Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the mid-term evaluation of the community statistical programme 2008-2012
Date: 2010-06-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Eurostat, data collection, project evaluation, report, statistics, trade statistics

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 30.6.2010 
COM(2010)346 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL  

ON THE MID-TERM EVALUATION OF THE COMMUNITY STATISTICAL 
PROGRAMME 2008-2012 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL  

ON THE MID-TERM EVALUATION OF THE COMMUNITY STATISTICAL 
PROGRAMME 2008-2012 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Decision  No  1578/2007/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  the 
Community  Statistical  Programme  2008  to  2012  (CSP)  was  adopted1  on  11 
December  2007.  It 
the  policy  priorities  of  prosperity, 
competitiveness,  innovation  and  growth,  solidarity  and  human  development, 
economic,  social  and  regional  cohesion,  sustainable  development  and  demographic 
challenges and further enlargement of the European Union (EU). 

is  underpinned  by 

This  document  constitutes  the  interim  report  required  by  Article  6  of  the  Decision 
and  is  based  on  Eurostat’s  internal  reporting  mechanisms  for  annual  work 
programmes and on a consultant’s report covering some specific elements. Section 2 
summarises the CSP’s main achievements, section 3 looks ahead to the second half 
of the CSP and section 4 deals with specific elements that have to be addressed in the 
report. Section 5 presents recommendations for the future. 

2. 

MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PROGRAMME 

The focus here is on the first two years of the programme. 

Summary 

The  CSP  contains  around  130  objectives,  most  of  them  multiannual  and  requiring 
steady  implementation  over  the  entire  programme  period.  For  each  Title2  of  the 
programme, many of the objectives (around 90 %) are on track and are likely to be 
achieved by the end of 2012 although resource constraints in the ESS may render this 
more difficult than expected. Some important objectives had already been met by the 
end of 2009 (establishment of the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board 
(ESGAB), adoption of an energy statistics regulation, a more user-friendly Eurostat 
website).  Objectives  for  which  work  has  yet  to  begin  include  the  development  of 
indicators  for  analysing  the  performance  of  logistics  and  intermodal  transport,  the 
implementation  of  NACE  rev2  in  national  accounts  and  the  development  of  a 
methodology for assessing the quality of regional data. 

In addition, the European Statistical System (ESS) demonstrated its capacity to deal 
with the statistical consequences of the financial crisis in the areas of macroeconomic 
treatment  of  government 
and  social  statistics.  Decisions  on 

the  statistical 

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OJ L 344, 28.12.2007 
According to the Treaties. 

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interventions  were  issued  and  appropriate  economic  and  labour  market  indicators 
were  provided.  The  existing  statistical  indicators  are  being  reviewed  and  several 
projects  aiming  to  provide  additional  indicators  for  policymakers  by  making  better 
use of existing data are in progress. Given that fewer resources will be available, an 
even  stronger  effort  to  harmonise  methodology,  concepts  and  definitions  in  many 
areas and to improve standardisation will be needed to meet all the objectives of the 
CSP by the end of 2012. 

Cross-cutting Issues 

The role of statistics in European integration 

Based  on  the  new  Regulation  on  the  Business  Register  work  on  creating  a 
Community  register  of  multinational  enterprise  groups  progressed  well  with  the 
validation  of  datasets  on  5  000  such  groups.  A  draft  regulation  on  the  exchange  of 
confidential  data  between  Eurostat  and  the  European  System  of  Central  Banks  was 
prepared  with  a  view  to  enhancing  register  quality.  Other  notable  activities  include 
greater  efforts  to  standardise  data  transmission  tools  and  metadata,  further 
development of integrated IT tools for the  production systems, conceptual  work on 
the  new  European  System  of  National  Accounts  (ESA)  and  the  successful 
implementation  of  NACE  rev2  in  many  statistical  domains.  A  new  governance 
structure  for  statistical  confidentiality  and  a  process  for  providing  feedback  on 
relevant research projects to the ESS were established. 

Relations with stakeholders 

The ESS 

A first report on the ESS’s compliance with the European Statistics Code of Practice 
(CoP)  was  published  in  2008,  implementation  has  continued  throughout  the  ESS 
since then and the ESGAB, established to provide an independent view of the ESS in 
this regard, supports regular compliance measurement and follow-up of improvement 
actions.  The  European  Statistical  Training  Programme  is  now  being  developed 
annually as part of a long-term strategy. 

Cooperation with users 

Dialogue  with  users  was  reinforced  through  conferences  on  national  accounts  and 
price  statistics  and  by  establishing  and  rendering  operational  the  new  user 
consultation  body  (European  Statistical  Advisory  Committee),  initiating  dialogues 
with other stakeholders and hearings inside the Commission. 

Technical  cooperation  with  third  countries  and  cooperation  with  international 
organisations 

The  profile  of  the  ESS  and  European  standards  on  the  global  stage  was  raised 
through regular consultation and coordination. 

Instruments 

Better regulation and the balance of costs and benefits 

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Activities  in  this  regard  revealed  that  neither  burden  nor  costs  are  measured  by  all 
Member  States  (MS)  in  a  systematic  or  homogeneous  way  for  all  statistical  fields. 
Proposals  for  simplifying  and  recasting  legislation  in  energy,  transport,  migration, 
Intrastat,  Structural Business  Statistics (SBS) and agriculture were adopted in 2008 
and  2009  in  the  ongoing  drive  to  reduce  the  burden  on  respondents.  As  further 
mechanical  simplification  of  statistical  requirements  would  disturb  the  smooth 
provision  of  good  quality  data  to  users,  Eurostat  set  about  modernising  statistical 
production  processes  while  additionally  reviewing  /  reprioritising  the  statistical 
programme. 

Compliance monitoring 

Regular  compliance  monitoring  for  enhancing  the  quality  of  Community  statistics 
was implemented within the limitations of the current framework. 

Increased ability to respond to users’ needs 

Several  projects  were  launched  e.g.  in  connection  with  the  modernisation  of 
enterprise and trade statistics (MEETS), to combine different statistical sources and 
to  differentiate  requirements  for  contributions  to  European  totals  (SBS  recast).  The 
use  of  ad-hoc  modules  was  extended  in  the  area  of  social  statistics  (e.g.  on  health, 
disability,  migrants,  transition  from  school  to  work),  seeking  to  increase  the 
responsiveness to new user needs. 

Financial support for the programme period 

In  order  to  simplify  grant-management  procedures  Eurostat  launched  several 
initiatives  such  as  the  development  of  Framework  Partnership  Grant  Agreements, 
examination of flat rates in grants and simplification of procedures for ESS networks 
but further efforts will be needed. 

Utilising partners’ expertise for Community purposes 

New types of collaborative networks were developed to share expertise and channel 
knowledge  and  resources  in  the  ESS  (ESSnets).  They  encompass  project  work 
performed  by  some  MS,  with  the  results  being  made  available  for  the  entire  ESS. 
This instrument for better cooperation in the ESS is being intensively used in several 
domains and has already yielded good results. 

Dissemination 

The  revamped  Eurostat  website  went  online  in  April  2009  with  improved  access, 
navigation facilities and extraction of data and a revised reference database is being 
finalised to enhance functionalities for managing data and metadata. The success of 
various  other  initiatives  such  as  Statistics  Explained  and  flagship  publications  is 
demonstrated by the increasing number of downloads. 

Cross-sectional Activities 

Structural  Indicators  (SI)  were  further  developed  and  used  to  analyse  the  national 
reform  programmes  under  the  monitoring  schemes  for  the  Lisbon  strategy.  Quality 
profiles  and  improved  dissemination  channels  were  developed  for  both  SI  and 

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Sustainable Development Indicators (SDI). The latter were used for updating the EU 
sustainable development strategy and its monitoring report in 2009, and a feasibility 
study seeking to extend them with well-being indicators was finalised. 

On the enlargement front, assistance was given to candidate countries and potential 
candidates  to  modernise  and  strengthen  their  statistical  systems  and  improve  the 
availability  of  good-quality  statistical  data.  Specific  steps  were  taken  to  regularly 
publish data to support the negotiation process and for the international  monitoring 
of population censuses. 

Discussions  on  complementing  macroeconomic  indicators  such  as  GDP  with 
indicators reflecting the social and environmental aspects of progress led to adoption 
of  the  Communication  ‘GDP  and  beyond  –  measuring  progress  in  a  changing 
world’.3 

Statistical Domains per Title 

Free Movement of Goods: New legislation was developed for Intrastat and Extrastat 
aimed at reducing burden on respondents and, for Extrastat, at coping with potential 
data  losses  when  the  required  statistical  data  are  not  available  from  customs 
declarations.  Ways  to  reduce  asymmetries  in  mirror  trade  flows  were  investigated 
and consistency between trade in goods and Balance of Payment (BoP) statistics was 
improved through regular monitoring and issuing appropriate recommendations. 

Agriculture:  Substantial  support  was  provided  to  MS  and  legislation  guaranteeing 
the  implementation  of  an  agriculture  census  covering  the  2009-2010  period  was 
adopted. A strategy to improve land use statistics was developed and efforts made to 
meet  the  statistical  information  needs  for  the  Commission’s  maritime  policy. 
Legislative  measures  were  taken  in  agro-environmental  statistics  and  for  reducing 
burden in the area of animal and crop statistics. 

Free Movement of Persons, Services and Capital: Data were collected for the first 
time in the field of Statistics on Foreign Affiliates and legislation on quality reporting 
was adopted. The methodology for statistics on residence permits was developed and 
implementing measures were adopted. 

Justice,  Freedom  and  Security:  Implementing  measures  on  annual  migration 
statistics  were  prepared.  An  ad-hoc  module  on  the  labour  market  integration  of 
migrants  was  conducted.  Annual  publication  of  statistics  on  crime  and  criminal 
justice started in 2007 and 17 pilots to test the questionnaire for a 2013 EU security 
survey (victimisation survey) were carried out. 

Transport: Data were continuously provided for all modes of transport and the legal 
basis  was  consolidated.  In  relation  to  transport  safety  a  Memorandum  of 
Understanding with other data producers was initiated. 

Economic  and  Monetary  Policy:  In  national  accounts  Eurostat  contributed  to  the 
review of the UN System of National Accounts (SNA) that was finalised in 2009. In 
parallel  the  ESA  is  being  updated  and  its  transmission  programme  is  under 

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COM (2009) 433 of 20.08.2009 

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discussion.  Planning  to  ensure  coordinated  implementation  of  the  revised  ESA  and 
the  new  IMF  BoP  Manual  commenced.  The  verification  of  own  resource  statistics 
received close attention and data for budgetary and fiscal surveillance in the context 
of  the  excessive  deficit  procedure  were  provided  while  at  the  same  time  work  on 
improving  the  methodological  framework  and  the  comparability  of  data  continued. 
The  extraordinary  situation  in  relation  to  Greek  debt  and  deficit  figures  posed  a 
particular  resource-intensive  challenge  to  Eurostat  in  analysing  the  situation  and 
designing  countermeasures.  EU  aggregates  of  the  BoP  financial  account  were 
published  for  the  first  time  in  2009.  For  short-term  statistics  a  report  on  the 
implementation  of  the  regulation  was  published  highlighting  best  practices  and 
quality aspects of the data. Further efforts were made to improve the coverage, length 
of  series  and  timeliness  of  the  Principal  European  Economic  Indicators.  In  price 
statistics  methodological  work  continued  for  the  Harmonised  Index  of  Consumer 
Prices  and  compliance  monitoring  activities  covered  additional  countries.  Progress 
was  made  in  the  collection  of  more  detailed  price  statistics.  Starting  from  2008 
purchasing  power  parities  are  being  produced  in  line  with  the  new  regulation.  The 
project  on  sector  accounts  is  an  example  of  providing  new  statistics  based  on  the 
integration of existing data. 

Employment:  Several  ad-hoc  modules  for  the  labour  force  survey  (LFS)  were 
implemented.  The  legal  basis  for  future  ad-hoc  modules  and  the  regulation  on 
quarterly job vacancy statistics were adopted. A comprehensive quality review of the 
LFS  was  undertaken.  The  results  of  the  2006  Structure  of  Earnings  Survey  were 
disseminated, including to the research community. 

Common Commercial Policy: Progress was made in harmonising data from different 
but  interlinked  statistical  areas  such  as  trade  statistics,  BoP  statistics  and  national 
accounts. 

Social Policy, Education, Vocational Training and Youth: In 2009, in the wake of 
the  crisis,  social  statistics  were  analysed  with  a  view  to  filling  information  gaps. 
Comparable information on social protection and social inclusion became available. 
The  project  on  core  variables  in  social  surveys  is  leading  to  better  integration  of 
concepts  and  definitions  across  areas.  For  statistics  on  education  and  lifelong 
learning  progress  was  made  with  results  on  adult  education  and  continuing 
vocational training being published. A wide range of data on youth was disseminated 
through the EU Youth Report 2009. An overview of all gender-related statistics was 
prepared  and  specific  data  in  this  respect  were  produced.  The  regulation  on  the 
population  and  housing  census  was  adopted  and  implementing  measures  were 
prepared.  General  and  regional  population  projections  were  provided  for 
corresponding policy purposes. 

Public  Health:  A  Framework  Regulation  on  public  health  and  health  and  safety  at 
work  was  adopted,  implementing  measures  were  prepared  and  data  on  health  care, 
causes  of  death,  accidents  at  work  and  occupational  diseases  were  published.  A 
European Health Interview survey was implemented in 2008. 

Consumer Protection: A panorama publication on consumers in Europe as well as a 
pocketbook on food from farm to fork were published. As regards food safety, data 
on food and feed control and monitoring activities were disseminated. 

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Industry:  Development  work  in  business  statistics  focused  on  globalisation  and 
entrepreneurship indicators with several studies and test calculations carried out. The 
MEETS  programme  was  adopted  and  subsequent  annual  work  programmes  were 
approved.  The  information  society  regulation  was  amended  and  data  were  made 
available for Europe’s Digital Competitiveness report. For tourism statistics several 
policy-oriented publications were issued and the legal basis was revised. The project 
on  tourism  satellite  accounts  focused  on  further  harmonisation.  The  regulation  on 
energy  statistics  was  adopted  in  2008  and  data  were  collected  accordingly. 
Methodology  work  focused  inter  alia  on  measurement  of  energy  efficiency  and 
renewable energy. 

Economic  and  Social  Cohesion:  Following  the  revision  of  the  NUTS  territorial 
classification in 2008, all regional data were converted and a project to collect a wide 
range  of  NUTS  level  3  data  was  started.  A  new  round  of  data  collection  for  the 
Urban Audit was launched. 

Research  and  Technological  Development:  Several  surveys  on  Community 
innovation,  career  path  of  doctorate  holders  and  research  and  development  were 
implemented,  their  methodology  and  quality  were  improved  and  data  access  was 
widened.  For  methodology  the  appropriate  external  and  internal  governance 
structures  became  operational.  Cooperative  projects  for  data  integration,  statistical 
disclosure  control  and  model-based  approaches  were  launched  and  a  strategy  for 
widening access to micro-data was agreed. 

Environment:  The  European  strategy  for  environmental  economic  accounts  was 
revised  and  a  legal  proposal  adopted.  Work  on  aggregate  indicators  on  resource 
efficiency  and  environmental  impacts  has  been  stepped  up  and  activities  on  waste, 
recycling,  water  and  soil  statistics  are  progressing.  Eurostat  contributed  to  the 
deliberations on statistics relating to climate change, established related action plans 
and  provided  valuable  support  in  the  preparation  of  the  annual  greenhouse  gas 
inventory of the EU. 

Development  Cooperation:  Cooperation  focused  on  promoting  donor  coordination 
and  advocacy  for  statistics,  particularly  with  respect  to  National  Strategies  for 
Development. A Guide to Statistics in EC Development Cooperation was produced 
to support statistical project design in developing countries. 

Economic, financial and technical cooperation with third countries: A wide range 
of  technical  advice  and  support  for  the  European  Neighbourhood  countries  was 
provided and data resulting from cooperation projects were published. 

Use of Human and Financial Resources 

There  was  a  slight  increase  in  human  resources  in  2008  due  mainly  to  the 
enlargement  but  as  from  2009  the  Commission  policy  of  zero  growth  in  resources 
will be followed and addressed by strategic projects entailing forward planning and 
career development. 

Budgetary  commitments  for  programme  implementation  amounted  to  roughly  €66 
million in 2008 (Eurostat credits accounted for €48 million) and €80 million in 2009 

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(€54 million for Eurostat credits), with an  increasing share of the budget provided to 
Eurostat replacing sub-delegated budgets from other Commission services. 

3. 

KEY ELEMENTS FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE CSP 

Having  regard  to  the  functioning  of  the  ESS  (Cracow/Hague  Action  Plan)  a 
Regulation  on  European  statistics4  was  adopted  in  2009.  It  provides  a  stable  and 
transparent legal environment assuring independence, integrity and accountability of 
the ESS members. In particular, it sets out principles enabling all the ESS members 
to produce and disseminate statistics more efficiently, lays down the structure of the 
ESS, provides a coordinating role in the statistical system for Eurostat at European 
level  and  for  the  National  Statistical  Institutes  at  national  level,  institutionalises 
collaborative  networks  and  strengthens  requirements  for  output  quality.  Further 
development  and  implementation  of  the  CoP  in  the  ESS  is  equally  vital  for 
improving quality and trust in European statistics. 

Furthermore, a Communication on the production method of EU statistics – a vision 
for the next decade was adopted by the Commission in August 20095 and welcomed 
by  the  ECOFIN  Council  in  November  20096.  The  main  thrust  is  to  improve  the 
efficiency  of  statistical  production  by  changing  the  production  method.  Permanent 
adaptation of the portfolio of its products and services through innovation and new 
developments ought to ensure that the ESS can continue to play an appropriate role 
in  supporting  EU  policymaking  and  is  able  to  satisfy  users’  expectations  in  the 
future. The vision is based on the development of instruments using information and 
communication technologies as well as on a holistic approach and will imply a move 
away  from  traditional  stovepipe  models  towards  an  integrated  production  model  as 
described in the recently developed joint implementation strategy. 

Besides, a new ESS governance structure covers advanced models and forms of ESS 
cooperation such as director groups for all statistical domains, sponsorship groups for 
individual,  time-limited  projects  of  a  strategic  nature  and  collaborative  networks  to 
facilitate  technical  developments  and  transfer  of  knowledge  within  the  ESS.  A 
reform of the programming and planning process is under way. 

In order to bring the Greek statistical system into line with the EU requirements and 
ESS standards, the ESS will assist the Hellenic Statistical Authority in rebuilding the 
statistical  system  so  that  it  is  able  to  produce  reliable  statistical  data,  and  this 
assistance will absorb a great deal of resources in the ESS. 

Finally, the process of subjecting all fields to a cost-effectiveness analysis has begun 
(e.g. development of summary information sheets, cost and burden measurement) but 
further efforts will be needed. 

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Council Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of 11.03.2009 
COM (2009) 404 final of 10.08.2009 
2972nd Council meeting, Economic and financial affairs, 10.11.2009 

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4. 

SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF REPORTING 

Competitive effects on SMEs due to reduction of administrative burden 

The effects on SMEs’ competitiveness were evaluated through estimation of burden 
reduction on this group of enterprises by reviewing the most burdensome statistical 
legislation  for  businesses,  namely  Intrastat,  SBS  and  Prodcom.  Some  €200-250 
million can be ploughed back into business activities of SMEs if the changes in EU 
legislation  such  as  limiting  the  number  of  surveyed  statistical  products,  increasing 
the thresholds for enterprises to report Intrastat data and eliminating certain variables 
reported in SBS are integrated into MS’ practices. 

Financial burden-sharing between the EU and MS budgets 

Financial burden-sharing is defined as the share of budgets spent by the EU and the 
MS  respectively  to  produce  statistics  covered  by  the  CSP.  Most  of  the  financing 
provided by the EU supports investment and capacity building for new initiatives in 
the MS, which does not normally include statistical activities based on legal acts. The 
financial  burden  of  implementing  the  CSP  relates  primarily  to  producing  statistical 
information  in  National  Statistical  Institutes  and  is  consequently  to  a  large  extent 
based  on  the  contribution  of  the  MS.  The  fact  that  between  60  %  and  90  %  of  the 
MS’ statistical work programmes relates to EU work programmes implies that there 
is a considerable degree of synergy between European and national statistical work 
programmes.  If  more  precise  estimations  are  to  be  produced,  an  appropriate 
information system on the costs borne by the EU and MS needs to be established. 

Data for unbiased analysis of social and economic impacts 

Eurostat regularly monitors user needs, including those of policymakers for purposes 
of monitoring and reviewing policies. User satisfaction is measured through regular 
surveys  and  by  other  means.  Accordingly,  the  ESS  provides  the  datasets  necessary 
for unbiased and objective analysis of social and economic impacts. 

5. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

Follow-up of previous recommendations 

The  recommendations  from  the  previous  evaluation  are  taken  up  by  introducing 
mechanisms  that  will  make  it  possible  to  link  the  CSP  objectives  with  the  annual 
work  programmes  in  the  planning  and  reporting  processes,  thus  improving  the 
monitoring of programme implementation. The recommendation to balance demands 
and  resources  has  helped  to  shape  the  Communication  on  a  vision  for  the  next 
decade. 

Definition of new needs for statistical information 

New, more complex and timely data needs for policy purposes are likely to arise all 
the  time,  e.g.  in  connection  with  the  Communication  on  GDP  and  beyond,  the 
Commission’s  report  on  the  measurement  of  economic  performance  and  social 
progress (‘Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi report’), the need for more geo-referenced data, data 
on  disability,  indicators  on  consumer  markets  and  in  particular  for  monitoring 

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detailed  product  prices  on  a  yearly  basis  and  the  Europe  2020  strategy.  In  order  to 
meet  these  needs  a  more  integrated  approach  using  multiple  and  combined  data 
sources  together  with  harmonisation  of  methodology,  concepts  and  definitions  will 
be required by the ESS. 

Strengthen partnership in the ESS 

Developments  in  the  ESS  will  lead  to  further  reorientation  of  the  CSP  towards 
meeting  future  challenges.  Adaptation  of  the  annual  planning  process  and 
programmes will be needed as well as evaluation of the objectives in the CSP. The 
setting up of more and different integrated cooperation models together with the MS 
will require greater interaction, increased use of ESS networks and sharing of tools 
for greater efficiency of the system. 

Cost-burden analysis and re-prioritisation 

Reporting on these aspects is required by the CSP. The results of existing cost and 
burden measurements need to be considered and further reflection is required on how 
to obtain homogeneous information on cost and burden from all MS as well as on the 
use made of statistics. A conceptual approach to reprioritisation of activities should 
be  developed  based  on  available  summary  information  sheets  per  legal  act  and  a 
determined effort to implement it should be made. 

Availability of resources for implementing the programme 

An appropriate balance between the objectives as set out in the CSP and the vision 
and  the  current  deteriorating  resource  situation  in  many  Member  States’  statistical 
offices  should  be  considered  at  the  level  of  the  ESS.  A  strategic  reflection  on  the 
objectives for the second half of the programme and additional reassessment of user 
needs  is  required  at  the  level  of  the  ESS  aiming  at  setting  strategic  priorities  and 
making statistics production more efficient. 

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