COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 on the European statistical programme 2013-17, by extending it to 2018-2020
Date: 2016-09-07
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EFTA countries, EU Member State, EU policy, EU programme, EU statistics, European Economic Area, data collection, statistical method

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 7.9.2016  SWD(2016) 287 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT  Accompanying the document Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council  amending Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 on the European statistical programme 2013-17, by extending it to 2018-2020 {COM(2016) 557 final} {SWD(2016) 288 final}  
 
 
Executive summary sheet 

Impact  assessment  on  the  proposal  for  a  Regulation  amending  Regulation  (EU)  No  99/2013  on  the  European  statistical 
programme 2013-17, by extending it to 2018-2020 

A. Need for action 

Why? What is the problem being addressed?  

There is a high level of demand for official European statistics, because they are produced and disseminated in accordance with 
specific principles and therefore have an ‘added value’ for the user, as compared with other sources of information. A number of 
statistical  gaps  need  to  be  addressed  in  order  for  statistics  to  be  able  to  support  EU  policies.  The  timeliness  of  some  statistics 
urgently needs to be improved, so that they can provide the information needed for the European Semester exercise. The needs 
for statistics arising from the Commission’s 10 political priorities and from the increasing complexity of societies are bringing the 
relevance of current European statistics into question. 

Although national statistical systems have made a significant effort to modernise their production methods with the support of the 
2013-2017 European statistical programme (ESP), the current statistical infrastructure is still not flexible enough to deliver new 
statistics when needed, while also limiting the associated cost and administrative burden. Unless the current level of investment is 
increased, the European Statistical System (ESS) will not be in a position to meet the growing demand for statistics or the need to 
make them available more quickly. 

The  parties  who  would  be  affected  most  directly  by  the  proposal  are  users  of  statistics  (e.g.  policymakers,  the  media  and 
researchers), producers of statistics (national statistical institutes (NSIs) and other national authorities (ONAs)) and respondents 
(households and businesses). 

What is this initiative expected to achieve?  

This  initiative  is  designed  to  establish  the  legislative  framework  for  the  ESP  for  the  full  duration  of  the  multiannual  financial 
framework (MFF) and to provide the financial support that the ESS needs in order to be able to: 

  provide  high-quality  statistical  information  and  close  the  statistical  gaps  that  need  to  be  addressed  most  urgently, 

focusing on a number of priority areas that reflect the Commission’s 10 political priorities; 

  build  the  permanent  capacity  needed  to  respond  more  quickly  to  emerging  needs  and  to  adapt  the  statistical 

infrastructure so as to harness the potential of new data sources; and 

 

strengthen the partnership within the ESS and beyond in order to further increase its productivity and secure its leading 
role in official statistics worldwide. 

What is the added value of action at EU level?  

The design, implementation and monitoring of EU policies rely on impartial, reliable and relevant statistical evidence that can be 
provided only through the ESP. It is only by having a coordinated approach to the development, production and dissemination of 
European statistics, as provided for in the ESP, that the necessary consistency and comparability of statistics relevant to the EU’s 
areas of activity can be guaranteed. Action at EU level, as proposed, would also contribute to an effective use of resources (due to 
economies  of  scale)  and  support  national authorities  in  developing  their  capacity,  in  terms,  for  example,  of  harmonisation  and 
methodologies. 

B. Solutions 

What legislative and non-legislative policy options have been considered? Is there a preferred choice or not? Why?  

Under  Regulation  (EC)  No  223/2009  on  European  statistics,  the  duration  of  the  ESP  is  to  correspond  to  that  of  the  MFF 
(currently 2014-2020). The ESP is due to expire in 2017 and an extension is therefore necessary. The impact assessment does not 
examine whether to extend the ESP, but how best to do this. The following options have been considered: 

1. 

2. 

Baseline  —  the  current  ESP  (2013-2017)  being  extended  for  a  further  three  years  (2018-
2020); 

Extension of the current ESP with adaptations: 

2a:   Amendments to the current ESP and a reduced annual budget; 

2b:   An amended programme, including improved statistical outputs in line with the 10 political 
priorities, balanced by strong re-prioritisation (with the same annual budget); 

2c:   An  amended  programme  including  new  statistical  outputs  in  line  with  the  10  political 

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priorities, complemented by investment in the statistical infrastructure and new sources of statistics 
(with an increased budget); 

1.  Two separate programmes. 

Option 2c has emerged as the preferred policy option, as it offers the best chance of achieving the above objectives, taking  all 
requirements, obligations and constraints into account. 

Who supports which option?  

On  the  side  of  the  producers,  the  ESS  Committee  has  repeatedly  called  for  increased  investment.  The  European  Statistical 
Advisory  Committee,  as  the  forum  representing  users  of  statistics,  respondents,  civil  society,  social  partners  and  the  scientific 
community, emphasised the need for appropriate funding, given that creating the capacity to produce new statistics and indicators 
will  require  additional  investment.  The  European  Statistical  Governance  Advisory  Board  has  also  raised  concerns  about 
insufficient investment, which it feels is hampering the ESS’s ability to take advantage of the data revolution. The relevant parties 
from  both  the  users’  and  the  producers’  side  therefore  support  new  measures  to  improve  official  statistics,  as  set  out  under 
option 2c. 

C. Impacts of the preferred option 

What are the benefits of the preferred option (if any, otherwise main ones)?  

Option 2c would  have  the greatest  impact  in  terms  of  being  able  to produce  data  more  quickly, which  is essential for  meeting 
users’  fundamental  needs.  It  includes  new  measures  to  close  remaining  data  gaps  and  to  improve  timeliness  in  key  areas  like 
energy statistics. In addition, users would benefit from the better exploitation of ‘big data’. 

-   Comparability of statistics at European level is expected to increase in areas to be covered for the first time by the ESP. 

-  

-  

It will be possible to further modernise the ESS and make greater use of new sources (e.g. ‘big data’). 

The response burden is expected to decrease due to better use of administrative data and new sources. 

-   As  legislation  on  statistics  primarily  affects  data  users,  data  producers  and  survey  respondents,  its  direct  economic, 

social and environmental effects are very limited. 

What are the costs of the preferred option (if any)?  

The budget currently allocated to the ESP (approximately EUR 60 million per year) is small relative to the total EU budget and 
the proposed increase would be within the limits of existing overall budget constraints. The costs of producing statistics must also 
be considered in the light of the cost of not having statistics, or only having statistics of insufficient quality. The principal direct 
costs of option 2c relate mainly to the EU’s co-funding of grants for the NSIs’ statistical actions, but they should be considered as 
an investment. They are expected to pay for themselves, thanks to the savings made as a result of reduced administrative burden 
and more effective and efficient data production methods. 

How will businesses, SMEs and micro-enterprises be affected?  

The  measures  set  out  in  the  proposed  programme  (such  as  the  re-engineering  of  statistical  production  and  the  better  use  of 
administrative data and ‘big data’) will lead to a simplification of procedures and a reduction of the administrative burden, thus 
benefiting businesses and individuals. 

Will there be significant impacts on national budgets and administrations?  

The initiative will have an impact on NSIs and ONAs. The ESP will allow investment in projects launched in response to new 
challenges  faced  by  European  statistics  (e.g.  implementation  of  ESS  Vision  2020,  strengthening  of  the  European  statistical 
infrastructure  and  making  better  use  of  ‘big  data’  and  shared  infrastructure).  As  EU  funding  is  provided  on  the  basis  of 
co-financing, a higher budget for the ESP at EU level also implies higher budgetary costs for the NSIs. Development projects will 
also often need highly skilled expertise. 

Will there be other significant impacts? 

The initiative will support cooperation with international organisations and capacity-building in non-EU countries, with the aim 
of  ensuring  the  availability  of  good-quality  data.  In  turn,  this will  allow  the  EU  to  monitor  the  results  of  the  enlargement  and 
European neighbourhood policies and to measure (potential) candidate countries’ compliance with EU standards in the area of 
statistics. 

D. Follow-up 

When will the policy be reviewed?  

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The final evaluation of the programme is scheduled for 2021. 

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