EN

Brussels, 16.11.2006

COM(2006) 687 final

2006/0229 (COD)

Proposal for a

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. Context of the proposal

Grounds for and objectives of the proposal

Trustworthy statistical information about the economic, social and environmental situation in the EU and its components at national and regional level is a necessary precondition for the European integration process. It provides the EU Institutions, Member States, enterprises and citizens with the necessary factual means to assess the need for, and progress of, European policy initiatives. Harmonised and comparable statistics are also indispensable for the understanding of Europe among the general public, for the participation of citizens in the debate and democratic process about Europe's future and for the participation of economic operators in the single market.

Against this background, the objective of the proposal is to put in place a comprehensive strategic programme for official Community statistics. It should comprise the production and delivery of products and services to the users, the improvement of the quality of statistics and the further development of the European Statistical System (ESS - the partnership comprising Eurostat, national statistical authorities and other national authorities responsible in each Member State for producing and disseminating European Statistics).

General context

The requirement for a multi-annual Community Statistical Programme (CSP) follows from article 3.1 of Council Regulation 322/97 according to which the CSP shall define the approaches, the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for a period not exceeding five years and constitute the framework for the production of all Community statistics. The CSP is implemented via annual work programmes which provide more detailed work objectives for each year and via specific legislation for major actions. The CSP is subject to mid-term progress reporting and formal evaluation after the expiry of the programme period.

Existing provisions in the area of the proposal

The current CSP, Decision no. 2367/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, covers the period 2003-2007 and is the sixth of its kind.

Consistency with the other policies and objectives of the Union

The main purpose of official Community Statistics is to underpin on a recurring basis the development, monitoring and evaluation of Community policies with reliable, objective, comparable and coherent factual information. In some areas the statistical information is also used directly for the management of key policies by Community institutions. Annex 2 of the proposal explains how the various policies, structured along the titles of the Treaty, are supported by official Community statistics.

However, although official statistics are used in support of almost all Community policies, the programme is guided by the following over-arching policy priorities:

– Prosperity, competitiveness and growth,

– solidarity, economic and social cohesion and sustainable development,

– security, and

– further enlargement of the European Union.

2. Consultation of interested parties and analysis of effects and consequences

Consultation of interested parties

Consultation methods, main sectors targeted and general profile of respondents

Member States, EFTA Countries and Candidate Countries have been directly involved in the preparation of the proposal. The consultation has targeted the national statistical authorities of which the heads are members or observers of the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC), set up by Council Decision 89/382/EEC. Additionally, different parts of the programme have been discussed in more detail in the technical working groups of the ESS which also comprise institutional users and international organisations involved in the wider international statistical cooperation.

The European Advisory Committee on Statistical Information in the Economic and Social Spheres (CEIES), set up by Council Decision 91/116/EEC (amended by Council Decision 97/255/EC) gave its opinion on the draft programme.

The Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of payments statistics (CMFB), set up by Council Decision 91/115/EEC (amended by Council Decision 96/174/EC), also delivered an opinion on the draft programme.

Summary of responses and how they have been taken into account

Substantial and constructive feedback was received following the consultation of the national statistical authorities. The main aspects addressed by the Member States were: The relation between the CSP and other parts of the basic legal framework for Community statistics and the European Statistics Code of Practice; the prioritisation of statistical actions and requirements; the response burden on enterprises; the flexibility of the ESS and its ability to respond to users' needs and the protection of statistical confidentiality. On the basis of this feedback, clarification on a number of issues was provided to the Member States and a number of improvements were made to the legal text and annex 1 of the proposal. However, some suggestions from Member States could not be fully accommodated, especially with regard to prioritisation. Secondly, the feedback related to a number of approaches and objectives related to the various Treaty titles, which resulted in many clarifications and improvements to annex 2 of the proposal.

In the opinion of the CEIES the proposal was welcomed, but also the CEIES saw room for improvements, mainly with regard to the coherence and consistency of the ESS, orientation towards broader user groups, provision of metadata, disaggregating statistics by gender and sufficiency of the current list of Structural Indicators used to measure progress against the Lisbon objectives. Also, the CEIES expressed reservations with regard to differentiation of statistical requirements for large and small Member States, respectively. On the basis of this feedback some improvements of the proposal were made, for instance with regard to disaggregating social statistics by gender and the development and implementation of a metadata repository.

The CMFB welcomed the proposal and considered it well structured and balanced. The CMFB generally supported the main priorities and objectives defined in the programme, in particular regarding statistics for economic and monetary policy, provided they do not delay developments already foreseen in 2007 in these areas. The CMFB supports the emphasis given to statistical governance and prioritisation, thus sharing the views of the ECOFIN Council on the need to ensure adequate practices, resources and capabilities to produce high quality statistics at European and national level. In terms of instruments, the CMFB welcomed the objectives regarding increased ability to respond to users’ needs, improved coherence across statistics and statistical systems and the need to enhance the exchange of confidential data between statistical authorities.

Collection and use of expertise

There was no need for external expertise.

Analysis of effects and consequences

Due to the requirements in article 3.1 of Regulation 322/97 the question is not whether legislation should be put in place or not. The question is how the requirements of Regulation 322/97 can be fulfilled in the most beneficial way for the Union.

Assessing "impact of statistics" is complicated, both conceptually and practically. Firstly, the impact of statistics is mostly of an indirect nature. It results from the decisions and actions taken - at various levels, fully or partly, and for political or financial reasons - on the basis of statistical information and where those decisions and actions indirectly reflect the availability and quality of the statistical information. Often it would neither be practically feasible nor financially proportionate to assess these effects in detail. Therefore, to speak about social, economic or environmental impact of statistical information is difficult. Rather the value of statistics lies in its fitness for assessing impact of other policies.

Secondly, the CSP is a framework which defines the direction for future development and overall objectives, which are subsequently defined more concretely in the annual programmes and in specific legislation. Thus, more precise analysis of effects and implications cannot be made at this point in time, but will be conducted in the preparation of the specific proposals.

However, it is also clear that there are some direct effects of a given approach for a CSP which can be assessed in general terms and compared for two options – the "restricted" vs. the "comprehensive". These effects relate to:

A. The ability of the ESS to deliver statistics of sufficient quality (i.e. relevant, accurate, timely and punctual, accessible and clear; comparable, coherent) – to effectively support Community policies.

B. The costs incurred by Member States responsible for implementing the statistical actions.

C. The burden on enterprises and households of responding to surveys.

Re A: A restricted approach would ensure the continued provision of existing statistics, but is not likely to cater for an improved ability to respond more quickly to new user needs. Also, it is not likely to ensure significant improvements to the timeliness of European aggregates because they would still rely on the traditional ESS instruments and processes where the compilation of Community Statistics is always conditioned by the availability of all national aggregates.

Contrary to this, a comprehensive approach – where the CSP on the one hand gives direction for the development of a suite of instruments for the ESS like e.g. European sampling, extended use of ad-hoc modules, differentiation of requirements, extended use of administrative data sources, and on the other defines principles for reviewing priorities and reducing requirements which are no longer cost-effective – will increase the ability of the ESS to fulfil new needs related to Community policies while still being able to fulfil existing core needs.

Re B: All things being equal, a restricted approach is likely to imply that either costs for Member States would gradually increase because new (additional) information needs must be met by traditional instruments, or that some of the statistical needs would have to be covered by sources outside the official statistical system. This, on the other hand, would be detrimental to the relevance, coherence and control of the statistical system as a whole.

Contrary to this, a comprehensive approach – where the CSP comprises common policies and objectives for such instruments – will increase the ability of the ESS to respond to users' needs in a more cost-efficient way and thereby enable Member States to better balance requirements and resources.

Re C: A restricted approach would most likely imply a significant risk of gradually increased response burden. This would result from a situation where more flexible instruments in the ESS have not been put in place to offset burden arising from new policy related needs. Contrary to this, a comprehensive approach will enable the ESS to actively manage the response burden and at the same time maintain a high level of relevance.

Therefore, a comprehensive approach has been chosen for the CSP.

3. Legal elements of the proposal

Summary of the proposed action

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

Legal basis

The programme is based on article 285 of the Treaty.

Subsidiarity principle

Since the objectives of the proposed action, namely the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved at Community level on the basis of a Community legal act because only the Commission can coordinate the necessary harmonisation of statistical information at Community level in all statistical domains covered by this act, while the data collection itself can be carried out by the Member States, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty.

Proportionality principle

The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reason(s).

The proposal defines objectives for the five-year period. These objectives are subject to more detailed definition and planning in the annual statistical work programmes of the Commission, which are prepared in close cooperation with the Member States and adopted taking into account the opinion of the Statistical Programme Committee. Furthermore, new statistical requirements will be subject to specific legislation which is prepared with early and direct involvement of the Member States.

As stated in article 4.2 of the proposal, the preparation of the annual statistical work programmes of the Commission shall take account of the cost-effectiveness of the statistics produced and ensure an ongoing review of priorities, with a view to making best use of resources of the Member States and the Commission and to minimising response burden. Furthermore, the proposal defines a specific objective for the implementation of methods and procedures for assessing costs – on the basis of the same principles and methodology employed in other such schemes: EU Net Cost Model, Standard Cost Model – and benefits of statistics to be used in reviews of existing statistical requirements and in assessment of new user requests and a specific objective for monitoring of response burden on enterprises and the pursuit of ways to reduce it.

Choice of instruments

Proposed instruments: other.

Other means would not be adequate for the following reason(s).

Given the objective and content of the proposal a Decision is the most appropriate instrument.

4. Budgetary implication

The operational resource requirements for Eurostat for implementing the programme are currently estimated at a total of 274,2 million € over the programme period. This amount represents the Eurostat budgetary resources necessary to engage all of the activities described in the programme, but excludes:

– Expenditure on staff and administration,

– Operational resources on other statistical budget lines which could be additionally opened to cover new regulatory needs over the period 2008-2012 (Edicom type actions),

– Operational resources made available by other Directorates General on their budget lines,

– Resources at the national and regional level.

Eurostat will redeploy its own operational and human resources to respect the overall priorities of the programme. However, in view of the development of statistical work – and despite the aim to re-allocate resources on the basis of review of priorities – it should be anticipated that the level of resources envisaged may not be sufficient to meet all of the requirements. In such circumstances, any need to defer work envisaged in this programme will be indicated in the annual programmes of work in the light of:

– the resources allocated to the Commission by the budgetary authorities, and

– the resources available across the ESS to carry out the work.

5. Additional information

Review/revision/sunset clause

The proposal includes a review clause.

The proposal includes a sunset clause.

European Economic Area

The proposed act concerns an EEA matter and should therefore extend to the European Economic Area.

2006/0229 (COD)

Proposal for a

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 285 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [1],

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee [2],

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions [3],

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty [4],

Whereas:

(1) Pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community statistics, [5] a multi-annual Community statistical programme should be established.

(2) In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 322/97, the Community should have timely access to statistical information comparable between the Member States which is up to date, reliable, pertinent and produced as efficiently as possible for the formulation, application, monitoring and assessment of its policies.

(3) In order to ensure the consistency and comparability of statistical information in the Community, there is a need to establish a five-year Community statistical programme which identifies the approaches, the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged in respect of these priorities.

(4) The specific method of drawing up Community statistics requires particularly close cooperation within a developing Community statistical system via the Statistical Programme Committee, set up by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom [6], as regards the adaptation of the system, notably via the introduction of legal instruments necessary to establish the said Community statistics. Account is to be taken of the burden on respondents, be they business, central or local government units, households or individuals.

(5) The production of Community statistics within the legislative framework of the five-year programme is achieved through the close, coordinated and coherent cooperation between Eurostat and the national authorities. For that purpose, Eurostat should ensure the coordination under various forms of the national authorities in a network representing the European Statistical System (ESS) to assure the timely provision of statistics in support of European Union policy needs.

(6) In the production and dissemination of Community statistics under this Decision, the national and Community statistical authorities should respect the principles set out in the European Statistics Code of Practice, which was attached to the Recommendation of the Commission of 25 May 2005 on the independence, integrity and accountability of the national and Community statistical authorities [7].

(7) The preparation of the annual statistical work programmes of the Commission should take account of the need for ongoing review of statistical priorities, including the simplification of processes and the reduction of requirements of declining importance, with a view to making the best use of available resources.

(8) Since the objectives of this Decision, namely the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

(9) This Decision establishes a financial framework for the entire duration of the programme which is to be the principal point of reference for the budgetary authority, within the meaning of point 37 of the Inter-institutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and sound financial management [8].

(10) The guidelines for establishing this programme have been submitted in accordance with Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 322/97 to the Statistical Programme Committee, the European Advisory Committee on Statistical Information in the Economic and Social Spheres set up by Council Decision 91/116/EEC [9] and the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payment Statistics set up by Council Decision 91/115/EEC [10],

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Establishment of the statistical programme

The Community statistical programme for the period from 2008 to 2012 (hereinafter referred to as "the programme") is hereby established. The programme is set out in Annexes I and II.

Annex I specifies the approaches, the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged during that period. Annex II provides a summary of statistical requirements viewed from the perspective of the policy needs of the European Union.

Article 2

Policy priorities

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

– prosperity, competitiveness and growth,

– solidarity, economic and social cohesion and sustainable development,

– security, and

– further enlargement of the European Union.

2. The overall priorities and general objectives in the programme shall be subject to detailed annual planning in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 322/97.

Article 3

Statistical governance

1. The programme shall be implemented in accordance with the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice with a view to producing and disseminating high-quality, harmonised Community statistics and to ensuring a proper functioning of the European statistical system as a whole. National authorities and the Community statistical authority shall:

(a) establish an institutional and organisational environment which promotes the effectiveness and credibility of national and Community statistical authorities producing and disseminating official statistics;

(b) observe European standards, guidelines and good practices in the processes used by the national and the Community statistical authorities to organise, collect, process and disseminate official statistics and strive for a reputation for good management and efficiency to strengthen the credibility of these statistics;

(c) ensure that Community statistics comply with the European quality standards and serve the needs of European Union institutional users, governments, research institutions, civil society organisations, enterprises and the public generally.

Article 4

Prioritisation, efficiency and flexibility

1. The programme shall ensure continued statistical support for decisions and evaluations in current Community policy areas and provide statistical support for any additional requirements arising from new Community policy initiatives.

2. The Commission shall, in the preparation of the annual statistical work programmes, take account of the cost-effectiveness of the statistics produced and ensure an ongoing review of statistical priorities, with a view to making best use of available resources of the Member States and the Commission and to minimising the burden imposed on respondents.

3. The programme shall ensure the development of instruments to increase the flexibility of the European Statistical System and to improve its ability to respond in a timely manner to changing user needs.

Article 5

Financing

1. The financial framework for the implementation of this programme for the period 2008 to 2012 is hereby set at EUR 274 200 000.

2. The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial framework.

Article 6

Reports

1. During the third year of implementation of the programme, the Commission shall prepare an intermediate progress report and present it to the Statistical Programme Committee.

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

3. Reporting on the outcome of reprioritization shall form part of the intermediate progress report and the final evaluation report.

Article 7

Entry into force

This Decision shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 8

Addressees

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, […]

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

[…] […]

ANNEX I

FIVE-YEAR STATISTICAL PROGRAMME: CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES

This Annex relates to cross-cutting aspects of strategic importance for the medium to long term development of Community statistics. It describes firstly, how statistical policy in itself contributes to European integration; secondly, the overall characteristics of the European Statistical System and cooperation with users and producers; thirdly, the main instruments used by the Community authority in cooperation with the national authorities. For each of these aspects this annex summarises the main objectives and initiatives to be taken during this five-year period.

1. The role of statistics in the European integration

Trustworthy statistical information about the economic, social and environmental situation in the EU and its components at national and regional level is a necessary precondition for the European integration process. It provides the EU Institutions, Member States and citizens with the necessary factual means to assess the need for, and progress of, European policy initiatives. Harmonised and comparable statistics are also indispensable for the understanding of Europe among the general public, for the participation of citizens in the debate and democratic process about Europe’s future and for the participation of economic operators in the single market.

The deepening and enlarging of the Union is reflected in the ESS (European Statistical System) itself: The strategies and measures of the ESS comprise continuous harmonisation of concepts, definitions and methods, and, if necessary, integration of production processes and implementation of common interoperable systems. However, the ESS needs to develop further its structures, strategies and measures to ensure that the system maintains and develops the necessary quality and effectiveness to meet all user needs. Among others, research in official statistics can contribute to further develop the infrastructure, the efficiency and the quality of Community statistics.

The objectives in the programme period are:The “common statistical language” of concepts, classifications and methodologies shall be further harmonised, developed and implemented. Among the most important actions in this area are the revision of the European System of Accounts and the implementation of the NACE rev. 2 classification of economic activities. A European statistical register of multinational enterprise groups shall be developed and integrated in the statistical production processes.Standards and common tools for efficient and secure exchange of statistical data and metadata in the ESS shall be further developed and implemented in cooperation with other relevant EC services, the European System of Central Banks and international organisations. These standards will be enforced for all relevant domains.A metadata repository - available to users as well as producers - shall be developed and implemented, linking data and metadata for the whole data production cycle. Increased usage of the Internet – not only for dissemination to end users, but also for other parts of the statistical production process – shall be promoted.Policies and tools for harmonised confidentiality management in the ESS shall be developed and implemented. Also, harmonised means for optimal access to anonymised micro data for authorised researchers shall be developed and implemented. The risk of disclosure will be adequately assessed, and technical means developed to ease access to and sharing of statistical data.The means for exchanging tools within the ESS shall be developed. The use of Open Source Software (OSS) shall be promoted for that purpose.Means shall be put in place for making better operational use of results from research in official statistics. |

2. Relations with stakeholders

2.1. The European Statistical System

Eurostat is responsible for ensuring the production of Community statistics for EU policy purposes. An efficient production of the Community statistics covered by this programme, where Member State authorities are responsible for the production of harmonised national statistics and where Eurostat is responsible for the production of Community statistics on the basis of data supplied mostly by the national statistical authorities, necessitates a close and coordinated cooperation. This cooperation is achieved through the European Statistical System.

The European Statistical System (ESS) is the partnership comprising Eurostat, national statistical institutes and other national statistical bodies responsible in each Member State for producing and disseminating European Statistics in line with the principles of the European Statistics Code of Practice. Eurostat will ensure the necessary management and coordination of this structure in order to assure the timely provision of statistics in support of EU policy needs.

Exchange of experience, best practice, know-how and key methodological techniques amongst the members of the ESS is also a fundamental element for a smooth functioning of the system. This is promoted through the development of the European Statistical Training Programme.

The objectives in the programme period are:The Commission and the Member States will take the appropriate initiatives towards compliance with the European Statistics Code of Practice.Structures and procedures will be in place to oversee and advise on the compliance with the Code of Practice in Eurostat and the national statistical authorities. A high-level advisory body shall complement the governance structure.A process for quality labelling of European official statistics shall be put in place.The European Statistical Training Programme shall aim at improving the overall quality of European statistics by raising the qualification of statisticians, promoting their independence, encouraging both theoretical and practical training and exchanging best practice and experience. |

2.2. Cooperation with users

A close, continuous dialogue with users of Community statistics about their needs, actual usage and priorities is imperative. The current cooperation with users is beneficial and comprises among others the activities of the European Advisory Committee on Statistical Information in the Economic and Social Spheres (CEIES), cooperation with European business federations and the formal discussions of the statistical work programme with Commission services. However, as the number of users of Community Statistics increases and users become more diverse in their needs, Eurostat will further strengthen the dialogue between the European Statistical System and its users.

The objectives in the programme period are:The distance between users and producers shall be reduced by improving communication with different groups and networks of users.Pro-active user needs investigation shall be implemented. This will enable the European Statistical System to respond more effectively to emerging needs.CEIES shall be strengthened. This will enable the development of Community statistics to be more user-oriented. |

2.3. Technical cooperation with non-EU countries

The interaction of the EU with neighbouring countries and other regions and countries throughout the world requires reliable official statistics about economic and social conditions in those countries. A comprehensive technical cooperation takes place in order to build the statistical capacity of those countries and provide the statistics needed for the management of EU policies. This is especially the case for EU candidate countries. The cooperation involves the expertise of many partners in the European Statistical System.

The objective in the programme period is:To prepare and implement regional development programmes and to ensure a close link between statistical actions and the wider objectives of EU programmes. |

2.4. Cooperation with international organisations

Statistics must not only be comparable between EU Member States, but also at the wider international level, and many domains of the European Statistical System (ESS) are based on internationally agreed methodology. In many cases the ESS takes a lead and develops standards in advance of global ones. In such cases it is essential that the global methodologies take account of European developments. International cooperation also includes joint management of major projects and coordination of work programmes and data collection activities in order to avoid duplication of efforts.

Experience has shown that a coordinated, common position is important for having the priorities of the EU impacting the agenda and the development and harmonisation of the international statistical systems. For that reason, intensified preparation and coordination of EU positions prior to high level international meetings has been initiated.

The objectives in the programme period are:To make sure that the EU is consistently represented and, where appropriate, coordinate its positions in the most important international statistical fora and in matters of priority for EU policies.To promote the international cooperation and coordination of work programmes in order to avoid duplication of work and to improve comparability of international statistics. |

3. Instruments

3.1. Better regulation

Article 3(2) of Regulation 322/97 sets forth three types of “individual statistical actions” that can be used to implement the Community statistical programme: Firstly, legislation adopted under the co-decision procedure, which may delegate powers of implementation to the Commission; secondly, actions taken directly by the Commission, under very limited circumstances: the action must not last for more than one year, the data to be gathered must be already available or accessible within the national authorities responsible, and any additional costs incurred at national level as a result of the action must be borne by the Commission; thirdly, agreements between Eurostat and the Member State authorities.

Enactment of legislation in accordance with Treaty provisions should be the preferred choice in most situations where the collection of statistics is necessary. This will be based on a realistic legislative policy in conformity with the Commission’s policy for simpler and well targeted legislation. New legislative initiatives will be exhaustively prepared with the stakeholders and they should address the users’ needs, avoid excessive burden on respondents, take due account of priorities, costs and the possibilities for delivering.

The objectives in the programme period are:In certain areas of regular production of Community statistics which have reached sufficient maturity, initiatives shall be taken to replace agreements with Community legislation.In statistical areas with complex Community legislation, initiatives shall be taken to recast and simplify the legislation.In statistical areas where the Community legislation does not effectively reflect users’ needs, priorities and the socio-economic and technological context, initiatives shall be taken to repeal or revise the legislation. |

3.2. Compliance Monitoring

The quality of Community statistics comprises – in addition to the scientific requirements – the fundamental requirement of compliance with the principles of the Treaty and the secondary legislation. Therefore, a vigorous and systematic monitoring of the application of the legislation is a priority. A global and coherent compliance strategy structured around the principles of a realistic legislative policy, the obligation of Member States to systematically apply the statistical legislation and a coherent and systematic monitoring of compliance, will be followed. Close contacts with the competent national authorities throughout all the phases is part of the compliance process.

The objective in the programme period is:Ensure a systematic monitoring of compliance with Community legislation. |

3.3. Increased ability to respond to users’ needs

In order to improve the statistical service to the users, and in order to improve efficiency for the European Statistical System as a whole, a stronger focus on the core needs for European policies is necessary. This will be based on the “First for Europe” approach, a pragmatic strategy to facilitate the compilation of European aggregates which are of particular importance for Community policies. Also, the flexibility of the European Statistical System and its ability to respond promptly to changing user needs must be strengthened.

The objectives in the programme period are:The coherence across statistical systems shall be improved. This will strengthen the ability to respond to users’ needs by combining different statistical sources.The use of ad-hoc modules in Community surveys shall be extended in specific cases. This will increase the responsiveness to new needs.Differentiation of requirements depending on the weight of countries in European aggregates shall be used to a larger extent. This will reduce significantly the costs for some national authorities and the burden on respondents. Also, it will improve the timeliness of EU aggregates.European samples aiming to provide good quality data at European aggregate level can be used in specific cases. This will improve coherence and comparability and streamline production processes. |

3.4. Financial support to actions contributing to Community objectives

In order to ensure the timely fulfilment of users’ needs, the Commission can support the development of statistics and the build-up of capacity in the European Statistical System by awarding service contracts or concluding grant agreements.

The objective in the programme period is:Service contracts and grant agreements shall be awarded with a view to ensuring the optimum development of statistics and build-up of capacity in the European Statistical System, making best use of available resources. |

3.5. Utilising partners’ expertise for Community purposes

Achieving the objectives of the European Statistical System and ensuring the necessary improvement of programmes, processes and products to meet increasing user needs not only require sufficient resources but also the creativity and competence of the entire ESS. Therefore, new ways of structuring the practical organisation of certain activities – making use of expertise and best practices where they are available – shall be put in place in order to release synergies and improve overall efficiency and quality.

The objective in the programme period is:Joint structures, tools and processes shall be established, involving national authorities and relevant EC services and facilitating the specialisation of certain Member States in specific statistical activities for the benefit of the European Statistical System as a whole. |

3.6. Dissemination

The objectives and tools of dissemination will undergo substantial changes during the programme period which will not only significantly change the nature of the dissemination function itself, but also have a significant impact on the other phases of the statistical production process.

The rapid evolution in the capacity and availability of the Internet will make it the prime tool for the dissemination of statistical data in the future. It will significantly increase the potential user community and thus create new opportunities for dissemination. Moreover, it will create the possibility for intensified cooperation between Eurostat and the national statistical institutes. However, the Internet will also introduce significant new challenges for user friendly presentation of data that help users to find, display and understand statistics. The existing dissemination of paper publications and offline electronic media will need to evolve as supplementary dissemination tools. Adequate user support structures and communication with user groups are important elements of effective dissemination.

The objectives in the programme period are:Eurostat’s Internet Site will evolve in terms of content, ease of use and functionality and shall correspond to best practice.The cooperation with other dissemination platforms of the European Statistical System and of other EC services will increase in order to facilitate the usage of the Internet sites and enhance the value of the statistical information for users. |

3.7. The balance of costs and benefits

The ESS has to maintain a vigilant watch on the balance between the needs for information for Community policy purposes and the resources required at EU, national and regional levels to provide this information. The provision of adequate resources in the national context is of particular importance in pursuing the statistical information requirements of EU policy decisions. It is, however, also important to maintain sufficient flexibility to allow the national authorities to satisfy Community statistical information needs in the most cost-effective manner.

The setting of priorities will be based on three high-level guiding principles:

– Assessment of users’ needs, including relevance for policy making at Community level;

– Assessments of cost implications for respondents, Member States and the Commission;

– Assessment of specific statistical issues of importance for the cost-effectiveness of a particular statistics, including the trade-off between different components of statistical quality, e.g. “accuracy” and “timeliness”, and possibilities for flexible reporting obligations focusing on core European needs.

In order to maximise overall cost-effectiveness and to pursue a balanced prioritisation of activities within the annual statistical work programmes, these principles will be applied in a transparent way and according to practical guidelines to be developed and maintained by Eurostat in co-operation with the national statistical authorities.

The objectives in the programme period are:Methods shall be put in place for in-depth reviews of existing domains of Community statistics and for the assessment of new or substantially changed user requests. This will be important for continuous improvement of Community statistics, ensuring the identification of requirements which can be reduced or discontinued, and for the introduction of revised or new statistical initiatives.In statistical areas with high response burden on enterprises, measures for its monitoring shall be put in place and ways for minimising such burden shall be explored. Increased use of administrative data for statistical purposes will be an important instrument for this. Targets for reduction shall be set in the areas with highest response burden. |

ANNEX II

FIVE-YEAR STATISTICAL PROGRAMME: OBJECTIVES AND ACTIONS

This Annex provides a summary of statistical needs and requirements viewed from the perspective of the policy needs of the European Union. Following a first section related to cross-sectional statistical activities in support of overall policy priorities, these needs are classified by the Titles identified in the Treaty establishing the European Community. This may lead to some repetitions because some statistical activities contribute to more than one Title. For each policy area this annex provides the legal framework, the current situation and the main initiatives to be taken within this five-year period.

Priorities, defined by the Commission, shall be discussed each year with Member States in order to bring about proposals for simplification of the statistical requirements to be integrated in the process of adopting new legal bases and their implementing measures. Best practices in data collection shall be regularly discussed with and exchanged among Member States in order to promote simplification and modernisation in data collection methods which would ease the burden on respondents.

Cross-sectional statistical activities in support of overall Community policy priorities

Structural indicators and sustainable development indicators

Legal framework

Structural indicators emerge from the Lisbon Strategy adopted by the European Council in March 2000, mainly oriented to economic growth and employment as laid down in the Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs in 2005 (article 99 of EC Treaty). Sustainable development indicators have got a new foundation through the Sustainable Development Strategy, adopted by the European Council in June 2006.

Current situation

Statistics and indicators are required to monitor the implementation and impact of both the Lisbon Strategy and the Sustainable Development Strategy, both being of cross-cutting nature. Developments are continuously introduced to adjust the sets of indicators to the actual needs and to improve the quality of the information provided to the general public.

Some fields – such as food safety and quality, chemicals and pesticides, health and environment, corporate responsibility, biodiversity, natural resources, transport, marine ecosystems, good governance and financial services – are not yet adequately covered by indicators.

Main initiatives 2008–2012

· Structural and sustainable development indicators shall be adjusted to new emerging user needs and to specific national programmes;

· New sustainable development indicators shall be developed in cooperation with other Commission services and the European Environment Agency in order to better respond to existing and forthcoming needs, particularly in the fields of food safety and quality, chemicals and pesticides, health and environment, corporate responsibility, biodiversity, natural resources, transport, marine ecosystems, land use and good governance; the regional breakdowns will be further developed as appropriate;

· The quality of existing indicators shall be improved and the information about the quality of published indicators shall be completed;

· The communication on both structural and sustainable development indicators shall be enhanced, in line with the importance of the underlying strategies.

Enlargement

Legal framework

For the accession negotiations, the Commission must be able to draw on a complete set of reliable statistics, methodologically comparable with those of the European Union countries. The statistical assistance to new Member States, candidate countries and pre-candidate countries is governed by a strong legal framework including the Act of Accession and Council Regulation (EC) 1085/2006 of 17 July 2006 establishing an Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).

Current situation

While fulfilling its objectives in the area of statistical assistance, the Union is then facing three somewhat different challenges:

– to integrate the potential new members in all Community mechanisms, including e.g. own-resources budgets and structural funds and all other issues and programmes,

– to prepare the candidates properly before their accession by taking part in the negotiation process and following-up their commitments during the negotiations until their accession,

– to continue to prepare remaining candidates and help them to reach full compliance with current Community legislation.

This places high demands on the statistical production of the candidates. Basic economic statistics are indispensable, including sectoral and regional distribution of gross domestic product, population, employment etc. Other key statistics are those which measure the implementation of the single market, such as trade in goods, trade in services and freedom of establishment, balance of payments, capital flows, mobility of persons, industrial production and structure etc. In addition there are requirements for statistics in sectors which are sensitive for the accession negotiations, supporting primary EU policies such as agriculture, transport, the regions and the environment.

Main initiatives 2008–2012

· Collection of comparable data for key policies shall be consolidated for negotiations and internal Commission purposes;

· Assistance to new Member States, candidate countries and pre-candidate countries shall be continued in order to adjust their statistical systems to meet Community requirements.

TITLE I

Free movement of goods

Legal framework

Treaty provisions: Article 133 (common commercial policy). Legal acts covering relevant statistical fields: EP and Council Regulation 638/2004 on Community statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and repealing Council regulation (EEC) N° 3330/91; EP and Council Regulation 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment.

Current situation

The adjustments of the trade statistics legislation mainly with regard to the Intrastat regulation, the implementation of the Intrastat reporting system in the new Member States and the reduction of the items within the combined nomenclature were major achievements in the past programme period. These developments were accomplished in order to better serve the needs of the users of statistical data on the community level as well as on the Member States level enabling proper interpretation of macroeconomic developments and assessment of the competitiveness of the EU and the Member States. At the same time, the collection and processing of statistical data were optimized and, as a result, the administrative burden on the providers of statistical information was reduced. These results are broadly in line with the objectives of the Lisbon agenda.

The goal in the period 2008–2012 will be to continue further the simplification effort, the harmonization of the different types of statistics concerning international movements of goods and the balance of payments statistics, while at the same time exploring the possibilities of linking the trade statistics data and nomenclatures with other types of statistics, mainly business statistics or industrial activity nomenclatures. The outcome will be a further move towards a more simplified, transparent and comprehensible framework for the compilation and use of trade statistics, which will further diminish the administrative burden on enterprises and thus foster the competitive position of the European economy. At the same time interconnecting the different types of statistics should enable the use of new ways of analyzing economic and structural developments and sustainable use of resources in the EU.

Main initiatives 2008–2012

· A single flow system for Intrastat will be proposed by the Commission for entry into force in 2010;

· Methods and tools will be developed aiming at a better integration of the different types of statistical information required from businesses;

· The consistency between trade in goods statistics and balance of payments statistics shall be further improved by reconciling these two statistics on goods.

TITLE II

Agriculture

Legal framework

Agricultural statistics reflect the high degree of EU integration of agriculture, the importance of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the EU budget and the essential role they have in the decision-making process of the CAP.

Current situation

The traditional agricultural statistics will continue to remain crucial for the CAP (market management) and will have to be consolidated and rationalised. On the other hand, the new policy concerns (rural development, environmental compliance and impacts, food safety) will require structural statistics which could be less frequent but which should meet the need for detailed and sometimes specific geographical breakdowns matching e.g. with spatial data on soil, watersheds and biodiversity. The 2010 agricultural census will be a very valuable source in this respect.

One of the main proposals included in the European Commission Action Plan on organic farming focuses on an information-led development of the organic food market. To this end, the collection of statistical data on both production and marketing of organic products will be envisaged. The legal architecture of the EU system for agricultural statistics is to be simplified in the near future and will have to be implemented in the EU and in the candidate countries.

Particular attention will be given to the development of specific indicators for the environmental and sustainable management of forests and wood-derived industries. The EU Forest Action Plan will need monitoring after the launch phase scheduled for 2006/2007.

The programme of fishery statistics will include the continued implementation of the existing legislation, including aquaculture statistics, the development of socio-economic indicators and of sustainability indicators and the development of supply balance sheets for fishery products. Eurostat will follow the developments in the proposed Maritime Policy and adapt its programme of work accordingly.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· An agricultural census shall in principle be carried out in 2010 (with results available in 2011 at the latest) according to legal acts as well as a decennial survey on vineyards. The 2007 farm structure survey results shall be made available in 2008 (as well as the 2007 fruit trees survey results);

· Surveys on agricultural production methods, on land use, on input use and on organic farming shall be carried out according to legal acts;

· The current surveys on crops and animal productions shall be carried out according to revised legal acts. The proposed legal acts are aimed at integrating and simplifying existing legislation;

· Depending on the conclusions drawn from the current feasibility study, the income of the agricultural households sector may have to be compiled;

· Rural development and agri-environmental indicators will be further developed and made available;

· Special attention will be devoted to the development of a more efficient system for collection and validation of agricultural statistics;

· New statistical information will have to be compiled and launched for guidance of the proposed Maritime Policy which is currently being drafted by the Commission.

TITLE III

Free movement of persons, services and capital [11]

Legal framework

Free movement of capital and services are crucial for EU internal market. They belong to the so-called "fundamental freedoms" which are central to the Single Market. In its responsibility for monitoring the proper and timely application of the Treaty provisions governing the freedom of movements of capital and services, the European Commission requires reliable and comparable statistical information.

The relevant Treaty provisions governing the freedom of capital movements are enshrined in Articles 56 EC to 60 EC of the EC Treaty. The freedom to provide cross border services is set out in Article 49 of the same Treaty. Legal acts covering relevant statistical fields are: EP and Council Regulation 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment; EP and Council Decision 1608/2003/EC on the production and development of Community statistics on science and technology; Commission proposal for an EP and Council Regulation on Community statistics on the structure and activity of foreign affiliates (COM(2005) 88 final).

Current situation

The growing importance of free movement of services and capital leads to increasing demand for high quality statistics. The challenge is to publish relevant data in a timely manner and to adapt the system to changing requirements of the policy makers, while keeping a low level of burden on respondents.

From 2006, the implementation of the Balance of Payments Regulation will enhance the quality of trade in services and direct investments data. In addition, statistics on foreign affiliates will allow the globalisation of production systems to be measured The statistics produced will continue to cover both extra-EU and intra-EU trade and thus meet the needs of the single market.

The growing importance of multinational enterprises will require new forms of data collection. The new Regulation on business registers includes transmission of individual data on multinational enterprise groups to Eurostat and feedback of harmonised information to Member States leading to a Community register of multinational enterprise groups (EuroGroups), which will be fully implemented from 2008 and onwards.

Regular production of high quality statistics on postal services is essential for European Policy Makers, national regulators and postal operators, to assist the evolution towards an open postal market and beyond. The modalities of the data collection will be based on the assessment of the 2006 pilot to ensure a high data quality.

The internationalisation of research and development, and of the human resources linked to it, is crucial for the performance of the European economy. It is therefore important to collect R&D data within the context of balance of payment, FATS and measures for multi-national enterprises.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· The NACE rev.2 classification of economic activities with a more detailed services breakdown will be applied in all relevant fields.

· Implementation and updating of key legislation (balance of payments, international trade in services, foreign direct investment and foreign affiliates) shall be ensured;

· Improved measurement of the internationalisation of research and development shall be pursued;

· Work on statistics on residence permits – including both EU and third country nationals – will continue as long as there are Community policy needs for this type of data.

TITLE IV

Visas, asylum, immigration and other policies

related to free movement of persons [12]

Legal framework

Statistics on migration and asylum, and on crime and criminal justice will develop to meet the evolving needs for statistics to support the Commission's Action Plan to implement the Hague programme on Justice, Freedom and Security issues. This Action Plan includes proposals for the management of migration flows, the social and economic integration of migrants, border controls, asylum and strengthening security through common action against crime, particularly organised crime. Substantial increases will be necessary in the availability and quality of statistics to support these measures. This is particularly the case for the implementation of the new four Funds proposed in the framework programme on Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows for the period 2007-2013 [13]. These developments will begin before 2008 but will continue throughout and beyond the lifetime of this statistical programme.

Current situation

Community statistics on migration and asylum are currently subject to serious problems of non-availability of data and poor harmonisation. Measures to overcome these weaknesses are ongoing and will continue throughout the programme period. These improvements will be driven by the implementation of new legislation for Community statistics on migration and asylum in the first years of this programme. Crime statistics will be established in accordance with the EU Action Plan 2006-10 on developing a coherent and comprehensive framework to measure crime and criminal justice. The feasibility and advisability of introducing a legal basis for these statistics will be explored.

In recognition of the wide differences in national administrative and statistical systems for migration and asylum and for crime and criminal justice, measures to improve the comparability of statistics will concentrate on the harmonisation of statistical outputs rather than on the introduction of common data sources and procedures. However, in some cases (such as for statistics on organised crime) it may be necessary to develop new data sources.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· The implementation of the legislation for Community statistics on migration and asylum shall be completed. This will provide a framework for ongoing measures to strengthen the availability, comparability, timeliness and policy relevance of these statistics;

· Statistics providing socio-economic information about migrant populations shall be developed, including the implementation of ad hoc modules in the Labour Force Survey and the collection of migrant information as part of the 2011 Community Census Programme;

· Community statistics on crime (including organised crime), victimisation and criminal justice shall be introduced, and the comparability of this information shall be improved, such as through the development and possible implementation of a common EU module on victimisation.

TITLE V

Transport

Legal framework

The EU transport policy has developed rapidly over the past 15 years. Its objective has been defined in the transport White Papers of 1992 and 2001, and the June 2006 Communication from the Commission to the Council and the EP "Keep Europe moving – Sustainable mobility for our continent. Mid-term review of the European Commission's 2001 Transport White Paper" (COM (2006) 314 final). It aims at the optimisation of the transport system, allowing an efficient, competitive, safe, secure and environmentally-friendly performance of individual transport modes and their combinations in inter-modal transport chains. Cleaner and more efficient transport is necessary to disconnect increasing mobility from its negative side effects. The Union's transport policy is at the heart of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy and the Lisbon agenda for growth and jobs.

Current situation

Community transport statistics aim to be a comprehensive transport information system, including data on flows of passengers and goods, traffic, infrastructure, modes of transport, equipment, personal mobility, safety, security, energy consumption and environmental impact, transport costs, infrastructure investments, transport enterprises, and structural and sustainable development indicators.

The coverage of statistics on flows of passengers and goods and on traffic is good for all transport modes except for transport of passengers by road and non-motorised modes. Moreover, statistics on traffic for all modes of transport currently lack some important data necessary to monitor congestion, emissions to air and further negative environmental impacts. Statistics on freight transport are still mainly centred on single modes of transport and do not provide sufficient information on inter-modal transport chains.

As for today the transport information system lacks information on investment and costs in transport infrastructure as well as spatially broken-down information on transport networks and flows, with links between geographic representation of the traffic network and data collected on the network, that is necessary to support the investment in European transport infrastructure and Community regional policies.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· The coverage of legal bases for Community transport statistics across all modes of transport shall be consolidated and completed. The ongoing work on the production of modal split indicators in both passenger and freight transport shall be further developed. Special emphasis will be put on transport of passengers by road.

· The collection of additional statistics on inter-modal transport chains, urban transport as well as the production of indicators needed to monitor the integration of environmental and safety considerations into transport policies shall be promoted. The collection of data on infrastructure investment expenditure and costs shall be revised. The need for indicators of logistics performance shall also be taken into account. Special emphasis will be put on collecting traffic data expressed in vehicle-kilometres.

TITLE VI

Common rules on competition, taxation and approximation of laws

No direct statistical programme is required. Statistical information for this title is derived as needed from data and indicators generated for other titles in the programme.

TITLE VII

Economic and monetary policy

Legal framework

Treaty provisions: Articles 99 (co-ordination and surveillance of economic policies); 104 (monitoring of fiscal developments); 105 (monetary policy and price stability); 133 (common commercial policy); 269 (own resources); Main regulations: Council Regulation 2223/96 on the European system of national and regional accounts (ESA95); Council Regulation 1287/2003 on the harmonisation of gross national income at market prices (GNI Regulation); Council Decision 2000/597/EC on the system of the European Communities' own resources; Council Regulation 3605/93 on the Application of the protocol on the excessive deficit procedure, annexed to the treaty establishing the European Community; Council Regulation 2494/95 concerning harmonised indices of consumer prices; Council Regulation 1165/98 concerning short-term statistics; EP and Council Regulation 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment; EU Staff Regulations.

Current situation

The surveillance and coordination of macro-economic policies in the European Union, the conduct of monetary policy in the Economic and Monetary Union, as well as the Community structural policies, require a sound statistical underpinning. Furthermore, the provision of statistics for the administrative purposes of the EU is of utmost importance.

Eurostat and the Member States need to ensure a successful implementation of the European System of Accounts data transmission programme. This data is a key element for business cycle and structural analysis. A significant effort will be made to improve the measurement of productivity, fostered by the Euklems project.

The provision of statistics for EU administrative purposes remains of utmost importance. This includes the provision of GNI and value-added tax data for own resources calculations, macroeconomic data required in support of structural policies (in particular Purchasing Power Parities), and data required for the remunerations and pensions of EU officials.

Harmonisation and comparability of the data used for budgetary and fiscal surveillance will be kept under review in order to provide decision-makers with high quality and comparable statistical instruments to support sound judgements on the situation in each Member State.

In recent years the speed of the development of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) has slowed down and the improvement of the quality of the HICP needs to be pursued more vigorously (particularly on owner-occupied housing, quality adjustment and sampling).

A continuing improvement of timeliness, coverage and dissemination of the Principal European Economic Indicators (PEEI) is needed. As for short-term statistics (STS), improvements in the coverage of services, especially prices of service output, the length of time series and the timeliness of the data are required.

As regards balance of payments statistics, current challenges include the provision of appropriate input to national accounts, and ensuring the continuing quality of source data in Member States where bank reporting thresholds are being raised.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· Active participation in the revision of the international standards for national accounts (SNA93) and balance of payments statistics (BPM5);

· Revision of the European System of Accounts (ESA95);

· Implementation of the NACE rev. 2 classification in national accounts, balance of payments and short-term statistics; implementation of other key legislation;

· Establishment of a European system of consumer price statistics centred around the HICP, simplification and consolidation of the HICP legal framework, and ensuring the credibility of HICP through a more effective communication policy and compliance strategy.

TITLE VIII

Employment

Legal framework

EU labour statistics developments will be driven by the revised Lisbon strategy now refocused on growth and employment in Europe, the targets and benchmarks set in the framework of the European employment strategy and the economic and monetary union which requires a comprehensive set of infra-annual statistics to describe the labour market developments in the Euro zone and the European Union.

Current situation

Labour market statistics are governed by a solid legal framework to assure regular data transmission for the estimation of employment, unemployment, earnings and labour cost. Nevertheless, new policy areas will require the extension of the statistical legislation to other domains such as (i) job vacancy statistics, evaluating the demand side of the labour market and complementing statistics on employment and unemployment, (ii) the labour market situation of migrants, promoting better integration of this population and (iii) the transition from school to work, underpinning adequate policies assuring a smooth incorporation of the young into the labour market. Other areas as quality in work and employment in an ageing labour force context, adaptability of workers and enterprises as well as the labour market needs of the information society will continue to focus the attention for the development of statistics.

The improvement of the Community labour force survey (LFS) in the past years make this survey and its yearly modules the major source for producing comparable data on the labour market. The LFS is a household based survey, the results of which need to be complemented with enterprise based data, such as the structural and short term statistics on earning and labour cost. However there still are further developments needed in labour market statistics related to quality improvement such as getting better coherence with employment data from national accounts and from other surveys in business and agriculture and the introduction of European sampling schemes and flash estimates to improve timeliness in the dissemination of indicators. Efforts should also be done to analyse in-depth the existing data sources, to guarantee more flexible dissemination procedures of anonymised individual data to the scientific community and to introduce a revised classification of occupations (ISCO) in 2011 to better reflect the structure of jobs and allows for improved international comparisons.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· The 2008 LFS ad-hoc module on the labour market situation of migrants and their descendants, the 2009 LFS ad-hoc module on transitions from school to work and the LFS program of ad-hoc modules 2010-2012 shall be defined and implemented;

· The coverage of the structural surveys on earnings and labour cost shall be extended to the whole economy and the 2008 labour cost surveys and the 2010 structure of earnings survey shall be implemented;

· European sampling schemes based on a wider use of existing data should be introduced in short term labour market statistics, allowing the production of timely quarterly and monthly employment and unemployment aggregates for the Euro area;

· Labour statistics shall allow monitoring of information society employment and skills needs;

· Full implementation of the Council Regulation on job vacancy statistics.

TITLE IX

Common commercial policy

Legal framework

The responsibility of the European Commission for negotiations on commercial agreements with third countries including the trade agreements on services is embedded in article 133 of the Treaty. Legal acts covering relevant statistical fields are: Council Regulation 1172/95 on trading of goods by the Community and its member-states with non-member countries; EP and Council Regulation 184/2005 on Community statistics concerning balance of payments, international trade in services and foreign direct investment; Commission proposal for an EP and Council Regulation on Community statistics on the structure and activity of foreign affiliates (COM (2005) 88 final).

Current situation

The data requirements are increasing as new trade competitors and partners (e.g. China, India, Brazil and Latin America) appear on the world scene and also as a consequence of structural changes in the area of trade in goods and services. In addition, high quality collection, analysis and harmonisation of data from candidate countries and the main EU partner countries remain a priority.

In parallel, efforts will be made to maintain the quality standards with respect to cross-border trade in services, foreign direct investment and foreign affiliated trade. For this purpose the implementation of the regulation on Balance of payments statistics and the adoption of the regulation on foreign affiliates (FATS) will be of utmost importance.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· A new Extrastat legislation shall be implemented with the main objective to make available additional relevant customs information and complementary statistics through the use of registers on trade operators;

· Implementation and updating of key legislation (balance of payments, international trade in services, foreign direct investment and foreign affiliates) shall be ensured;

· The new IMF international methodological standards shall be implemented in the EU compilation of balance of payments statistics.

· Implementation in the EU of the Manual on Statistics of International Trade in Services and its revised version.

TITLE X

Customs cooperation

No direct statistical programme is required. Statistical information for this title is derived as needed from data and indicators generated for other titles in the programme.

TITLE XI

Social policy, education, vocational training and youth

Legal framework

Statistics in this domain will be driven by the open method of coordination (OMC) in the fields of social exclusion, pensions and health care and long-term care; the sustainable development strategy; Articles 143 (social situation report) and 13 (anti-discrimination) of the EC Treaty; the health and safety at work strategy; the 2003 Council Resolution on promoting the employment and social integration of people with disabilities and the Commission Communication on equal opportunities for people with disabilities. The UNECE Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development claims also for data development.

Current situation

The system of statistics on living conditions and social protection relies on two main pillars: ESSPROS (system of social protection statistics) and EU-SILC (Statistics on income and living conditions). These two pillars underpin the Laeken and pension indicators of the OMC. Progress is still to be made to develop indicators on regional and on child poverty.

Data on lifelong learning cover information on formal, non-formal and informal learning within education and training systems or self-directed. Based on established education statistics, new data were compiled on vocational training in enterprises (measuring the enterprise commitment and contributions to employee vocational training) or on adult education. Data on youth are available from existing surveys and these will be fully exploited before further efforts are made to integrate the youth dimensions better in existing surveys.

For health and safety at work, data collection and analysis will focus on the causes, circumstances and costs of accidents at work, on occupational diseases and work-related health problems, as well as on factors which may adversely affect the health of workers. Regular collection of statistics, in particular harmonised survey modules on disability will be developed and implemented. Statistics will be further improved to support the national strategies on the development of high-quality, accessible and sustainable health care and long-term care.

Preparatory work for the development of a common methodology for statistics on the extent and impact of discrimination has started.

The key objective for demographic statistics will be to provide the comprehensive set of data and analyses necessary to assess the implications of demographic change in Europe. This will be achieved by improving the methods and contents of demographic data collections, implementing legislation for the 2011 round of population and housing censuses, and by the regular production of long-run population projections.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· Development of a limited set of core variables and of the new European System of Social Statistical Survey Modules (E4SM) instrument;

· Consolidation of the EU-SILC project, development of the longitudinal dissemination and full operationalisation of the gross income concept;

· Development of indicators on regional (using small area estimation techniques) and child poverty;

· Development of implementing Regulations on ESSPROS to improve coverage, comparability and timeliness of data.

· Improvement of the existing life long learning statistics framework in terms of quality (including coverage, timeliness, comparability and relevance) and performance, including the filling of data gaps (e.g. on investment efficiency, mobility, quality of teachers and trainers, quality of education, VET, social background of tertiary students) and access to information at the educational institutions level.

· Statistics on youth need to be built up successively using existing sources and, when needed, integrating them better in existing surveys;

· All social data collected on individuals at EU level shall be disaggregated by gender and a core set of indicators on the equality between men and women will be defined;

· A common methodology to obtain or to improve existing statistical data on the extent and impact of discrimination will be developed and implemented.

TITLE XII

Culture

The production of Cultural statistics is limited at this stage. Therefore no comprehensive and coherent framework as well as separate legislation on cultural statistics exists.

If new policy needs emerge, Cultural statistics would need to be consolidated in also getting to a durable regular data production (based on various data sources). In addition rather comprehensive methodological work is necessary for e.g. better measuring the social impact of culture and the role of the cultural sector in a knowledge-based economy.

TITLE XIII

Public health

Legal framework

Council Directive 89/391 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work; EP and Council Decision 1786/2002 adopting a programme of Community action in the field of public health (2003-2006); Commission proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation concerning Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work.

Current situation

The health information system, established under previous Community action programmes on public health, will be further developed through actions on 'health knowledge and information' under the forthcoming programme of Community action in the field of public health 2007-2013. In close Partnership with the Member States, Candidate Countries and EEA/EFTA countries through the European Statistical System (ESS), Eurostat will further develop the statistical element of this system, in particular for the European Community Health Indicators (ECHI).

Statistical data on public health are also required for sustainable development indicators, structural indicators, context indicators on disability and indicators developed in the context of the Open Method of Coordination for the support of national strategies for the development of high-quality, accessible and sustainable health care and long-term care.

In cooperation with the activities under the Community public health programme, with the relevant EU agencies and the international organisations competent in the field of public health statistics (WHO, OECD and UNECE), the focus is on the further development and implementation of the methodology, in particular in the fields of health status (including disability and morbidity), health determinants (such as life style and environmental factors), health care (including health expenditures) and causes of deaths.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· Where possible, Commission Regulations will be adopted for the implementation of the EP and Council Regulation concerning Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work;

· The infrastructure for the basic system on public health statistics shall be reinforced, giving special attention to the examination, consolidation and implementation of the relevant methodologies, such as the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) and the System of Health Accounts (SHA);

· The availability, comparability, timeliness and policy relevance of statistics on public health – including statistics on disability and on health care – shall be improved, with specific attention to further methodological development and taking into account the different contexts in each country.

TITLE XIV

Consumer protection

Legal framework

Consumer policy has achieved a much higher profile during recent years (Article 153 of the Treaty). Eurostat work will rely on the Health and Consumer protection Strategy and on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision creating the Community Programme for Health and Consumer protection 2007-2013 adopted by the Commission in April 2005.

The broad field of “consumer protection” is split in two main areas: “consumer affairs” and “food safety”.

Current situation

On consumer issues, Eurostat is producing on an annual basis a panorama publication 'Consumers in Europe: facts and figures' and has established an inter-services Task Force on detailed prices statistics.

Food safety is an important topic within the context of consumer protection policy and the European Union has developed a wide range of legislative and other actions intended to guarantee effective control systems over the full chain, including legally established standards for the environment and animal welfare.

The purpose of Eurostat’s effort on food safety statistics is to provide methodological advice and statistical data interesting not only for policy makers but also for private stakeholders and the public in general.

Main initiatives 2008-2012 (consumer affairs)

· The development of 'hard' official statistics (e.g. detailed prices, cross border consumption expenditure, business to consumer, etc.) and a methodological assistance for soft statistics developed by other public/private bodies,

· The preparation of an action plan following the conclusions of the inter-services task force on detailed prices statistics;

· The launching of a detailed study about a possible a module on consumer protection issues to be included in the new instrument (E4SM) currently being developed by Eurostat.

Main initiatives 2008-2012 (food safety)

· The development of the relevant statistics for monitoring food safety shall be pursued;

· Availability and quality of statistics on labelled products (organic products, products based on genetically modified organisms, etc.) shall be improved.

TITLE XV

Trans-European networks

No direct statistical programme is required. Statistical information for this title is derived as needed from data and indicators generated for other titles in the programme.

Title XVI

Industry

Business statistics

Legal framework

Statistics on European business are required to support analysis of competitiveness, productivity and growth and form key information for monitoring the progress of the renewed Lisbon objectives.

Council Regulation (EC) No 58/97 concerning structural business statistics (and amended); European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 48/2004 on the production of annual Community statistics on the steel industry for the reference years 2003-2009; Council Regulation (EEC) No 3924/91 on the establishment of a Community survey of industrial production. Commission proposal of a European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) on business registers. Commission proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) on the structure and activity of foreign affiliates (FATS). Commission Regulation 1450/2004 concerning the production and development of Community statistics on innovation.

Current situation

Structural Business Statistics is used for detailed analysis of the European business sector. Main user concerns are the insufficient timeliness of the data and the slow adaptation to new and emerging policy needs, for example insufficient information on the services sector, entrepreneurship, globalisation and the transition to sustainable production patterns. For specific manufacturing sectors, production statistics is an essential complement for the understanding of the performance of the sector.

Community Innovation Statistics are the main tool for measuring innovation in Europe. These statistics are produced with a two-annual frequency from 2004 onwards More and more micro-data access is granted to the CIS data.

Statistics on foreign affiliates (FATS) are being developed and the new regulation will give a basic set of variables for measuring globalisation. The European register on multinational enterprises (EuroGroups) as entailed by the new Business Register Regulation is in a pilot phase.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· Full implementation of key legislation shall be ensured (recast of the SBS regulation, FATS regulation, EuroGroups register). Pilot studies foreseen in the legislation shall be carried out and fully evaluated;

· For Community Innovation Statistics the full implementation of the Oslo Manual 2005 is planned for the CIS 2008. The CIS 2010 and subsequent Community Innovation Surveys shall also improve further data quality and data access;

· New statistics to deepen the understanding of the globalisation of the economy shall be developed;

· User concerns regarding timeliness and inertia to respond to new needs shall be tackled by testing new and flexible ways to collect the data, through ad-hoc surveys and European sample approaches;

· While protecting the right of enterprises to keep their data confidential, ways to release the European aggregates at the most detailed activity level will be developed;

· A revised classification of economic activities (NACE Rev.2) will be implemented in all business statistics as from the reference year 2008 onwards;

· Ways to reduce burden on business will be developed, such as increased use of administrative data, methods for small targeted surveys, use of publicly available data on enterprises and of XBRL technology.

Information society statistics

Legal framework

The use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is among the main drivers towards an inclusive society, better jobs, and enhanced competitiveness of European enterprises. Eurostat's statistics on the information society constitute a vital basis for European policy makers to assess the structural changes towards a knowledge-based economy and contribute to the monitoring of the progress towards the renewed Lisbon objectives.

European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 808/2004 concerning Community statistics on the information society.

Current situation

For several years, Eurostat has contributed to the benchmarking of the information society by providing indicators of ICT usage both in enterprises and by households/individuals. This activity will be continued and improved to adapt to policy demands such as the i2010 initiative based on the revised Lisbon strategy and further policy initiatives. This might entail the necessity of extending the current legal basis beyond its current limitations.

In order to go beyond the aspects of readiness and usage, the collection of data on ICT investment and on the impact of ICT on business outcome and behaviour and on society will complement the ongoing Community surveys. Needs to adapt the legal basis for information society statistics in order to ensure a comprehensive, timely and National Account compatible set of data on the ICT sectors and electronic communication will be evaluated and translated into action.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· The indicators on the information society including the indicators on the ICT sector and its competitiveness shall be constantly adapted to changing policy needs, taking into account wider international co-operation in ICT measurement;

· Statistics on ICT investment and ICT adoption shall be developed to better meet the objective of measuring the sustainable development and impact of the information society;

Tourism statistics

Legal framework

Tourism is an important economic activity in the European Union with a high potential of contributing to higher employment and economic growth as well as to development and socioeconomic integration also in rural, peripheral or underdeveloped areas.

Council Directive 95/57/EC on the collection of statistical information in the field of tourism.

Current situation

Currently, statistics are collected on the supply of and demand for tourist accommodation, as well as on economic aspects related to tourism behaviour. Key areas of concern are however the achievement of a greater degree of comparability of the existing statistics and the establishment of harmonised tourism satellite accounts embedded in the larger concern on sustainable tourism, for which relevant indicators will need to be defined and measured. Due to the immediate impact of events such as terrorist attacks or the spread of communicable diseases on the tourism industry, a main concern will be the improvement of the timeliness of the data.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· The current set of tourism statistics and its legal basis shall be modernised;

· Harmonised Tourism Satellite Accounts shall be implemented and indicators for sustainable tourism shall be developed and measured.

Energy statistics

Legal framework

The secure supply of affordable energy commodities in an environmentally friendly manner constitutes the essence of the EU energy policy. The Energy Statistics System has been developed in response to the needs arising from this policy.

The Energy Statistics System is based largely on an agreement. Certain legal obligations exist covering specific aspects of the system, beyond Directive 90/377/EEC of 29 June 1990 on gas and electricity prices charged to industrial users.

Current situation

Over the last few years, oil markets have become volatile and unpredictable while prices have reached high levels. EU energy dependency increases continuously; energy demand is on the rise casting doubts on the capability of reducing greenhouse gas emissions while the EU electricity/gas markets have not yet developed into a real single competitive market. Within this political environment, the Commission – in response to the invitation of Heads of State and Government in 2005 – reacted with a series of proposals (Green Paper: A European Strategy for Sustainable, Competitive and Secure Energy), such as the establishment of a European energy Supply Observatory to monitor the demand and supply patterns of EU energy markets, a new Community Directive on heating and cooling, target monitoring / defining beyond 2010 on renewable energies (including electricity and liquid biofuels) and the Monitoring of energy end-use efficiency improvements.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

· A Regulation on Energy Statistics covering the current requirements, thus improving quality;

· A legal obligation to collect statistics on electricity and gas prices paid by households

· A methodology / approach to make available the actual countries of origin; (destination) for gas imports (exports);

· Methodology / nomenclatures improvement for collecting liquid biofuel statistics;

· Definition of indicators / data collection assessing energy efficiency as foreseen in Directive 2006/32/EC;

· An extension, if necessary, of competition indicators assessing effectiveness of competition and integration of gas/electricity markets.

TITLE XVII

Economic and social cohesion

Legal framework

Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS); Commission proposal for an EP and Council Directive establishing an infrastructure for spatial information in the Community (INSPIRE).

Current situation

Regional statistical data are collected for about a dozen broad statistical domains, some of which are covered by a legal act while others are governed by an agreement. Typically, data are sent continuously to Eurostat. Urban data for the Urban audit is collected every 3 years in from 2003 onwards.

Geographic Information is collected and maintained in the GISCO database, for the usage of Eurostat and the whole Commission Directorate Generals. The lack of standards and of a harmonised framework for the collection of information requires a significant amount of resources for a proper maintenance and update. On the other hand, the growing awareness of the potential of the combination of geographic with statistical and thematic information increases the demand for mapping, analyses and applications.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

The work to be undertaken under the 2008–2012 statistical programme will be determined by the shape of the new Community regional policy within the new programming period for the structural funds. Consolidation work on the existing data will be continued, notably in the urban audit, transport, environment and research & development areas. The implementation of a legislative framework for Regional Population data and the anticipated revision of the ESA 95 regulation encompassing the Regional Accounts data will be of significant importance for the structural indicators work. The methodological consistency of regional statistics shall be improved by the inclusion of more rigorous methodology in the relevant legislative framework when revised and the application of quality standards already commenced in regional accounts data shall be extended to other regional statistics to assure comparability and timeliness.

The availability and accessibility of Geographical Information across the EU will be revolutionised by the implementation of the Infrastructure for spatial information in Europe (INSPIRE) Directive, which aims to develop a European spatial data infrastructure to support environmental and other policies. This will have a significant impact on the organisation and use of this information by Commission services. During this programme period the GI team of Eurostat will not only have to contribute to the development of the technical implementation and to assure the organisational infrastructure (including the setting up and running of the INSPIRE Committee) but also the support for INSPIRE implementation across the EU. The promotion of spatial analysis techniques combining statistical and geographical data will continue for Commission users; the increased availability of spatial data following the infrastructure deployment will greatly improve the potential for the definition of accurate indicators.

TITLE XVIII

Research and technological development

Legal framework

Science and technology and innovation statistics (STI): EP and Council Decision 1608/2003 concerning the production and development of Community statistics on science and technology; Commission Regulation (EC) No 753/2004 implementing Decision No 1608/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards statistics on science and technology; Commission Regulation 1450/2004 on Community innovation statistics. Statistical research, methodology and nomenclatures: EP and Council Decision on the 7th Framework Programme [COM(2005) 119-1 and COM/2006/364/final, Council common position]. Micro-data management and confidentiality: Commission Regulation (EC) No 1104/2006 amending Regulation (EC) No 831/2002 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, concerning access to confidential data for scientific purposes.

Current situation

Science and technology and innovation statistics The EU policies on Science, Technology and Innovation are a cornerstone of the Lisbon strategy, as stressed in Barcelona European Council conclusions and mid term review in 2005. Production and dissemination of Statistics on R&D, on Human Resources in Science and Technology, on Patent and on High Tech industries and Knowledge Based services considerably improved in the recent years. This production is based on own data collections, the use of administrative sources and the use of other official or non official data sources. The legislative framework has been established.

Statistical research, methodology and nomenclatures: due to the change of working environment, mainly enlargement, globalisation and IT technology, as well as the cost of collecting statistics, there is a need for improving all components of data quality (ref. Reg. n°322/97), answering new demands from EU policy-makers and others and adapting statistics to the change of the society.

Micro-data management and confidentiality: Easy access to micro-data is a strong demand from the researchers to produce timely and accurate analyses that provide solid support to policies; on another hand, compliance with the appropriate legislation on confidentiality is cumbersome. New secure solutions are to be found. Moreover, micro-data is a source of statistical information that is currently under-exploited.

Main initiatives 2008-2012

Science and technology and innovation statistics: In the coming years, the work on STI statistics will concentrate on achieving better data quality, improving the statistical methods, nomenclatures, concepts and definitions (for e.g. the better measuring the knowledge flows; using internationally harmonised raw data source Patstat), opening to additional data sources and to the full implementation of the statistics on the career development of doctorate holders, as well as updating the existing legislation on the various statistical domains covered as well as providing better input to national accounts.

Statistical research, methodology and nomenclatures: In the 7th FP, priority shall be given to the improvement of thematic areas, but also to research aiming at the improvement of data quality through innovative methodologies including modelling, estimation or imputation. The functional research community in official statistics shall be re-activated by encouraging networks. The dissemination and use of results from research in official statistics in the 6th and 7th framework programmes and the application of the results at operational level shall be promoted and facilitated More work needs also to be done in improving the nomenclatures used (e.g. European surveys of enterprise groups performing research and development), and in using and enlarging European infrastructure of registers of enterprise groups.

Micro-data management and confidentiality: an integrated approach to and methodology for the development of European infrastructures for facilitating access for researchers to anonymised data in the framework of the current