Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the European statistical programme 2013-2017
Date: 2011-12-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EFTA countries, EU policy, EU programme, EU statistics, Eurostat, preliminary draft budget, third country

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 21.12.2011 
COM(2011) 928 final 

2011/0459 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the European statistical programme 2013-2017 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

{SEC(2011) 1623 final} 
{SEC(2011) 1625 final} 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

1.1.  GROUNDS FOR AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSAL 

The  implementation  of  EU  policies  requires  comparable  and  reliable  statistical  information 
about  the  economic,  social  and  environmental  situation  in  the  EU  and  its  components  at 
national  and  regional  level.  European  statistics  are  also  indispensable  for  Europe  to  be 
understood by the general public and for citizens to take part in the democratic process and 
debate about the present and future of the EU. 

In  recent  years  the  European  Statistical  System  (ESS)  has  been  faced  with  a  number  of 
challenges.  Firstly,  the  need  for  European  statistics  has  been  constantly  increasing,  and  this 
trend  is  unlikely  to  change  in  future.  Secondly,  the  nature  of  statistics  has  changed  — 
evidence-based decision making requires statistics that meet quality criteria linked to specific 
purposes they are serving, and there is a growing need for complex multidimensional statistics 
supporting  composite  policy  areas.  Thirdly,  due  to  the  appearance  of  new  actors  on  the 
information market, including those providing information in nearly real time, the priority for 
the ESS in the future is quality and, in the case of short-term statistics, timeliness in particular. 
Fourthly, budget constraints at both national and European level as well as the need to further 
reduce the burden on enterprises and citizens make the situation even more challenging. The 
Commission Communication to the European Parliament and the Council on the production 
method  of  EU  statistics:  a  vision  for  the  next  decade1  and  the  ESS  strategy  for  its 
implementation2 address all these challenges by aiming to reengineer the ways of working in 
the ESS in order to make it more efficient and flexible. Implementation of the Communication 
and the joint ESS strategy constitute the core of the European statistical programme (ESP). 

Against this background, the objective of the proposal for the European Statistical Programme 
is  to  establish  a  comprehensive  programme  providing  an  overall  framework  for  the 
development, production and dissemination of European statistics over the period from 2013 
to 2017 while putting in place the new production method of European statistics as described 
in the above Communication. 

1.2.  GENERAL CONTEXT 

The  establishment  of  a  multiannual  European  statistical  programme  has  its  legal  basis  in 
Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council 
on  European  statistics3.  Under  the  Regulation,  the  European  statistical  programme  must 
provide  the  framework  for  the  development,  production  and  dissemination  of  European 
statistics,  the  main  fields  and  the  objectives  of  the  actions  envisaged  for  a  period  not 
exceeding five years. It is to lay down priorities concerning the needs for information for the 
purpose of carrying out the activities of the European Union. Those needs are to be weighed 
against  the  resources  needed  at  EU  and  national  level  to  provide  the  required  statistics  and 
also against the response burden and the respondents’ associated costs. 

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COM(2009) 404 final, 10.8.2009. 
Presented at the ESS Committee meeting on 20.5.2010, doc. No 2010/05/6/EN. 
OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164. 

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The  objectives  of  the  ESP  will  be  spelled  out  in  detail  in  annual  work  programmes  in 
accordance  with  Regulation  223/20093.  The  programme  will  be  the  subject  of  an  interim 
progress report and a final evaluation report after the expiry of the programme period. 

1.3.  EXISTING PROVISIONS IN THE AREA OF THE PROPOSAL 

The  current  Community  Statistical  Programme,  adopted  by  a  European  Parliament  and 
Council Decision and covering the period from 2008 to 20124, is the seventh of its kind. 

1.4.  CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER POLICIES OF THE UNION 

The  main  purpose  of  European  statistics  is  to  underpin  the  development,  monitoring  and 
evaluation  of  European  policies  with  reliable,  objective,  comparable  and  coherent  factual 
information. 

The current proposal is consistent with the Union’s priorities as statistics developed, produced 
and  disseminated  under  this  programme  will  contribute  to  the  implementation  of  the  EU’s 
priority  policies,  such  as  the  Europe  2020  strategy  for  smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive 
growth5 and other policies addressed in the Commission’s strategic priorities for 2010-20146 
(i.e.  strengthened  and  integrated  economic  governance,  climate  change,  growth  and  social 
cohesion, people’s Europe and globalisation). 

2. 

RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE INTERESTED PARTIES AND 
IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

2.1.  CONSULTATION OF INTERESTED PARTIES 

Consultation methods, main sectors targeted and general profile of respondents 

Prior to the preparation of this proposal, the users of European statistics, i.e. the Directorates-
General of the Commission, the European Central Bank and the European Statistical Advisory 
Committee7, were consulted during July 2010 on their needs for European statistics during the 
period 2013-2017. 

Member States, EFTA Countries and Candidate Countries have been directly involved in the 
preparation of the proposal. The consultation was carried out in the following way: 

Firstly,  the  Directors’  Groups  in  different  statistical  domains,  representing  producers  of 
European statistics in different areas of statistics, were consulted on their needs for the period 
2013-2017 in July 2010. 

Secondly, the DGINS (Directors General of the National Statistical Institutes)8 were consulted 
on priorities for the period 2013-2017 during their meeting on 29-30 September 2010. 

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Decision No 1578/2007/EC, OJ L 344, 28.12.2007, p. 15. 
COM(2010) 2020 final. 
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/president/pdf/press_20090903_en.pdf, 3.9.2009. 
Established by Decision No 234/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. 
The DGINS Conference is held once a year with the aim of discussing topics related to the statistical 
programme and methods and processes for the production of European statistics. It is hosted each year 
by a different Member State and the Director-General of the host country chairs the conference. 

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Based on the outcome of ESS consultations with stakeholders on their statistical needs for the 
period 2013-2017, the first draft of the ESP 2013-2017 was prepared for internal and external 
consultation. It was presented to the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) in May 
2011.  The  European  Statistical  Advisory  Committee  (ESAC),  the  Committee  on  Monetary, 
Financial  and  Balance  of  Payments  Statistics  (CMFB)  and  the  Working  Group  ESS 
Programming and Coordination were consulted in parallel. 

Summary of responses and how they have been taken into account 

Summary of responses of users of European statistics 

A total of 14 Directorates-General of the Commission and the European Central Bank replied 
to  Eurostat’s  request  for  information  on  their  needs  for  European  statistics  for  2013-2017. 
Most of them listed detailed requirements for statistics needed to back up European policies 
under their responsibility. Although all these requirements are not mentioned explicitly in the 
proposal, they have been carefully analysed by Eurostat and taken into account when drafting 
the objectives of the programme. 

Summary of responses of producers of European statistics 

In all, six Directors’ Groups  replied to Eurostat’s request for information on their needs for 
2013-2017  (Directors’  Group  on  Methodology,  IT  Directors’  Group,  Directors  of  Social 
Statistics,  Directors’  meeting  on  regional,  spatial,  environment  statistics  and  accounts, 
Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics, and Business Statistics Directors’ Group). The 
Directors’ Groups emphasised the need to balance the increasing need for new statistics with 
reduced  available  resources.  In  this  context,  it  was  recommended  to  maximise  the  use  of 
existing  data  instead  of  launching  new  data  collections;  liaise  with  other  data  providers  in 
order to optimise the use of available information; reduce the level of data required; improve 
efficiency  in  data  collection  by  using  modern  ICT  technologies;  analyse  the  consistency 
between different legal acts and decouple statistical instruments and users by setting up single 
surveys for different purposes. The need to strengthen the role of Eurostat as the coordinator 
of the production of statistics was also mentioned. These and other concrete comments have, 
to the extent possible, been taken into account when drafting the objectives of the ESP. 

At its meeting on 29-30 September 2010 the DGINS endorsed the approach proposed for the 
ESP  and  the  priority  areas  of  the  ESP,  stressing  the  need  for  a  sufficiently  flexible  ESP 
allowing  concrete  actions  to  be  included  in  the  annual  programming  cycle.  Due  to  serious 
resource  constraints  at  both  national  and  European  level  and  the  need  to  further  reduce  the 
administrative  burden,  the  DGINS  stressed  the  importance  of  priority-setting  in  the  next 
multiannual programme based on a strategy-driven approach. 

Summary of main comments on the first draft of the ESP 2013-2017 

The ESSC meeting in May 2011 expressed general support for the conceptual approach. 

A  number  of  delegations  pointed  to  the  level  of  ambition  of  the  ESP  and  expressed  their 
concerns about the gap between the resource constraints at national level and the number of 
new initiatives mentioned in the ESP. 

Although acknowledging the need for a flexible programme, some delegations questioned the 
general  nature  and  the  lack  of  detail  of  the  ESP  and  stressed  the  need  to  link  it  with  future 
Annual Work Programmes. 

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Doubts were expressed by some delegations as to whether financing new initiatives through 
efficiency  gains  in  the  new  production  method  of  European  statistics  was  realistic.  Some 
delegates stressed the need to contemplate other ways of achieving such gains (e.g. increased 
priority-setting,  improved  efficiency,  better  use  of  administrative  data,  increased  use  of 
technology and sharing of good practices). 

The  importance  of  emphasising  more  clearly  the  need  to  reduce  the  response  burden  was 
underlined  by  some  delegations  and  one  delegation  suggested  strengthening  the  part  on 
priority-setting by stating concrete actions. 

The  need  for  a  cautious  approach  regarding  quality  labelling  was  expressed  by  many 
delegations; thorough discussion was called for. 

Several  delegations  welcomed  the  strengthening  of  partnership  in  the  ESS  and  beyond  and 
stressed the importance of increased cooperation, both within the ESS and with the European 
System of Central Banks and international organisations. 

The  above  points  were  also  the  main  outcome  of  the  consultation  of  the  Working  Group 
Programming and Coordination. 

General support for the ESP was expressed by the majority of the NSIs, but reservations were 
voiced concerning the formulation of objective on the new method of production of European 
statistics and regarding the legislative policy. 

Specific comments were made on particular statistical areas or clarification was requested of 
certain parts of the ESP. 

All comments received on the draft ESP were carefully analysed by Eurostat and taken into 
account when preparing a revised version of the ESP 2013-2017. 

In order to serve as a general and flexible planning instrument allowing new developments to 
be  taken  into  account,  the  ESP  describes  in  general  terms  the  strategic  objectives  to  be 
achieved and outputs to be produced for the next programming period. 

The ESP reflects the commitment to the strategy-driven priority-setting approach established 
by Eurostat. Following this approach, the exercise on negative priorities forms an integral part 
of  the  preparation  of  annual  work  programmes  and  will  thus  be  carried  out  for  the  period 
covered  by  the  ESP.  The  ESP  provides  the  general  framework  for  the  development, 
production  and  dissemination  of  European  statistics  by  establishing  the  main  fields  and 
objectives  of  actions  envisaged  for  the  next  five  years.  These  objectives  will  be  spelled  out 
and  planned  in  more  detail  in  the  Annual  Work  Programmes.  In  this  way,  a  clear  link  is 
established between the ESP and the Annual Work Programmes. 

The  ESP  is  fully  in  line  with  the  joint  ESS  strategy  on  the  new  production  system  already 
adopted  by  the  ESSC;  no  new  elements  have  been  introduced,  and  the  ESP  reflects  the 
implementation of the strategy. 

2.2. 

COLLECTION AND USE OF EXPERTISE 

In  the  process  of  preparation  of  the  ESP,  external  experts  have  also  been  consulted.  In 
particular,  the  European  Statistical  Advisory  Committee  (ESAC)  and  the  Committee  on 
Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) were asked to express their 
opinion on the draft programme. 

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In  its  opinion  on  the  draft  programme,  the  European  Statistical  Advisory  Committee 
addressed  the  issue  of  resource  constraints  and  the  need  to  continue  to  work  on  priority-
setting  to  identify  negative  priorities.  In  this  context  ESAC  highlighted  the  need  to  boost 
efficiency  through  greater  use  of  technology  and  exploitation  of  data  collected  for  other 
purposes while acknowledging that the different stages of maturity of statistical systems in the 
Member  States  was  problematic.  ESAC  also  stressed  the  importance  of  knowledge  sharing, 
calling  for  this  to  include  development  activities  to  reduce  the  cost  of  new  research. 
Furthermore,  ESAC  highlighted  the  importance  of  maximising  data  use  and  further 
integration and use of existing data. 

In its opinion on the draft programme, the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of 
Payments  Statistics  expressed  its  general  support  for  the  ESP  and  the  main  priorities  and 
objectives  set  for  the  development  and  coordination  of  monetary,  financial  and  balance  of 
payments  statistics.  The  CMFB  stressed  the  importance  of  integration  across  statistical 
domains  and  across  the  ESS  for  producing  multi-purpose  statistics  and  also  highlighted  the 
need  to  aim  at  developing  statistical  information  on  the  globalisation  phenomenon  and  the 
importance  of  increased  use  of  administrative  data  and  focusing  more  closely  on  the  most 
expanding  parts  of  the  economy.  In  addition,  the  CMFB  welcomed  wider  use  of  statistical 
matching and data linking techniques as well as standard IT tools. Finally, the CMFB stressed 
the  importance  of  strengthened  cooperation  with  the  ESCB,  European  and  international 
organisations through common projects and coordinated developments. 

All  comments  received  from  external  experts  on  the  draft  ESP  were  carefully  analysed  by 
Eurostat and taken into account when preparing a revised version of the programme. 

2.3. 

ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS AND CONSEQUENCES 

An ex-ante evaluation has been prepared in accordance with the principle of sound financial 
management, in order to focus the programme on the need for effectiveness in achieving the 
objectives set and in order to incorporate budgetary constraints from the design phase of the 
programme and onwards.  

In the context of the ex-ante evaluation, four options have been identified: 

The  first  option  considered  for  the  ESP  was  to  propose  for  adoption  another  five-year 
programme, i.e. lasting from 2013 to 2017. 

The current CSP 2008-2012 includes a specific indication with regard to the duration of the 
next multiannual programme, namely that the period to be covered should take into account 
the  term  of  office  of  the  European  Parliament.  The  current  term  of  office  of  the  European 
Parliament is from July 2009 to June 2014; the next term will start in July 2014 and finish in 
June 2019. As the current CSP 2008-2012 lasts until the end of 2012, this would mean that 
there would be a need to prepare a new intermediate ESP for a period of two years (for 2013-
2014) or to extend the current CSP 2008-2012 until 2014. 

Other possible options that could be envisaged are, thirdly, a ‘zero’ option, i.e. no ESP 2013-
2017 would be prepared and adopted, and, fourthly, that in general the information would be 
supplied by other producers, i.e. not necessarily by the ESS. 

Then in the framework of the impact assessment, after thorough consideration and analysis of 
the  different  scenarios,  the  number  of  options  has  been  reduced  to  three,  the  effects  and 
consequences of which have been examined in detail. These three options and their estimated 
impacts are the following: 

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Option 1: "zero option" with no European Statistical Programme 

Without a legal framework of the European Statistical Programme, European Statistics will be 
collected and/or produced by different Commission services in an independent way, with their 
own  resources,  with  the  help  of  the  ESS  institutional  providers  and/or  private  providers. 
Having  no  five-year  statistical  programme  at  European  level  would  implicate  the  lack  of 
long-term  planning  which  is  an  inherent  prerequisite  of  the  development,  production  and 
dissemination  of  statistical  information.  If  no  European  Statistical  Programme  exists,  it  is 
unlikely that the objectives defined will be achieved. No legal framework for the production 
of  European  statistics  would  then  exist  and  no  operational  budget  would  be  provided.  The 
users of statistics (Commission Directorates-General, the ECB, etc.) would have to produce or 
look for statistics themselves, in an uncoordinated and inefficient way, and there would not be 
a commonly agreed assurance of quality of European statistics. Without a European Statistical 
Programme, there will be no budget for and no overall planning of statistical production. This 
would  also  contribute  to  an  increase  in  the  response  burden  of  individuals,  households, 
enterprises and ESS institutional providers of statistics.  

Option 2: ESP 2013-17 will be a repetition of the CSP 2008-2012 

This  option  means  no  change  in  terms  of  statistics  covered  in  the  current  Community 
Statistical  Programme.  This  could  be  considered  as  the  baseline  scenario  against  which  the 
other options can be compared. The statistics provided would correspond to policy needs of 
the  period  2008-2012  and  would  not  take  into  account  new  developments  and  needs  for 
priority  policies  of  the  European  Union  such  as  the  Europe  2020  strategy  for  smart, 
sustainable  and  inclusive  growth  and  other  policies  addressed  in  the  Commission's  strategic 
priorities  for  2010-2014.  In  addition,  these  statistics  would  be  produced  according  to  the 
stovepipe  model9,  i.e.  without  taking  advantage  of  new  method  of  production  of  European 
statistics aiming at efficiency gains and quality improvements. 

Option 3: a new five-year European Statistical Programme is established 

A new European Statistical Programme would be proposed for adoption covering a period of 
five  years,  i.e.  lasting  from  2013  to  2017.  With  this  option  European  statistics  will  better 
correspond to users' needs. There will be an agreed assurance of quality and the production of 
statistics  will  be  more  cost-effective  as  a  result  of  the  new  method  of  production.  The 
objectives  defined  for  the  ESP  2013-2017  will  be  in  line  with  the  Commission's  strategic 
priorities and will address the challenges that the European Statistical System is faced with in 
the coming years. 

2.3.4.  Summary of risks 

The  risks  related  to  Option  1  are  high  because  in  this  case  no  legal  framework  for  the 
production  of  European  statistics  would  exist,  so  that  their  quality  and  the  efficiency  of 

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In the stovepipe model, statistics are traditionally produced in numerous parallel processes, country by 
country (in some cases even region by region) and domain per domain. 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 
domain  has  its  own  data  suppliers  and  user  groups.  The  stovepipe  model  is  also  reflected  in  the  way 
statistical domains are regulated at the European level. 

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statistical production would not be ensured. In these cases statistics would be produced in an 
uncoordinated way by different producers.  

The risks involved in Option 2 are linked to the fact that statistics provided would correspond 
to partially outdated policy priorities which are produced according to the traditional method, 
i.e. without taking advantage of the new method of production of European statistics aiming 
at  efficiency  gains  and  quality  improvements.  The  costs  of  inadequate  statistics  would  be 
considerable. 

Finally,  the  risks  linked  to  Option  3  are  considered  to  be  relatively  low  as  in  this  case 
European statistics would be produced under the established legal framework, i.e. the quality 
of  statistics  and  the  efficiency  of  the  production  method  would  be  ensured  as  European 
statistics would be developed, collected and disseminated in a coordinated way. 

2.3.5.  The preferred option 

Option 3 of a new five-year ESP  2013-2017  seems to be the best option given the fact that 
this is the only option that would ensure the achievement of all the objectives defined, i.e. (i) 
providing  quality  statistics  that  correspond  to  users'  needs  in  term  of  coverage,  timeliness, 
comparability and reliability; (ii) producing statistical information in a cost-effective way; and 
(iii) reduction of the response and administrative burden of respondents. Consequently, this is 
the  only  out  of  the  three  options  that  is  able  to  offer  a  satisfactory  response  to  all  the 
challenges that the European Statistical System is facing. 

According  to  this  scenario,  the  next  ESP  will  start  on  1  January  2013  and  end  on  31 
December 2017. 

3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

3.1. 

SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED ACTION 

The  proposal  establishes  the  European  statistical  programme  for  the  period  from  2013  to 
2017.  The  programme  provides  the  framework  for  the  development,  production  and 
dissemination  of  European  statistics,  the  main  fields  and  the  objectives  of  the  actions 
envisaged for the programming period. 

3.2 

LEGAL BASIS 

Article 338 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provides the legal basis 
for  European  statistics.  Acting  in  accordance  with  the  ordinary  legislative  procedure,  the 
European  Parliament  and  the  Council  adopt  measures  for  the  production  of  statistics  where 
necessary  for  the  performance  of  the  activities  of  the  Union.  This  Article  sets  out  the 
requirements relating to the production of European statistics, stating that they must conform 
to standards of impartiality, reliability, objectivity, scientific independence, cost-effectiveness 
and statistical confidentiality. 

3.3 

SUBSIDIARITY PRINCIPLE 

The  subsidiarity  principle  applies  insofar  as  the  proposal  does  not  fall  within  the  exclusive 
competence of the EU. 

The objective of the proposed action, namely the development, production and dissemination 
of  European  statistics  under  the  ESP  2013  to  2017,  cannot  be  sufficiently  achieved  by  the 
Member States and is therefore better achieved at EU level on the basis of a European Union 

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legal  act,  because  only  the  Commission  can  coordinate  the  necessary  harmonisation  of 
statistical  information  at  European  level  in  all  statistical  domains  covered  by  this  act,  while 
the data collection itself can be carried out by the Member States. Consequently, the European 
Union  may  adopt  measures  in  accordance  with  the  principle  of  subsidiarity  as  set  out  in 
Article 5 of the Treaty. 

3.4 

PROPORTIONALITY PRINCIPLE 

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

In  line  with  the  principle  of  proportionality,  this  Regulation  confines  itself  to  the  minimum 
required to achieve its objective and does not go beyond what is necessary for this purpose. 
The  proposal  sets  objectives  for  the  five-year  period.  These  objectives  are  spelled  out  and 
planned  in  more  detail  in  the  Commission’s  annual  statistical  work  programmes,  which  are 
prepared  in  close  cooperation  with  the  Member  States  and  adopted  taking  into  account  the 
opinion  of  the  ESS  Committee.  Furthermore,  new  statistical  requirements  will  be  subject  to 
specific legislation prepared with early and direct involvement of the Member States. 

3.5 

CHOICE OF INSTRUMENTS 

Proposed instrument: a Regulation. 

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

Given  the  objectives  and  content  of  the  proposal  a  Regulation  is  the  most  appropriate 
instrument. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATION 

Total amount to be borne by the budget of the EU is 299.4 million EUR (current prices) for 
the duration of the programme from 2013 to 2017, of which 57.3 million EUR is covered by 
the  programming  period  2007  to  2013  and  242.1  million  EUR  by  the  programming  period 
2014 to 2017. 

5. 

OPTIONAL ELEMENTS 

Review/revision/sunset clause 

The proposal includes a review and a sunset clause. 

European Economic Area 

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

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2011/0459 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the European statistical programme 2013-2017 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 338.(1) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments, 

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Pursuant  to  Regulation  (EC)  No  223/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council on European statistics10, a multiannual European statistical programme should 
be established, providing a framework for funding EU actions. 

In  accordance  with  that  Regulation,  the  European  statistical  programme  should 
provide  the  framework  for  the  development,  production  and  dissemination  of 
European  statistics,  the  main  fields  and  the  objectives  of  the  actions  envisaged  for  a 
period not exceeding five years. It should lay down priorities concerning the needs for 
information  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  activities  of  the  European  Union. 
Those  needs  should  be  weighed  against  the  resources  needed  at  Union  and  national 
level  to  provide  the  required  statistics,  and  also  against  the  response  burden  and  the 
respondents’ associated costs. 

The  development,  production  and  dissemination  of  European  statistics  within  the 
legislative framework of the multiannual programme should be achieved through close 
and  coordinated  cooperation  within  the  European  Statistical  System  between  the 
European  Union  statistical  authority,  which  is  the  Commission  (Eurostat),  and  the 
national statistical institutes and other national authorities11. 

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OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164. 
Without prejudice to Article 5 of the Protocol on the Statute of the European System of Central Banks 
and the European Central Bank.  

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10 

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(4) 

Statistics  developed,  produced  and  disseminated  under  this  programme  should 
contribute to the implementation of the policies of the European Union, as reflected in 
the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  the  Europe  2020  strategy  for 
smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth12  and  other  policies  addressed  in  the 
Commission’s  strategic  priorities  for  2010-2014  (i.e.  strengthened  and  integrated 
economic governance, climate change, reformed agricultural policy, growth and social 
cohesion, people’s Europe and globalisation13) and should be fostered through actions 
financed  under  this  programme  where  the  European  Union  can  bring  a  clear  added 
value. 

(5) 

In  recent  years  the  European  Statistical  System  has  been  faced  with  a  number  of 
challenges. 

–  Firstly,  the  need  for  European  statistics  has  been  constantly  increasing,  and  this 

trend is unlikely to change in future. 

–  Secondly, the nature of statistics has changed — evidence-based decision making 
requires  statistics  that  meet  high  quality  criteria  linked  to  the  specific  purposes 
they  are  serving,  and  there  is  an  increasing  need  for  complex  multidimensional 
statistics supporting composite policy areas. 

–  Thirdly, due to the appearance of new actors on the information market, including 
those providing information in nearly real time, the priority for the ESS in future 
is high quality and, in the case of short-term statistics, timeliness in particular. 

–  Fourthly,  budget  constraints  at  both  national  and  European  level  as  well  as  the 
need  to  further  reduce  the  burden  on  enterprises  and  citizens  make  the  situation 
even more challenging. 

The Commission Communication to the European Parliament and the Council on the 
production  method  of  EU  statistics:  a  vision  for  the  next  decade14  and  the  ESS 
strategy for its implementation15 address all these challenges by aiming to reengineer 
the ways of working in the ESS in order to make it more efficient and flexible. The 
implementation  of  this  Communication  constitutes  the  core  of  the  European 
statistical programme. 

(6)  With  a  view  to  better  matching  the  limited  resources  of  national  and  European 
producers  available  for  producing  European  statistics  with  the  increasing  needs  for 
statistics,  the  preparation  of  the  Commission’s  annual  statistical  work  programmes, 
which  spell  out  in  detail  this  multiannual  programme,  should  include  a  thorough 
review of statistical priorities that will reduce less important requirements and simplify 
existing  processes,  while  at  the  same  time  maintaining  the  high  quality  standards  of 
official statistics. Account should also be taken of the burden on respondents, be they 
businesses, central, regional or local government units, households or individuals. 

12 
13 
14 
15 

COM(2010) 2020 final. 
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/president/pdf/press_20090903_en.pdf, 3.9.2009. 
COM(2009) 404 final, 10.8.2009. 
Presented at the ESS Committee meeting on 20.5.2010, doc. No 2010/05/6/EN. 

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(7) 

(8) 

In  this  context,  reasonable  financial  burden-sharing  between  the  budgets  of  the 
European  Union  and  the  Member  States  should  be  achieved.  In  addition  to  the 
financial  allocation  set  by  this  Regulation,  the  National  Statistical  Institutes  or  other 
national authorities should therefore receive at national level the appropriate funding 
for carrying out the individual statistical actions decided for the implementation of this 
programme. 

In  the  development,  production  and  dissemination  of  European  statistics  under  this 
Regulation,  the  national  and  European  statistical  authorities  should  respect  the 
principles  set  out  in  the  European  Statistics  Code  of  Practice,  attached  to  the 
Recommendation of the Commission of 25 May 2005 on the independence, integrity 
and  accountability  of  the  national  and  Community  statistical  authorities,  and  the 
Commission Communication to the European Parliament and the Council of 15 April 
2011 on robust quality management for European statistics16. 

(9) 

Pursuant to Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009 of the European Parliament 
and  of  the  Council  on  European  statistics,  an  adequate  financial  structure  should  be 
developed to support collaborative networks. 

(10)  Provision should be made to open the Programme to participation of the countries of 
the  European  Free  Trade  Association  participating  in  the  European  Economic  Area 
(hereinafter referred to as 'the EFTA/EEA countries'). Provisions should also be made 
to  open  the  Programme  to  participation  by  other  countries,  in  particular  the 
neighbouring countries of the European Union and countries which are applying for, 
are candidates for or are acceding to, membership of the European Union. 

(11) 

(12) 

In  the  context  of  the  implementation  of  the  Programme,  where  appropriate, 
cooperation  with  third  countries  not  participating  in  the  Programme  should  be 
encouraged, taking into account any relevant agreements between those countries and 
the Union. 

In order to be considered as financing decisions according to Article [] of Regulation 
[...]  on  the  financial  rules  applicable  to  the  general  budget  of  the  European  Union 
[New financial Regulation], the annual work programmes adopted by the Commission 
for  implementation  of  the  Programme  have  to  set  out  the  objectives  pursued,  the 
expected  results,  the  method  of  implementation  and  their  total  amount.  They  should 
also  contain  a  description  of  the  actions  to  be  financed,  an  indication  of  the  amount 
allocated  to  each  action  and  an  indicative  implementation  timetable.  They  shall 
include for grants the priorities, the essential evaluation criteria and the maximum rate 
of co-financing. 

(13)  Since  the  objective  of  this  Regulation,  namely  to  establish  the  European  Statistical 
Programme 2013 to 2017, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and 
can  therefore  be  better  achieved  at  the  level  of  the  European  Union,  the  European 
Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out 
in  Article  5  of  the  Treaty.  In  accordance  with  the  principle  of  proportionality,  as  set 
out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to 
achieve that objective. 

16 

COM(2011) 211 final. 

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(14)  An ex-ante evaluation has been performed in accordance with the principle of sound 
financial management, in order to focus the programme established by this Regulation 
on  the  need  for  effectiveness  in  achieving  the  objectives  and  in  order  to  incorporate 
budgetary  constraints  from  the  design  phase  of  the  programme  onwards.  The  value 
and impact of the measures taken under the Programme should be regularly monitored 
and  evaluated,  including  by  independent  external  evaluators.  For  the  purpose  of 
evaluating the programme, measurable objectives have been formulated and indicators 
developed. 

(15)  This  Regulation  lays  down  a  financial  allocation  for  the  entire  duration  of  the 
programme which is to be the prime reference for the budgetary authority, within the 
meaning of point 37 of the Inter-institutional Agreement of 17 May 2006 between the 
European  Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  Commission  on  budgetary  discipline  and 
sound financial management17, in the framework of the annual budgetary procedure. 

(16)  The  financial  interests  of  the  European  Union  should  be  protected  through 
proportionate  measures  throughout  the  expenditure  cycle,  including  the  prevention, 
detection and investigation of irregularities, the recovery of funds lost, wrongly paid or 
incorrectly used and, where appropriate, penalties. 

(17) 

In  accordance  with  Regulation  (EC)  No  223/2009  the  draft  European  statistical 
programme  has  been  submitted  for  prior  examination  to  the  European  Statistical 
System  Committee,  the  European  Statistical  Advisory  Committee  established  by 
Decision  No  234/2008/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council18  and  the 
Committee on Monetary,  Financial and Balance of Payment Statistics established by 
Council Decision 2006/856/EC19, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Establishment of the European statistical programme 

The European statistical programme for the period from 2013 to 2017 (hereinafter referred to 
as ‘the programme’) is hereby established. 

Article 2 

Added value 

The programme represents the added value of ensuring that European statistics are focused on 
the  information  needed  to  design,  implement,  monitor  and  evaluate  Union  policies.  In 
addition, it contributes to the effective use of resources by fostering actions which provide an 
essential  contribution  to  the  development,  production  and  dissemination  of  harmonised, 
comparable and reliable statistical information. 

17 
18 
19 

Reference to the legal basis will be updated once the new Agreement with the EP is adopted. 
OJ L 73, 15.3.2008, p. 13. 
OJ L 332, 30.11.2006, p. 21. 

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Article 3 

Scope 

1. 

2. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

This  Regulation  provides  the  programming  framework  for  the  development, 
production  and  dissemination  of  European  statistics,  the  main  fields  and  the 
objectives of the actions envisaged during 2013 to 2017, in accordance with Articles 
13  and  14  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  223/2009  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council on European statistics. 

The  programme  does  not  cover  measures  provided  for  by  the  Programme  for  the 
Modernisation of European Enterprise and Trade Statistics20 (hereinafter referred to 
as  ‘the  MEETS  Programme’)  until  the  end  of  the  MEETS  Programme  on  31 
December 2013 but includes objectives in the area of enterprise and trade statistics 
planned to be implemented from 2014 to 2017. 

Article 4 

Objectives 

The general objective of the programme is for the European Statistical System to be 
the leading provider of high-quality statistics on Europe. 

The following specific objectives shall be pursued in all statistical actions undertaken 
for the implementation of this programme: 

–  Objective  1:  provide  quality  statistical  information  to  support  the  development, 
monitoring  and  evaluation  of  the  policies  of  the  European  Union  properly 
reflecting priorities; 

–  Objective 2: implement new methods of production of European statistics aiming 

at efficiency gains and quality improvements; 

–  Objective 3: strengthen the partnership within the European Statistical System and 
beyond in order to further enhance its productivity and its leading role in official 
statistics worldwide. 

The objectives referred to in this Article are specified in the Annex together with the 
indicators used for monitoring the implementation of the programme. In accordance 
with Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 they shall be subject to detailed annual planning 
that will include a priority-setting mechanism as an integral part of the process. They 
shall  be  achieved  through  a  close  and  coordinated  cooperation  in  the  European 
Statistical  System,  which  is  the  partnership  between  the  Union  statistical  authority 
and the national statistical institutes and other national authorities. 

Article 5 

Statistical governance and quality 

20 

OJ L 340, 19.12.2008, p. 76. 

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14 

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The  programme  shall  be  implemented  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  the  European 
Statistics  Code  of  Practice  with  a  view  to  producing  and  disseminating  high-quality, 
harmonised  European  statistics  and  ensuring  the  proper  functioning  of  the  European 
Statistical  System  as  a  whole.  Appropriate  measures  shall  be  taken  to  ensure  good 
coordination  and  effective  priority  setting  within  the  ESS  in  order  to  contribute  to  the 
reduction  of  administrative  burden  on  statistical  respondents.  National  authorities  and  the 
Union  statistical  authority  shall  ensure  that  European  statistics  comply  with  the  European 
quality  standards  and  serve  the  needs  of  European  Union  institutional  users,  governments, 
regional  authorities,  research  institutions,  civil  society  organisations,  enterprises  and  the 
public. 

Article 6 

Financing 

1. 

2. 

3. 

The  financial  envelope  for  the  implementation  of  this  programme  is  hereby  set  at 
299.4  million  Euros,  including  57.3  million  Euros  covered  by  the  programming 
period  2007  to  2013  and  242.1  million  Euros  covered  by  the  programming  period 
2014 to 2017.  

The  Commission  shall  implement  the  Union  financial  support  in  accordance  with 
Regulation XX/2012 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of 
the European Union. 

In addition to the financial envelope set by this Regulation, the individual statistical 
actions decided for the implementation of this programme, in particular by means of 
agreement between the National Statistical Institutes or other national authorities and 
the Commission (Eurostat), shall receive appropriate funding at national level. 

Article 7 

Administrative and technical assistance 

The  financial  allocation  for  the  Programme  may  also  cover  expenses  pertaining  to 
preparatory,  monitoring,  control,  audit  and  evaluation  activities  which  are  required  for  the 
management  of  the  programme  and  the  achievement  of  its  objectives;  in  particular,  studies, 
meetings of experts, expenses linked to the reimbursement of statistical experts, information 
and  communication  actions,  expenses  linked  to  IT  networks  focusing  on  information 
processing  and  exchange,  together  with  all  other  technical  and  administrative  assistance 
expenses incurred by the Commission for the management of the Programme. 

Article 8 

Annual work programmes 

In order to implement the programme the Commission shall adopt annual work programmes 
which shall satisfy the requirements laid down in Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 
and shall set out the objectives pursued and the expected results. 

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Article 9 

Types of intervention 

Financial  contributions  by  the  Union  may  take  the  form  of  either  grants  or  public 
procurements  contracts  or  any  other  interventions  needed  for  the  purposes  of  achieving  the 
objectives referred to in Article 2. 

Article 10 

Eligible actions 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

(a) 

Financial  contribution  by  the  Union  shall  support  actions  for  the  development, 
production  and  dissemination  of  European  Statistics  needed  for  the  purposes  of 
achieving  objectives  referred  to  in  Article  3.  Priority  will  be  given  to  actions  with 
high added value for the European Union in accordance with Article 2.  

Financial  contribution to support collaborative networks  in accordance  with Article 
15 of Regulation (EC) N°223/2009 may take the form of grants for action and may 
cover up to 95% of the eligible costs.  

When  appropriate,  operating  grants  may  be  awarded  for  the  functioning  of 
organisations referred to in Article 11(3) not exceeding 50% of the eligible costs. 

As a contribution to expenses incurred by the Member States in carrying out actions 
based on surveys, a lump sum per set of data, for which complete survey results are 
forwarded to the Commission, may be paid up to a maximum threshold defined per 
survey.  The  amounts  are  defined  by  the  Commission  taking  due  account  of  the 
complexity of the survey. 

Article 11 

Beneficiaries eligible for grants 

In  accordance  with  Article  5(3)  of  Regulation  (EC)  N°223/2009,  grants  to 
beneficiaries identified therein may be awarded without a call for proposals. 

Collaborative  networks  may  involve  beneficiaries  referred  to  in  paragraph  1  and 
other bodies without call for proposals in accordance with the Financial Regulation. 

Operating grants referred to in Article 10(3) may be awarded to organisations which 
comply with all of the following criteria: 

They  are  non-profit-making,  independent  of  industry,  commercial  and  business  or 
other  conflicting  interests,  and  have  as  their  primary  objectives  and  activities  the 
promotion  and  support  of  the  implementation  of  the  European  statistics  Code  of 
Practice and the implementation of new methods of production of European statistics 
aiming at efficiency gains and quality improvements at European level. 

(b) 

They have provided the Commission with satisfactory accounts of their membership, 
internal rules and sources of funding. 

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Article 12 

Protection of the financial interests of the European Union 

1. 

2. 

The  Commission  shall  take  appropriate  measures  ensuring  that,  when  actions 
financed  under  this  Regulation  are  implemented,  the  financial  interests  of  the 
European  Union  are  protected  by  the  application  of  preventive  measures  against 
fraud,  corruption  and  any  other  illegal  activities,  by  effective  checks  and,  if 
irregularities are detected, by the recovery of the amounts wrongly paid and, where 
appropriate, by effective, proportionate and deterrent penalties. 

The  Commission  or  its  representatives  and  the  Court  of  Auditors  shall  have  the 
power  of  audit,  on  the  basis  of  documents  and  on-the-spot  checks,  over  all  grant 
beneficiaries,  contractors  and  subcontractors  who  have  received  funding  within  the 
framework of this Regulation. 

The  European  Anti-fraud  Office  (OLAF)  may  carry  out  on-the-spot  check  and 
inspections on economic operators concerned directly or indirectly by such funding 
in accordance with the procedures laid down in Regulation 2185/96 with a view to 
establishing  whether  there  has  been  fraud,  corruption  or  any  other  illegal  activity 
affecting  the  financial  interests  of  the  European  Union  in  connection  with  a  grant 
agreement or grant decision or contract funded under this Regulation. 

Without  prejudice  to  the  first  and  second  subparagraphs,  cooperation  agreements 
with  third  countries  and  international  organisations  and  grant  agreements  and  grant 
decisions  and  contracts  resulting  from  the  implementation  of  this  Regulation  shall 
expressly  empower  the  Commission,  the  Court  of  Auditors  and  OLAF  to  conduct 
such audits, on-the-spot checks and inspections. 

Article 13 

Participation of third countries in the Programme 

Participation in the European Statistical Programme shall be open to: 

(a) 

(b) 

the EFTA/EEA countries, in accordance with the conditions established in the EEA 
Agreement; 

countries  to  which  the  European  Neighbourhood  Policy  applies,  countries  that  are 
applying  for,  are  candidates  for,  or  are  acceding  to,  membership  of  the  European 
Union, and the western Balkan countries included in the stabilisation and association 
process,  in  accordance  with  the  conditions  laid  down  in  the  respective  bilateral  or 
multilateral  agreements  with  those  countries  establishing  the  general  principles  for 
their participation in European Union programmes.  

Article 14 

Reports 

17 

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1. 

2. 

The Commission shall, after consulting the European Statistical System Committee, 
submit an intermediate progress report to the European Parliament and the Council 
no later than June 2015. 

By the end of 2018, the Commission, after consulting with the European Statistical 
System Committee, shall submit a final evaluation report on the implementation of 
the programme to the European Parliament and the Council. 

Article 15 

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

Done at […], 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President

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ANNEX 

Statistical infrastructure and objectives of the European Statistical 
Programme 2013-2017 

Introduction 

The  implementation  of  EU  policies  requires  comparable  and  reliable  statistical  information 
about  the  economic,  social  and  environmental  situation  in  the  EU  and  its  components  at 
national  and  regional  level.  European  statistics  are  also  indispensable  for  Europe  to  be 
understood by the general public and for citizens to take part in the democratic process and 
debate about the present and future of the EU. 

The European statistical programme provides the legislative framework for the development, 
production and dissemination of European statistics over the period 2013-2017. 

European  statistics  are  developed,  produced  and  disseminated  under  that  legislative 
framework through close and coordinated cooperation in the European Statistical System. 

Statistics  developed,  produced  and  disseminated  under  the  programme  contribute  to  the 
implementation  of  the  EU’s  policies,  as  reflected  in  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the 
European Union, the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and its 
respectve Flagships and other policies addressed in the Commission’s strategic priorities. 

Given the fact that the ESP 2013-2017 is a multiannual programme covering a period of five 
years and that the European Statistical System aims at being and maintaining its role as a key 
player  in  the  statistical  field,  the  ESP  2013-2017  is  ambitious  in  terms  of  scope  and 
objectives, but the implementation of the Programme will follow a step-wise approach.  

Statistical infrastructure 

The ESP will establish an infrastructure of statistical information. This infrastructure has to be 
prepared for the wide and intensive use of various applications. 

Policy-making drives the decisions to produce European statistics, but these statistics should 
also  be  available  to  other  decision-makers,  researchers,  businesses  and  European  citizens  in 
general  as  they  are  a  public  good  and  are  paid  for  by  citizens  and  businesses,  who  should 
benefit equally from the services provided. For the infrastructure to fulfil this role it has to be 
designed according to a sound conceptual framework, which, on the one hand, ensures fitness 
for a range of purposes and, on the other hand, allows flexible adaptation to evolving users' 
needs in the years ahead. 

The infrastructure of statistical information is presented below: 

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INFRASTRUCTURE OF STATISTICAL INFORMATION 

Legend 

Data:  information  collected  by  statistical  authorities,  via  traditional  statistical  activities  (sample  surveys, 
censuses,  etc.)/data  from  other  sources,  re-used  for  statistical  purposes.  This  information  is  tailored  to  serve 
needs in specific policy areas, e.g. the labour market, migration or agriculture. 

The term also includes data collected for administrative purposes but used by statistical authorities for statistical 
purposes (usually referred to as data from administrative sources). 

Accounting systems: coherent and integrated accounts, balance sheets and tables based on a set of internationally 
agreed rules. An accounting framework ensures a high profile of consistency and comparability; statistical data 
can be compiled and presented in a format that is designed for the purposes of analysis and policy-making. 

Indicators: an indicator is a summary measure related to a key issue or phenomenon and derived from a series of 
observed facts. Indicators can be used to reveal relative positions or show positive or negative change. Indicators 
are  usually  a  direct  input  into  EU  and  global  policies.  In  strategic  policy  fields  they  are  important  for  setting 
targets and monitoring their achievement. 

Within  this  overarching  scheme,  the  ESP  will  further  distinguish  three  groups  of  statistical 
information: Business; People's Europe; and Geospatial, environmental, agricultural and other 
sectoral statistics. 

EU and relevant global policies are the instruments that specify the statistical requirements 
to  which  the  ESP  will  respond  through  the  re-engineered  structure  and  corresponding 
production  processes.  Therefore,  each  individual  EU  and  global  policy  is  reflected  in  the 
different components of the statistical infrastructure and covered by specific activities in the 
ESP.  New  policies  identified  in  the  years  ahead  will  be  covered  by  establishing  new 
derivation  paths  of  indicators/accounts  based  on  the  statistical  information  produced  within 
the three pillars. 

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STATISTICAL INFORMATION – STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS 

Objectives 

The  general  objective  of  the  programme  is  for  the  European  Statistical  System  to  be  the 
leading provider of high-quality statistics on Europe which will be achieved via the following 
specific objectives: 

–  Objective  1:  provide  quality  statistical  information  to  support  the  development, 
monitoring  and  evaluation  of  the  policies  of  the  European  Union  properly 
reflecting priorities; 

–  Objective 2: implement new methods of production of European statistics aiming 

at efficiency gains and quality improvements; 

–  Objective 3: strengthen the partnership within the European Statistical System and 
beyond in order to further enhance its productivity and its leading role in official 
statistics worldwide. 

These specific objectives are split into different priority areas described below. Objective 1 is 
covered  by  ‘I.  Statistical  outputs’,  Objective  2  by  ‘II.  Production  methods  of  EU  statistics’ 
and Objective 3 by ‘III. Partnership’. 

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I. 

STATISTICAL OUTPUTS 

INDICATORS 

1.1.  EUROPE 2020 

Endorsement of the Europe 2020 strategy for ‘smart, sustainable and inclusive’ growth by the 
June  2010  European  Council  has  shaped  to  a  large  extent  the  strategic  agenda  for  the 
European Union and national policies in the years ahead. This agenda establishes a number of 
headline targets and flagship initiatives for which statistical indicators have to be delivered by 
the  ESS  in  a  number  of  areas  (i.e.  improving  the  conditions  for  innovation,  research  and 
development,  promoting  employment,  meeting  EU  climate  change  and  energy  objectives, 
resource  efficiency,  improving  education  levels,  including  learning  mobility,  active  and 
healthy ageing, and promoting social inclusion through the reduction of poverty). 

Objective: 

Provide quality statistical information to monitor the implementation of Europe 2020 policy 
for smart, sustainable, inclusive growth. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

Updated  headline  target  indicators  for  Europe  2020  (in  the  area  of  employment, 
research  and  development, 
innovation,  energy/climate  change,  education, 
environment,  social  protection  and  social  inclusion)  available  on  the  Eurostat 
website; 

Statistics available to support the monitoring of the implementation of Europe 2020 
flagship initiatives;  

Additional indicators available as an input for the ex-ante and ex-post evaluation of 
the economic, social and environmental policy of the European Union. 

1.2.  ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE 

The crisis and the tensions in the financial markets have highlighted the need to strengthen the 
economic governance of the Union. Decisive steps in economic governance and coordination 
have already been taken by the EU, some of which will have major statistical implications in 
addition to ongoing statistical activities. 

Objective: 

Develop  new  and  enhance  existing  statistical  information  relevant  for  EU  decision-makers 
and the public at large in relation to the strengthened and integrated economic governance of 
the EU and the surveillance cycle integrating the Stability and Growth Pact and the economic 
policy. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

Statistical  input  for  the  macroeconomic  imbalances  scoreboard  and  the  underlying 
analysis; 

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• 

• 

• 

Statistical input for an enhanced Stability and Growth Pact; 

A set of indicators to measure competitiveness developed and produced; 

A  robust  quality  management  implemented  in  the  production  chain,  also  covering 
upstream public finance data and the underlying workflows in Member States. 

Objective: 

Provide  European  decision-makers  with  reliable  statistics  and  indicators  for  administrative 
and regulatory purposes and for monitoring specific EU policy commitments. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

The scope of statistics for administrative and regulatory purposes defined and agreed 
with  users,  including  the  monitoring  of  statistics  for  GNI  and  VAT  own  resources, 
Structural  Funds,  and  requirements  for  the  remuneration  and  pensions  as  well  as 
biennial mission allowances calculations under the EU Staff Regulations; 

A robust quality  management framework for these indicators defined, implemented 
and explained. 

1.3 

ECONOMIC GLOBALISATION 

The effects of the financial crisis, the increase in cross-border flows and the fragmentation of 
production processes have highlighted the need for a more coherent framework and enhanced 
measurement of globalised production. 

Objective: 

To enhance the indicators and statistical information available on economic globalisation and 
global value chains for EU decision-makers and the public at large. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

Updated  of  existing  and  development  of  new  indicators  on  economic  globalisation 
and  global  value  chains,  including  flows  of  and  dependency  on  natural  resources, 
available on Eurostat's web-site; 

Analysis of the global value chains, possibly through appropriate input/output tables, 
and foreign trade and business statistics, including micro-data linking. 

ACCOUNTING FRAMEWORKS 

The Commission Communication on GDP and beyond and the publication of the Stiglitz-Sen-
Fitoussi Report have given new impetus to the key challenge for the statistical system, namely 
how  to  achieve  better  statistics  on  cross-cutting  issues  and  more  integrated  statistics  to 
describe  complex  social,  environmental  and  economic  phenomena  beyond  the  traditional 
measures of economic output. The European System of Accounts (ESA) offers an integrated 
and  consistent  framework  for  all  economic  statistics  that  should  be  complemented  by  other 
indicators  in  order  to  provide  more  comprehensive  information  for  policy  and  decision 
making. 

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2.1 

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PERFORMANCE 

The  economic  crisis  has  reinforced  the  need  to  have  a  set  of  high-quality  macroeconomic 
indicators  to  better  understand  and  analyse  economic  fluctuations  and  thereby  facilitate  the 
decision-making process. Increasingly globalised production makes it necessary to develop a 
consistent  framework  that  facilitates  the  interpretation  and  integration  of  statistics  from 
different domains. 

Objective: 

Supplement measurement of economic performance by different dimensions of globalisation, 
the  quality  of  life,  environmental  sustainability,  health,  well-being  and  social  cohesion. 
Develop a framework for the analysis of globalised production. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Indicators  on  income/consumption  distribution  across  households  produced  (by 
reconciling National Accounts (NA) aggregates with household survey data); 

Implementation and compilation of annual, quarterly and regional National Accounts 
in accordance with ESA 1995/2010; 

Compilation of timely and quality price statistics, notably the harmonised indices of 
consumer prices; 

Satellite  accounts  developed  for  at  least  two  new  areas  (e.g.  research  and 
development, health, social accounts); 

A database for growth and productivity measurement created; 

A conceptual framework for the analysis of globalised production developed. 

Objective: 

Provide key macroeconomic and social indicators and PEEIs (Principal European Economic 
Indicators)  as  a  coherent  set  of  indicators  addressing  the  EU  and  global  statistical  data 
requirements and adjust PEEIs to meet evolving users’ needs. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Coordinated  development  of  the  dashboards  of  key  macroeconomic,  social  and 
sustainable development indicators; 

A harmonised methodology for key macroeconomic and social indicators and PEEIs; 

Enhanced international comparability of indicators; 

Improved tools to facilitate the interpretation and communication of indicators; 

Harmonised housing and related statistics available for all Member States. 

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2.2 

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY 

Protecting, preserving and improving the environment for present and future generations, as 
well as combating the effects of climate change, are very high on the European agenda and an 
objective of the EU Treaties. Efficient policies in these domains require statistical information 
across various areas. 

Objective: 

Provide  environmental  accounts,  and  climate  change-related  statistics,  taking  into  account 
international developments in this area. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

A coherent system of environmental accounts developed as ‘satellite accounts’ to the 
main  National  Accounts,  providing  information  on  atmospheric  emissions,  energy 
consumption,  flows  and  reserves  of  material  natural  resources  and  water,  trade  in 
basic  and  in  critical  raw  materials,  environmental  taxation  and  spending  on 
environmental protection, possibly including green growth/procurement; 

Indicators  that  show  secondary  pressures,  impacts  of  climate  change,  including  on 
health,  vulnerabilities  and  adaptation  progress,  upgraded,  developed,  produced  and 
disseminated. 

DATA 

3.1 

BUSINESS 

European  enterprises  are  the  focus  of  a  large  number  of  EU  policies.  In  addition,  they  are 
responsible for the provision of basic data. Accordingly, business statistics in the broad sense 
are  in  heavy  demand  to  support  the  decision-making  process  but  also  to  help  European 
citizens and businesses understand the impact of these policies differentiating between large 
enterprises,  Mid-Caps  and  SMEs  for  which  there  is  an  increased  need  for  detailed  and 
harmonised  statistics.  There  is  simultaneously  a  need  to  reduce  the  administrative  and 
reporting burden. 

Objective: 

Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of production processes. Provide quality statistics on 
key  areas  where  enterprises  are  the  centre  of  interest,  such  as  business  statistics,  short-term 
indicators, 
transactions, 
globalisation, single market monitoring, R&D and innovation, and tourism. Special attention 
should be paid to the availability of data in high value-added industrial or services sectors. 

in  human  capital  and  skills, 

international 

investment 

their 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

Data  available  in  the  statistical  system  or  in  society  reused,  and  common 
infrastructure and tools produced; 

Statistical information and indicators on business on an annual and infra-annual basis 
provided; 

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• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Statistical  information  describing  the  place  of  Europe  in  the  world  and  the  EU’s 
relationships with the rest of the world provided; 

Statistical information for the analysis of global value chains provided and the Euro 
Group Register developed as a backbone for collecting cross-domain information on 
globalisation; 

Trade in goods and trade in services rebalanced with improved availability of data on 
services and actions to rebalance statistical information on services and products; 

Single market monitoring tools developed, such as the food price monitoring tool and 
related indicators; 

Quality statistics on key areas of innovation and R&D performance provided through 
extended  use  of  patent  registers  and  extended  research  and  statistical  use  of 
individual micro-data; 

Quality  statistics  on  tourism  supply  and  demand  provided  through  optimised  data 
collection and better integrated data from tourism with other domains; 

Streamlined data collection on Continuing Vocational Training (CVT) in enterprises. 

3.2 

PEOPLE’S EUROPE 

European  citizens  are  at  the  heart  of  a  large  number  of  EU  policies.  Consequently,  social 
statistics in the broad sense are in heavy demand to support the decision-making process but 
also to help European citizens assess the impact of these policies on their lives. 

Objective: 

Provide  quality  statistics  on  key  areas  of  social  policy  where  the  citizen  is  the  centre  of 
interest,  such  as  social  cohesion,  poverty,  demographic  challenges  (elderly  people  and 
migration in particular), the labour market, education and training, including learning mobility 
of  young  people,  culture,  physical  activity,  quality  of  life,  safety,  health,  disability, 
consumption, free movement and the single market, mobility of young people, technological 
innovation and new lifestyle choices. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

A consolidated basic infrastructure for European Social Statistics, including a range 
of survey and administrative-based data collections in place; 

Modernised surveys on the Labour Force (LFS) and Income and Living Conditions 
(SILC) in the context of which the content, the design and the data collection aspects 
(particularly the mode of data collection) of all social surveys, especially of LFS and 
SILC, will be reviewed; 

Statistics  provided  on  education  and  training,  including  a  rationalization  and 
modernization  of  the  Adult  Education  Survey  (AES)  into  regular  modules 
corresponding to data needs on education and training  

Statistics provided on physical activity and culture; 

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• 

• 

• 

Statistics provided on safety21, health22 and disability; 

Actions  of 
implemented; 

the  work  programme  on  mainstreaming  of  migration  statistics 

Quality of life indicators to measure progress of societies provided. 

3.3  GEOSPATIAL,  ENVIRONMENTAL,  AGRICULTURAL  AND  OTHER 
SECTORAL STATISTICS 

The combination of statistics with spatially referenced data and geospatial analysis will offer 
new and far-reaching opportunities that the ESS will explore further. Specific issues, such as 
confidentiality  and  statistical  validity  of  small  area  estimations,  will  need  to  be  given 
particular attention. 

Quality  energy  and  transport  statistics  to  support  the  EU  2020  strategy  and  climate  change 
policy will be of high importance in the future. 

The  significance  of  the  agriculture  among  the  European  policies  will  remain  during  2013-
2017. The statistical work will be strongly influenced by the outcome of the reflection on the 
environmental, 
Common  Agricultural  Policy 
biodiversity/ecosystem-related, economic, human health and safety and social dimensions. 

after  2013.  Focus  will  be  on 

Objective: 

Support  evidence-based  policy-making  by  a  more  flexible  and  increased  use  of  spatial 
information combined with social, economic and environmental statistical information. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

The  Infrastructure  for  Spatial  Information  in  the  European  Community  (INSPIRE) 
and  in  particular  by  the  EU  geo-portal  further  development,  maintenance  and 
operation;  

A  range  of  geographic  information  through  cooperation  with  EU  programmes  for 
land use surveys and remote sensing available; 

Integration  of  statistical  data  when  relevant,  thus  creating  a  multisource  flexible 
infrastructure for the provision of targeted spatio-temporal analysis. 

Objective: 

Provide quality environmental statistics to support the policy-making process of the EU. 

21 

22 

In this context, Eurostat should use results of EU funded projects such as, for example, the Joint Action 
on Monitoring Injuries in Europe (JAMIE) and the Injury Database (IDB). 
As agreed under the framework Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council  of  16  December  2008  on  Community  statistics  on  public  health  and  health  safety  at  work 
(Health status and health determinants, Health care, Causes of death, Accidents at work, Occupational 
diseases). 

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The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

A set of key environmental statistics on resources, such  as  on waste  and recycling, 
water,  raw  materials  deposits,  ecosystems  services  and  biodiversity  at  national  and 
where  possible  regional  level,  and  a  set  of  key  climate  change  related  statistics  to 
support  mitigation  and  adaptation  actions  and  policies  at  all  relevant  levels  from 
local to EU level. 

Objective: 

Provide quality energy and transport statistics to support the policies of the EU. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

Statistics on renewable energy produced and disseminated; 

Statistics on energy savings/energy efficiency produced and disseminated; 

Statistics  on  transport  safety,  passenger  mobility,  road  traffic  measurement  and 
intermodal freight transport produced and disseminated. 

Objective: 

Provide  quality  agriculture,  fisheries  and  forestry  statistics  for  the  development  and 
monitoring  of  the  Common  Agricultural  and  Fisheries  Policies  reflecting  key  European 
strategic  objectives  related  to  sustainability  as  well  as  rural  development  by  carrying  out 
regular activities related to the development, production and dissemination of statistics. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The  agricultural  data  collection  reviewed  and  simplified  in  line  with  the  Common 
Agricultural Policy review post 2013; 

Agricultural data collection processes redesigned, in particular with the objective of 
improving quality and timeliness of the data provided; 

The land use/cover data management system elaborated and implemented; 

The data collection system for coherent agri-environmental indicators implemented; 

Appropriate breakdowns by region provided; 

A set of key forestry data from Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting 
for Forestry (IEEAF), such as forest area, volume and value of standing timber and 
economic accounts for forestry and logging, implemented and disseminated. 

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II. 

PRODUCTION METHODS OF EU STATISTICS 

The  ESS  is  currently  facing  a  number  of  challenges:  increasing  demand  for  high-quality 
statistics,  a  growing  need  for  complex  multidimensional  statistics,  the  appearance  of  new 
actors  on  the  information  market,  constraints  on  resources,  the  need  to  further  reduce  the 
statistical burden on respondents as well as the diversification of communication tools. This 
implies adapting the production and dissemination methods of European official statistics in a 
progressive way. 

1. 

ESS QUALITY MANAGEMENT 

Objectives: 

Implement a quality management system in the ESS based on the revised European Statistics 
Code  of  Practice,  introducing  new  monitoring  mechanisms  to  assess  compliance  with  the 
Code of Practice based on Commitments on confidence in statistics agreed with the Member 
States. 

Strengthen  the  sharing  of  good  practices  in  the  implementation  of  the  Code  of  Practice  and 
ensure that quality reporting is targeting different user needs. 

The objectives will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The Code of Practice fully implemented; 

Commitments of confidence in statistics agreed with Member States; 

ESS and ESCB quality assurance frameworks aligned; 

Users’ needs for quality reporting met. 

2. 

PRIORITY SETTING AND SIMPLIFICATION 

The  European  Statistical  System  is  facing  a  major  challenge:  how  to  provide  high-quality 
European  statistics  to  satisfy  increasing  needs  for  statistics  in  a  context  of  substantially 
reduced  budgets  of  Member  States  and  zero-growth  human  resource  policy  at  the 
Commission and in Member States. Given these resource constraints at European and national 
level, it is important to strengthen priority-setting and simplification measures, which requires 
the commitment of all ESS partners. A priority-setting mechanism has been introduced as an 
integrated  part  of  the  preparation  of  Annual  Work  Programmes  and  will  be  implemented 
throughout the duration of the ESP 2013-2017. This involves, among other things, an annual 
review  of  existing  statistical  requirements  replacing  an  administrative  mechanism  by  a 
strategic approach taking into account users’, producers’ and respondents’ interests. 

Objective: 

Implement  a  priority-setting  mechanism  for  the  ESS  in  order  to  simplify  reporting 
requirements and increase the flexibility of the ESS to adjust to new needs for statistics while 
taking into account the constraints of the producers and the response burden. 

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The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Priorities defined and resources allocated accordingly; 

Priorities for the ESS defined as part of the Annual Work Programme (AWP); 

Results of user and producer consultations reflected in the AWP; 

Statistical  areas  to  be  simplified  and  data  collections  to  be  reduced/discontinued 
communicated to users. 

MULTI-PURPOSE 

3. 
PRODUCTION 

Objectives: 

STATISTICS  AND  EFFICIENCY  GAINS 

IN 

Put  in  place  gradually  an  ESS  business  architecture  allowing  more  integrated  production  of 
EU statistics; harmonise and standardise statistical production methods and metadata; enhance 
the  horizontal  (across  statistical  domains)  and  vertical  (across  ESS  partners)  integration  of 
statistical production processes in the ESS in respect of the principle of subsidiarity; use and 
integrate multiple data sources; produce multi-purpose statistics. 

The objectives will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Greater use of appropriate administrative data in all statistical areas; 

New data sources for European statistics identified and used; 

Increased  involvement  of  European and national statistical authorities in  the design 
of administrative records; 

Wider use of statistical matching and data linking techniques for increasing the offer 
of EU statistics; 

The European approach to statistics for quick policy response used; 

More  integration  of  EU  statistics  production  processes  through  ESS  coordinated 
actions; 

Further harmonisation of statistical concepts across statistical domains; 

Development  and  implementation  of  flexible  IT  reference  infrastructure  and 
technical standards for improving interoperability, sharing of data and metadata, and 
common data modelling; 

Standard IT tools used across statistical business processes; 

Increased use and availability of harmonised methodologies (including mixed-mode 
approaches to data collection) and harmonised metadata; 

The role of statistical business registers strengthened as the place where the statistical 
units for all business related statistics is maintained and used as a source for national 
accounts sectors. 

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Objective: 

Ensure  the  good  functioning  and  coherence  of  the  ESS  through  effective  collaboration  and 
communication.  

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

Effective and efficient support for partnership in the ESS; 

Processes for burden and work sharing within the ESS defined and implemented; 

Collaborative networks further developed and made operational. 

4. 

DISSEMINATION AND COMMUNICATION 

Objectives: 

Make the ESS the first data source on EU statistics for all users and, in particular, for public 
and  private  decision-makers,  by  providing  a  quality  statistical  information  service  based  on 
the principles of free access to European statistics. 

Intensifying and extending the dialogue between users and producers of statistics to meet user 
needs  for  quality  statistiscs.  An  early  involvement  of  users  in  new  developments  is  key 
improve effectiveness and efficiency of the ESS. 

Extend and rationalise the range of dissemination products to meet the needs of users using 
new technologies. 

Set up a cost-efficient and integrated secure infrastructure within the ESS for access to official 
statistics confidential data for scientific purposes. 

Start producing public use files. 

The objectives will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The ESS recognised as the first reference point for users of European statistics; 

An integrated secure infrastructure in place for access to EU micro-data; 

A system put in place to address users’ requests for immediate access and advice in 
interpretation of statistical information; 

Dissemination products adjusted to the users’ needs using new technologies; 

An increased number of statistical outputs on cross-cutting issues; 

Increased  use  of  new  communication  and  dissemination  technologies  (e.g.  SDMX-
based); 

An increased offer of micro-data sets for statistical research purposes. 

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5. 

TRAINING, INNOVATION AND RESEARCH 

Objectives: 

Satisfy  learning  and  development  needs  in  the  ESS  based  on  a  combination  of  training 
courses and learning and development opportunities. 

Improve the collaboration between ESS members for the transfer of knowledge and sharing 
and  implementation  of  best  practices  and  common  innovative  approaches  in  statistical 
production. 

Organise  the  activities,  participation  and  contribution  of  the  research  communities  in  the 
improvement  of  the  statistical  production  chains  and  of  the  quality  of  official  statistical 
information. 

The objectives will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Postgraduate degree (e.g. Master in Official Statistics) developed; 

Training programmes offered addressing user needs; 

Results of research projects applied in statistical production and dissemination; 

The ESS recognised as a reference point for the statistical research communities; 

Extensive involvement of the research communities in research activities in official 
statistics; 

Adequate instruments in place for the exchange of practices and implementation of 
common solutions in the ESS. 

III. 

PARTNERSHIP 

PARTNERSHIP WITHIN THE ESS AND BEYOND 

Objective: 

Implement the enhanced ESS governance framework. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

Implementation of the revised Statistical law, Decision on the role of Eurostat; 

Framework regulations covering entire statistical areas adopted. 

Objective: 

Enhance the coordinating role of Eurostat as the European Union’s Statistical Office. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

Eurostat associated with all Commission initiatives with regard to statistical aspects 
at an early stage; 

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• 

Regular stakeholder dialogues at top management level organised. 

Objective: 

Strengthen the cooperation with the European System of Central Banks and the European and 
international organisations involved in the production of data for statistical or administrative 
purposes  through  common  projects  and  coordinated  developments.  Ensure  consistency 
between European and international standards. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

A common quality framework for the ESS and the ESCB implemented; 

Eurostat increasingly involved in international advisory groups; 

New ways of cooperation defined and implemented; 

The  new  SNA23/ESA24,  SEEA25/EEEA26  and  Balance  of  Payments  manuals 
implemented. 

Objective: 

Promote  and  implement  statistical  advisory  and  statistical  assistance  activities  in  countries 
outside  the  EU  in  line  with  the  priorities  of  the  foreign  policy  of  the  EU  with  particular 
emphasis on enlargement and the European Neighbourhood Policy. 

The objective will be implemented by: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

23 
24 
25 
26 

ESS leadership exercised in the international arena; 

Quality data for EU foreign policy purposes delivered; 

Support  to  Commission  services  for  the  implementation  of  development  and 
international  cooperation  policies,  in  their  relations  with  international  organisations 
and in matters of common statistical interest with non-European regions or countries;  

Relevant  statistical  data  to  support  the  enlargement  process  and  negotiations 
disseminated; 

Requests for derogations from new Member States leading to unavailability of data 
minimised; 

Agreements/Memoranda of Understanding signed with countries outside the EU; 

Technical cooperation programmes designed and implemented; 

Technical assistance focused on data harmonisation and delivery. 

System of National Accounts (United Nations). 
European System of Accounts. 
System of Environmental and Economic Accounts (United Nations); adoption foreseen for 2012 
European Environmental Economic Accounts 

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LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR PROPOSALS 

1. 

FRAMEWORK OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE 

1.1.  Title of the proposal/initiative 

1.2.  Policy area(s) concerned in the ABM/ABB structure 

1.3.  Nature of the proposal/initiative 

1.4.  Objective(s) 

1.5.  Grounds for the proposal/initiative 

1.6.  Duration and financial impact 

1.7.  Management method(s) envisaged 

2. 

MANAGEMENT MEASURES 

2.1.  Monitoring and reporting rules 

2.2.  Management and control system 

2.3.  Measures to prevent fraud and irregularities 

3. 

ESTIMATED FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE 

3.1.  Heading(s)  of  the  multiannual  financial  framework  and  expenditure  budget  line(s) 
affected 

3.2.  Estimated impact on expenditure 

3.2.1. Summary of estimated impact on expenditure 

3.2.2. Estimated impact on operational appropriations 

3.2.3. Estimated impact on appropriations of an administrative nature 

3.2.4. Compatibility with the current multiannual financial framework 

3.2.5. Third-party participation in financing 

3.3.  Estimated impact on revenue

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LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR PROPOSALS 

1. 

FRAMEWORK OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE 

1.1. 

Title of the proposal/initiative 

Proposal  for  a  European  Parliament  and  Council  Regulation  on  the  European  statistical 
programme 2013-2017 

1.2. 

Policy area(s) concerned in the ABM/ABB structure27 

Statistics  (3403  —  Production  of  statistical  information,  3480  —  Administrative  support  for 
Eurostat, 3481 — Policy strategy and coordination for Eurostat) 

1.3. 

Nature of the proposal/initiative 

(cid:59) The proposal/initiative relates to a new action 

(cid:133) The proposal/initiative relates to a new action following a pilot project/preparatory action28 

(cid:133) The proposal/initiative relates to the extension of an existing action 

(cid:133) The proposal/initiative relates to an action redirected towards a new action 

1.4. 

Objectives 

1.4.1.  The Commission’s multiannual strategic objective(s) targeted by the proposal/initiative 

The  proposal  is  consistent  with  the  European  Union’s  priorities  as  statistics  developed, 
produced and disseminated under this programme will contribute to the implementation of the 
policies of the European Union, such as the Europe 2020 strategy for ‘smart, sustainable and 
inclusive  growth’  and  other  policies  addressed  in  the  Commission’s  strategic  priorities  for 
2010-2014 (i.e. strengthened and integrated economic governance, climate change, growth and 
social cohesion, a people’s Europe and globalisation). 

1.4.2. 

Specific objective(s) and ABM/ABB activity(ies) concerned 

Specific  objective  No  1:  Provide  quality  statistical  information  to  support  the  development, 
monitoring and evaluation of the policies of the European Union 

ABM/ABB activity(ies) concerned 

3403 — Production of statistical information 

Specific objective No 2: Implement the new method of production of European statistics 

27 
28 

ABM: Activity-Based Management — ABB: Activity-Based Budgeting. 
As referred to in Article 49(6)(a) or (b) of the Financial Regulation. 

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ABM/ABB activity(ies) concerned 

3403  —  Production  of  statistical  information,  3480  —  Administrative  support  for  Eurostat, 
3481 — Policy strategy and coordination for Eurostat 

Specific objective No 3: Strengthen the partnership within the ESS and beyond 

3481 — Policy strategy and coordination for Eurostat 

More  detailed  objectives  will  be  provided  in  the  Commission’s  annual  statistical  work 
programmes. 

1.4.3.  Expected result(s) and impact  

Specify the effects which the proposal/initiative should have on the beneficiaries/groups targeted. 

Effects on the European Parliament and the Council: positive as the ESP is in line with the 
Treaties, the financial perspectives and the European Union’s political priorities; the needs for 
statistical information to back the policies of the EU are reflected in the ESP; the ESP includes 
a mechanism for improved priority-setting and reduction of the response burden on enterprises 
and  citizens.  Member  States  are  involved  in  the  preparation  of  the  ESP.  The  subsidiarity 
principle will be respected when implementing the ESP. 

Effects on the College of Commissioners and Commission services: positive as the ESP is 
in  line  with  the  Treaties,  the  financial  perspectives;  the  needs  for  statistical  information  to 
back the policies of the EU are reflected in the ESP, and a robust quality management system 
will be implemented as part of the ESP. The ESP will be subject to effective evaluation and an 
ABB-compliant framework for distribution of resources. 

Effects  on  National  Statistical  Institutes  (including  DGINS,  ESS  Committee,  Partnership 
Group,  Directors’  Groups)  and  other  national  producers:  positive  as  the  ESP  includes  a 
mechanism for improved priority-setting and reduction of the response burden on enterprises 
and citizens. It reflects the joint ESS strategy on the implementation of the Communication. 
Member  States  are  involved  in  the  preparation  of  the  ESP.  The  subsidiary  principle  will  be 
respected when implementing the ESP. 

Effects  on  the  ESAC,  the  European  Central  Bank,  the  Committee  on  Monetary, 
Financial and Balance of payments statistics (CMFB) and other non-institutional users: 
positive as the needs for statistical information to back the policies of the EU are reflected in 
the  ESP,  the  users  will  be  ensured  that  statistics  will  be  ‘fit  for  purpose’  (on  time  and 
according to their policy needs and requirements). 

Effects  on  Eurostat:  positive  as  the  ESP  reflects  the  Communication  on  the  production 
method of EU statistics; a robust quality management system will be implemented as part of 
the  ESP;  the  ESP  will  provide  a  stable  framework  for  coherent,  structured  annual 
programming and allocation of resources as well as a clear view of the direction of Eurostat’s 
development; the ESP will be subject to effective evaluation. 

1.4.4. 

Indicators of results and impact 

Specify the indicators for monitoring implementation of the proposal/initiative. 

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   EN 

For all objectives listed in the ESP 2013-2017, the main actions and indicators are listed. The 
objectives  of  the  ESP  2013-2017  are  subject  to  more  detailed  planning  in  the  Annual  Work 
Programmes and results will be monitored throughout the programming period. 

The  general  objective  linked  to  the  pursuit  of  being  the  leading  provider  of  high-quality 
statistics on Europe will be monitored by means of: 

-  The  Eurostat  User  Satisfaction  Survey,  and  in  particular  the  percentage  of  users  rating  the 
overall quality of European statistics as "very good" or "good". 

1.5. 

Grounds for the proposal/initiative 

1.5.1.  Requirement(s) to be met in the short or long term 

The establishment of a multiannual European statistical programme stems from Article 13(1) 
of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European 
statistics3,  which  stipulates  that  the  European  statistical  programme  must  provide  the 
framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, the main 
fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for a period not exceeding five years. It must 
lay down priorities  concerning  the needs for information  for the  purpose  of carrying out the 
activities  of  the  European  Union.  The  target  beneficiaries  of  the  proposal  are  the  users  and 
producers  of  European  statistics,  i.e.  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council,  the 
Commission  Directorates-General,  the  European  Central  Bank,  the  National  Statistical 
Institutes  and  other  national  producers  of  European  statistics,  the  ESAC,  the  Committee  on 
Monetary,  Financial  and  Balance  of  payments  statistics  (CMFB)  and  other  non-institutional 
users, and, of course, the general public at large. 

1.5.2.  Added value of EU involvement 

Political decision-makers and actors in the market constantly need statistics in order to make 
their decisions and monitor and evaluate their implementation. Statistics provide an essential 
infrastructure for democracies and modern economies to function soundly and efficiently. The 
European  Union  needs  a  high-quality  statistical  information  service  in  order  to  fulfil  its 
mission. European statistics must be reliable, timely and independent of political influence and 
provided in a convenient form for users. Furthermore, their preparation should not impose an 
excessive burden on data providers and their collection must be undertaken in accordance with 
the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. 

Together  with  the  national  statistical  authorities  and  other  national  authorities  responsible  in 
each Member State for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, 
Eurostat has created a partnership collectively called the ESS. This partnership also includes 
the  EEA  countries.  Member  States  collect  data  and  compile  statistics  for  national  and  EU 
purposes. 

The  ESS  functions  as  a  network  in  which  Eurostat’s  role  is  to  lead  the  way  in  the 
harmonisation  of  statistics  in  close  cooperation  with  the  national  statistical  authorities.  ESS 
work  concentrates  mainly  on  EU  policy  areas  —  and,  with  the  extension  of  EU  policies, 
harmonisation has been extended to nearly all statistical fields.  

EN 

37 

   EN 

The ESS facilitates the sharing of knowledge and ‘best practices’ across Member States and 
the development of new technologies, common tools and collaborative networks with a view 
to taking advantage of possible synergies and avoiding duplication of effort, thus paving the 
way for a modern production system equipped to meet future challenges. 

Efforts to harmonise, streamline and regulate can best be initiated at the European Union level, 
where such projects can be carried out with optimal efficiency. 

1.5.3.  Lessons learned from similar experiences in the past 

A  major  constraint  that  we  are  facing  with  the  current  Community  Statistical  Programme 
2008-20124  is  that  the  structure  is  fixed  for  a  period  of  five  years  and  the  objectives  are 
described  in  detail.  Since  the  current  programme  was  adopted,  a  number  of  important 
developments  have  taken  place.  The  basic  legal  framework  for  the  production  of  European 
statistics has changed. The Communication on the production method of EU statistics has been 
adopted,  followed  by  a  joint  ESS  strategy;  the  Lisbon  Treaty  has  come  into  force;  a  new 
European  Commission  has  taken  office  (as  of  January  2010  until  December  2014);  several 
new political initiatives (such as Europe 20205) have been launched and the ESS governance 
structure  has  been  reinforced.  None  of  these  developments  are  reflected  in  the  current 
programme; parts of it have become outdated and there is a gap between planned and actual 
activities.  This  diminishes  the  relevance  of  the  reporting  on  the  implementation  of  the 
programme as many relevant activities are not reflected in the programme while we have to 
report on some activities that are mentioned in it but are no longer carried out. 

With  regard  to  the  process  of  preparing  the  European  statistical  programme,  the  Partnership 
Group29  Task  Force  3  proposed  the  multiannual  programming  cycle  for  2013-2017.  It  was 
suggested  that  the  role  of  the  ESS  partners  (ESS  Committee,  DGINS,  Directors  Groups  and 
ESAC) be strengthened in the programme preparation process. 

It should also be mentioned that the Commission’s report to the EP and the Council on the ex-
post  evaluation  of  the  CSP  2003-200730  included  recommendations  with  regard  to  future 
multiannual programmes, namely:  

Improve the link between the CSP and annual work programmes. The CSP is designed to be a 
framework  programme  formulating  a  strategic  vision  for  five  years  and  ensuring,  together 
with the annual work programmes, the CSP’s flexibility and relevance over the entire period. 
In using the CSP as a reference, the annual work programmes should make explicit mention of 
and be based on the respective CSP. 

Improve the monitoring of the CSP implementation. Overall monitoring of the CSP should be 
implemented  by  defining  a  key  set  of  indicators  that  provide  sufficient  information  on  the 
achievement of operational and strategic objectives over the programme period. 

The  Commission’s  report  to  the  EP  and  the  Council  on  the  mid-term  evaluation  of  the  CSP 
2008-2012 highlighted the following points to be taken into account in the future: 

29 

30 

The  Partnership  Group  is  a  group  of  Directors  General  of  the  National  Statistical  Institutes  of  the  ESS  whose 
mission is to further the development of the ESS through, mainly, facilitating the work of the ESS Committee. 
COM(2009) 1 final. 

EN 

38 

   EN 

                                                 
-  Definition  of  new  needs  for  statistical  information.  A  more  integrated  approach  using 
multiple  and  combined  data  sources  together  with  harmonisation  of  methodology,  concepts 
and definitions is required. 

-  Strengthened  partnership  in  the  ESS.  Establishment  of  more  and  different  integration 
cooperation models with the Member States was emphasised. 

-  Reflection  on  conceptual  approach  to  reprioritisation  of  activities  and  availability  of 
resources for  implementing  the CSP  in order to reduce response burden and producers costs 
was considered necessary. 

It is worth mentioning that the current CSP 2008-2012 was one of the subjects of the Eurostat 
Internal Audit Capacity’s audit report on the evaluation function31, which noted the absence of 
an  ex-ante  evaluation  for  the  current  programme  and  recommended  that  such  an  evaluation 
should  be  carried  out  for  future  programmes  in  accordance  with  the  Financial  Regulation32 
(Article 27) and its Implementing Rules33 (Article 21). 

To  avoid  the  limitations  of  a  too  detailed  programme  in  order  to  be  able  to  adapt  to  new  or 
changing  political  priorities  and  developments,  the  ESP  2013-2017  is  designed  as  a  general 
planning instrument describing in a general way the objectives and actions to be undertaken, 
thus  providing  the  overall  framework  for  the  preparation  of  annual  statistical  work 
programmes with detailed objectives and actions. 

Developments  in  the  ESS  as  well  as  the  implementation  of  the  Communication  on  the 
production  method  of  EU  statistics  require  a  particular  focus  of  the  European  statistical 
programme 2013-2017 on meeting future challenges and balancing demands and resources. A 
strong  ESS  partnership  is  crucial  and  more  extensive  consultation  of  stakeholders  has 
therefore been integrated in the roadmap for the preparation of this programme. 

Drawing  on  past  experience,  mechanisms  are  put  in  place  to  ensure  consistency  in  planning 
and  reporting  processes  by  better  linking  the  programme’s  objectives  with  annual  work 
programmes and improving the monitoring and evaluation of programme implementation. 

The  recommendations  of  the  mid-term  evaluation  of  the  CSP  2008-20125  have  been  taken 
into account when drafting the objectives and indicators of the ESP 2013-2017. In particular, 
with  regard  to  reprioritisation  of  statistical  requirements  aiming  at  the  reduction  of  response 
burden and producers costs, the implementation of the priority setting mechanism, presented 
to the ESS Committee on 18 November 201034, has been foreseen. 

31 
32 

33 

34 

Internal Audit Capacity’s Audit Report ESTAT-2009-ESTAT-002, 19.2.2010. 
Consolidated version of Council Regulation No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable 
to the general budget of the European Communities. 
Consolidated version of Commission Regulation No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules 
for the implementation of Council Regulation No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general 
budget of the European Communities. 
Presented at the ESS Committee meeting on 18 November 2010 (Doc. No 2010/07/08b). 

EN 

39 

   EN 

                                                 
Finally,  the  ex-ante  evaluation  was  prepared  in  accordance  with  the  Financial  Regulation35 
(Article 27) and its Implementing Rules36 (Article 21). 

1.5.4.  Coherence and possible synergy with other relevant instruments 

Along  with  the  current  CSP  2008-2012,  another  multiannual  programme,  namely  the 
Programme  for  the  Modernisation  of  European  Enterprise  and  Trade  Statistics  (MEETS),  is 
being implemented from 2009 to 2013. In order to improve the efficiency of the management 
of the programmes, Eurostat decided to have one multiannual programme in future instead of 
two. This means that the objectives in the area of enterprise and trade statistics beyond 2013 
and actions related to the modernisation of social statistics are part of the ESP 2013-2017. 

In addition, Eurostat has a coordinating role in the area of production of European statistics in 
line  with  Commission  Decision  97/281/EC  of  21  April  1997.  Commission  Directorates-
General  and  other  services  involve  Eurostat  at  an  early  stage  in  the  development  of  their 
programmes related to statistics. 

1.6. 

Duration and financial impact 

(cid:59) Proposal/initiative of limited duration 

–  (cid:59) Proposal/initiative in effect from [01/01] 2013 to [31/12] 2017 

–  (cid:59) Financial impact from 2013 to 2017 for commitment appropriations and from 2013 to 

2021 for payment appropriations. 

(cid:133) Proposal/initiative of unlimited duration 

–  Implementation with a start-up period from YYYY to YYYY, 

–  followed by full-scale operation. 

1.7.  Management mode(s) envisaged37 

(cid:59) Centralised direct management by the Commission 

(cid:133) Centralised indirect management with the delegation of implementation tasks to: 

–  (cid:133)  executive agencies 

–  (cid:133)  bodies set up by the Communities38 

35 

36 

37 

38 

Consolidated version of Council Regulation No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable 
to the general budget of the European Communities. 
Consolidated version of Commission Regulation No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules 
for the implementation of Council Regulation No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general 
budget of the European Communities. 
Details  of  management  modes  and  references  to  the  Financial  Regulation  may  be  found  on  the  BudgWeb  site: 
http://www.cc.cec/budg/man/budgmanag/budgmanag_en.html. 
As referred to in Article 185 of the Financial Regulation. 

EN 

40 

   EN 

                                                 
–  (cid:133)  national public-sector bodies/bodies with public-service mission 

–  (cid:133)  persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions pursuant to Title V of the 
Treaty  on  European  Union  and  identified  in  the  relevant  basic  act  within  the  meaning  of 
Article 49 of the Financial Regulation 

(cid:133) Shared management with the Member States 

(cid:133) Decentralised management with third countries 

(cid:59)  Joint  management  with  international  organisations,  in  particular  with  the  OECD,  the 
United Nations and the World Bank. 

If more than one management mode is indicated, please provide details in the ‘Comments’ section. 

Comments 

Based on the experience gained with the Community Statistical Programme 2008-2012, limited use of 
Joint  Management  with  International  Organisations  will  be  considered,  when  appropriate,  to  support 
the achievement of the objectives of the European Statistical Programme 2013-2017. 

EN 

41 

   EN 

2. 

MANAGEMENT MEASURES 

2.1.  Monitoring and reporting rules 

Specify frequency and conditions. 

The ex-ante evaluation of the ESP 2013-2017 was carried out on the basis of the provisions of 
the Financial Regulations for expenditure programmes between October 2010 and April 2011 
by  the  Strategic  Planning  unit  of  Eurostat  with  the  help  of  the  Financial  and  Legal  Affairs 
units.  It  was  consulted  with  the  internal  Eurostat  Task  Force  for  the  preparation  of  the  ESP 
2013-2017  composed  of  representatives  at  Head  of  Unit  level  from  all  the  Directorates  of 
Eurostat and then approved at the Eurostat Directors’ meeting on 12 April 2011. 

The  key  findings  of  the  ex-ante  evaluation  were  incorporated  into  the  Explanatory 
Memorandum  and  the  Legislative  Financial  Statement.  Lessons  learnt  from  past  experience 
that  were  taken  into  account  when  establishing  the  ESP  are  presented  in  the  Legislative 
Financial  Statement,  Part  1.5.3  ‘Lessons  learned  from  similar  experiences  in  the  past’.  The 
objectives  of  the  ESP  are  presented  in  the  proposal  itself.  The  results  of  the  evaluation  of 
stakeholder  consultations,  alternative  delivery  mechanisms,  cost-effectiveness  and  risk 
analysis are presented in the Explanatory Memorandum, Part 2 Results of consultations with 
the interested parties and impact assessments. 

Article 2 of the proposal stipulates that the ESP will be subject to annual planning through the 
Commission’s annual statistical work programmes in line with Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. 
These  programmes  and  their  corresponding  financing  will  be  the  subject  of  Commission 
Decisions  detailing  the  outputs  and  results  (objectives  and  indicators)  to  be  achieved  during 
the  reference  period.  The  monitoring  will  be  ensured  through  regular  reports  on  the 
consumption of resources and on progress made in the achievement of objectives. 

With regard to reporting it is foreseen that, in line with the Regulation on European statistics, 
an interim progress report will be prepared and, after the ESS Committee has been consulted, 
submitted to the European Parliament and the Council no later than June 2015. 

At  the  end  of  the  period  covered  by  the  programme,  the  ESP  will  be  subject  to  an  ex-post 
evaluation.  The  ESS  Committee  will  be  consulted  on  the  evaluation  report,  which  will  be 
submitted to the European Parliament and the Council by the end of 2018. 

2.2.  Management and control system 

2.2.1.  Risk(s) identified 

The  management  mode  of  the  proposed  programme  is  central  direct  management  by  the 
Commission and to a limited extent joint management with International Organisations. From 
a  financial  point  of  view  the  programme  will  be  implemented  by  awarding  contracts,  in 
particular  to  firms  specialised  in  statistics  or  informatics  services,  and  by  grants  financing 
mainly  to  National  Statistical  authorities.  Regulation  (EC)  No.  223/2009  on  European 
Statistics allows for direct awards of grants to those authorities.  

EN 

42 

   EN 

The  main  risks  identified  for  the  implementation  of  the  programme  fall  mainly  in  the 
management of grant procedures. As it appears from the experience in the implementation 
of  the  Community  Statistical  Programme  2008-2012,  some  beneficiaries  experienced 
consistent  difficulties  to  submit  the  required  documentation  to  determine  the  eligibility  of 
costs incurred. 

2.2.2.  Control method(s) envisaged 

The main elements of the internal control system are: Ex-ante verification of each financial 
transaction's  operational  and  financial  aspects  (legality,  regularity  and  sound  financial 
management)  according  to  Article  47  (3)  of  the  Implementing  Rules  of  the  Financial 
Regulation.  Ex-ante  controls  cover  the  whole  expenditure  life  cycle,  from  planning  and 
programming  to  commitments  and  payments.  To  this  end,  for  each  financial  transaction 
controls following specific checklists have to be used by each actor in the financial circuits.  

Not only financial circuits, but also appropriate supervision, financial and performance based 
reporting,  audit  and  evaluation  contribute  to  implementation  of  the  programme's  budget  in 
accordance  with  the  principles  of  sound  financial  management  and  for  ensuring  that  the 
requirements  of  legality  and  regularity  are  complied  with.  Complementarily  will  be  ensured 
between the aforementioned sources of assurance, to avoid duplication of effort and allow for 
cost-efficiency of controls 

Against  the  background  of  the  comprehensive  and  compulsory  controls  applied  to  each 
financial  transaction  that  will  be  authorised  under  the  programme,  the  following  additional 
control actions will be applied to the management of grant procedures. In addition to ex-ante 
controls described above and based on an annual risk analysis, reinforced ex-ante and ex-post 
verification  will  be  performed.  Reinforced  ex-ante  verifications  will  be  carried  out  on  a 
sample basis based, i.e. in-depth controls of additional supporting documentation before final 
payments  for  co-financed  grant  actions.  Furthermore,  and  based  on  experience  gained  since 
2005,  ex-post  controls  will  be  carried  out  in  order  to  check  that  operations  financed  by  the 
budget  are  correctly  implemented  and  in  particular  that  the  criteria  set  out  for  the  ex-ante 
verification  are  complied  with.  A  specific  emphasis  will  be  put  to  reducing  administrative 
complexity and therefore the likelihood of errors linked to the management of grants. This will 
be  achieved  in  particular  by  focusing  on  bigger  projects  (and  limitation  of  small  grants), 
requirements  of  specific  audit  certificates,  and  last  but  not  least  by  the  introduction  of 
alternative options to payments based on actual costs, i.e. grants based on flat rates and scales 
of unit costs.  

Costs and benefits of controls: The programme control strategy is deemed to limit the risk of 
non-compliance  to  under  2  %,  which  is  in  line  with  the  assessment  carried  out  under  the 
Annual Activity Report 2010. Given that the internal control objective for the new programme 
is not to exceed an average residual error rate of 2% for the whole programming period from 
2013-2017, the internal control system as well as its costs is deemed adequate to achieve this 
objective.  DG  ESTAT  considers  that  the  costs  of  additional  reinforced  ex-ante  and  ex-post 
controls referred to above remain at around 1% of the programme budget, about the same ratio 
as in the previous programme. In terms of nature and intensity of controls, 100 % of financial 
transactions  (and  thus  100%  of  the  budget)  will  be  subject  to  obligatory  ex-ante  controls  in 
accordance  with  the  Financial  Regulation.  As  outlined  above,  controls  based  on  in-depth 

EN 

43 

   EN 

analysis  of  underlying  documentation  will  be  undertaken  following  an  annual  risk  analysis. 
They may cover 4-6 % of the budget. 

2.3.  Measures to prevent fraud and irregularities 

Specify existing or envisaged prevention and protection measures. 

In  addition  to  the  application  of  all  regulatory  control  mechanisms,  an  anti  fraud  strategy  in 
line with the Commission's new antifraud strategy (CAFS) adopted on 24 June 2011 will be 
devised on order to ensure inter alia that internal anti-fraud related controls are fully aligned 
with the CAFS and that the fraud management risk approach is geared to identify fraud risk 
areas  and  adequate  responses.  Where  necessary,  networking  groups  and  adequate  IT  tools 
dedicated  to analysing  fraud cases related to  the European  Statistical Programme will be set 
up. 

Eurostat  has  defined  a  control  strategy  2013-2017  accompanying  the  implementation  of  the 
ESP.  Reducing  complexity,  applying  cost-effective  monitoring  procedures  as  well  as 
conducting  risk  based  ex-ante  and  ex-post  controls  will  aim  to  reduce  the  likelihood  and 
contribute  to  the  prevention  of  fraud.  Specific  awareness  raising  measures  and  relevant 
training with regard to fraud prevention are part of the control strategy. 

EN 

44 

   EN 

3. 

3.1. 

Heading of 
multiannual 
financial 
framework 

Heading of 
multiannual 
financial 
framework 

1A 

1A 

ESTIMATED FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE 

Heading(s)  of  the  multiannual  financial  framework  and  expenditure  budget  line(s) 
affected 

–  Existing expenditure budget lines 

In order of multiannual financial framework headings and budget lines. 

Budget line 

Type of  
expenditure

Contribution  

Number  
[Description ………………………...……….] 

DA/NDA 
(39) 

from 
EFTA40 
countries 

from 
candidate 
countries41 

from third 
countries 

within the meaning 
of Article 18(1)(aa) 
of the Financial 
Regulation  

DA/DNA  YES/NO  YES/NO  YES/NO 

YES/NO 

–  New budget lines requested 

In order of multiannual financial framework headings and budget lines. 

Budget line 

Type of 
expenditure

Contribution  

Number  
[Heading ……………………………………..
] 

Diff./non-
diff. 

from 
EFTA 
countries 

from 
candidate 
countries 

from third 
countries 

within the meaning 
of Article 18(1)(aa) 
of the Financial 
Regulation  

29.0205 

European statistical programme 2013-2017 

29.010405 

Statistical  information  policy  —  Expenditure 
on administrative management 

Diff 

YES/NO  YES/NO  YES/NO 

YES/NO 

Non-diff  YES/NO  YES/NO  YES/NO 

YES/NO 

39 
40 
41 

DA= Differentiated appropriations / DNA= Non-Differentiated Appropriations. 
EFTA: European Free Trade Association.  
Candidate countries and, where applicable, potential candidate countries from the Western Balkans. 

EN 

45 

   EN 

 
 
                                                 
3.2. 

Estimated impact on expenditure 

3.2.1. 

Summary of estimated impact on expenditure 

Heading of multiannual financial 
framework:  

Number 

HEADING 1A — Competitiveness for growth and employment (2013) 

HEADING 1 – Smart and Inclusive Growth (as of 2014) 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places). All figures in current prices. 

Year 
201342 

Year 
2014 

Year 
2015 

Year 
2016 

Year 
2017 

Year 
2018 
and 
later 

TOTAL 

DG: ESTAT 

(cid:121) Operational appropriations  

29.0205 

of 

Appropriations 
administrative 
 from the envelope of specific programmes43  
29.010405 

an 

Commitments 

Payments 

(1) 

(2) 

53.800 
5.380 

54.876 
24.856 

55.974 
39.879 

57.115 
51.439 

58.235 
56.239  102.207 

nature 

financed 

(3) 

3.500 

3.841 

3.919 

3.998 

4.076 

TOTAL appropriations 
for DG ESTAT 

Commitments 

Payments 

=1+1a 
+3 

=2+2a 

+3 

57.300 

58.717 

59.893 

61.113 

62.311 

8.880 

28.697 

43.798 

55.437 

60.315  102.207 

280.000 
280.000 

19.334 

299.334 

299.334 

42 
43 

EN 

Year N is the year in which implementation of the proposal/initiative starts. 
Technical and/or administrative assistance and expenditure in support of the implementation of EU programmes and/or actions (former ‘BA’ lines), indirect 
research, direct research. 

46 

E

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
(cid:121) TOTAL operational appropriations  

Commitments 

Payments 

(cid:121)  TOTAL  appropriations  of  an  administrative  nature 
financed from the envelope of specific programmes  

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

53.800 

54.876 

55.974 

57.115 

58.235 

5.380 

24.856 

39.879 

51.439 

56.239  102.207 

3.500 

3.841 

3.919 

3.998 

4.076 

TOTAL appropriations  
under HEADING 1a 
of the multiannual financial framework 

Commitments 

=4+ 6 

57.300 

58.717 

59.893 

61.113 

62.311 

Payments 

=5+ 6 

8.880 

28.697 

43.798 

55.437 

60.315  102.207 

280.000 

280.000 

19.334 

299.334 

299.334 

EN 

47 

E

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Heading of multiannual financial 
framework:  

5 

‘Administrative expenditure’ 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places). All figures in current prices. 

Year 
2013 

Year 
2014 

Year 
2015 

Year 
2016 

Year 
2017 

Year 
2018 and 
later 

TOTAL 

DG: ESTAT 

(cid:121) Human resources  
(cid:121) Other administrative expenditure  

91.306 

91.306 

91.306 

91.306 

91.306 

4.038 

4.118 

4.201 

4.285 

4.371 

TOTAL DG ESTAT 

Appropriations  

95.344 

95.424 

95.507 

95.591 

95.677 

456.530 

21.013 

477.543 

TOTAL appropriations 
under HEADING 5 
of the multiannual financial framework  

(Total 
= Total payments) 

commitments 

95.344 

95.424 

95.507 

95.591 

95.677 

477.543 

Year 
2013 

Year 
2014 

Year 
2015 

Year 
2016 

Year 
2017 

TOTAL 

Year 
2018 
and 
later 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

TOTAL appropriations  
under HEADINGS 1 to 5 
of the multiannual financial framework  

Commitments 

152.644  154.141  155.400  156.704  157.988 

Payments 

104.224  124.121  139.305  151.305  155.992  102.207 

776.877 

776.877 

Heading of multiannual financial 

Number  HEADING 1A - Competitiveness for growth and employment (2013) 

EN 

48 

E

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
framework:  

HEADING 1 – Smart and Inclusive Growth (as of 2014) 

Year 
201344 

Year 
2014 

Year 
2015 

Year 
2016 

Year 
2017 

Year 
2018 
and 
later 

TOTAL 

DG: ESTAT 

(cid:121) Operational appropriations  

29.0205 

Appropriations 
of 
 from the envelop of specific programs45  
29.010405 

an 

administrative 

Commitments 

Payments 

(1) 

(2) 

53.800 
5.380 

54.876 
24.856 

55.974 
39.879 

57.115 
51.439 

58.235 
56.239  102.207 

nature 

financed 

(3) 

3.500 

3.841 

3.919 

3.998 

4.076 

TOTAL appropriations 
for DG ESTAT 

(cid:121) TOTAL operational appropriations  

Commitments 

Payments 

Commitments 

Payments 

(cid:121)  TOTAL  appropriations  of  an  administrative  nature 
financed from the envelop of specific programs  

=1+1a 
+3 

=2+2a 

+3 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

57.300 

58.717 

59.893 

61.113 

62.311 

8.880 

28.697 

43.798 

55.437 

60.315  102.207 

53.800 

54.876 

55.974 

57.115 

58.235 

5.380 

24.856 

39.879 

51.439 

56.239  102.207 

3.500 

3.841 

3.919 

3.998 

4.076 

TOTAL appropriations  

Commitments 

=4+ 6 

57.300 

58.717 

59.893 

61.113 

62.311 

280.000 
280.000 

19.334 

299.334 

299.334 

280.000 

280.000 

19.334 

299.334 

44 
45 

EN 

Year N is the year in which implementation of the proposal/initiative starts. 
Technical and/or administrative assistance and expenditure in support of the implementation of EU programmes and/or actions (former "BA" lines), indirect 
research, direct research. 

49 

E

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
under HEADING 1a 
of the multiannual financial framework 

Payments 

=5+ 6 

8.880 

28.697 

43.798 

55.437 

60.315  102.207 

299.334 

If more than one heading is affected by the proposal / initiative: 

(cid:121) TOTAL operational appropriations  

Commitments 

Payments 

(cid:121)  TOTAL  appropriations  of  an  administrative  nature 
financed from the envelop of specific programs  

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

TOTAL appropriations  
under HEADINGS 1 to 4 
of the multiannual financial framework 
(Reference amount) 

Commitments 

=4+ 6 

Payments 

=5+ 6 

EN 

50 

E

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Heading of multiannual financial 
framework:  

5 

" Administrative expenditure " 

Year 
2013 

Year 
2014 

Year 
2015 

Year 
2016 

Year 
2017 

Year 
2018 and 
later 

TOTAL 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

DG: ESTAT 

(cid:121) Human resources  
(cid:121) Other administrative expenditure  

91.306 

91.306 

91.306 

91.306 

91.306 

4.038 

4.118 

4.201 

4.285 

4.371 

TOTAL DG ESTAT 

Appropriations  

95.344 

95.424 

95.507 

95.591 

95.677 

456.530 

21.013 

477.543 

TOTAL appropriations 
under HEADING 5 
of the multiannual financial framework  

(Total 
= Total payments) 

commitments 

95.344 

95.424 

95.507 

95.591 

95.677 

477.543 

Year 
2013 

Year 
2014 

Year 
2015 

Year 
2016 

Year 
2017 

TOTAL 

Year 
2018 
and 
later 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

TOTAL appropriations  
under HEADINGS 1 to 5 
of the multiannual financial framework  

Commitments 

152.644  154.141  155.400  156.704  157.988 

Payments 

104.224  124.121  139.305  151.028  155.992  102.207 

776.877 

776.877 

EN 

51 

E

 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.2.2.  Estimated impact on operational appropriations 

–  (cid:133)  The proposal/initiative does not require the use of operational appropriations 

–  (cid:59)  The proposal/initiative requires the use of operational appropriations, as explained below: 

Year 
2013 

Year 
2014 

Year 
2015 

Year 
2016 

Year 
2017 

TOTAL 

OUTPUTS 

Commitment appropriations in EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Indicate objectives 
and outputs 

Type of 
output46 

Avera
ge cost  
of the 
output 

Number
of 
outputs  

Cost 

Number
of 
outputs 

Cost 

Number
of 
outputs 

Cost 

Number
of 
outputs 

Cost 

Cost 

Number
of 
outputs 

Total  
cost 

Total 
number 
of 
outputs 

Provide quality statistical information to support the development, monitoring and evaluation of the policies of the European Union 

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE No 147 

- Output 

Statistical 
projects 

0.315 

90 

24.210 

85 

24.694 

67 

21.270 

62 

21.704 

58 

22.129 

362 

114.007 

Sub-total for specific objective No 1 

90 

24.210 

85 

24.694 

67 

21.270 

62 

21.704 

58 

22.129 

362 

114.007 

- Output 

Statistical 
projects 

0.322 

90 

24.210 

84 

24.694 

100 

31.906 

94 

32.555 

87 

33.194 

455 

146.559 

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE No 2 

Implement the new method of production of European statistics 

46 
47 

Outputs are products and services to be supplied (e.g. number of student exchanges financed, number of km of roads built). 
As described in Section 1.4.2. ‘Specific objective(s) …’. 

EN 

52 

E

 
  
 
 
                                                 
Sub-total for specific objective No 2 

90 

24.210 

84 

24.694 

100 

31.906 

94 

32.555 

87 

33.194 

455 

146.559 

- Output 

Statistical 
projects 

0.308 

20 

5.380 

19 

5.488 

9 

2.798 

8 

2.856 

7 

2.912 

63 

19.434 

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE No 3 

Strengthen the partnership within the ESS and beyond 

Sub-total for specific objective No 3 

20 

5.380 

19 

5.488 

9 

2.798 

8 

2.856 

7 

2.912 

63 

19.434 

TOTAL COST 

200 

53.800 

188 

54.876 

176 

55.974 

164 

57.115 

152 

58.235 

880 

280.000 

EN 

53 

E

 
  
3.2.3.  Estimated impact on appropriations of an administrative nature 

3.2.3.1.  Summary 

–  (cid:133)  The  proposal/initiative  does  not 

require 

the  use  of  administrative 

appropriations 

–  (cid:59)  The  proposal/initiative  requires  the  use  of  administrative  appropriations,  as 

explained below: 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Year 
2013 

Year 
2014 

Year 
2015 

Year 
2016 

Year 2017 

Year 2018 
and later 

TOTAL 

HEADING 5 
of the multiannual 
financial framework 

Human resources  

91.306 

91.306 

91.306 

91.306 

91.306 

4.038 

4.118 

4.201 

4.285 

4.371 

456.530 

21.013 

95.344 

95.424 

95.507 

95.591 

95.677 

477.543 

Other administrative 
expenditure  

Subtotal HEADING 5 
of the multiannual 
financial framework  

Outside HEADING 548 
of the multiannual 
financial framework  

Human resources  

2.752 

2.752 

2.752 

2.752 

2.752 

13.760 

Other expenditure  
of an administrative 
nature (IT; meetings; 
studies; missions; 
subscriptions) 

Subtotal  
outside HEADING 5 
of the multiannual 
financial framework  

0.748 

1.089 

1.167 

1.246 

1.324 

5.574 

3.500 

3.841 

3.919 

3.998 

4.076 

19.334 

TOTAL 

98.844 

99.265 

99.426 

99.589 

99.753 

496.877

48 

Technical  and/or  administrative  assistance  and  expenditure  in  support  of  the  implementation  of  EU 
programmes and/or actions (former ‘BA’ lines), indirect research, direct research. 

EN 

54 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
3.2.3.2.   Estimated requirements of human resources 

–  (cid:133)  The proposal/initiative does not require the use of human resources 

–  (cid:85) The  proposal/initiative  requires  the  use  of  human  resources,  as  explained 

below: 

Estimate to be expressed in full time equivalent units 

Year 

Year 

2013 

2014 

Year 
2015 

Year 
2016 

Year 
2017 

(cid:121) Establishment plan posts (officials and temporary agents) 

29 01 01 01 (Headquarters and Commission’s Representation 
Offices) 

XX 01 01 02 (Delegations) 

XX 01 05 01 (Indirect research) 

10 01 05 01 (Direct research) 

655 

655 

655 

655 

655 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

(cid:121) External personnel (in Full Time Equivalent unit: FTE) 

29 01 02 01 (CA, INT, SNE from the ‘global envelope’) 

118 

118 

118 

118 

118 

XX 01 02 02 (CA, INT, JED, LA and SNE in the delegations) 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

XX 01 04 yy  

- at Headquarters 

- in delegations 

XX 01 05 02 (CA, INT, SNE — Indirect research) 

10 01 05 02 (CA, INT, SNE — Direct research) 

Other budget lines (29 01 04 01) 

TOTAL 

43 

816 

43 

816 

43 

43 

816 

816 

43 

816 

29 is the policy area or budget title concerned. 

The human resources required will be met by staff from the DG who are already assigned to 
management of the action and/or have been redeployed within the DG, together if necessary 
with any additional allocation which may be granted to the managing DG under the annual 
allocation procedure and in the light of budgetary constraints. 

Description of tasks to be carried out: 

Officials  and 
temporary 
agents 

to 

be 

the 

tasks 

performed 

collection,  validation,  processing 

concern  mainly 
The 
methodological  work  on  the  one  hand  and  on  the  other 
hand 
and 
dissemination of the statistical information related to the 
the  proposed 
domains  set  out 
Regulation.  They  also  refer  to  Eurostat’s  two  horizontal 
ABB activities (‘Administrative support for Eurostat’ and 
‘Policy strategy and coordination of Eurostat’) 

the  annexes 

to 

in 

External 
personnel 

Support the officials and temporary agents in performing 
the above-mentioned tasks 

EN 

55 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.2.4.  Compatibility with the current multiannual financial framework 

–  (cid:59)  Proposal/initiative  is  compatible  with  the  current  multiannual  financial 
framework  for  appropriations  related  to  year  2013,  and  is  compatible  with  the 
multiannual financial framework for 2014-2020 for appropriations related to years 
2014 to 2017. 

–  (cid:133)  Proposal/initiative  will  entail  reprogramming  of  the  relevant  heading  in  the 

multiannual financial framework. 

An amount of €53.8 million for 2013 is foreseen  in the current multiannual financial frame 
for Community statistics. Implementation of the programme in 2013 is compatible with this 
amount. 

–  (cid:133)  Proposal/initiative requires application of the flexibility instrument or revision 

of the multiannual financial framework49. 

Explain  what  is  required,  specifying  the  headings  and  budget  lines  concerned  and  the 
corresponding amounts. 

3.2.5.  Third-party contributions 

–  (cid:133)  The proposal/initiative does not provide for co-financing by third parties 

–  (cid:59)  The proposal/initiative provides for the co-financing estimated below: 

Appropriations in EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Year 
2013 

Year 
2014 

Year 
2015 

Year 
2016 

Year 
2017 

Total 

4.755 

4.851 

4.948 

5.047 

5.147 

24.748 

4.755 

4.851 

4.948 

5.047 

5.147 

24.748 

Contribution of 
Switzerland  

TOTAL appropriations 
co-financed  

49 

See points 19 and 24 of the Interinstitutional Agreement. 

EN 

56 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
3.3. 

Estimated impact on revenue 

–  (cid:59)  Proposal/initiative has no financial impact on revenue. 

–  (cid:133)  Proposal/initiative has the following financial impact: 

(a)  (cid:133) 

on own resources 

(cid:133) 

on miscellaneous revenue 

Appropriation
s available for 
the ongoing 
budget 
exercise 

Budget revenue line: 

Article …………. 

EUR million (to 3 decimal places) 

Impact of the proposal/initiative50 

Year 
N 

Year 
N+1 

Year 
N+2 

Year 
N+3 

… insert as many columns as necessary 
in order to reflect the duration of the 
impact (see point 1.6) 

For miscellaneous assigned revenue, specify the budget expenditure line(s) affected. 

Specify the method for calculating the impact on revenue. 

50 

As regards traditional own resources (customs duties, sugar levies), the amounts indicated must be net 
amounts, i.e. gross amounts after deduction of 25 % for collection costs. 

EN 

57 

   EN