European statistical programme 2013-2017
PURPOSE: to establish a European statistical programme 2013-2017.
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation EU No 99/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European statistical programme 2013-2017.
CONTENT: the general objective of the programme is for the European Statistical System (ESS) to continue to be the leading provider of high-quality statistics on Europe.
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. Statistical information shall be harmonised, comparable, reliable, user-friendly and accessible based on uniform standards and common principles set out in the European Statistics Code of Practice, as adopted by the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC),
Its specific objectives are the following:
- Objective 1: provide statistical information, in a timely manner, to support the development, monitoring and evaluation of the policies of the Union properly reflecting priorities, while keeping a balance between economic, social and environmental fields and serving the needs of the wide range of users of European statistics, including other decision-makers, researchers, businesses and European citizens in general, in a cost-effective manner without unnecessary duplication of effort.
- Objective 2: implement new methods of production of European statistics aiming at efficiency gains and quality improvements,
- Objective 3: strengthen the partnership within the ESS and beyond in order to further enhance its productivity and its leading role in official statistics worldwide, and
- Objective 4: ensure that delivery of such statistics is kept consistent throughout the whole duration of the programme, provided that this does not interfere with the priority-setting mechanisms of the ESS.
Statistical governance, independence, transparency and quality: the Regulation stipulates that European statistics shall be produced in a professionally independent and transparent manner. Each Member State shall endeavour to ensure that its statistical production processes are set up in a standardised manner and are enhanced, to the extent possible, by audit mechanisms.
In the interests of transparency, the Commission (Eurostat) shall, where appropriate, disclose publicly its assessment of the quality of national contributions to European statistics as part of the quality reporting and compliance monitoring exercise.
Statistical priority-setting: the Commission shall, in the preparation of the annual work programmes referred to in Article 9, ensure effective priority-setting and an annual review of, and report on, statistical priorities.
Financing: the Union financial envelope for the implementation of the programme for 2013 is set at EUR 57.3 million, covered by the programming period 2007 to 2013.
Not later than three months after the adoption of the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-20 (‘MFF 2014 to 2020’), the Commission is invited to submit a legislative proposal introducing the financial allocation for the period 2014 to 2017.
Evaluation and review: the Commission shall, after consulting the ESSC, submit an intermediate progress report on the implementation of the programme to the European Parliament and to the Council by 30 June 2015.
No later than 31 December 2016, the Commission may, after consulting the ESSC, submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a proposal for the extension of the programme for the period from 2018 to 2020, while complying with the MFF 2014 to 2020.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 09/02/2013.
APPLICATION: from 01/01/2013.