EN 10   EN statistics and also highlighted the need to aim at developing statistical information on the 
globalisation phenomenon and the importance of increased use of  administrative data and a 
better focus on the most expanding parts of the economy. In addition, the CMFB welcomed 
the envisaged wider use of statistical matching a nd data linking techniques as well standard IT 
tools. Finally, the CMFB stressed the importa nce of strengthened coope ration with the ESCB, 
European and international organisations  through common projects and coordinated 
developments. 
1.5.4. External expertise 
There was no need for external expertise in th e preparation of neither  the IA, nor the ESP 
itself. However, lessons from the ex-post evaluation of the CSP 2003-200717 and the mid-
term evaluation of the current multi-annual programme, the CSP 2008-201218, carried out by 
independent experts have been taken into ac count when preparing the current proposal. 
1.6. Methodological approach 
Analysis of the potential impacts of the diffe rent policy options for the future European 
Statistical Programme has been based on the methodology proposed in the Impact Assessment 
Guidelines of the Commission. As a first step, pot ential impacts were id entified in relation to 
the different options which was followed by a pr imarily qualitative analysis in order to 
identify the more important impacts of the va rious options. This qualitative analysis was 
complemented with the analysis of informa tion available from a number of monitoring and 
evaluation documents linked to the implementa tion of the current mu lti-annual statistical 
programme as well as from a series of consultati ons with stakeholders of  European statistics 
as explained in Sub-Section 1.5.  
When analysing the impacts of the different options, the following main aspects were taken 
into account: effectiveness in relation to the objectives; efficiency in achieving the objectives; coherence with overarching EU  objectives; quality of sta tistics; and impact on budget. 
2. PROBLEM
 DEFINITION 
2.1. Problem description 
In the turbulent times that the European Unio n is currently facing as a consequence of the 
economic and financial crisis with its far-reaching economic and social impacts, the importance of high-quality European statistics to support the priority policies and related fast-track initiatives of the Commission has beco me evident and therefore a flexible statistical 
planning instrument is required to cater for new and urgent demands.  
2.1.1. Context of the problem 
The European Statistical System is current ly faced with a number of challenges: 
(1) Firstly, the need for European statistics ha s been constantly incr easing during the last 
years and it is unlikely that this te ndency will change in the future.  
                                                
 
17 COM(2009) 1 final 13.01.2009 
18 COM(2010) 346 final, 30.06.2010  
EN 11   EN (2) Secondly, the nature of statistics is cha nging – there is a growing need for complex 
multi-dimensional statistics, of even higher qu ality and with shorter time delays than 
before.  
(3) Thirdly, due to the appearance of new actor s on the information market providing 
new types of statistics, incl uding those providing information in nearly real time, the 
priority for the ESS in the future is the fres hness of data, in particular when it refers 
to the short-term economic information.  
(4) Fourthly, budget constraints both at national and European level, which have become 
more pertinent with the econom ic crisis, as well as the need to further reduce the 
burden on enterprises and citizens make th e situation even more challenging.  
All these challenges are addressed in Co mmunication 404 on the production method of EU 
statistics19 as well as the joint European Statistical System strategy20 on its implementation, 
aiming at reengineering the ways of working in the ESS in order to make the ESS more 
efficient and flexible. Aiming at increasing efficiency of  the production method of EU 
statistics, the new production method will, when  implemented, result in major efficiency 
gains and will increase the ESS's capacity to sa tisfy new needs for stat istical information, but 
the need to reduce response bur den in a more short-term compared to the long-term 
implementation of the vision, emphasises the necessity of improved priority-setting and 
reduction of burden more than ever. 
The ESP 2013-2017 is part of the spending pro posals related to the Multi-annual Financial 
Framework (MFF). However, it is  not included in the Commi ssion Work Programme or the 
Commission communication on A Budget for Europe 202021 (the "June MFF package") given 
the fact that it is not among the Commission initia tives which have been identified as having 
far-reaching economic, social and environmental impacts.  
2.1.2. Drivers of the problem 
Shortcomings of the Community Statistical Programme 2008-2012  
An important constraint of the current multi-annual programme, the CSP 2008-2012 – which 
is briefly described in Sub-Sect ion 4.1 (as Option 2) – is that th e objectives are described in 
detail, which is a problem because the structure of the Programme is fixed for a period of five 
years. Consequently, it does not  allow for new and changing poli tical priorities to be taken 
into account. 
Since the current CSP was adopted, a number of  important developments have taken place: 
• the basic legal framework for the producti on of European statis tics has changed; 
• the Lisbon Treaty came into force; 
                                                 
19 COM (2009) 404 on the production method of EU statistics: a vision for the next decade, 10.08.2009 
20 Presented at the ESS Committee meeting on 20.05.2010, doc. No. 2010/05/6/EN 
21 COM(2011) 500  
EN 12   EN • several new political initia tives were launched such as the EU 2020 Strategy for 
smart, sustainable and inclusive growth22, the Excessive Debt and Deficit Procedure 
and the scoreboard for the surveill ance of macro-economic imbalances; 
• the ESS governance structure was reinforced; 
• the financial crisis has led to major reductions in the available resources for 
European Statistics.  
All these developments are not reflected in the current CSP which means that parts of the CSP 
have become outdated and there is a gap between planned and act ual activities. This 
diminishes the relevance of the reporting on th e implementation of the CSP as many relevant 
activities are not reflected in the CSP while Eu rostat must report on some activities mentioned 
in the CSP which are no longer carried out. For example, there was an objective defined that 
by 2010, the possibility of implementing the UN Human Development Index in the EU would 
be examined, taking into account the housing an d employment/unemploym ent factors as well. 
Even though it would be directly feasible with information available at Eurostat, such an 
indicator does no longer appear as meaningful for Member States, consequently, the objective 
has become obsolete in the meantime. 
Taking into consideratio n the rigidity of the current CSP 2008-2012, it is important to ensure 
that the ESP 2013-2017 is suffici ently flexible to allow for changing priorities or new 
developments to be taken into account, while at the same time provides the basis for the financial envelope. It should therefore describe  in a general manner, to the extent possible 
according to the Financial Regulation, the strategi c objectives to be achieved and outputs to 
be produced during the next programming period. Furthermore, it should outline the 
procedures which will allow for more detailed decision-making (including priority-setting) in an iterative process organised as pa rt of the annual work programmes. 
Bringing Europe closer to the citizens
 
European statistics are also indispensable fo r the understanding of Europe among the general 
public, for the participation of citizens in the de bate and democratic pr ocess about the present 
and future of the EU. Official statisti cs thus represent a public good providing an 
indispensable basis for the smooth f unctioning of democratic society.  
Increased need for statistical information for EU policies  
An infrastructure of statistical information is  essential for evidence-based decision-making 
and a pre-condition for the implementation of EU policies as reflected in the Treaty. Statistical information is to be accepted and ope n to public scrutiny at European and national 
levels in particular, in the new enhanced Economic Governance of the European Union, the 
Europe 2020 Strategy
23 and in other policies addresse d in the Commission's strategic 
priorities for 2010-201424. 
Resource constraints both at European and national levels  
                                                 
22 COM (2010) 2020 final 
23 COM (2010) 2020 final  
24 http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010- 2014/president/pdf/press_20090903_en.pdf , 03.09.2009  
EN 13   EN As a direct impact of the crisis, producers of  European statistics face serious resource 
constraints both at European and national level.  Taking into account th e constantly increasing 
needs for statistical information for a wide range of policy areas, it is inevitable that in the multi-annual statistical programme particular emphasis must be put on priority-setting and 
simplification in order to be able to satisfy statistical needs to the extent possible without 
compromising the quality of statistics. 
Requirement for the producti on of quality statistics 
 
The European Statistics Code of  Practice sets out fifteen key pr inciples for the production and 
dissemination of European official statistics  and the institutional environment under which 
national and Community statistical author ities operate. It builds upon a common ESS 
definition of quality in statistics and targets all relevant areas from the institutional environment, the statistical pr oduction processes to our output: Eu ropean official statistics. 
2.2. Justification for EU action: subsidiar ity and added value of EU involvement 
Union statistics and the right for the Commission to propose actions have their basis in 
Article 338 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The shared competence 
between Union and national levels is justified by the transnational character of many aspects 
of statistics in general and of European stat istics in particular. While Member States will 
ensure the actual collection of the statistical information at national le vel, only a coordinated 
approach to the development, production and di ssemination of European statistics as a whole 
will guarantee the required coherence and compar ability of the statistics relevant for the 
activities of the Union. Furthermor e, it is in the interest of policy makers at both national and 
EU levels that statistical activities are effectivel y and efficiently planned in advance, inter alia 
by way of a multi-annual programme as fo reseen in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on 
European statistics. The scale of the acti ons included in the programme justifies EU 
involvement since the objective of the propos ed action, namely, the development, production 
and dissemination of European statistics under the ESP 2013-2017, cannot be sufficiently 
achieved by the Member States and is therefor e better achieved at EU level on the basis of a 
European Union legal act. Only the Commissi on can coordinate the necessary harmonisation 
of statistical information at the European level in all statistical domains covered by this act, while, as mentioned above, the data collection its elf can be carried out by the Member States. 
Consequently, the European Union may adopt m easures in accordance with the principle of 
subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).  
Statistics provide an essential infrastructur e for the sound and efficient functioning of 
democracy and a modern economy. The European  Union needs a high quality statistical 
information service in order to  fulfil its mission. As a conseque nce, the European Statistical 
System has co-developed as part of the histori cal phases of the European Union over the last 
60 years. Official Statistics are a cornerstone of  trust into European institutions and European 
procedures. Therefore, the information must be reliable, timely and i ndependent of political 
influence and provided in a convenient form fo r users. Furthermore, their preparation should 
not impose an excessive burden on data providers and their colle ction must be undertaken in 
accordance with the principles of  subsidiarity and proportionality. 
In this regard and w ith reference to the above problem description, the added value of EU 
action is that it allows for the concentration of the statistical activities on EU policies and 
issues of relevance for the European Statistical System as a whole. In addition, it contributes 
to an effective use of resources and to helping na tional authorities to do what they need to do 
EN 14   EN but do not always have the cap acity to do, for instance in  terms of priority-setting, 
harmonisation and methodological development. Fu rthermore, a specific added value of the 
proposed action would be to make essential contributions to some  priority Uni on activities, in 
particular the Europe 2020 strategy and the enhanced economic governance. 
The vision for reforming the production method of European Statistics, which forms the 
backbone of the ESP 2013-2017, will affect the production systems of  the ESS as a whole. It 
has become obvious that the traditional way of pr oducing statistics, i.e. the National Statistical 
Institutes (NSIs) of the Member States co llecting and producing harm onised data that are 
compiled by Eurostat to construct statistics at  EU level, can no longer be adapted to the 
changing environment and the large number of constantly emerging new needs at both national and European levels. This traditional method includes numerous parallel processes, 
country by country and domain per domain follo wing the traditional stovepipe model, which 
is no longer considered appropriate for addre ssing the challenges the European Statistical 
System is faced with. It is cl ear that the modernisation of th e business architecture cannot be 
implemented by Eurostat plus 27 National Sta tistical Offices, workin g to a high degree in 
parallel settings. The objective for the next five years has to be the establishment of a real System of European Official Statistics, as foreseen in th e European Regulation 223/2009. It 
has to be built upon the joint efforts of all ESS partners where all stakeholders have their 
particular role to play under the full respect of the principle of subsidiarity. As some Member States have already started implementing a number of the changes proposed in the 
Communication 404, one of the aims of the Co mmunication and the st rategy paper is to 
coordinate their efforts so as to avoid duplicat ion of work and to exploit synergies to the 
maximum extent. 
The proposal complies with the proportionality pr inciple for the following reason(s): in line 
with the principle of proportiona lity, the proposed Decision conf ines itself to the minimum 
required to achieve its objectiv e and does not go beyond what is  necessary for this purpose. 
The proposal defines objectives for the five-year  period. These objectives are subject to more 
detailed definition and planning in the An nual Statistical Work Programmes of the 
Commission which are prepared in close coope ration with the Member States and adopted 
taking into account the opinion of the ESS Comm ittee and the resource constraints at both EU 
and national level. Furthermore,  new statistical requirements wi ll be subject to specific 
legislation which is prepared with early and direct involv ement of the Member States. 
The quality criteria for European Statistics are defined in European Statistical Law
25. 
Statistical authorities, comprising the Commissi on (Eurostat), National Statistical Institutes 
and other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination 
of European Statistics, together  with governments, ministries a nd the European Council, have 
committed themselves to adhere to the Code of  Practice. A reporting system based on a self-
regulatory approach across the European Statis tical System (ESS) has been established to 
monitor adherence to the Europ ean Statistics Code of Practi ce of the ESS in line with the 
proportionality principle.  
Efforts to harmonise, streamline and regulate ca n best be initiated at the European Union 
level, where such projects can be carried out with optimal efficiency gains and quality 
improvements. This is fully in line with the vision and mission of the ESS as stated in the 
Code of Practice and is particul arly important in a context of scarce resources where efforts to 
                                                 
25 Regulation (EC) 223/2009, Article 12  
EN 15   EN strengthen cooperation to explor e synergies, exchange good pract ices and avoid duplication of 
work are of utmost importance. 
3. OBJECTIVES 
The purpose of the proposal for the European Statistical Programme is to establish a 
comprehensive framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics for the period 2013-2017 while put ting in place the new production method of 
European statistics
26 (efficiency approach) and addressing the need for simplification and 
increased priority-setting (effectiveness approach) in the ESS. 
As far as the objectives of a multi-annual progr amme are concerned, there is obviously a great 
variety of possibilities to choose from. However, after having conducted extensive 
consultations with all stakeholders of the European Statistical System while taking into account the respective provisions of the existi ng legislation on Europ ean statistics, the 
following general, specific and operational objectives have been defined as appropriate to 
offer a satisfactory reply to the highest number of stakeholder needs identified . 
The general objectives
 of the multi-annual statistical programme are the following: 
• Objective 1: provide quality statistical information to support the development, 
monitoring and evaluation of the polic ies of the European Union properly 
reflecting priorities; 
• Objective 2: implement new methods of  production of European statistics 
aiming at efficiency gains and quality improvements; 
• Objective 3: strengthen the partnershi p within the ESS and beyond in order to 
further enhance its productivity and its leading role in of ficial statistics 
worldwide. 
The specific objectives,  complementing the above genera l objectives, are the following: 
(1) EUROPE 2020: Provide quality  statistical information to  monitor the implementation 
of Europe 2020 policy for smart, sustainable, inclusive growth. 
(2) ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE: (a) Develop ne w and enhance existing statistical 
information relevant for EU decision-makers and the public at large in relation to the 
strengthened and integrated economic gove rnance of the EU and the surveillance 
cycle integrating the Stability and Growth Pact and the economic policy. (b) Provide 
European decision-makers with reliable statistics and indicators for administrative 
and regulatory purposes and for monitori ng specific EU policy commitments. 
(3) ECONOMIC GLOBALISATION: Enhance the i ndicators and statistical information 
available on economic globali sation and global value chains  for EU decision-makers 
and the public at large. 
                                                 
26 In accordance with the Commi ssion Communication COM(2009)404 
EN 16   EN (4) ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PE RFORMANCE: (a) Supplement measurement of 
economic performance by different dimensions  of globalisation, the quality of life, 
well-being and social cohesion. Develop a fr amework for the analysis of globalised 
production. (b) Provide key macroeconom ic and social indicators and PEEIs 
(Principal European Economic Indicators) as a coherent set of  indicators addressing 
the EU and global statistical data require ments and adjust PEEIs to meet evolving 
users' needs. 
(5) ENVIRONMENTAL PRESSURES: Provide environmental accounts, and climate 
change related statistics, ta king into account international developments in this area. 
(6) BUSINESS: Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of production processes. 
Provide quality statistics on key areas where enterprises are at the centre of interest, such as business statistics, short term indicators, internat ional transactions, 
globalisation, single market m onitoring, innovation, and tourism. 
(7) PEOPLE'S EUROPE: Provide quality statis tics on key areas of social policy where 
the citizen is at the centre of interest, such as social  cohesion, poverty, demographic 
challenges (elderly and migration in pa rticular), labour ma rket, education and 
training, quality of life, safety, health and disability, free movement and single 
market, mobility of young people, and t echnological innovation and new life style 
choices. 
(8) GEOSPATIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND SECTORAL STATISTICS: (a) Support 
evidence-based policy-making by a more flexible and increased use of spatial information combined with social, economic and environmental statistical information. (b) Provide quality environmental statistics to support the policies of the 
EU. (c) Provide quality energy and transport statistics to support the policies of the 
EU. (d) Provide quality agriculture, fish eries and forestry statistics for the 
development and monitoring of the Common  Agricultural and Fisheries Policies 
reflecting key European strate gic objectives related to sustainability as well as rural 
development by carrying out regular activitie s related to the development, production 
and dissemination of statistics. 
The operational objectives,
 complementing the above general and specific objectives of the 
multi-annual statistical programme are the following: 
(1) ESS QUALITY MANAGEMENT: (a) Implemen t a quality management system in 
the ESS based on the revised European Stat istics Code of Pract ice, introducing new 
monitoring mechanisms to assess complia nce with the Code of  Practice based on 
Commitments on confidence in statistics agreed with the Member States. (b) 
Strengthen sharing of good practices in the implementation of the Code of Practice 
and ensure that quality reporting is  targeting different user needs. 
(2) PRIORITY SETTING AND SIMPLIFICATI ON: Implement a priority-setting 
mechanism for the ESS in order to simplify reporting requirements and increase the flexibility of the ESS to adjust to new n eeds for statistics while taking into account 
the constraints of the produ cers and the response burden. 
(3) MULTIPURPOSE STATISTICS AND EFFI CIENCY GAINS IN PRODUCTION: 
(a) Put in place gradually an ESS business architecture allowing a more integrated 
production of EU statistics; harmonise and standardise statistical  production methods 
EN 17   EN and metadata; enhance the horizontal (across statistical domains) and vertical (across 
ESS partners) integration of statistical production processes in the ESS in respect of 
the principle of subsidiarity; use and integrate multiple data sources; produce multi-purpose statistics. (b) Ensure  the good functioning and c oherence of the ESS through 
effective collaboration and communication. 
(4) DISSEMINATION AND COMMUNI CATION: (a) Make the ESS the first data 
source on EU statistics for all users and, in particular, for public and private decision 
makers, by providing a quality statistical info rmation service based on the principles 
of free access to European statistics. (b) Extend and rationalise the range of 
dissemination products to meet the needs of  users using new technologies. (c) Set up 
a cost-efficient and integrated secure in frastructure within the ESS for access to 
official statistics confidential data for sc ientific purposes. (d) Start producing public 
use files. 
(5) TRAINING, INNOVATION AN D RESEARCH: (a) Satisfy learning and 
development needs in the ESS based on a combination of tr aining courses and 
learning and development opportunities. (b ) Improve the collaboration between ESS 
members for the transfer of knowledge and the sharing and implementation of best 
practices and common innovativ e approaches in statistic al production. (c) Organise 
the activities, the participation and the c ontribution of the research communities in 
the improvement of the statistical producti on chains and of the quality of official 
statistical information. 
(6) PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ESS AND BEY OND: (a) Implement the enhanced 
ESS governance framework. (b) Enhance the c oordinating role of Eurostat as the 
Union's Statistical Office. (c) Strengthen the co-operation with the European System of Central Banks, European and internat ional organisations involved in the 
production of data for statis tical or administrative purpos es through common projects 
and co-ordinated developments. Ensure  consistency between European and 
international standards. (d) Promote and impl ement statistical advisory and statistical 
assistance activities in countries outside th e EU in line with th e priorities of the 
foreign policy of the EU with particular emphasis on enlargement. 
4. POLICY
 OPTIONS 
As mentioned under Section 1.2, the establishmen t of a multi-annual Eu ropean Statistical 
Programme is a legal requirement . It has its legal basis in Ar ticle 13.1 of the Regulation (EC) 
No 223/2009. 
Taking into account all potential scenarios, three main direc tions indicating three possible 
options for action have been identified: 
4.1. Option 1: "zero option" with no European  Statistical Programme (no EU action) 
Without a legal framework of the European Statistical Programme, users of European 
Statistics will have to collect and/or produce  the statistical information they need by 
themselves, with the help of the ESS institut ional providers and/or private providers. In 
particular, the different Commission serv ices will have to  develop their own 
"statistical capacity" with thei r own resources, in an independe nt way and without a proper 
legal basis.  
EN 18   EN 4.2. Option 2: ESP 2013-17 will be a repetition of the CSP 2008-2012 (no change 
option) 
This option means no change in terms of statistics covered in the current 
Community Statistical Programme. This could be considered as the baseline scenario against 
which the other options can be compared. 
The current multi-annual statistical programme is based on the following policy priorities: (a) prosperity, competitiveness, innovation and growth; (b) solidarity and human development; (c) economic, social and regional cohesion, sustainable development and demographic 
challenges; 
(d) security; and (e) further enlargement of the European Union. The CSP 2008-2012 contains about 130 objectiv es broken down into the following main 
chapters:  
(1) The role of statistics in European integration 
(2) Relations with stakeholders: (1) The Eur opean Statistical System; (2) Cooperation 
with users; (3) Technical cooperation w ith third countries; (4) Cooperation with 
international organisations. 
(3) Instruments: (1) Better regulation; (2) Co mpliance monitoring; (3) Increased ability 
to respond to users’ needs; (4) Fina ncial support for actio ns contributing to 
Community objectives; (5) Uti lising partners’ expertise for Community purposes; (6) 
Dissemination; (7) The balance of costs and benefits. 
(4) Cross-sectional statistical ac tivities in support of overall community policy priorities: 
(1) Structural indicators a nd sustainable development i ndicators; (2) Enlargement 
(5) Statistical needs broken down by the Titles identified in the Treaty establishing the 
European Community (EC Treaty); (1) Free movement of goods; (2) Agriculture; (3) 
Free movement of persons, services and capital; (4) Policies related to free 
movement of persons; (5) Transport; (6) Common rules on competition, taxation and 
approximation of laws; (7) Economic and monetary policy; (8) Employment; (9) 
Common commercial policy; (11) Social pol icy, education, vocat ional training and 
youth; (13) Public health; (14) Consumer Protection; (16) Industry; (17) Economic 
And Social Cohesion; (18) Research and technological development; (19) 
Environment; (20) Development Coopera tion; (21) Economic, financial and 
technical cooperation with third countries. 
The financial envelope for Option 2 will be the same as that of the current CSP 2008-2012 
transposed over the new programme period ev en though the Modernisation of European 
Enterprise and Trade Statistics Programme (MEETS ), which used to have a separate financial 
envelope, will be integrated into the multi-annu al statistical programme at the end of 2013 
when it expires. 
EN 19   EN Mio € 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total 
Operational costs 52.70 53.80 54.80 55.90 57.00 274.20 
 
4.3. Option 3: a new five-year European St atistical Programme is established 
A new European Statistical Programme for the period 2013-2017 would be proposed for 
adoption It will cover the objectives listed in Ch apter 3 that have been identified in the 
consultations with all stakeholde rs of the European Statistical  System. These three objectives 
are the following: 
Objective 1: provide quality statistical info rmation to support the development, monitoring 
and evaluation of the policies of the Eur opean Union properly reflecting priorities. 
European statistics must respond to  constantly fluctuating data requirements in the context of 
global structural changes and an  increasing need for statistically-based de cision-making. This 
has been further demonstrated by the global fi nancial and economic crisis which has shown 
that high-quality and timely statistical indicators are of paramount importance. 
Objective 2: implement new methods of producti on of European statistics  aiming at efficiency 
gains and quality improvements  
So far, European statistics are developed, produ ced, and disseminated on the basis of uniform 
standards and harmonised methods. The National St atistical Institutes (N SIs) of the Member 
States collect and produce harmonised data that are compiled by Eurostat to construct 
statistics at EU level.  This is done in numerous parallel processes, country by country and 
domain per domain, following the traditional stovepipe model. This way of producing 
statistics is, however, no longer fully adap ted to the changing environment. Growing 
requirements for new additional statistics (which are to a large extent multi-dimensional and cover various domains), the need for simp lifying, improving and integrating European 
statistical regulations, zero-gro wth or even reduction of re sources in NSIs, reducing the 
burden on respondents all constitute major ch allenges of the ESS, which requires an 
ambitious reform of the ESS statistical production system. 
Objective 3: strengthen the partnership with in the ESS and beyond in order to further 
enhance its productivity and leading role in official statistics worldwide 
The ESS operates with professi onal independence, consistent w ith European and national law, 
and strict integrity, to ensure that statistics are produced and disseminated impartially, that statistical quality is managed effectively, and that respondents’ privacy is maintained. An 
emphasis on cost-effectiveness requires the adoption of good practices  and co-ordinated 
production, and the careful control of burdens on businesses and households that supply data. 
A strong partnership within the ESS thus guara ntees that European St atistics are of high 
quality and are produced in line with users’ ne eds and disseminated in formats that different 
types of users find most accessible. 
These general objectives reflect the need and ambition to balance the increasing demand for 
high-quality statistics and existing resource constraints, which will require a new approach to the production of statistics and streng thened cooperation within the ESS. 
EN 20   EN 4.4. Other options considered but not further analysed 
It should be noted that a number of intermedia te options could be identified between Options 
1 and 3 as well as a multitude of sub-options  could be identified under Option 3 by defining 
different combinations of subs ets of European Statistics wh ich would be included in the 
multi-annual programme. Although these various sub-options or other options have been 
considered, they have not been included in  this document for the following reasons: 
• an extensive consultation rega rding the statistical domains to be included in the ESP 
has already been carried out  in with all main stake holders (see Section 1.5). 
• one of the main shortcomings of the cu rrent multi-annual programme is that it 
defines actions to be undertake n at a very detailed level. The intention of Option 3 is 
to define a multi-annual programme which is  sufficiently flexible in order to allow 
for a quick response to changing political priorities and new developments. The ESP 
is a framework programme that will be implemented through annual work 
programmes which are prepared according to a standard procedure that involves 
dialogues with producers and users of statisti cs as well as with policy-makers in 
order to define each year the pr iority areas and related actions. 
5. ANALYSIS  OF IMPACTS 
As explained in detail under Section 3, the ESP 2013-2017 is not among the Commission 
initiatives which have been identified as  having far reaching economic, social and 
environmental impacts and it is therefore not  included in the Comm ission Work Programme. 
The decisions to produce European statistics are driven by policy-making. The objective is to 
support policy-making by providing European Institutions and the governments of Member States with relevant st atistical information needed to  design, implement, monitor and 
evaluate EU policies.  
The "impact of statistics" is li nked to the fact that it is an  infrastructure serving many 
purposes in modern information societies. Th e social, economic and environmental impact of 
statistics or a statistical legi slative proposal is not measurable  since the role of European 
statistics is a basic precondition for evidence  based decision-making. How important high 
quality statistical figures are, has become mo re than evident throug hout the last years, 
whenever a lack of solidity has led to costly wrong decisions, to misa llocations of money or 
even to major disruptions of the political sy stem. The Greek crisis is an example of the 
potential impact of bad statistics. The desi gn and the evaluation of European policies are 
significantly depending on good statistics. Sta tistical information help political decision-
makers assess (ex-ante) the expected impact of and measure (ex-post) th e actual impact of EU 
policies. Statistics are needed to help drive the outcomes that policies are aiming at and measure progress towards these outcomes. Statistic s must continue to be fit for purpose in 
under-pinning decision-making for those critical po licies which are most relevant to European 
citizens and where wrong deci sions would have a very high cost for Europe.  
For most statistical legislative proposals, the formal requirements for Impact Assessments as 
concerns analysis of impact are not applicable as the impact of statistical programming is on 
Commission policies. 
However, the production of European statistics has an impact in terms of administrative 
burden on national institutions and response burden of enterprises and citizens.  
EN 21   EN In line with the Commission Guidelines on Im pact Assessment for all policy options, the 
Impact Assessment should provide details of th e information obligations for businesses, for 
citizens and national/regional/local administrations that are likely to  be added or eliminated if 
the option were implemented. In those cases in which the change in ad ministrative burden is 
likely to be significant, the e ffects should be quantified using the EU Standard Cost Model. 
This approach is difficult to apply while analys ing the impact in terms of costs and burden of 
a multi-annual statistical programme. Firstly, due to the difficulty of performing an information obligations' mapping exercise in the long term, related to the multitude of users of 
EU statistics and their changing needs, being at the origin of  information requested. Secondly, 
because of the national specificities in term s of organisation of th e statistical production 
systems, which render it difficu lt to apply the EU Standard Cost Model for the quantification 
in a consistent way, especially  in the context of the implem entation of Communication on the 
production method of EU statistics . While analysing the impact in terms of costs and burden 
of the different policy options, the Commission services based, inter alia, on the experience 
gathered from the previous multi-annual programmes
27, combining it with the evidence 
gathered from previous and ongoing quantitati ve and qualitative assessments of costs and 
burden related to the statistical  production in certain fields28. 
Many initiatives included in the programme can fu rther foster the reduction of administrative 
costs and burdens for the public authorities a nd businesses. This objective can best be 
achieved through long term proj ects, deriving mostly from  the implementation of the 
Communication on the production me thod of EU statistics. Aiming at increasing efficiency of 
the production method of EU sta tistics, when implemented, the Communication will result in 
efficiency savings and will lighten the proces s of satisfying the new needs for statistical 
information. Further projects, which now fall in to the scope of the MEETS programme, will 
be part of the European Statis tical Programme at the end of 2013. 
In order to ensure that tangible results as re gards the reduction of burde n are achieved also in 
the short term and to help fr ee up the necessary resources for new and strategic needs, 
Eurostat has put in place a stra tegy-driven priority-setting mechanism. It is composed of two 
elements: review of priorities and the introduc tion of sunset clauses in new legal acts. The 
review of priorities involves an  annual review on existing statistical requirements. Every year, 
when preparing the Annual Statistical Work Progr amme of the following year, Eurostat will 
screen existing requirements for statistics, exam ine the possibility of stopping data collection 
in certain areas with higher impact in term s of cost and burden re duction and make initial 
proposals for repealing an existi ng legal act requiring statistical  data collections; stopping a 
voluntary statistical data colle ction based on gentlemen's agreement; and areas under review 
for simplification. These proposals will be thor oughly discussed with the producers and users 
of statistics in order to come up with a list agreed by all stak eholders which is subsequently 
incorporated in the Annual Work Programme  of Eurostat which is adopted by the 
                                                 
27 As regards the level of administrative burdens as sociated with the previ ous programme calculations 
made in the framework of the Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the EU show 
that the level of administrative bu rdens associated with the most de manding legislative measures in the 
Priority Area Statistics account for less than  1 % of the total administrative burden.  
28 Independently on the measurements of administrativ e costs and burden undertaken for the Priority Area 
Statistics in the framework of the Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the EU 
(study made by the consortium Capgemini/Deloitte/Ramboll Management; and the CEPS study), 
information on the production costs and response burden linked to statistical production is systematically gathered within the ESS through Rolling Reviews. Several production costs and response 
burden exercises focused on data collections where respondents were mainly businesses were also 
conducted as from 2008. 
EN 22   EN Commission. The second element of priority-s etting mechanism is the introduction of the 
concept of "sunset clauses" in new legal acts. This measure implies that expiration/validations dates for carrying out data collections will be included in new legal acts to be prepared in the future. This means that once the expiration date is approaching, a thorough discussion will be initiated in order to understand the need to cont inue the data collection and that data collection 
is not going to be carri ed out without a clear and justified need.  
During the current programme pe riod, efforts to reduce admini strative burden undertaken by 
Eurostat following the adoptio n of COM(2006)693, went hand in hand with the initiatives 
undertaken in the framework of the Action Pr ogramme for Reducing Ad ministrative Burdens 
in the EU, Statistics being one of the 13 Priority Areas of the programme. Originally, six legal 
acts were concerned
29 . In 2009, the programme was extended to cover five additional legal 
acts30. At this stage, legislative measures aiming at reducing burden were already proposed for 
all these acts, and most of them were a dopted. Among measures which brought the most 
substantial reduction of burden, introduced so fa r, the amendment of the Intrastat Regulation, 
the reduction of reporting requirements for pr oducing statistics on industrial production, 
short-term statistics and struct ural business statistics should be  mentioned. Overall, the target 
of 25 % reduction of the admini strative burden steaming from the aforementioned legislation 
in Priority Area Statistics was already largel y met even before the term of the current 
five-year programme. Overall, for a total burden of EUR 779.5 million stemming from this 
Priority Area, a 42 % reduction for different measures is expected to be achieved with the 
measures foreseen so far31. 
In the current approach, the reduction of burden on businesse s followed the organisation of 
the data collection system meaning that the redu ction measures were introduced separately for 
a number of European legal acts which curre ntly govern the collect ion of statistical 
information on Member States' economic activity  of the business sect or. Considering the 
efforts made so far, this stovepipe appro ach has a limited potential for costs and burden 
reduction in the future. Further reduction of th e burden on businesses, mainly SMEs, can only 
be achieved in the future through a new,  integrated approach stemming from the 
implementation of Communication 404. This a pproach is only possible by implementing 
Option 3. 
In particular, with the implementation of Option 3, during the period 2013-2017 Eurostat and 
the ESS will aim at a fundamental revision and integration of all busin ess-related statistics, 
with the adoption and implementation of the framework regulation integrating business 
                                                 
29 Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 58/97 of 20 December 1996 concerning structural business 
statistics; Council Regulation (EC) No 638/2004 of the EP and the Council of 31 March 2004 on 
Community Statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and repealing Council 
Regulation (EEC) 3330/91; Council Directive 2001/109/EC of the EP and Council on fruit trees; Council Directive 93/23/EEC of 1 June 1993 on the statistical surveys to be carried out on pig 
production; Council Directive 93/24/EEC of 1 June 1993 on the statistical surveys to be carried out on 
bovine animals; Council Regulatio n (EEC) 3924/91of 19 December 19 91 on the establishment of a 
Community survey of industrial production. 
30 Regulation (EC) No 808/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 
concerning Community statistics on the information society; Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/98 of 
19 May 1998 concerning short-term statistics; Council Directive 95/57/EC of 23 November 1995 on the 
collection of statistical information in the field of tourism; Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 of 25 May 1998 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road; Council Directive 95/64/EC 
of 8 December 1995 on statistical  returns in respect of carriage of goods and passengers by sea 
31 COM(2009)544 final. 
EN 23   EN statistics. This will provide a common lega l framework for the collection, compilation, 
transmission and dissemination of statistics about the economic activities of the business 
sector. The common denominator used in all do mains will be NACE (for activities) and CPA 
(for products). This approach should produce a considerable burden reduction on businesses 
and on the National Statistical Institutes. 
Overall, for the ESP 2013-2017, the efforts to  reduce administrative burdens should stem 
mainly from the implementation of Communica tion on the production method of EU statistics 
but also from the finalisation of measures de fined under the current fi ve-year programme and 
the application of the above-men tioned priority-setting mechanism, as defined by the end of 
2010. 
The strategic priorities define d year by year for the ESS shoul d be in line with the ESP 2013-
2017 and ensure the gradual achievement of the objectives defined in the ESP. This will be 
ensured through the direct link to annual work programmes and the priority-setting exercises 
carried out every year when preparing the a nnual work programme. An ex-ante evaluation of 
the ESP 2013-2017 was prepared in accordance w ith the principles of sound financial 
management, on the basis of th e provisions of the Financial Regulations for expenditure 
programmes. 
5.1 Impact of options 
5.1. Option 1: "zero option" with no European Statistical Programme 
Having no five-year statistical programme at Eu ropean level would implicate the lack of 
long-term planning which is an inherent prer equisite of the development, production and 
dissemination of statistical information. 
If no European Statistical Programme exists, it  is unlikely that the objectives defined in 
Section 3 will be achieved. No legal framewor k for the production of European statistics 
would then exist and no operational budget w ould be provided. The users of statistics 
(Commission Directorates-Gener al, the ECB, etc.) would have to produce or look for 
statistics themselves, in an uncoordinated an d inefficient way, and there would not be a 
commonly agreed assurance of qua lity of European statistics. The consultation of users have 
demonstrated the need for high quality, timely and comparable (across Europe) statistics, 
which are fit-for-purpose in under pinning decision-making and co llected in a transparent way, 
free from political influence. Knowledge-sharing and increased efficiency through greater use 
of technology and exploitation of  data collected for other purpos es are other im portant user 
requirements. 
Without an European Statisti cal Programme, there will be no budget for and no overall 
planning of statistical production. This would also contribute to  an increase in the response 
burden of individuals, households , enterprises and ESS instituti onal providers of statistics.  
Given the financial crisis and the resource constrai nts that EU is faced w ith, the impact of no 
EU budget available for statistical production woul d be considerable. This would also impact 
the quality, reliability and comparability of statistics and thus the overall objective of 
European statistical produc tion: to support the design, imp lementation, monitoring and 
evaluation of EU policies. This overall objec tive cannot be fulfilled by individual Member 
States on their own. 
EN 24   EN The Greek crisis has demonstrated the importance of reliable statistics and potential impact of 
bad statistics. In order to improve economic surv eillance in the EU it is important to ensure 
that macro-economic statistics ar e produced according to the sa me (high-quality) statistical 
standards in all Member States in order to be  able to compare and draw conclusions at EU 
level. Dependence on external data sources may have a potential negative impact for EU policy as this data may not be easily available,  may not be politically independent or fit for 
purpose and the costs of external data may be higher than anticipated. Furthermore, reliance 
on external data may also present a problem if these data suddenly become unavailable.  
The importance of Eurostat data can be demonstrat ed by the central role statistics play in the 
Excessive Debt and Deficit Pr ocedure or the scoreboard for the surveillance of macro-
economic imbalances where it is stated that indi cators should be of high statistical quality in 
terms of timeliness and comparability across count ries. To this end, they should be derived 
from data compiled according to the principles of  the European Statistics Code of Practice of 
the European Statistical System (ESS). Where available, Eurost at sources should be used so 
that the data comparability and statistical quality can be assured. The Code of Practice 
stipulates that adequate resource allocatio n is a necessary precondition for the proper 
functioning of a statistical se rvice. This adequacy cannot be ensured without a forward 
looking planning instrument. As ch anges in information infrastruc tures are long-term projects, 
a five-years planning pe riod is appropriate.  
One of the main objectives of the ESP 2013-2017 is to produce statistical information if a 
cost-effective way which is a key element of Communication 404 that forms the backbone of 
the ESP 2013-2017. An ambitious reform of the pr oduction system is required in order to be 
able to meet future challenges, and it can only be done as a joint effort at EU level. This requires a strong partnership wi thin the ESS which is anothe r main objective of the ESP 
2013-2017. If no ESP exists, given the s carcity of resources, it will  be very difficult to ensure 
continuous commitment and progress to this modernisation process which is of crucial 
importance to the ESS and European statistics. 
5.2. Option 2: ESP 2013-17 will be a repetition of the CSP 2008-1012 
This option would mean that the objectives de fined in Section 3 would not be achieved or 
only to a limited extent and would meet part ly outdated policy priori ties. The statistics 
provided would correspond to policy needs of the period 2008-2012 and would not take into 
account new developments and needs for priority policies of the European  Union such as the 
Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable a nd inclusive growth and other policies addressed 
in the Commission's strategic priorities for 2010-2014. The costs of in adequate statistics 
would be considerable. In addition, these st atistics would be produced according to the 
stovepipe model
32, i.e. without taking advantage of new method of production of European 
statistics aiming at efficiency gains and quality improvements.  
The economic crisis has demonstrated the need fo r flexibility to be able to take into account 
new development and policy needs and allow for fast-track initiatives taken by the 
                                                 
32 In the stovepipe model statistics are traditionally  produced in numerous parallel processes, country by 
country (in some cases even region by region) and domain per domain. In such a model every single 
product stovepipe corresponds to a specific domai n of statistics together with the corresponding 
production system. For each domai n, the whole production proce ss from survey design over data 
collection and processing to di ssemination takes place independently  of other domains, and each 
domain has its own data suppliers and user groups. The stovepipe model is also reflected in the way 
statistical domains are regula ted at the European level. 
EN 25   EN Commission. The impact of this option, a programme which is outdated and does not 
correspond to user needs, will  be negative as the cost of such a programme can not be 
justified if the statistics produced under th e programme will not be in line with the 
Commission's priorities and thus not able to meet the overall objective of European statistical 
production – to support the design, implem entation, monitoring and evaluation of EU 
policies. Furthermore, a repetition of the current multi-annual programme will influence 
negatively the annual work programmes of the programming period as there will be limited 
scope for adaptations as the framework program me for these will then be quite narrow and 
specific not allowing for new developments and init iatives to be taken in to account if the link 
between the five-year programme and the annua l programme should be respected. The current 
multi-annual programme does not reflect many new development or initiatives launched, which means that there is gap between the CSP 2008-2012 and the annual work programmes. 
Previous evaluation reports have recommende d an improved link between multi-annual and 
annual programmes and given the fact that th e preparation of a multi-annual programme is 
quite resource-intensive, also when it comes to monitoring and evalua tion, it is im portant to 
ensure that the programme is relevant and reflec ts key priorities while at the same it allows 
for new developments to be taken into account. 
5.3. Option 3: a new five-year European St atistical Programme is established 
With this option European statistics will better  correspond to users' needs. There will be an 
agreed assurance of quality and the production of  statistics will be mo re cost-effective as a 
result of the new method of production.  
The three general objectives defined for the ESP 2013-2017 are in line with the Commission's 
strategic priorities and have been fixed to addr ess the challenges that the European System is 
faced with in the coming years. 
All comments received from stakeholders on th e draft ESP have been carefully analysed by 
Eurostat and taken into account when prepar ing a revised version of the ESP 2013-2017 for 
the Inter-Service Consultation. 
The ESP reflects the commitment to the strategy-driven priority-setting approach established 
by Eurostat and presented to the ESSC in 2010. Following this approach, the identification of 
negative priorities is an integr ated part of the preparation of  the Annual Statistical Work 
Programmes and will therefore be carried out for th e period of the ESP. In order to serve as a 
general and flexible planning instrument allo wing for new developments to be taken into 
account, the ESP provides the general framew ork for the development, production and 
dissemination of European stat istics by fixing the main fields  and objectives of actions 
envisaged for the next five years. These objectiv es are subject to more detailed definition and 
planning in the Annual Statistical  Work Programmes. In this wa y, a clear link is established 
between the ESP and the Annual Statistical Work Programmes. 
The Commission Communication on the production me thod of EU statistics  and the joint ESS 
strategy adopted by the European  Statistical System Committee form the backbone of the ESP 
which respond to all the challenges identified and that aim at satisfying the highest possible 
proportion of the defined needs. 
The recommendations of the mid-term evaluatio n of the CSP 2008-2012 have been taken into 
account when drafting the objectives and indica tors of the ESP 2013-2017. In particular, with 
regard reprioritisation of sta tistical requirements aiming at the reduction of response burden 
EN 26   EN and producers' costs, the implementation of the priority-setting mechanis m, presented to the 
ESS Committee on 18 November 201033, has been foreseen. This priority-setting mechanism 
is an integrated part of th e preparation of Annua l Statistical Work programmes during the 
reporting period. 
The impact of this option will be positive as it is the only option that will meet the 
requirements of stakeholders while balancing demands and available resources. It addresses 
resource constraints, the need for effici ency gains and reduction of burden without 
compromising statistical quality  and therefore this option s upports the overall objective of 
European statistics, the underpinning of the design, imp lementation, monitoring and 
evaluation of EU policies. 
The establishment of a new five-year progr amme which reflects the Commission's key 
priorities while addressing the needs for e fficiency gains, priority-setting and burden 
reduction and strengthened partnership within the ESS and beyond will provide the best basis for European statistics in the years to come. 
6. COMPARING
 THE  OPTIONS 
6.1. Option 1: "zero option" with no European Statistical Programme 
This option would mean non-compliance with Article 13 of Regulation N° 223/2009 of the 
European Parliament and the Council on European Statistics and it would not ensure the achievement of the Objectives defined in Sect ion 3. No legal framework for the production of 
European statistics would then  exist and accordingly no operati onal budget would be provided 
6.2. Option 2: ESP 2013-17 will be a repetition of the CSP 2008-1012 
Although complying with the stip ulations of the Regulation on European Statistics, this 
option would not ensure the achie vement of the objectives define d in Section 3 or only to a 
limited extent and would correspond to  policy needs of the period 2008-2012.  
6.3. Option 3: a new five-year European St atistical Programme is established 
With this option compliance with statistical law is ensured and a new Programme will also 
reflect the strategic priorities of the Commission and user needs. It will also be the best option 
to ensure the achievement of th e objectives defined in section 3. 
6.4. The preferred option 
Option 3 of a new five-year ESP 2013-2017 seems to  be the best option given the fact that 
this is the only option that would ensure the ac hievement of all the objectives defined, i.e. (i) 
providing quality statistics that  correspond to users' needs in term of coverage, timeliness, 
comparability and reliability; (i) producing statis tical information in a cost-effective way; and 
(iii) reduction of the response and administrativ e burden of respondents. Consequently, this is 
the only out of the 3 options that is able to o ffer a satisfactory response to all four challenges 
identified under Section 2.1. 
Key: 
                                                
 
33 ESS Committee document No. ESSC/2010/07/08/EN 
EN 27   EN ++ = very positive impact;  
+ = positive impact;  0 = no or neutral impact;  - = negative impact;  -- = very negative impact 
Options Effectiveness 
in relation to 
the objectives Efficiency in 
achieving the 
objectives Coherence 
with 
overarching 
EU objectives, 
strategies and 
priorities Quality of 
statistics Impact on 
budget 
Option 1 - -- -- -- 
 - 
Option 2 -- - + - 0 
Option 3 ++ + ++ ++ + 
In terms of effectiveness regarding achieveme nt of objectives, the ba seline Option 2 would 
not be able to adjust to new policy needs, so it would not be able to  satisfy new demands for 
data. Option 1 would allow user s of statistics to satisfy th eir additional needs either by 
collecting the data themselves or by getting it fr om other data providers, so from that point of 
view is preferable to the baseline Option 2. Option 3 encompasses an annual dialogue with 
users and producers which enables satisfaction of new demands with quality data.  
In terms of efficiency, Option 1 would imply dest roying a functional infrastructure that exists 
for statistics at European level such as is  now the case with the baseline Option 2. Option 3 
will result in efficiency gains by implementing new methods of statistics and by rationalising 
the collection of basic statistical data allowing fo r their use in different sets of indicators.  
As regards coherence with EU objectives, for Option 1 it will vary across Member States, 
depending on whether national requi rements/priorities are in lin e with those at EU level, 
resource constraints, importance and impact of  different policies on statistical domains. For 
Option 2, there will be cohere nce as regards statistical do mains covered by the European 
Statistical Programme, although ap proaches may vary for new in itiatives and policy areas not 
covered by the Programme. For Option 3, cohere nce is ensured as the European Statistical 
Programme will cover al l priority areas defined by the Commission. 
In terms of quality of data, Option 1 w ould produce data that are less harmonised and 
comparable to Option 2, whereas Option 3 would have a positive impact on the quality of statistics compared to the baseline Option.  
It is obvious that Option 3 has all the required characteristics to provi de a general framework 
for the production of European st atistics by which the qua lity of statistics and the efficiency of 
the statistical production will be ensured. This is particularly important given the current 
challenges and resource constraints at both EU and national level. This Option does not imply 
a higher budget compared to Option 2. On the contrary, the budget requested for Option 3 is marginally lower than that of Option 2. The real  difference lies in the fact that by achieving 
efficiency gains, the system will be better equi pped to satisfy new political needs and will be 
EN 28   EN able to deliver more with the same budget. Option 1 is the one that will have the highest 
impact on the budget as the uncoordinated approach  will be more costly for the users of 
statistics who would have to se t up systems themselves or buy statistics from other external 
providers. 
As regards the financial envelope for Option 3,  it would be adapted to the needs of a new 
five-year statistical programme aiming at th e achievement of the above objectives. The 
Modernisation of European Enterprise a nd Trade Statistics Programme (MEETS) will be 
integrated into the multi-annual statistical pr ogramme at the end of 2013 upon expiry of the 
current MEETS programme whereas the ava ilable budget for the multi-annual programme 
remains unchanged. In practical terms, this mean s a reduction of the fina ncial envelope as no 
additional budget is requested fo r MEETS. In this way efficiency  gains will also be achieved 
as only one programme will be managed instead  of two as have been the case until now. 
Mio € 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total 
Operational costs 57.30 58.72 59.89 61.11 62.31 299.33 
 
Taking into account the advantages and disadvantag es of all three options, Eurostat made the 
decision that the option that ensures the achieve ment of the set objectives while meeting the 
highest proportion of the needs of all the stak eholders of European statistics is Option 3. 
Therefore, a new five-year statistical programme is  to be prepared even if this means that its 
duration will not be aligned with the term of office of the European Pa rliament. According to 
this scenario, the next ESP will start on 1 January 2013 and end on 31 December 2017. The 
present proposal for ESP 2013-17 is a solid, well- prepared tool to a ttain all three main 
objectives defined.  
Effects and consequences for the European Parliament and the Council:  
Positive, as the ESP is in line with the Treatie s, the financial perspectives and the European 
Union's political priorities; the needs for statisti cal information to back the policies of the EU 
are reflected in the ESP; the ESP includes a mechanism for improved priority-setting and 
reduction of response burden to enterprises and citizens. Member States are involved in the 
preparation of the ESP. The subsidiary princi ple will be respected when implementing the 
ESP. 
Effects and consequences for the College of Commissioners and Commission services: 
Positive, as the ESP is in line with the Treaties,  the financial perspectives; needs for statistical 
information to back the policies of the EU ar e reflected in the ESP, and a robust quality 
management system will be implemented as pa rt of the ESP. The ESP will be subject to 
efficient evaluation and A BB-compliant framework for distribution of resources. 
Effects and consequences for the National Statistical Institutes (including DGINS, ESS 
Committee, Partnership Group, Directors' Groups) and other national producers: 
Positive, as the ESP includes a mechanism fo r improved priority-setting and reduction of 
response burden to enterprises and citizens. By providing a multi-annual framework, the ESP 
allows producers of statistics to allocate resour ces in an optimal way. Mo st projects leading to 
burden reduction are multi-annual projects and ca n best be implemented  within a multi-annual 
framework which will improve the synergy be tween different actors of the ESS, thus 
EN 29   EN increasing the quality and reliability of EU sta tistics. The ESP reflects the joint ESS strategy 
on the implementation of the Communication fo cusing on increasing the overall efficiency 
and effectiveness of the ESS. Member States are involved in  the preparation of the ESP. The 
subsidiary principle will be respected when implementing the ESP. 
Effects and consequences for the ESAC, the European Central Bank, the Committee on 
Monetary, Financial and Balance of payments sta tistics (CMFB) and other non-institutional 
users: 
Positive, as the needs for statistical information to back the policies of the EU are reflected in 
the ESP, the users will be ensured that st atistics will be "fit for purpose" (on time and 
according to their policy needs and requirements). 
Effects and consequences for Eurostat: 
Positive, as the ESP reflects the Communication on the production method of EU statistics; a 
robust quality management system will be implemented as part of the ESP; the ESP will provide a stable framework for coherent, stru ctured annual programming and allocation of 
resources as well as a clear view of the direc tion of Eurostat's development; the ESP will be 
subject to efficient evaluation. 
6.5. Financial needs of the ESP 2013-2017 
The objective of the ESP is to establish a comprehensive programme providing an overall 
framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics for the 
period 2013-2017. With a view to making the best of available resources, the new programme 
will replace and integrate the two current spending programmes managed by Eurostat, 
amounting to EUR 316.7 million: the Community  Statistical Programme 2008-2012 and the 
Programme for the Modernisation of European  Enterprise and Trade Statistics (MEETS) 
2009-2013
34. 
Based on the analysis on the best ways and tool s to achieve results; an assessment of past 
budgetary execution and synergies expected by integrating the two, currently distinct 
programmes; and taking due account of the budge tary constraints, the intended financial 
envelope for the proposed ESP is EUR 280 millions for the 2013-2017 period. An amount of 
EUR 53.8 million for 2013 is foreseen in th e current multiannual financial frame for 
Community statistics. Implementation of the programme in 2013 is compatible with this 
amount. 
These operational appropriations will be used fo r procurement (in particular for statistical and 
IT related services), grants (in particular to contribute to networking within the ESS) and joint 
management with International Organisations when appropriate. 
7. MONITORING  AND  EVALUATION 
Improvement of the link between the multi-annu al and Annual Statistical Work Programme 
was one of the recommendations in the Co mmission's report to the Parliament and the 
                                                 
34 OJ L 340, 19.12.2008, p. 76 
EN 30   EN Council on the ex-post evaluati on of CSP 2003-2007. This report also highlighted the need 
for proper monitoring of the implementation of the CSP (ex-post control). 
The implementation of Communica tion on the new production met hod will also be subject to 
specific monitoring. A first report on progress made  in the preparatory phase was presented to 
the ESSC in May 2011 and will be submitted to the ECOFIN Counc il in November 2011. 
As far as the budgetary and financial execu tion is concerned, the programme will be 
implemented in conformity with the Financia l Regulation. Eurostat has defined a control 
strategy 2013-2017 for the implementation of the programme. Reducing complexity (for 
example, grants awarded for the implementation of the objectives of the programme may take 
the form of lump sums) and cost-effective mon itoring procedures, risk based reinforced ex-
ante and ex-post controls will aim to  reduce the likelihood/prevent fraud. 
The audit on the evaluation function in Eurostat35 also pointed out that no systematic ex-ante 
analysis of the ESP's expected results and impacts and missing indicators prevented a proper 
monitoring of the implementation throughout its lifetime. Several of the recommendations 
resulting from this audit addressed the need to  carry out ex-ante eval uations and subsequent 
mid-term and ex-post evaluations of expe nditure programmes using proper programme 
indicators to ensure compliance with the provisi ons of the Financial Regulations and effective 
monitoring of expend iture programmes. 
Additionally, the European Cour t of Auditors (CoA) is curre ntly conducting an audit on the 
management of Eurostat. One of the questions th at the CoA is looking at is the achievement 
of the objectives set on the Community Statis tical Programme 2008-2012. The conclusions of 
this audit expected to be finalised by th e end of 2011 will be used to strengthen the 
monitoring and evaluation of the ESP 2013-2017. 
Drawing on past experience and lessons learne d, mechanisms are put in place to ensure 
consistency in planning and reporting processe s by better linking ESP objectives with Annual 
Statistical Work Programmes and improving as  well the monitoring and evaluation of 
programme implementation. Article 2 of the propos al specifies that the ESP will be subject to 
annual planning through the Commi ssion annual statistical work programmes in line with the 
provisions of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.  
The annual work programmes together with th eir corresponding financing will be the matter 
of Commission Decisions detailing the outputs a nd results (objectives a nd indicators) to be 
achieved during the reference period. The monitoring will be ensured through regular reports on the consumption of resources and on progre ss made on the achievement of objectives.  
The strengthening of the link between the ESP 2013-2017 as a framework programme and 
annual work programmes providing the detaile d planning, which was also one of the 
recommendations of the ex-post evalua tion of the CSP 2003-2007 and the mid-term 
evaluation of the CSP 2008-2012, will ensure that there is no gap between planned activities 
and activities carried out as has been the case for the current multi-annual programme.  
It is foreseen that, in line with the Regulation on European statistics, an interim progress 
report will be prepared and, af ter consulting the ESS Committee, submitted to the European 
Parliament and the Council no later than June 2015. 
                                                
 
35 IAC Audit Report ESTAT-2009-ESTAT-002 of 19 February 2010 
EN 31   EN At the end of the period covered by the progr amme, the ESP will be subject to an ex-post 
evaluation. The ESS Committee will be consu lted on the evaluation report which will be 
completed by end of 2018 and subsequently su bmitted to the European Parliament and the 
Council. 
The ESP 2013-2017 is a framework programme that will be implemented through Annual 
Statistical Work Programmes and Management Pl ans, for which monitoring indicators will be 
defined and monitored twice a year. Monitoring of  progress will be done as part of the annual 
SPP cycle and two reports will be produced ever y year on the progress of achievement of the 
objectives in the annual (and multi-annual programm e) and the use of resources. In practical 
terms, this means that a mid-term evaluation will be prepared to assess the achievement of the objectives and yearly targets as of 30 June each  year and an end-of-year evaluation will take 
stock of the situation as of 31 December each year. This will ensure that corrective action can 
be taken immediately duri ng the year, if  required. 
Furthermore, as for the ongoing multi-annual sta tistical programme, there will be indicators 
on users' satisfaction, quality assessments of the statistical production processes, assessment 
of the overall compliance with the European Stat istics Code of Practi ce and monitoring of MS 
compliance with EU statistical legislation. In addition, as key performance indicators, linked 
to the general objectives of the European Statistical Programme 2013-2017, the number of 
values added to the Eurostat dissemination databases (by statis tical domain), proportion of 
users rating overall quality of Eu ropean statistics as very good or good as well as the number 
of downloads of different publications in Eurost at's website will be monitored and reported on 
throughout the implementation period of the programme. 
In addition, for each specific and operational objective a set of outputs and indicators (see 
tables below) has been defined and will form the basis for the monitoring of the achievement of the objectives of the European Statistic al Programme throughout the duration of the 
programme. 
Specific objectives: The objectives will be implemented by: 
I. STATISTICAL OUTPUTS 
INDICATORS 
Europe 2020 
Provide quality statistical information to 
monitor the implementation of Europe 2020 policy for smart, sustainable, 
inclusive growth. Updated headline target indicators for Europe 2020 (in the area of 
employment, research and development, innovation, energy/climate change, education, environment, social protection and social inclusion) 
available on the Eurostat website; 
Statistics available to support the monitoring of the implementation of 
Europe 2020 flagship initiatives;  
Additional indicators available as an  input for the ex-ante and ex-post 
evaluation of the economic, social  and environmental policy of the 
European Union. 
Economic Governance 
Develop new and enhance existing 
statistical information relevant for EU 
decision-makers and th e public at large in Statistical input for the macroeconomic imbalances scoreboard and the 
underlying analysis provided;  
EN 32   EN Specific objectives: The objectives will be implemented by: 
relation to the strengthened and integrated 
economic governance of the EU and the 
surveillance cycle integrating the Stability 
and Growth Pact and the economic policy.  
 Statistical input for an enhanced Stability and Growth Pact provided;  
Set of indicators to measure competitiveness developed and produced; 
A robust quality management implemented in the production chain, also 
covering upstream public finance data and the underlying workflows in Member States. 
Provide European d ecision-makers with 
reliable statistics and indicators for 
administrative and regulatory purposes and for monitoring specific EU policy 
commitments.  
 Scope of statistics for administrative and regulatory purposes defined and 
agreed with users, including the monitoring of statistics for GNI and VAT 
own resources, Structural Funds, and requirements for the remuneration and pensions calculations in relation to the EU Staff Regulations; 
A robust quality management framework for these indicators defined, 
implemented and explained. 
Economic Globalisation 
To enhance the indicators and statistical 
information available on economic 
globalisation and global value chains for EU decision-makers and the public at 
large. 
 Updated of existing and development of new indicators on economic 
globalisation and global value chains available on Eurostat's web-site; 
Analysis of the global value ch ains possibly through appropriate 
input/output tables, foreign trade and business statistics including micro-
data linking. 
ACCOUNTING FRAMEWORKS 
Economic and Social Performance 
Supplement measurement of economic 
performance by different dimensions of 
globalisation, the quality of life, well-
being and social cohesion. Develop a framework for the analysis of globalised 
production. 
 Indicators on income/consumption distribution across households 
produced (by reconciling National Accounts (NA) aggregates with 
household survey data); 
Implementation and compilation of annual, quarterly and regional 
National Accounts in accordance with ESA 1995/2010; 
Satellite accounts developed for at leas t two new areas (e.g. environment, 
research and development, output measures of national aggregates, health, social accounts, labour market, human capital, travel and tourism, 
non-profit institutions, information and communication technology, or 
non-observed economy, or EU KLEMS
36 toolkit);  
A conceptual framework for the an alysis of globalised production 
developed. 
Provide key macroeconomic and social indicators and PEEIs (Principal European 
Economic Indicators) as a coherent set of 
indicators addressing the EU and global statistical data requirements and adjust 
PEEIs to meet evolving users' needs. Coordinated development of the dashboards of key macroeconomic, 
social and sustainable development indicators; 
Harmonised methodology for key macroeconomic and social indicators 
and PEEIs; 
                                                 
36 EU level analysis of capital (K), labour (L), en ergy (E), materials (M) and service (S) inputs on a 
detailed activity level: statistical and analytical re search project to analys e productivity and growth 
across Europe 
EN 33   EN Specific objectives: The objectives will be implemented by: 
 Enhanced international comparability of indicators; 
Improved tools to facilitate the interpretation and communication of 
indicators;  
Harmonised housing and related statistics available for all Member States. 
Environmental Pressures 
Provide environmental accounts, and 
climate change related statistics, taking 
into account international developments in 
this area.  
 A coherent system of environmental accounts developed as ‘satellite 
accounts’ to the main National Accounts providing information on 
atmospheric emissions, energy consumption, oil and gas reserves, trade in 
basic materials, environmental taxation and spending on environmental protection, possibly including green growth/procurement;  
Indicators that show secondary pressu res and impacts of climate change 
developed and produced.  
DATA 
Business 
Increase the efficiency and effectiveness 
of production processes. Provide quality 
statistics on key areas where enterprises are at the centre of interest, such as 
business statistics, short term indicators, 
international transactions, globalisation, single market monitoring, innovation, and 
tourism. 
 Data available in the statistical syst em or in society reused, and common 
infrastructure and tools produced; 
Statistical information and indicators on business on annual and infra-
annual basis provided; 
Statistical information describing th e place of Europe in the world and 
EU relationships with the rest of the world provided; 
Statistical information for the analysis  of global value chains provided 
and the EGR developed as a backbone for collecting cross-domain 
information on globalisation; 
Trade in goods and trade in servi ces rebalanced with an improved 
availability of data on services and actions to rebalance statistical 
information on services and products; 
Single market monitoring tools developed, such as the food price 
monitoring tool and related indicators;  
Quality statistics on key areas of innovation and R&D performance 
provided through extended use of patent registers and extended research 
and statistical use of individual micro-data; 
Quality statistics on tourism s upply and demand provided through 
optimised data collection and better integrated data from tourism with 
other domains. 
People’s Europe 
Provide quality statistics on key areas of social policy where th e citizen is at the 
centre of interest, such as social cohesion, 
poverty, demographic challenges (elderly and migration in particular), labour 
market, education and training, quality of Consolidated basic infrastructure for Eu ropean Social Statistics, including 
a range of survey and administrativ e-based data collections in place; 
Modernised surveys on Labour Force (LFS) and Income and Living 
EN 34   EN Specific objectives: The objectives will be implemented by: 
life, safety, health and disability, free 
movement and single market, mobility of 
young people, and technological 
innovation and new life style choices. 
 Conditions (SILC); 
Statistics provided on education and training; 
Statistics provided on Safety, Health and Disability; 
Actions of the work programme on mainstreaming of migration statistics 
implemented; 
Quality of life indicators to measur e progress of societies provided. 
Geospatial, Environmental and Sectoral Statistics 
Support evidence-based policy making by 
a more flexible and increased use of spatial information combined with social, 
economic and environmental statistical 
information.  European Spatial Data Infras tructure based on the INSPIRE 
(Infrastructure for Spatial Informati on in Europe) architecture available; 
A range of geographic information through cooperation with EU 
programmes for land use surveys and remote sensing available; 
Integration of statistical data when relevant, thus creating a multisource 
flexible infrastructure for the provision of targeted spatial analysis. 
Provide quality environmental statistics to 
support the policies of the EU.  
 Set of key environmental statistics, such as on waste, water and 
biodiversity, at national and when possible regional level, developed, produced and disseminated.  
Provide quality energy and transport 
statistics to support the policies of the EU.  
 Statistics on renewable energy produced and disseminated; 
Statistics on energy savings/en ergy efficiency produced and 
disseminated; 
Statistics on transport safety, pa ssenger mobility, road traffic 
measurement and intermodal freight transport produced and disseminated. 
Provide quality agriculture, fisheries and 
forestry statistics for the development and monitoring of the Common Agricultural 
and Fisheries Policies reflecting key 
European strategic objectives related to sustainability as well as rural development 
by carrying out regular activities related to 
the development, production and dissemination of statistics.  
 Agricultural data collection reviewed and simplified in line with the 
Common Agricultural Policy review post 2013; 
Architecture for agricultural data collection processes redesigned; 
Land use/cover data management sy stem elaborated and implemented; 
Data collection system for coherent agri-environmental indicators 
implemented; 
Appropriate breakdowns by region provided; 
Set of key forestry data from Integrated Environmental and Economic 
Accounting (IEEAF), such as forest area, volume and value of standing 
timber and economic accounts for fo restry and logging implemented and 
disseminated. 
 
Operational objectives The objectives will be implemented by: 
II. PRODUCTION METHODS OF EU STATISTICS 
EN 35   EN Operational objectives The objectives will be implemented by: 
ESS Quality Management 
Implement a quality management system 
in the ESS based on the revised European 
Statistics Code of Practice, introducing 
new monitoring mechanisms to assess compliance with the Code of Practice 
based on Commitments on confidence in 
statistics agreed with the Member States.  
Strengthen sharing of good practices in the 
implementation of the Code of Practice and 
ensure that quality reporting is targeting 
different user needs.  The Code of Practice fully implemented; 
Commitments of confidence in sta tistics agreed with Member States; 
ESS and ESCB quality assurance frameworks aligned; 
Users' needs for quality reporting met. 
Priority-Setting and Simplification 
Implement a priority-setting mechanism 
for the ESS in order to simplify reporting requirements and increase the flexibility of 
the ESS to adjust to new needs for statistics 
while taking into account the constraints of the producers and the response burden.  
 Priorities defined and resources allocated accordingly; 
Priorities for the ESS defined as part of the Annual Work Programme 
(AWP); 
Results of user and producer consultations reflected in the AWP; 
Statistical areas to be simplified and data collections to be 
reduced/discontinued communicated to users. 
Multipurpose Statistics and E fficiency Gains in Production 
Put in place gradually an ESS business 
architecture allowing a more integrated 
production of EU statistics; harmonise and standardise statistical production methods 
and metadata; enhance the horizontal 
(across statistical domains) and vertical (across ESS partners) integration of 
statistical production processes in the ESS 
in respect of the principle of subsidiarity; use and integrate multiple data sources; 
produce multi-purpose statistics. 
 A greater use of appropriate administ rative data in all statistical areas; 
New data sources for European statistics identified and used; 
Increased involvement of European and national statistical authorities in 
the design of administrative records; 
A wider use of statistical matching and data linking techniques for 
increasing the offer of EU statistics; 
The European approach to statistics for quick policy response used;  
More integration of EU statistics production processes through ESS 
coordinated actions;  
Further harmonisation of statistical concepts across statistical domains; 
Development and implementation of flexible IT reference infrastructure 
and technical standards for improving  interoperability, sharing of data 
and metadata, common data modelling;  
Standard IT tools used across statistical business processes; Increased use and availability of harmonised methodologies (including 
mixed-mode approaches to data collection) and harmonized metadata. 
Ensure the good functioning and coherence 
of the ESS through effective collaboration Effective and efficient support to partnership in the ESS; 
EN 36   EN Operational objectives The objectives will be implemented by: 
and communication.  
 Processes for burden and work sharing within the ESS defined and 
implemented;  
Collaborative networks further developed and made operational. 
Dissemination and Communication 
Make the ESS the first data source on EU 
statistics for all users and, in particular, for public and private decision makers, by 
providing a quality statistical information 
service based on the principles of free access to European statistics.  
Extend and rationalise the range of 
dissemination products to meet the needs 
of users using new technologies. 
Set up a cost-efficient and integrated 
secure infrastructure within the ESS for 
access to official statistics confidential data 
for scientific purposes.  
Start producing public use files.  ESS recognised as the first reference point for users of European 
statistics;  
An integrated secure infrastructure in place for access to EU micro data;  
System put in place to address user s' requests for immediate access and 
advice in interpretation of statistical information;  
Dissemination products adjusted to the users' needs using new 
technologies; 
Increased number of statistical outputs on cross-cutting issues; 
Increased use of new communication and dissemination technologies 
(e.g. SDMX based); 
Increased offer of micro-data sets for statistical research purposes.  
Training, Innovation and Research 
Satisfy learning and development needs in 
the ESS based on a combination of training 
courses and learning and development opportunities.  
Improve the collaboration between ESS 
members for the transfer of knowledge and the sharing and implementation of best 
practices and common innovative 
approaches in statis tical production.  
Organise the activities, the participation 
and the contribution of the research 
communities in the improvement of the statistical production chains and of the 
quality of official statistical information.  Post-graduate degree (e.g. Master in  Official Statistics) developed; 
Training programmes offere d addressing user needs; 
Results of research projects applied in statistical production and 
dissemination; 
ESS recognised as reference point for the statistical research 
communities;  
High involvement of the research communities in research activities in 
official statistics; 
Adequate instruments in place for the exchange of practices and 
implementation of common solutions in the ESS. 
III. PARTNERSHIP 
Partnership within the ESS and Beyond 
Implement the enhanced ESS governance 
framework.  
 Implementation of the revised Statisti cal law, Decision on the role of 
Eurostat; 
Framework regulations covering entire statistical areas adopted; 
Enhance the coordinating role of Eurostat 
as the Union's Statistical Office.  
 Eurostat associated with all Commission initiatives with regard to 
statistical aspects at an early stage;  
Regular stakeholder dialogues at top management level organised.  
EN 37   EN Operational objectives The objectives will be implemented by: 
Strengthen the co-operation with the 
European System of Central Banks, 
European and international organisations 
involved in the production of data for statistical or administrative purposes 
through common project s and co-ordinated 
developments. Ensure consistency between European and international standards.  
 Common quality framework for ESS and ESCB implemented; 
Eurostat increasingly involved in international advisory groups; 
New ways of cooperation defined and implemented; 
The new SNA
37/ESA38 and Balance of Payments manuals implemented. 
Promote and implement statistical advisory 
and statistical assistance activities in 
countries outside the EU in line with the 
priorities of the foreign policy of the EU with particular emphasis on enlargement. 
 ESS leadership exercised in the international arena; 
Quality data for EU foreign policy purposes delivered; 
Relevant statistical data to support the enlargement process and 
negotiations disseminated; 
Requests for derogations from new Member States leading to 
unavailability of data minimised; 
Agreements / Memoranda of Understanding signed with countries 
outside the EU; 
Technical cooperation programmes designed and implemented; 
Technical assistance focused on data harmonisation and delivery. 
                                                 
37 System of National Accounts (United Nations) 
38 European System of Accounts 
EN 38   EN 8. REFERENCE DOCUMENTS  
• Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on Europ ean statistics, OJ L 87, p. 164 ( http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriSe rv.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:087:0164:0173:en:PDF ) 
• Regulation (EC) No 479/2009 on the applica tion of the Protocol on the excessive 
deficit procedure annexed to the Trea ty establishing the European, OJ L 145, 
10.6.2009, p.1 ( http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriSe rv.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:145:0001:0009:en:PDF ) 
• Commission Communication on the production method of EU  statistics; COM(2009) 
404 final ( http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUri Serv.do?uri=COM:2009:0404:FIN:EN:PDF ) 
• Communication from the Commission to th e European Parliament and the Council 
on the production method of EU statistic s – joint strategy paper, ESSC/2010/05/6 
(http://s-
douceur.eurostat.cec/douceur301/GETDOCUMENT.ASPX?DOCID=13047&LANG
=EN ) 
• Commission Communication on th e robust quality management system for European 
statistics, COM(2011) 211 final 
(http://epp.eurostat. ec.europa.eu/porta l/page/portal/quality/documents/COM-2011-
211_Communication_Quality_Management_EN.pdf ) 
• Communication "GDP and beyond – measur ing progress in a changing world", 
COM(2009)433 final ( http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUri Serv.do?uri=COM:2009:0433:FIN:EN:PDF ) 
• Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission repor t on the measurement of economic 
performance and social progress ( http://www.stiglitz-sen-
fitoussi.fr/documents/rapport_anglais.pdf ) 
• Community Statistical Programme 2008-2012 ( http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriSe rv.do?uri=OJ:L:2007:344:0015:0043:EN:PDF ) 
• Ex-post evaluation of the CSP 2003-2007 ( http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUri Serv.do?uri=COM:2009:0001:FIN:EN:PDF ) 
• Mid-term evaluation of the CSP 2008-2012 ( http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUri Serv.do?uri=COM:2010:0346:FIN:EN:PDF )