Decision No 235/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008 establishing the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2008-03-11
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: EU statistics, advisory committee (EU), governance, operation of the Institutions

15.3.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 73/17

DECISION No 235/2008/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 11 March 2008

establishing the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

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

establishing the European

body that could play an active role in overseeing how the
implemented by the European
Code of Practice is
Statistical System as a whole.
In its Recommendation
of 25 May 2005, the Commission stated its intention
to consider proposing the establishment of such an
external advisory body.

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Acting in accordance with the procedure
Article 251 of the Treaty (1),

laid down in

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

authorities

The need to establish Europe-wide standards on the inde-
pendence, integrity and accountability of the national and
Community statistical
led the Statistical
Programme Committee established by Council Decision
89/382/EEC, Euratom (2), unanimously to endorse, at its
meeting on 24 February 2005, the European Statistics
Code of Practice (hereinafter referred to as the Code of
Practice) as presented in the Recommendation of
the
Commission of 25 May 2005 on the independence,
integrity
and
Community statistical authorities.

accountability of

the national

and

The Code of Practice has the dual purpose of improving
authorities by
trust
and
proposing
organisational
institutional
arrangements on the one hand and reinforcing the
quality of the statistics they produce on the other.

in statistical
and

confidence
certain

In the Communication of 25 May 2005 to the European
Parliament and to the Council on the independence,
integrity
and
Community
the Commission
acknowledged the usefulness of an external advisory

accountability of

the national

authorities,

statistical

and

(1) Opinion of the European Parliament of 24 October 2007 (not yet
and Council Decision of

Journal)

published in the Official
14 February 2008.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

the

On 8 November 2005, the Council concluded that a new
inde-
high-level advisory body would enhance
pendence, integrity and accountability of the Commission
(Eurostat) and,
review
in the context of
assessment of
implementing the Code of Practice, of
the European Statistical System. The Council recom-
mended that the body should be a small group of inde-
pendent persons
their
competence.

appointed on the basis of

the peer

that body should provide a comp-
The members of
for
lementary mix of skills and experience, drawing,
example, on people from academia and those with
national and/or international professional experience in
the field of statistics.

The body should establish an assessment
for
Commission (Eurostat) on the implementation of
Code of Practice analogous
National Statistical Offices.

the
the
review of

to the peer

A dialogue with the Statistical Programme Committee
and the European Statistical Advisory Committee, estab-
lished by Decision No 234/2008/EC of the European
the Council (3), on the Code of
Parliament and of
Practice, and also with Member States’
stakeholder
bodies, should be encouraged where appropriate.

An advisory board should therefore be established, and
its tasks and structure defined, without prejudice to
Article 5 of
the
European System of Central Banks and of the European
Central Bank,

the Protocol on the Statute of

(2) OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

(3) See page 13 of this Official Journal.

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EN

Official Journal of the European Union

15.3.2008

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Advisory Board

The European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (here-
is hereby established. The
inafter referred to as the Board)
the Board shall be to provide an independent
purpose of
the European Statistical System as regards the
overview of
implementation of
the European Statistics Code of Practice
(hereinafter referred to as the Code of Practice).

Article 2

Tasks
The Board’s tasks shall be to:

1.

(a) prepare an annual report for the European Parliament and
the Council on the implementation of the Code of Practice
insofar as it relates to the Commission (Eurostat) and to
transmit that report to the Commission prior to submitting
it to the European Parliament and to the Council;

Article 3

Membership of the Board

The Board shall comprise seven members,

including its
1.
chairperson. The Board’s members shall act
independently.
The Commission (Eurostat) shall be represented as an observer.

2.
The members of the Board shall be selected from among
experts possessing outstanding competence in the field of
statistics, shall perform their duties in their personal capacity,
and shall be selected to provide a range of complementary skills
and experience.

After consulting the Commission, the Council shall select,
3.
and the European Parliament shall approve, the nomination of
the chairperson of the Board.

The chairperson shall not be a current member of either a
National Statistical Office or the Commission and shall have
held no such post within the last two years.

After consulting the Commission, the European Parliament and
the Council shall each appoint three members of the Board.

(b) include in that annual report an assessment of the im-
the Code of Practice in the European

plementation of
Statistical System as a whole;

The term of office for the chairperson and members of the

4.
Board shall be three years, renewable once.

(c) advise the Commission on appropriate measures to facilitate
the implementation of the Code of Practice insofar as it
relates to the Commission (Eurostat) and to the European
Statistical System as a whole;

If a member resigns before the expiry of his or her term
5.
of office, he or she shall be replaced by a new member,
appointed in accordance with this Article, who shall serve a
full term.

(d) advise the Commission (Eurostat) on communicating the

Code of Practice to users and data providers;

Article 4

Proceedings

(e) advise

the Commission (Eurostat)

and the Statistical
Programme Committee as regards updating the Code of
Practice.

The Board may advise the Commission and shall respond
2.
to the Commission as
relating to user
regards questions
confidence in European statistics, in compliance with the tasks
laid down under paragraph 1.

The Board shall adopt its own rules of procedure, which

1.
shall be made public.

In addition,
to publish any conclusion, partial

The Board’s annual report, referred to in Article 2(1)(a),
2.
submission to the European
shall be made public after
the Board may
Parliament and to the Council.
decide
conclusion or
working document, provided that it has been communicated
in advance to the European Parliament, the Council and the
Commission (Eurostat) and any other body involved, with an
adequate opportunity for response.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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3. Without prejudice to Article 287 of the Treaty, Board
members shall be required not
to disclose information to
which they have gained access through the Board’s proceedings
if the Commission informs them that such information is justi-
fiably of a confidential nature or that responding to a request
for an opinion or a question raised would lead to the disclosure
of such confidential information.

The Board shall be assisted by a secretariat, which shall be
4.
provided by the Commission but which must act independently
thereof. The Board’s
secretary shall be appointed by the
Commission after consulting the Board. The secretary shall act
on the instructions of the Board.

The expenses of

5.
budgetary estimates of the Commission.

the Board shall be included in the

Article 5

A review of the role and effectiveness of the Board shall be
conducted three years after its establishment.

Article 6

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

Done at Strasbourg, 11 March 2008.

For the European Parliament
The President

H.-G. PÖTTERING

For the Council
The President

J. LENARČIČ