2008 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on implementation of the code of practice
Date: 2008-10-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, Eurostat, dissemination of EU information, national statistics, statistical method

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 7.10.2008 
COM(2008) 621 final 

2008 REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 
AND THE COUNCIL  

ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CODE OF PRACTICE 

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2008 REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 
AND THE COUNCIL  

ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CODE OF PRACTICE 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The  Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to  the 
Council  on  the  independence,  integrity  and  accountability  of  the  national  and 
Community  statistical  authorities  of  25  May  2005  announced  the  intention  of  the 
Commission  to  report  on  the  implementation  of  the  European  Statistics  Code  of 
Practice  in  the  European  Statistical  System  (ESS)  three  years  after  the  adoption  of 
the Code.  

Building on the momentum created by adoption of the Code, which was welcomed 
by  the  Council  in  June  2005,  the  ESS  undertook  a  comprehensive  self-assessment 
against the principles and indicators of the Code. The results were summarised in a 
Eurostat  report  submitted  to  the  Economic  and  Financial  Committee  in  May  2006. 
To complement and to deepen the self-assessments, peer reviews were carried out in 
the  31  national  statistical  institutes  (NSIs)  of  the  EU  Member  States  and  EFTA 
countries and in Eurostat over the period 2006-2008. They addressed the institutional 
environment and dissemination practices covered by principles 1 to 6 and 15 of the 
Code and the coordination function of each statistical authority within its statistical 
system.  They  were  centrally  organised  by  Eurostat  and  measures  were  taken  to 
ensure, as far as possible, a harmonised approach including evaluation standards. The 
peer reviews themselves contributed to implementation of the Code, as they involved 
a  user  satisfaction  survey  and  key  stakeholders  at  national  and  European  level 
respectively. 

This  report  is  based  mainly  on  the  outcome  of  the  peer  reviews  and  progress  in 
implementing  improvements  identified  in  the  self-assessments  and  in  the  peer 
reviews.  Other  aspects  considered  include  statistical  quality  assurance  and  quality 
auditing activities and compliance with the European legislation on statistics. 

Although  the  Code  should  apply  to  all  providers  of  European  statistics,  this  report 
focuses  mainly  on  compliance  by  the  NSIs  and  Eurostat1.  Improvement  actions  by 
individual  statistical  authorities,  envisaged  towards  full  compliance  with  the  Code, 
are listed in the annexed Commission paper. 

In March 2008, a decision setting up the European Statistical Governance Advisory 
Board  (ESGAB)  was  adopted  by  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council.  The 
principal  task  of  this  body  -  which  has  not  yet  been  formally  established  -  will  be 
annual reporting on compliance with the Code by Eurostat and the ESS as a whole.  

2. 

ESS COMPLIANCE WITH THE CODE: MAIN FINDINGS 

Summary 

Table 1: Peer review assessments for all National Statistical Institutes and Eurostat 

1 

National  central  banks  are  exempted  from  the  ESS  activities  on  implementing  of  the  Code  and 
monitoring thereof. 

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Principles and indicators 
of the European Statistics 
Code of Practice 

1: Professional Independence 

2: Mandate for data collection 

3: Adequacy of resources 

4: Quality commitment 

5: Statistical confidentiality 

6: Impartiality and objectivity 

15: Accessibility and clarity 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
1 
2 
3 

1 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

Assessment results 

Fully met 
15 
25 
27 
22 
22 
28 
31 
32 
21 
26 

Largely met 
13 
6 
4 
8 
5 
4 
1 
0 
8 
5 

Partly met 
3 
1 
1 
2 
3 
0 
0 
0 
3 
0 

Not met 
1 
0 
0 
0 
2 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

6 
6 
8 
5 
9 
4 
29 
28 
32 
21 
25 
30 
30 
28 
24 
7 
27 
18 
26 
13 
23 
16 
29 
3 
2 

14 
13 
10 
17 
9 
10 
2 
3 
0 
8 
7 
1 
2 
4 
5 
20 
4 
13 
5 
17 
8 
14 
1 
20 
19 

12 
13 
13 
9 
14 
16 
1 
1 
0 
3 
0 
0 
0 
0 
3 
5 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
2 
2 
8 
11 

0 
0 
1 
1 
0 
2 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
1 
0 

Percentages 

62% 

25% 

12% 

1% 

The greatest strengths of the ESS lie in the areas covered by principles 2 (Mandate 
for data collection), 5 (Statistical Confidentiality) and 1 (Professional Independence), 
mainly  dealing  with  the  legal  framework  as  well  as  implementing  policies  and 
practices.  Areas  for  improvements  for  these  principles  target  specific  policies  or 
clauses in the statistical law of individual statistical authorities rather than issues on 
which  ESS-wide  improvements  would  be  considered  necessary.  While  overall  high 
standards  were  reported  in  the  area  covered  by  Principle  6  (Impartiality  and 
Objectivity),  in  order  to  move  towards  full  compliance  with  this  principle  many 
statistical  authorities  will  need  to  improve  their  arrangements  for  publicising 
information on methods and procedures and  for informing the general public about 
pre-release access, even if it is provided only in limited cases. 

Despite the recognised progress on quality management and quality improvements in 
key areas, the results of the peer reviews call for additional efforts under principle 4 
(Quality  Commitment)  on  quality  guidelines  and  on  process  and  product  quality 
monitoring. Quality Commitment is closely correlated with principle 3 (Adequacy of 
resources),  suggesting  that  measures  to  address  this  shortcoming  would  probably 

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need to go hand in hand with improvements in the statistical authorities’ resources. 
Planned  improvements  include  similar  steps  by  several  statistical  authorities, 
building on existing ESS standards and tools. 

Following  the  peer  reviews,  some  impressive  progress  can  already  be  observed  in 
areas  in  which  improvements  were  proposed  in  the  peer  review  reports.  This  has 
been taken into account in the findings reported below. 

The main issues relating to compliance with the European Statistics Code within the 
ESS and good practices identified in individual statistical authorities are summarised 
below under the relevant headings2. 

Professional independence and objectivity 

Independence  from  political  and  other  external  interference  with  production  and 
dissemination of European statistics and an objective choice of methods, sources and 
techniques seem to be ensured in practice across the ESS. 

However,  stronger  legal  underpinning  of  professional  independence  in  13  cases 
(indicator 1.1) and more explicit safeguards of the statistical authority’s objectivity in 
four countries (indicators 6.1 and 6.2) might add to the ESS’s credibility. This holds 
true  in  particular,  albeit  not  only,  in  cases  where  the  statistical  authority  is 
administratively  attached  to  a  policy  department.  Peers  identified  provisions  in  the 
statistics  law  of  four  countries  as  good  practice.  Establishment  of  a  high-level 
scientific  or  methodology  committee,  detailed  methodological  guidelines  endorsed 
by a well-defined procedure or guidelines on professional ethics or a national Code 
were  identified  as  additional  safeguards  of  statistical  authorities’  objectivity  and 
impartiality. 

Further  provisions  to  enable  the  head  of  the  statistical  authority  to  perform  more 
effectively  the  important  functions  defined  in  the  Code  as  the  guardian  of 
professional  independence  and  objectivity  were  recommended  in  six  countries 
(indicators  1.2  to  1.4).  Setting  clear  criteria  and  conditions  in  statistics  law  for 
selection  and,  more  importantly,  dismissal  of  the  head  of  the  statistical  authority 
emerged  as  another  good  practice.  In  most  countries,  the  statistical  authority  has 
developed  a  rebuttal  policy  in  line  with  the  Code  (indicator  1.7).  Good  practice 
includes  explicitly  imposing,  in  the  statistics  law,  an  obligation  for  the  statistical 
authority to respond to criticisms and misuses of official statistics when appropriate. 

Programming 

Transparent statistical programming procedures in line with the Code (indicators 1.5 
and 11.2) are implemented across the ESS. Ten NSIs were encouraged to converge 
fully  towards  ESS  common  practice  in  this  area,  i.e.  publication  of  statistical 
programmes  and  periodic  progress  reports  based  on  the  annual  and  multi-annual 
programming cycles in consultation with leading stakeholders. 

Reduction  of  the  response  burden  and  use  of  administrative  sources  for  statistical 
purposes  

Despite a clear legal mandate for all statistical authorities to collect information for 
production  and  dissemination  of  official  statistics  (indicator  2.1),  some  face  legal 

2 

The principles and indicators of the Code and a full overview of the good practices identified during the 
peer reviews are available on the Eurostat website: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/quality. 

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and/or  practical  obstacles  hindering  use  of  administrative  records  for  statistical 
purposes (indicators 2.2 and 9.5). Given their impact on the burden on respondents, 
joining  forces  at  national  level,  including  governance  authorities,  to  remove  these 
obstacles  should  be  a  priority.  Negotiating  service-level  agreements  with  register 
increasing  use  of 
authorities  and  administrations  and  setting 
administrative  data  could  form  part  of  a  pro-active  NSI  strategy  in  line  with  some 
ESS best practice. 

targets  for 

Exemplary  practices  to  avoid  duplication  of  data  collection  can  be  observed  in 
several countries where statistics producers are explicitly bound by statistical law to 
use  administrative  data  as  far  as  possible.  Going  one  step  further  and  explicitly 
involving  the  NSI  in  establishing  and  developing  the  potential  of  administrative 
records  for  statistical  purposes  further  contributes  not  only  to  increasing  use 
(indicator 10.4) but also to enhancing the quality of statistics based on administrative 
sources (indicator 8.1), an increasingly important issue for European statistics. 

Along  similar  lines,  introduction  and  greater  use  of  electronic  and  internet-based 
reporting systems where this is not yet (fully) possible (about half of the NSIs) could 
further reduce the response burden (indicator 9.1) and address the declining response 
rates from businesses (indicator 9.3). Many statistical authorities are taking steps on 
measuring and actively managing the response burden (principle 9). Good practices 
to  enhance  the  response  to  statistical  surveys  were  identified  by  the  peers  in  eight 
NSIs. 

Statistical confidentiality 

The  peer  reviews  confirmed  that  the  highest  standards  to  protect  statistical 
confidentiality are applied across the ESS, rooted in statistical law and implemented 
by internal procedures, techniques and physical safeguards, some of which, however, 
still need to be reinforced in 13 NSIs in order to comply fully with all of indicators 
5.1 to 5.5 in the Code. However, in the few countries where the statistical law itself 
allows  exceptions  to  the  principle  of  absolute  statistical  confidentiality,  this  may 
have to be reconsidered. 

Quality management 

Quality  management  should  be  understood  as  a  comprehensive,  long  term  and 
systematic  approach  in  which  inputs,  processes  and  outputs  are  continuously 
improved. According to the peer review reports, the ESS will need to invest further 
in  enhancing  compliance  with  the  Code  in  connection  with  its  commitment  to  and 
implementation of the principles laid down in the ESS Quality Declaration. Several 
statistical  authorities  have  announced  steps 
towards  an  office-wide  quality 
management  policy  (some  have  already  introduced  total  quality  management 
approaches)  and  twelve  will  further  elaborate  their  quality  guidelines.  To  support 
these approaches, Eurostat maintains a publicly available good practice database as a 
central  source  of  reference  to  ESS  quality  management,  and  is  promoting  quality 
enhancing activities at EU level.  

Analysis of the reports revealed that the peer review teams’ bases for assessment of 
principle  4  of  the  Code  (Quality  commitment)  were  rather  heterogeneous  and  that 
interpretation of this principle was not always straightforward and clear. Additional 
information  on  quality  assurance  activities  provided  by  statistical  authorities  is 
therefore  taken  into  account  below.  Good  practices  in  quality  management  were 
highlighted by the peers in nine statistical authorities, including a systematic quality 

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management policy, a comprehensive set of tools to implement it and quality audits 
involving  the  main  users.  Two  NSIs  have  redesigned  their  statistical  systems,  not 
least to enhance the quality of statistics. 

Product quality 

Accuracy, timeliness and comparability are priorities for the ESS. Quality problems 
particularly concern statistics collected under gentlemen's agreements. All statistical 
authorities  report  on  the  quality  of  European  statistics,  where  required  by  EU 
legislation,  and  during  the  next  three  years  some  intend  to  extend  their  quality 
reporting  to  cover  all  statistical  output.  Greater  efforts  in  this  area  will  need  to  go 
hand  in  hand  with  relevant  training  for  staff  which,  so  far,  is  provided  by  half  the 
statistical authorities. In addition, some cases of non-compliance with EU legislation 
on  statistics  will  need  to  be  actively  followed  up  (indicators  4.1  and  15.6  and 
principles 12, 13 and 14). 

The  vast  majority  of  European  statistics  are  based  on  EU  legislation  and  the 
frequency has been laid down by the legislators. Users’ requirements are also taken 
into  account  in  the  regular  Eurostat  hearings  with  Commission  departments  and 
screening  exercises,  and  involving  the  CEIES  and  the  newly  established  European 
Statistical Advisory Committee (indicator 13.3). 

Process quality 

Process-oriented  quality  assurance  activities  comprising  monitoring  of  quality 
indicators,  quality  audits  or  self-assessments  are  not  yet  systematically  employed 
throughout  the  ESS,  although  most  statistical  authorities  have  started  relevant 
schemes. They reported that they apply one or more of these activities to most or all 
statistical processes, basically covering all stages of the production process (with the 
exception of the planning and survey design in some cases). Broader use of external 
expertise in the review process was recommended. In five NSIs, streamlining of their 
production process by creating common tools and methods at central level, including 
a  centralised  seasonal  adjustment  system,  was  identified  as  good  practice  by  the 
peers.  Furthermore,  cooperation  with  other  public  institutions  and  researchers  was 
also highlighted (indicators 4.2, 4.3 and 4.5 and principles 7 and 8). 

User-producer dialogue  

Pro-active dialogue with users is one of the cornerstones of the Code. Accordingly, 
as part of the peer review, NSIs and Eurostat carried out a user satisfaction survey so 
that  key  users’  opinions  on  European  statistics  and  the  statistical  authorities’ 
performance  could  be  taken  into  account.  Several  statistical  authorities  regularly 
conduct user satisfaction surveys and some compile  a user satisfaction index. Most 
statistical  authorities  report  cooperation  with  the  scientific  community  to  improve 
methodology.  In  addition,  formal  consultation  of  users  forms  part  of  statistical 
authorities’ programming and priority-setting strategies (indicators 4.3, 7.7, 11.1 and 
11.3). 

Impartiality and dissemination practices 

Accessibility and microdata access 

Almost all statistical output is available via the internet and many good practices can 
be  identified  across  the  ESS  (indicators  15.1  and  15.2),  including  a  good  service 
culture,  user-friendly  websites  with  comprehensive  metadata  and  presenting  the 
results of other data producers as well as the measures to promote statistical literacy 

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highlighted in 16 peer review reports. Nevertheless, several statistical authorities are 
investing in further improving their channels of communication, ranging from basic 
modernisation efforts to advanced applications. 

Researchers find a wide range of options across the ESS for accessing microdata in 
the  form  of  public-use  files,  de  facto  anonymised  data  sets  and  on-site  or  remote 
access  facilities  governed  by  legal  provisions  and  protocols  (indicator  15.4).  Good 
practices in this area were identified in eight NSIs.  

Impartiality 

Almost all the statistical authorities raise their public professional profile by issuing 
releases  which  can  be  clearly  identified  as  stemming  from  the  statistical  authority 
and as purely statistical, backed up by a policy on commenting publicly on statistical 
issues (indicator 1.6) and on making only objective, non-partisan statements in press 
conferences  (indicator  6.7).  Further  steps  towards  clearer  delineation  of  all  official 
statistics were recommended, including establishment of a distinctive logo to be used 
for all NSIs’ releases in line with ESS common practice. 

As  a  significant  contribution  to  ESS  credibility,  the  main  pillars  for  guaranteeing 
impartial access by users to European statistics comprise: 

•  no  and  in  some  cases  even  prohibited  by  law  or  strictly  limited,  controlled  and 
publicised  Ministerial  pre-release  access  to  statistical  releases  (indicator  6.6). 
Exceptions granted vary widely from one statistical authority to another in terms 
of  statistical  areas,  target  groups  and  timing,  thus  leaving  room  for  convergence 
towards a harmonised ESS strategy. Peers identified good practice in three NSIs, 
including granting no  pre-release  access and establishing rules for a post-release 
embargo and for dealing with leaks;  

•  a  release  calendar  in  every  NSI  for  the  main  statistical  output  (indicator  6.5), 
although  in  several  NSIs  and  Eurostat  its  coverage  could  be  extended  to  more 
products. Release times could be further harmonised; 

•  transparent and equitable access to custom-designed analyses provided for by the 
statistical  authority,  with  the  exception  that  in  several  countries,  sometimes 
following  legal  provision,  certain  privileged  (institutional)  users  do  not  have  to 
pay for them (indicator 15.3). 

Metadata 

Statistical authorities across the ESS publish European statistics with comprehensive 
metadata, in many countries in English as well as in the national language(s). While 
it  will  always  be  possible  and,  in  dialogue  with  users,  necessary  to  further  develop 
and  improve  metadata,  standardisation  and/or  extension  of  their  scope  were 
particularly called for in 13 peer review reports (indicators 6.4, 15.5 and 15.6). 

As  a  specific  –  and  rare  –  case  of  statistical  authorities’  revision  policy,  almost  all 
correct and publicise errors, although more formalised approaches would be useful in 
several cases (indicator 6.3). 

Resources and efficiency 

Although many NSIs have reformed their production systems in recent years to cope 
with budget and staff cuts, a continuous shortage of resources was reported as posing 
a  threat  to  meeting  the  European  statistics  requirements  in  several  countries 
(principle  3).  Nine  peer  reviews  identified  exemplary  resources  policies  covering 

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human  capital  development,  staff  career  management  or  cost-based  monitoring  and 
planning. 

Human  capital  is  the  fundamental  asset  of  statistical  offices.  Comparatively  low 
salaries  in  some  countries  result  in  high  turnover  rates  and  put  their  NSI  at  a 
disadvantage  when  competing  for  highly  qualified  staff  on  the  national  labour 
market.  Some  NSIs  report  a  general  shortage  of  qualified  staff  or  inflexible 
recruitment procedures which make it difficult to fill vacancies.  

In  a  few  countries  improvements  to  the  information  technology  infrastructure  are 
considered  necessary.  In  their  2005  self-assessments  almost  all  NSIs  pointed  to  a 
lack of IT resources – combined with a lack of IT specialists – as the main obstacles 
to  greater  use  of  technology  for  increased  automation  of  statistical  processing. 
Failure to address these shortages could cut off NSIs from technological progress and 
from  the  ensuing  efficiency  gains,  thus  preventing  them  from  solving  the  problem 
and potentially contributing to a digital divide within the ESS in the longer term. 

In some countries, lack of financial resources was reported as a major problem and a 
high  percentage  of  commissioned  work  was  identified  as  potentially  hindering 
longer-term investment. 

Various  ESS  initiatives  are  underway  with  the  aim  of  better  balancing  demand  for 
European  statistics  against  their  costs.  Existing  approaches  to  analysing  the 
consequences  of  new  statistical  legislation,  proposals  for  simplification  of  the 
legislation  and  reviews  to  identify  negative  priorities  are  being  backed  up  by  new 
activities. They include an assessment of the costs associated with implementation of 
most  of  the  EU  legislation  on  statistics  and  of  the  benefits/merits,  innovative 
partnership  models  within  the  ESS  to  improve  its  effectiveness  and  an  intensified 
dialogue  with  the  user  community,  including  on  future  priorities  and  involving  the 
European Statistical Advisory Committee (indicators 3.2 to 3.4). 

Coordination of the statistical system 

Coordination  of the  national  statistical system is an  issue for almost every country, 
even though other national data producers’ contribution to official national statistics 
or European statistics can be very small. 

Extension  of  the  Code  to  producers  of  European  statistics  other  than  the  NSIs  and 
assessment of implementation of the Code cannot follow a unique pattern in the ESS. 
Where  relevant,  national  strategies  are  closely  related  to  the  NSI’s  coordination 
function  in  the  system.  They  vary  from  impressive  progress  to  limited  action 
depending, inter alia, on the NSI’s ability and legal powers to reach out to national 
producers of Community statistics.  

The peers’ analysis of the NSIs’ coordination role and NSIs’ reports on compliance 
by  other  leading  players,  excluding  the  national  central  banks,  revealed  certain 
patterns fostering compliance with the Code on a national system-wide basis: 

•  In  more  decentralised  statistical  systems  and  where  other  national  data  are 
produced by Ministries/policy departments, the extent to which they are explicitly 
covered by the statistical law and bound by the same requirements with regard to 
professional  independence,  objectivity,  impartiality,  etc.  plays  a  major  part  in 
compliance with the Code. 

•  Clear  delineation  and  separation  of  the  statistics  function  from  administrative 
tasks  or  policy-making  needs  to  be  ensured.  As  a  prerequisite,  the  scope  of 

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national official statistics and the parties involved will need to be clearly defined 
by law and/or by an integrated statistical programme. 

•  This  could  then  form  the  core  of  an  official  statisticians’  network  within  the 
country,  coordinated  and  maintained  by  the  NSI.  In  most  countries  a  Statistical 
Council or committee(s) support these tasks and in some the coordination function 
is  defined  in  the  statistics  law.  Good  practices  include:  (a)  a  national  Charter  or 
Code,  (b)  a  common  training  programme,  (c)  a  common  recruitment  procedure, 
(d)  sharing  resources  for  methodological  work,  IT,  etc.  and  (e)  a  common  logo 
and/or  common  release  schedule  to  foster  coordinated  dissemination  of  official 
statistics up to (f) a common dissemination platform. 

Peers identified good practices for improving coordination of the national statistical 
system in five countries. 

Eurostat’s  coordination  role  is  multi-faceted  comprising  coordination  within  the 
European  Commission,  the  ESS  and  the  international  community  and  with  the 
the  NSIs’  and  Eurostat’s 
European  Central  Bank.  Reinforcement  of  both 
coordination roles is proposed in the new draft Regulation on European statistics. 

3. 

CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS 

Experiences  with  the  implementation  path  for  the  Code  pursued  so  far  by  the  ESS 
demonstrate  the  self-regulatory  approach  works  very  well:  overall  high  compliance 
levels  are  complemented  by  dynamic  progress  with  regard  to  improvements. 
Nevertheless,  full  compliance  with  the  Code  remains  a  challenge  for  basically  all 
national statistical institutes and Eurostat. Given that all countries have quite specific 
national statistical systems and conditions, assessments of compliance with the Code 
should not be used for country rankings, but to further develop statistical systems at 
national and European level. 

In  statistical  systems  in  which  the  institutional  framework  needs  yet  to  be  aligned 
with the Code e.g. through supplementary safeguards for professional independence, 
or where resources were found inadequate, governance authorities are called upon to 
steer  the  developments  needed.  Further  steps  could  be  envisaged  with  the  ESGAB 
playing a leading role. 

Furthermore governance authorities could support NSIs in pro-actively collaborating 
with  owners  of  administrative  data  which  are  considered  indispensible  in  view  of 
optimising the use of administrative sources for statistical purposes. 

Identified as an area in which improvements are needed on an ESS-wide scale, the 
European  Statistical  System  will  join  forces  to  invest  in  implementing  ESS  quality 
management  tools  and  guidelines.  Work  towards  further  harmonising  quality 
frameworks  across  the  ESS  will  include  a  review  of  the  Recommendations  for 
implementing  the  2001  ESS  Quality  Declaration  adopted  by  the  Statistical 
Programme Committee and an update of the ESS Quality Guidelines in view of the 
experiences of the peer review process regarding the quality principles. 

As  important  partners  in  ensuring  high  quality  outputs  and  progress  with  regard  to 
addressing key challenges for the ESS, including on priority setting and the reduction 
of  respondent  burden,  deepening  the  co-operation  with  the  European  Central  Bank 
and  the  ESCB  is  considered  crucial.  Adherence  to  the  statistical  principles  as 
codified  in  the  forthcoming  Regulation  on  European  Statistics  and  the  forthcoming 

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amended  Regulation  concerning  the  collection  of  statistical  information  by  the 
European Central Bank will facilitate this co-operation. 

Continuous  efforts  are  also  needed  to  address  adherence  by  other  statistical 
authorities involved in the production and dissemination of European statistics. First 
experiences in extending the implementation of the Code at national level highlight 
the  importance  of  a  strong  co-ordination  role  of  the  NSIs  and  Eurostat  within  the 
national system and the European Commission respectively. 

Eurostat monitoring of the implementation of the Code based on peer reviews carried 
out  over  the  period  2006-2008  and  country  reporting  is  considered  effective  and 
proportionate. 

Another  round  of  peer  reviews  is  envisaged  within  the  next  five  years  subject  to 
advice by the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board in particular on the 
scope and considering costs and benefits. 

Some  adjustments  of  individual  indicators  of  the  Code  will  be  reflected  upon 
building on the experiences gained with the Code as an assessment basis. 

EN 

10 

   EN