Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the production method of EU statistics : a vision for the next decade
Date: 2009-08-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, dissemination of information, exchange of information, freedom of communication, information processing, long-term forecast, statistical method, statistics

EN 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.8.2009 
COM(2009) 404 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

on the production method of EU statistics: a vision for the next decade 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

on the production method of EU statistics: a vision for the next decade 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
1 

Introduction 

Official statistics play a fundamental role in today's society. The availability of impartial and 
objective  statistical  information  is  essential  for  all  decision-makers.  Statistical  information 
underpins  transparency  and  openness  of  policy  decisions,  and  official  statistics  therefore 
represent a public good providing a basis for the smooth functioning of society.  

At  EU  level,  European  statistics  have  become  increasingly  important  for  the  development, 
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of EU policies. European statistics thus constitute 
an  essential  contribution  to  building  the  information  capacity  required  to  sustain  the  EU's 
strategic objectives and the underlying policies and supporting instruments. 

European  statistics  are  developed,  produced,  and  disseminated  on  the  basis  of  uniform 
standards and harmonised methods. The National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) of the Member 
States  collect  and  produce  harmonised  data  that  are  compiled  by  Eurostat  to  construct 
statistics  at  EU  level.  This  is  done  in  numerous  parallel  processes,  country  by  country  and 
domain per domain, following the traditional stovepipe model. 

This  way  of  producing  statistics  is,  however,  no  longer  fully  adapted  to  the  changing 
environment.  The  new  Regulation  on  statistics1  introduces  the  European  Statistical  System 
(ESS),  thereby  allowing  improvements  of  efficiency  through  a  systematic  collaboration 
between the partners of the system. 

This  Communication  offers  a  vision  for  reforming  the  production  method  of  European 
statistics.  While  the  proposed  changes  will  affect  the  production  systems  of  the  ESS  as  a 
whole, they fully respect the subsidiarity principle. Moreover, as some  Member  States have 
already  started  implementing  a  number  of  these  changes,  one  of  the  aims  of  the  present 
Communication is to coordinate their efforts so as to avoid duplication of work and to exploit 
synergies to the maximum extent.  

The  next  section  presents  an  overview  of  the  current  way  of  producing  European  statistics, 
based  on  the  stovepipe  model.  Section  3  describes  the  changes  that  lie  behind  the  current 
proposal to re-engineer the production method of statistics in the EU. Section 4 analyses the 
consequences  of  these  changes  for  the  business  architecture  of  the  ESS,  and  presents  the 
European systems method to statistics as an alternative to the current one. Section 5 discusses 
some  policy  and  management  challenges  that  would  result  from  the  implementation  of  the 
new model, both for NSIs and for Eurostat. Finally, Section 6 presents the next steps for the 
implementation of the strategic vision outlined in this Communication. 

2 

The current situation: the augmented stovepipe model 

For many decades, the production of European statistics has been based on a model in which 
the  NSIs  of  the  individual  Member  States  each  produce  their  own  national  statistics  in  a 
particular domain. In order to guarantee comparability and consistency among the data of all 
Member  States,  the  output  from  NSIs  is  harmonised  according  to  agreed  standards.  The 

1 

Regulation  (EC)  No  223/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  March  2009  on 
European Statistics 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
 
                                                 
statistics produced by the individual NSIs are compiled by Eurostat so as to obtain European 
totals. 

BOX 1: The development of the current production system of European statistics* 

The production of European statistics started with the creation of the European Coal and Steel 
Community (ECSC) in the early 1950s. This led to the requirement to have quantitative and 
qualitative  information  on  which  to  base  political  decisions  regarding  the  single  market  for 
coal and steel. In order to have comparable data for the six Member States, it was necessary to 
compile new harmonised statistics, separate from national statistics which were piecemeal and 
lacked  comparability.  The  harmonisation  of  methods  was  the  foundation  of  European 
statistics. 

For  several  decades,  the  production  of  European  statistics  consisted  of  collecting  available 
data  in  the  Member  States,  thereby  ensuring  the  comparability  of  concepts,  definitions,  and 
methods.  

The  Rome  Treaty  on  the  European  Economic  Community  (EEC)  marked  the  birth  of 
European  legislation  on  statistics,  for  which  the  basis  is  laid  in  Art.  213  (subsequently  Art. 
284). However, the dominant working method remained primarily based on the goodwill and 
cooperation  between  Eurostat  and  the  National  Statistical  Institutes  (NSIs),  resulting  in 
voluntary  data  collections  based  on  so-called  "gentlemen's  agreements".  Prior  to  the  1990s, 
there had been few statistical legal acts, and these had been concentrated in those fields where 
genuine Commission policies existed: agriculture and external trade. 

Since  the  1990s,  certain  European  policies  became  directly  based  on  statistics,  the  most 
noteworthy example of this being the convergence criteria for EMU of the Maastricht Treaty. 
This development contributed hugely to the more general expansion of statistical legislation. 
However, the essence of the production of European statistics continued to remain what it had 
been in the past: the NSIs collect and produce harmonised data that are compiled by Eurostat 
to construct statistics at EU level. The approach continued to be "augmented": the European 
level was added to the national level. 

The Regulation on European Statistics** emphasises the need to strengthen cooperation in the 
ESS, e.g. through the introduction of the cost-effectiveness-principle (Art. 2 (f)), the European 
Statistical  System  Committee  (Art.  7),  collaborative  networks  (Art.  15.),  and  a  European 
approach  to  statistics  (Art.  16).  Generally,  a  next  phase  for  official  statistics  in  Europe  has 
been initiated. The European Systems Method to Statistics aims at realising the intentions of 
the  law,  namely  to  put  in  place  a  real  "system"  that  makes  use  of  cooperation  and 
standardisation as far as possible while respecting the subsidiarity principle. 

_________________ 

*  This  box  draws  on  De  Michelis,  Alberto  and  Alain  Chantraine,  Memoirs  of  Eurostat, 
Luxembourg, 2003 

** Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 
2009 on European Statistics 

Within each NSI, the production of statistics operates through the various production lines or 
processes  of  the  different  statistical  domains.  The  whole  of  the  production  processes  of  a 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
statistical office is referred to as its business architecture. At present, the business architecture 
of most of the EU NSIs is still mainly based on a product stovepipe model. In such a model, 
every single product stovepipe corresponds to a specific domain of statistics, together with the 
corresponding  production  system.  For  each  domain,  the  whole  production  process  from 
survey design over data collection and processing to dissemination takes place independently 
of other domains, and each has its own data suppliers and user groups. 

In order to produce European statistics, Eurostat compiles the data coming from individual 
NSIs also area by area. The same product stovepipe model thus exists in Eurostat, where the 
harmonised  data  in  a  particular  statistical  domain  are  aggregated  to  produce  European 
statistics  in  that  domain.  The  traditional  approach  for  the  production  of  European  statistics 
based on the stovepipe model can thus be labelled as an "augmented" stovepipe model, in that 
the European level is added to the national level.  

The stovepipe model is the outcome of a long historic process in which statistics in individual 
domains have developed independently from each other. It has a number of advantages: the 
production processes are best adapted to the corresponding products; it is flexible in that it can 
adapt quickly to relatively minor changes in the underlying phenomena that the data describe; 
it is under the control of the domain manager and it results in a low-risk business architecture, 
as  a  problem  in  one  of  the  production  processes  should  normally  not  affect  the  rest  of  the 
production.  From  a  European  perspective  it  has  the  advantage  that  it  can  be  addressed  by  a 
relatively limited and specific Regulation. 

However,  the  stovepipe  model  also  has  a  number  of  disadvantages.  First,  it  imposes  an 
unnecessarily  heavy  burden  on  respondents.  Given  that  the  collection  of  data  in  different 
domains  is  done  in  an  independent  and  uncoordinated  manner,  respondents  are  regularly 
asked  for  the  same  information  more  than  once  (see  Boxes  2  and  3).  Second,  the  stovepipe 
model is not well adapted to collect data on phenomena that cover multiple dimensions, such 
as  globalisation  or  climate  change.  Last  but  not  least,  this  way  of  production  is  highly 
inefficient  and  costly,  as  it  does  not  make  use  of  standardisation  between  areas  and 
collaboration  between  Member  States.  Redundancies  and  duplication  of  work,  be  it  in 
development, 
in  dissemination  processes  are  unavoidable.  These 
inefficiencies  and  costs  for  the  production  of  national  data  are  further  amplified  when  it 
comes  to  collecting  and  integrating  regional  data,  which  are  indispensible  for  the  design, 
monitoring and evaluation of some EU policies.  

in  production  or 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
The "augmented" stovepipe model 

EU data 
compilation 

  Domain 1 

Domain 2 

  Domain N 

Transmission to 
Eurostat 

Data 
processing 

Data 
collection 

Domain 1  Domain 2 …  Domain N 

Domain 1 Domain 2 …

Member State 1 

Member State 2 

Member State 27 

EN 

6 

   EN 

 
 
3 

Changes in the ESS business environment 

Any development in the area of statistics is determined by two main drivers: on the one hand 
the  need  to  deal  with  new  and  emerging  needs  for  statistics,  and  on  the  other  the  need  to 
reduce the burden on respondents, as well as the costs for producing statistics. In addition, the 
circumstances  in  which  statistics are produced have changed following developments in the 
information technology. 

Firstly, new requirements for statistics will continue to increase in terms of both quantity and 
quality. In all areas of statistics, information needs continue to grow. Users increasingly need 
integrated  and  consistent  data,  as  the  phenomena  that  are  being  measured  become  more 
complex  and  interrelated.  New  themes  emerge,  like  globalisation,  climate  change,  aging 
populations,  energy  efficiency  etc.  A  common  feature  of  many  of  these  is  that  they  reflect 
several interrelated and mutually dependent underlying phenomena. As a result, a stovepipe 
model in which statistics in different domains are produced independently from each other is 
poorly adapted to serve the policy requirements for integrated data sets. 

Secondly,  simplifying  and  improving  the  regulatory  environment  for  EU  businesses  and 
citizens is a long-standing priority for the Commission. In the area of statistics, the strategic 
approach  and  work  plan  set  out  in  the  Commission’s  Communication  on  reduction  of  the 
response burden, simplification and priority-setting in the field of Community statistics2 was 
welcomed by the Council. Its implementation has progressed well, in particular in the area of 
business and trade statistics with the adoption of the MEETS programme3 and the revision of 
the  Intrastat  Regulation4.  Work  in  the  area  of  burden  reduction  will  continue  in  the 
foreseeable future and will have to be extended to other statistical domains. As argued in the 
previous  section,  one  of  the  main  disadvantages  of  the  stovepipe  model  is  precisely  that  it 
imposes  a  heavy  burden  on  respondents.  This  is  another  major  reason  to  put  the  stovepipe 
model into question. 

Thirdly,  new  ICT  tools  continue  to  be  developed  in  order  to  improve  efficiency,  reduce 
burden, and enhance statistical quality. As new technologies become available, there is a clear 
drive  to  maximise  their  use  and  to  gear  statistical  methods  toward  them.  New  forms  of 
communicating with users and producers such as web 2.0, as well as other new developments 
in  information  technology,  are  likely  to  result  in  profound  changes  in  communication 
channels and data handling and storage. Eurostat’s compilation of data originating from NSIs 
is already becoming increasingly interactive through subsequent iterations of data deliveries 
and  validation,  by  which  the  quality  of  the  statistics  is  being  improved.  These  factors  will 
have to be reflected in both dissemination and production processes. Moreover, as a result of 
these  developments  the  production  of  statistics  has  become  more  integrated,  not  just  in  the 
economy but in society as a whole. The development, production and dissemination of official 
statistics  have  thus  to  be  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  the  “knowledge  society”.  Again,  the 
stovepipe model does not seem to be adapted to these developments. 

2 
3 

4 

Communication on reduction of response burden, simplification and priority setting (COM(2006) 693). 
Decision No 1297/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on a 
Programme for the Modernisation of European Enterprise and Trade Statistics (MEETS) 
Regulation  (EC)  No  222/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  March  2009 
amending  Regulation  (EC)  No  638/2004  on  Community  statistics  relating  to  the  trading  of  goods 
between Member States, OJ L 87 

EN 

7 

   EN 

 
                                                 
All these considerations lead to the conclusion that the stovepipe model is no longer suited for 
the current circumstances, and will have to be replaced by a better alternative.  

The main intention and strategic direction of this vision paper is to improve the efficiency of 
statistical  production.  Only  a  permanent  adaptation  of  the  portfolio  of  its  products  and 
services through innovation and new developments will guarantee that the ESS can continue 
to play a relevant role for decision making in the future. An efficiency policy will enable the 
ESS  to  cope  with  the  conflict  between  increasing  information  needs  on  the  one  hand  and 
resource constraints on the other. 

Box 2: Impacts for citizens and administrations 

Citizens are not regularly asked to respond to a questionnaire from official statistics: 

Household surveys normally work with very small samples.  
Population censuses traditionally take place only once every ten years.  
Certain  life-events  (e.g.  birth,  going  to  school,  an  accident,  retirement)  lead  to  a  specific 
recording  in  demographic  and  social  statistics.  However,  these  statistics  are  normally 
produced by using the sources from administrations, education or health systems.  

Nevertheless,  an  optimisation  of  statistics  through  the  integration  and  an  increased  use  of 
administrative sources is an important goal. A decreasing willingness to respond to statistical 
surveys  has  already  lead  to  innovative  and  lean  solutions  for  the  next  round  of  population 
censuses  in  2010/11.  It  is  now  essential  to  proceed  on  that  pathway  and  to  envisage  a  re-
engineering of European population and social statistics for the time after these censuses. If 
the  data  collected  for  statistical  purposes  are  personal  data,  which  means  any  information 
relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, the relevant data protection legislation 
should  be  fully  applicable  and  data  should,  in  principle,  be  anonymised  before  further 
processing for statistical use. An essential precondition for feasible solutions in this area will 
be  that  the  needs  of  data  protection  as  reflected  in  the  relevant  EU  legislation5  should  be 
incorporated.  Furthermore,  it  will  be  essential  to  ensure  that  statistical  requirements 
(definitions, flow of data, data-access) are respected by the administrated sources.  

Consequences  for  the  ESS  business  architecture:  the  European  systems  method 

4 
to statistics 

At the level of the Member States 

The strategy in dealing with the above changes is based on a holistic approach, rather than a 
fragmented  one,  and  it  will  imply  replacing  the  stovepipe  model  with  an  integrated  model. 
Indeed,  the  various  disadvantages  of  the  stovepipe  model  referred  to  in  section  2  can  be 
adequately avoided through the integration of data sets and by combining data from different 
sources.  

At  the  level  of  the  NSIs,  statistics  for  specific  domains  are  then  no  longer  produced 
independently  from  each  other;  instead  they  are  produced  as  integrated  parts  of 
comprehensive production systems (the so-called data warehouse approach) for clusters of 
statistics. These systems would be based on a common (technical) infrastructure, they would 

5 

Directive 95/46/EC of 24 October 1995 (OJ L 281) and Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001 of 18 December 
2000 (OJ L 8) 

EN 

8 

   EN 

 
                                                 
apply as far as possible standardised software, and they would make use of all available data 
sources which are appropriate in quality.  

For  that  purpose,  it  needs  to  be  investigated how  information  from  different  sources  can  be 
merged and exploited for different purposes, e.g. by eliminating methodological differences, 
making statistical classifications uniform, etc.  

As an optimal solution, it would be highly efficient for Member States to create a network of 
databases,  from  which  any  relevant  information  could  be  extracted.  As  such  a  solution  can 
only be fully implemented in the long term, it is proposed to link data at the micro-data level 
in  the  medium  term.  Micro-data  linking  is  an  important  tool  not  only  for  the  purpose  of 
burden  reduction,  but  also  to  have  better  comparable  data  sets.  This  process  should  also 
provide  an  opportunity  to  extend  and  better  exploit  the  statistical  information  which  is 
available at the regional level and hence would significantly contribute to improve the scope 
and the quality of regional data. In the short term, the close cooperation within the ESS, as 
well  as  the  establishment  and  development  of  joint  structures,  tools  and  processes  through 
collaborative networks, should put the ESS business architecture on the right track towards its 
long-term goals. 

Box 3: Implications for businesses 

The  following  is  an  example  of  a  real-life  worst-case  situation  that  results  from  the  current 
production model. A company with 200 persons employed produces parts for the automobile 
industry.  In  the  beginning  of  each  year  it  submits  two  surveys  used  for  Structural  Business 
Statistics.  They  cover  turnover,  purchases  of  goods  and  services,  operating  surplus, 
employment,  personnel  costs  and  investments.  It  also  submits  data  on  its  use  of  energy  for 
energy statistics. It reports monthly on its trade inside the EU (Intrastat) in value and volume. 
It  also  submits  monthly  reports  on  its  business  trends  for  Short  term  statistic  (turnover, 
employment, new orders). It reports monthly on its production of goods in value and volume. 
For  each  separate  data  collection,  it  has  to  provide  the  same  information  on  certain  basic 
company features such as turnover.  

In  an  integrated  system,  many  of  these  data  could  be  obtained  from  existing  administrative 
data and/or extracted directly from company accounts. For the remainder, one monthly survey 
should suffice to gather the information that cannot be collected otherwise.  

The  integrated  model  is  based  on  the  fact  that  governments  collect  data  for  many  non-
statistical purposes, such as tax and labour market policies. Efficiency gains can be obtained 
by  the  re-use  of  these  administrative  data  for  statistical  purposes.  Also  data  from  other 
(external) sources can contribute to this, e.g. through the use of private information providers 
or  the  direct  use  of  accounting  data  from  companies.  But  efforts  are  needed  to  ensure  the 
quality  of  the  data,  because  very  often  the  administrative  and  other  external  data  are  not 
available in the form needed for statistics.  

Box 4: Combining survey data with administrative data 

The  European  Labour  Force  Survey  (LFS)  is  the  basis  for  the  calculation  of  harmonised 
unemployment  figures.  The  LFS  directly  provides  for  quarterly  estimates.  They  are  fully 
comparable  across  Member  States  as  they  are  produced  using  the  agreed  concepts  of  the 
International  Labour  Organisation  (ILO).  Policy  makers,  analysts  and  the  public  at  large, 
however, need comparable unemployment data also at a monthly frequency. 

EN 

9 

   EN 

 
While for a few Member States such monthly estimates can be derived directly from the LFS, 
for  most  other  countries  this  is  not  possible.  For  the  latter  cases,  Eurostat  has  developed  a 
method  to  produce  monthly  estimates  by  combining  quarterly  LFS  results  and  monthly 
information  on  registered  unemployed.  Data  on  registered  unemployed  come  from  national 
labour  market  administrations.  They  are  influenced  by  the  specific  administrative  rules  in 
each country. While their levels, therefore, are not comparable, their changes from month to 
month,  however,  can  be  used  as  an  indicator  for  developments  over  the  short-term.  In  the 
Eurostat  methodology, 
the  comparable  quarterly  benchmark  for 
unemployment levels, to which the indicator of monthly movements based on registered data 
is linked. That way, the combination of survey results and administrative data allows a quick 
and efficient response to public information needs. 

the  LFS  provides 

At the level of the EU 

At the European level, there are two dimensions to the integrated model: a horizontal one and 
a  vertical  one.  The  combination  of  both  dimensions  results  in  the  new  European  systems 
method to statistics. 

Horizontal  integration  at  the  European  level  is  similar  to  what  has  been  described  for  the 
Member  States.  Abandoning  the  stovepipe  model  in  the  NSIs  would  have  the  direct 
implication that also European statistics would no longer be produced domain per domain but 
similarly in an integrated fashion.  

The vertical aspect of the integrated model at the European level consists of two elements. 
First, in the individual statistical actions, synergies shall be developed within the ESS. Joint 
structures,  tools  and  processes  could  be  established  or  further  developed  through 
collaborative  networks,  involving  both  the  national  statistical  authorities  and  Eurostat.  As 
foreseen  in  Art.  15  of  the  Regulation  on  European  Statistics6,  these  collaborative  networks 
between partners of the ESS will facilitate specialisation by certain Member States in specific 
statistical activities for the benefit of the ESS as a whole. This will avoid duplication of work 
and thus increase efficiency and reduce the unnecessary burden on respondents.  

The integrated model 

6 

See footnote 1. 

EN 

10 

   EN 

 
                                                 
EU data 
compilation 

  Processing 

Entry 

Common 
infrastructure

Primary  

Administrative 
data repositories 

Other external 
sources 

The second element concerns the European approach to statistics (Art. 16 of the Regulation 
on European Statistics). The underlying idea is that having data that are reliable at the national 
level is a sufficient condition for having reliable data at the European aggregate level, but it is 
not  a  necessary  condition.  If  the  only  purpose  of  the  data  is  to  provide  information  at  EU 
level,  there  is  no  need  for  a  full  set  of  national  data,  and  there  is  therefore  a  potential 
efficiency gain in the system. EU sampling is a possible approach for making this gain real. In 
areas where there is no need to have national data, EU sampling may lead to a reduced burden 
on respondents, better timeliness, and improved quality. The European approach to statistics 
could also include the production of European statistics by the use of non-published national 
contributions  or  contributions  from  a  subset  of  Member  States,  as  well  as  the  use  of  partial 
information by modelling techniques.  

To  sum  up:  at  EU  level  the  integrated  model  of  producing  statistics  has  two  dimensions:  it 
covers both horizontal integration across statistical domains at the level of NSIs and Eurostat, 
and vertical integration covering both the national and EU levels. This model for producing 
European statistics is labelled the European systems method to statistics. 

5 

Some policy and management challenges 

5.1 

Challenges for the ESS 

Several  elements  of  the  proposed  integrated  model  imply  a  change  in  the  professional 
paradigm from "data-collectors" to "re-users of data". While data collected through traditional 
methods are under the control of the statistical institutes, this is much less the case for re-used 
data, and this entails certain risks: concepts and definitions may be changed by the owners of 
the data, certain data collections could be discontinued or altered, etc. In order to ensure that 
the legitimate interest of statistics is taken into account, the position vis-à-vis the owners of 

EN 

11 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
re-used  data  (administrators,  regulators  or  others)  has  to  be  reconsidered  and  possibly 
strengthened.  

There are considerable challenges of a technical and methodological nature. Standardisation 
and integration of formerly separated production processes will demand great efforts and an 
effective change management. Re-engineering of a production system with a group of around 
thirty producers will only be feasible in a stepwise approach and with intensive collaboration. 
Furthermore,  the  quality  assessment  of  statistics  will  become  much  more  complex.  As  an 
example: traditional quality measures (e.g. sampling error) will become less relevant as data 
collection will make less use of sampling techniques. A new quality assessment methodology 
will therefore have to be developed.  

Thirdly,  the  new  business  architecture  that  will  result  from  the  introduction  of  these 
innovative  characteristics  will  enable  the  ESS  to  improve  the  effectiveness  as  well  as  the 
efficiency  of  the  production  processes.  There  is  however  a  need  to  complement  this 
strategic  direction  with  an  improved  communication  with  users.  Statistical  information 
never  has  been  self-evident;  on  the  contrary,  for  many  users  it  represents  real  world 
phenomena  with  a  high  degree  of  abstraction.  The  more  statistical  production  is  based  on 
complex  methodology  the  more  it  is  necessary  to  explain  the  results.  Trust  in  the  statistical 
system  and  the  perception  of  the  quality  of  statistical  information  are  closely  related. 
Furthermore, a basic education in simple statistical elements could help to mitigate a tendency 
of  misunderstanding  with  the  general  public  (“innumeracy”).  As  a  consequence,  user 
orientation has to be the guiding principle in communication.  

Box 5: New ways of communicating with users 

Statistics  Explained  is  a  new  tool  to  for  the  dissemination  of  (meta-)  data  via  Eurostat’s 
website. It will replace printed publications and will allow merging data and meta-information 
with  explanatory  texts.  It  will  therefore  integrate  seamlessly  statistical  publications  and 
databases. Statistics explained will be based on Web 2.0 Wiki-type technology. Content will 
be  built  in  a  decentralised  way  by  the  domain  specific  directorate,  while  editing 
responsibilities  at  the  dissemination  unit  will  aim  at  harmonisation  and  good  quality.  A 
prototype has already been developed and presented internally; a first version could be offered 
to the public in the second half of 2009. 

Finally,  at  the  level  of  the  NSIs  in  particular  there  will  be  a  need  to  review  the  internal 
organisation  in  order  to  adapt  it  to  the  new  circumstances.  Staff  qualifications  will  have  to 
match the new requirements (e.g. in terms of technological and communication skills). New 
staff  with  different  qualifications  will  have  to  be  recruited  and  current  staff  will  need  to 
participate in advanced training. 

5.2 

Challenges for Eurostat 

As ESS statistical production processes become more complex and integrated, Eurostat has to 
reconsider its approach for assuring quality in all its dimensions. 

Over  the  past  decade  or  so,  there  has  been  a  continuous  drive  to  base  the  collection  of 
statistics within the ESS on legislation rather than on voluntary agreements with the Member 
States. This policy has been motivated partly by the wish of Member States and of Eurostat to 
have an explicit statement of the obligations of Member States to transmit data, and partly to 
ensure  the  quality  of  the  statistics.  The  legal  approach  has  been  very  successful  in  ensuring 

EN 

12 

   EN 

 
quality  in  all  its  dimensions,  including  the  comparability  and  completeness  of  EU  statistics. 
However,  as  statistical  production  processes  become  more  complex  and  integrated,  quality 
will  in  future  be  assured  by  a  combination  of  a  new  generation  of  statistical  legislation 
together with other instruments. 

The implementation of the European systems method to statistics involves three components. 
The  first  component  remains  Community  legislation,  which  will  continue  to  be  mainly 
output-oriented  and  to  set  minimum  standards  for the  production  of  statistics  in  a  particular 
area.  A  corollary  of  this  principle  would  be  that  there  should  be  no  financial  support  to 
Member  States  for  fulfilling  such  minimum  standards.  Eurostat  proposals  for  future 
Community  statistical  legislation  would  be  formulated  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  and  to 
promote  the  emerging  architecture  of  interdependent  production  systems  drawing  upon 
multiple sources. The new generation of statistical legal acts would deal with broader areas of 
statistics than has been the practice up to now, emphasizing the use of multiple data sources, 
of innovative data collection methods, of the information available at the regional level and of 
cross-domain concepts. Most of the technical aspects of the legislation would not be part of 
the  "basic"  legal  framework  of  a  particular  statistical  domain,  but  would  be  laid  down  in 
implementing legislation. This  will  increase the flexibility of the legal approach. It is worth 
noting  that  the  proposed  legal  approach  is  fully  in  line  with  the  recommendations  of  the 
Eurostat Peer Review7. 

The output-oriented approach of the legal component of the strategy could be complemented 
by  input  harmonisation  through  the  use  of  common  tools  within  the  ESS.  The  second 
therefore  concerns  complementing  product  harmonisation  by  process 
component 
harmonisation through the promotion of methodologies based on common tools. While this is 
required for the development of more integrated systems, it would also allow fully exploiting 
synergies  and  economies  of  scale.  However,  the  provision  of  common  methodological  and 
ICT tools for the ESS as a whole is particularly difficult, as the responsibility (and thus also 
the costs) for the development of such instruments would have to be shared between Eurostat 
and NSIs. The proposed strategy therefore foresees a significant financial contribution to this 
development at EU level, which will also allow Eurostat to steer the system into the desired 
direction.  Several  forms  of  ESS-wide  collaboration  can  be  mobilised  to  this  end.  Amongst 
them,  it  is  worth  mentioning  the  ESS  collaboration  networks  (ESSnet),  which  consist  of 
projects carried out by a team of institutions aiming at developing results which can be used 
by  the  whole  ESS  community.  ESSnet  projects  are  co-financed  by  the  Commission  and 
participating institutions. 

The  third  component  is  the  promotion  of  common  values  and  the  sharing  of  knowledge 
throughout the ESS. The legal component (setting a bottom line) and the technical component 
(offering the best available tools) have to be complemented by a component that deals with 
the intelligence and know-how that are available in the system, i.e. with the human capital of 
the  ESS.  While  the  Code  of  Practice  has  done  a  lot  for  the  promotion  of  common  values 
within the ESS, less has been done to date on  knowledge sharing, despite the fact that staff 
trained in identical methodology is the best enabler of comparability. It is therefore proposed 
to create a true European research and training facility for statistics.  

7 

All National Statistical Institutes and Eurostat were subject to a peer review during 2006-2008 in order 
to assess compliance with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The Code sets out the key principles 
for  the  production  and  dissemination  of  European  official  statistics  and  the  institutional  environment 
under which national and Community statistical authorities operate, aimed at enhancing their integrity, 
independence and accountability. 

EN 

13 

   EN 

 
                                                 
Box 6: Implications for Eurostat's role in the Commission 

Statistics  on  the  international  trade  in  goods  between  EU  Member  States  and  non-EU 
countries  are  compiled  on  the  basis  of  customs  data.  In  the  course  of  2008,  extensive 
consultations  took  place  between  DG  TAXUD  and  Eurostat  on  future  changes  to  this  data 
collection  in  connection  with  a  future  review  of  the  Customs  Code.  The  outcome  was  an 
agreement between both DGs that will ensure that statistical needs are taken on board in the 
review of the Customs Code. Without such an agreement, there would have been a risk that 
survey  data  would  have  to  be  collected  instead,  thereby  greatly  increasing  the  burden  on 
businesses. Also in other domains, mainly as a result of the increased use of non-survey data, 
it will have to be ensured that statistical interests are taken into account when (re-)designing 
administrative data sources. Political support at the highest level is needed so as to guarantee 
that other Commission services respect the legitimate concerns of the producers of statistics. 

Moreover, the changes in the ESS business environment referred to in section 3 have resulted 
in a major overhaul of the governance system of the ESS. The new Regulation on European 
Statistics*  strengthens  the  mission  of  Eurostat.  Together  with  the  set-up  of  a  European 
Statistical  Governance  Advisory  Board  (ESGAB)  and  a  European  Statistical  Advisory 
Committee  (ESAC),  the  modernisation  of  the  legal  requirements  forms  an  essential 
contribution towards enhancing and complementing the governance of the ESS. Governance 
has also been improved in recent years through the adoption and subsequent implementation 
of  the  European  Statistics  Code  of  Practice,  which  is  a  core  element  of  a  formalised  and 
systematic type of quality management. 

While  they  are  not  a  direct  consequence  of  the  re-design  of  the  production  systems  of  EU 
statistics,  these  developments  have  likewise  resulted  in  the  extension  of  Eurostat's  mission 
beyond  the  mere  coordination  with  NSIs.  On  the  one  hand,  Eurostat  will  be  required  to 
provide an enhanced statistical service to other Community bodies (technical advice, quality 
checks); on the other it will have to enhance communication with these Community bodies to 
anticipate  statistical  needs  and  enhance  the  usage  of  existing  statistics.  This  will  imply 
building  closer  relations  with  other  Commission  services  not  only  through  annual  hearings, 
but also through joint analytical activities. A Commission statistical correspondents network 
will be set up for this purpose. 

__________ 

* Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on 
European Statistics 

6 

Moving towards the new European systems method to statistics 

It is clear that the vision on the modernisation of the business architecture in the EU presented 
above cannot be implemented by Eurostat alone. Rather, it concerns a joint effort of all ESS 
partners, which each have their particular role to play under the full respect of the principle of 
subsidiarity.  For  the  vision  to  be  successful,  it  needs  to  be  supported  by  them.  It  is  thus  of 
major importance that Eurostat would involve its partners in the ESS at an early stage of the 
process. In order to do so, it is proposed that Eurostat would present it to the ESS Committee 
immediately after its adoption. This aims at ensuring that NSIs would assume ownership of 
the process, without which it risks to remain limited to those elements that can be introduced 
at EU level only. 

EN 

14 

   EN 

 
The Commission will also seek the support of the European Parliament  and  of the Council, 
which  will  be  key  to  the  successful  implementation  of  the  proposed  vision  on  the 
modernisation  of  the  business  architecture  in  the  EU.  Member  States  will  in  particular  be 
involved through the discussions in the ECOFIN Council. As it has become tradition over the 
past few years, in November the Council will discuss a number of issues related to statistics 
(the so-called statistical package), and the present proposal will be one of the elements of this 
year's  package.  As  soon  as  it  has  been  adopted  by  the  Commission,  it  will  therefore  be 
submitted to the Economic and Financial Committee for discussion. 

Furthermore, also other stakeholders need to be part of the strategy. User groups will have to 
be  consulted  at  an  early  stage  as  well,  given  that  the  inevitable  consequence  of  the  new 
business architecture will be that the features and even content of European statistics may be 
altered drastically. Their concerns need to be taken on board when implementing the change 
to the new business architecture, and their consent needs to be actively sought. Therefore, the 
proposal will also be submitted to the ESAC. 

In the meantime, the ongoing efforts to re-engineer the production processes that are already 
under way will continue. This concerns various initiatives such as the rationalisation of the IT 
architecture  via  the  Data  Life  Cycle  (CVD)  project,  the  introduction  of  a  more  interactive 
production chain on the basis of a "data at the source" solution via the Census hub project as 
well as through the Environmental Data Centres, and the re-engineering of business and trade 
statistics via the MEETS programme. 

EN 

15 

   EN