jean - claude trichet : euro area statistics and their use for ecb policy - making speech by mr jean - claude trichet, president of the ecb, at the second ecb conference on statistics, frankfurt, 22 - 23 april 2004. * * * colleagues, fellow central bankers, ladies and gentlemen, i would like to welcome you most warmly to this the second ecb conference on statistics. i am particularly happy to see so many participants from the countries that will join the european union ( eu ) in just a few days time. this milestone in european history marks the successful completion of intensive preparations in many fields, including statistics. the goal of this conference is to review the statistical requirements for central bank policy - making. in addition, it provides the statistical community with an opportunity to bid farewell to eugenio domingo solans, the executive board member responsible for statistics, who will leave the ecb at the end of may 2004. although the emphasis of this conference will obviously be the future of statistics, i would also like to take this opportunity to briefly review the current state of euro area statistics that are produced by the european system of central banks ( escb ). let me first, however, underline the importance of euro area statistics for ecb policy - making. the importance of euro area statistics we should not underestimate the importance of official monetary, financial and other economic statistics for the ecb ’ s monetary policy. as statistics provide the foundation for economic analysis and policy - making, the availability of trustworthy and timely statistical time - series is a prerequisite for an effective and correct assessment of the monetary and economic situation and future prospects. moreover, economic agents also use these statistics for their own decisions, which then drive the developments of financial and other economic markets. in this regard, i would like to stress the importance of a single set of statistics that is used by all economic and financial policy - makers, market participants and the public at large. the familiar credo of the media, “ facts are sacred, opinions are free ”, should also apply to statistics and the use of statistics. an effective policy preparation process requires that public and private decision - makers need not debate about the numbers, whatever the outcomes are. instead they can then focus their deliberations on the best possible policy assessment based on these statistics and the forecasts derived from them. of course, this also places a heavy responsibility on the shoulders of those who are responsible for the development, compilation and dissemination

importance to improving further the availability, timeliness and other qualities of the principal european economic indicators and to receiving more elaborate and consistent euro area statistics for assessing and analysing productivity changes, for service activities and for housing, including house prices. moreover, incorporating price developments of owner - occupied housing in the hicp would be an important achievement. in any case, member states may want to consider giving more prominence to national hicps and less to their specific national consumer price indices ( cpi ). by way of a supplementary measure, the analysis of any inflationary pressures would be served by the regular availability of an hicp - variant that excludes the direct effects of tax changes and, possibly, other administrative measures. however, implementing the necessary improvements to european statistics can only be achieved if sufficient resources are made available. it may therefore also be useful to regularly review the need for existing statistics that were agreed upon many years ago. concluding remarks to conclude, let me say that i wish to reflect today the importance that the ecb attaches to timely and reliable euro area statistics as a basis for policy - making. statistics are like the glasses through which policy - makers and all other economic agents view macroeconomic reality. if the glasses are totally reliable, well polished and easy to handle, we may hardly notice that we are wearing them and we do not realise how vital they are for our clear view of reality. surely, we only start to complain when the glasses are out of focus and we want to have a new pair when glass - making technology proceeds. this conference may be a good opportunity to put our glassmakers into the limelight, for a change, and to tell them, at the same time, how we would like our glasses to be even better polished in the future. in any case, it is clear that producing euro area statistics is all about teamwork : time and time again, from the preparatory stage to publication. over the past six years, eugenio domingo solans has ably steered the statisticians of the european system of central banks : both quietly and persistently, directly and indirectly - but always in the right direction. i am convinced that the ground has now been laid for further excellent work to complete the provision of euro area statistics in the future. ladies and gentlemen, i wish you all very fruitful discussions. it gives me great pleasure to declare the conference open. thank you very much.