European Union – Eurostat

History

In 1951, the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was signed in Paris. Article 46 of the Treaty requires the Community's governing body (High Authority) to, among other things, continuously monitor market developments and price trends and to collect the information necessary to assess the living and working conditions of workers. Article 47 grants the High Authority the right to collect the information necessary for the performance of its tasks, provides for the obligation to preserve the business secrets of enterprises, and imposes penalties on enterprises for failure to comply with the reporting obligation or the submission of incorrect information. In 1952 the High Authority decided to establish 12 divisions and services, including the Statistical Service, and in 1954 the Statistical Service became the Statistical Division. Further development occurs after the signing and ratification of the Treaty establishing the European (Economic) Community. In 1958, the statistical division was reorganised to a statistical office for the executive body of the EEC, the Commission, and given its current status as a Directorate General (consisting of seven directorates by statistical area), responsible for the collection, processing and dissemination of statistical data and the coordination of all statistical activities. In 1959, a decision was taken to set up this office, called the Statistical Office of the European Communities, with the abbreviation SOEC. The abbreviated name was changed to the current EUROSTAT in 1973. In 1959, the first document on the statistical programme was drawn up. Since then, Conference of the Directors-General of the National Statistical Institutes (DGINS) is convened regularly every six months (note: currently it meets once a year). By the end of 1959, the Press Service and the Legal Service of the Office are set up. In February 1997, Council Regulation No 322/97 on Community Statistics, usually referred to as the Statistics Act, is adopted. On the basis of this, the Commission adopts Decision No 97/281 on the role of Eurostat in relation to Community statistics in April of the same year.

The year 2009 brought fundamental changes. In spring 2009, Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament (EP) and of the Council on European Statistics came into force. There were a number of reasons for the adoption of the new norm: the increase in user needs and the associated burden, the progress of EU integration, the adoption of the European Statistics Code of Practice (2005)¹, the emphasis on quality, the need to protect confidential data, and the cooperation with the European System of Central Banks. With these modifications, as well as by establishing the definition of European statistics and the European Statistical System (ESS) - a partnership between the European Commission (Eurostat) and the national authorities and institutes of the Member States responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, as well as the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) - the new Regulation responded to the changing situation and needs. In the context of the institutional changes brought about by the Lisbon Treaty, Eurostat is now referred to as the statistical office of the EU. In 2011 and subsequently in 2017, the ESSC revised the European Statistics Code of Practice, in particular by strengthening the principles of professional independence, quality, impartiality and objectivity and the use of appropriate statistical procedures. In 2012, the Commission Decision on Eurostat (No 2012/504) was published, redefining its role and status. Further changes took place in 2015 when Regulation No 223/2009 was amended by adding provisions aimed in particular at strengthening the independence and credibility of European statistics. A new amendment to the Regulation is currently being drafted.

The ESS is a network in which Eurostat's role is to manage - in close cooperation with the national statistical institutes - the harmonisation of statistics, the development of the ESS, the provision of data to European users, etc. As EU policies expand, harmonisation covers increasingly all areas of statistics. The ESS also coordinates its work with other European and international institutions and organisations such as the ECB, OECD, UN, IMF, ILO, WHO and the World Bank. Eurostat's staff numbers have grown in line with the increase in the volume of activity due to the gradual enlargement of the EU and the increase in the content of statistics, particularly in the context of deepening integration under the new basic treaties: the ECSC Statistical Service started with 7 staff in 1952 and by 2009 Eurostat was reporting around 900 positions.

The European Statistics Code of Practice was drawn up by the Statistical Programme Committee and included in the European Commission's Communication on the independence, integrity and accountability of the national and community statistical authorities (COM(2005) 217 final). It contains 16 principles, further developed into more detailed indicators.

How Eurostat works

Eurostat is headed by a Director General, who is supported by 7 Directors who manage different areas of activity. They are:

• Resources
• Standards; Dissemination; Cooperation in the European Statistical System
• Macro-economic statistics
• Government finance statistics (GFS)
• Sectoral and regional statistics
• Social statistics
• Business and trade statistics.

The scope of EU statistics is determined by EU law and by agreements between the EU institutions and Member States within their respective competences.

Regulation 223/2009 requires the adoption of statistical programmes with a periodicity not exceeding 5 years. Such programmes have been adopted in previous periods and as early as 1989, Council Decision No 89/382 established the EC Statistical Programme Committee, whose main task was to assist the Commission in coordinating multiannual statistical programmes. In 2009, the Statistical Programme Committee was replaced by the ESS Committee (ESSC) under the Regulation No 223/2009. This Committee, chaired by the Director General of Eurostat and composed of the Heads of the National Statistical Institutes of the Member States, provides expert guidance to the ESS for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. It discusses the main strategic issues concerning European statistics, priorities for further development, confidentiality issues, actions to implement statistical programmes, etc. The so-called Partnership Group, composed of selected members of the ESSC, is a kind of bureau of the ESSC - it deals mainly with the preparation of its meetings and with matters of importance for the work of the Committee. At the same time, the ESSC is a comitology committee which discusses and approves draft legislation in the field of statistics adopted under the responsibility of the European Commission.

The Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) plays an important role in EU macroeconomic statistics. It is the main mechanism for cooperation between Eurostat, the European Central Bank, the central banks of the Member States, the national statistical offices of the Member States and the European Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs. It is a subsidiary and advisory body for the statistical areas it has in its title. It is primarily responsible for the development of the conception, monitoring and evaluation of the statistical tools needed for the European Monetary Union. One example of the CMFB's activities is its advisory capacity on the calculation of government deficits and debt.

Other important committees with a statistical scope are:

• European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC)
  The Committee was set up by Decision of the EP and Council in 2008 to replace the European Advisory Committee on Statistical Information in the Economic and Social Spheres (CEIES). Number of members: 24 (nominated by the European Commission and other institutions). Its task is to cooperate in the preparation of statistical programmes (adequacy of the scope and extent of statistics, cost of providing information, burden on respondents), to facilitate information and suggestions from users, respondents and institutions, and to produce reports to the EP, Council and EC on user needs.
• European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB)
  The Board was established by Decision of the EP and the Council in 2008. Number of members: 7 (3 appointed by the EP and 4 by the Council). The main role is to prepare an annual report to the EP and the Council on compliance with the European Statistics Code of Practice, to advise the European Commission on compliance with the Code, to address issues of user confidence in European statistics, to disseminate and update the Code, etc.

CZSO participation in the ESS

The main ongoing form of cooperation is the providing statistical information by the Czech Statistical Office on the basis of EU legislation or gentlemen's agreements. The legislation and agreements specify the scope of information, a common methodology, submission deadlines and requirements related to data quality.

The statistical activities of the CZSO respect the obligations of the Czech Republic arising from its membership in the EU, in which Czech statistics is a full member of the ESS. This fact implies the obligation not only to provide all the required statistical information to this system, but also to actively participate in the preparation of European statistical legislation specifying the requirements for the content and methodology of statistical data as well as the related systems and tools for the collection, processing and dissemination of statistics. This participation includes active involvement in the preparation of strategic plans for the further development of the ESS, programming and planning documents.

In line with the adopted European Statistics Code of Practice, emphasis is placed on adherence to the principles governing the functioning of the national statistical service, in particular the independence and credibility of statistics, reflected, among other things, in efforts to permanently improve the quality of statistical systems and the quality of statistical data.

An important aspect of the CZSO's involvement is its participation in the meetings of the DGINS and the ESS Committee, which discusses draft legislation in the field of statistics, the strategic objectives of the ESS and current issues relating to European statistics. Representatives of the CZSO are also members of other EC committees in the field of statistics, participate in meetings of Directors, Eurostat working groups, Task Forces, etc., which focus on individual statistics or cross-cutting issues. In this way, the CZSO participates in the improvement of statistics within the ESS and in the legislative initiatives of the European Commission in the field of statistics.

April 2023
European Integration Unit, Legislation and International Cooperation Department