European statistical programme 2013-2017
The Commission presents a report on the implementation of the European Statistical Programme 2013-2020.
With Regulation (EU) 2017/1951, the European Parliament and the Council extended the 2013-2017 European statistical programme (ESP) to 2020. It focuses on the main results and progress in implementing the current programme for the period not covered by previous evaluations.
Key initiatives and outputs of 2018 and of the first half of 2019
- In 2018 and 2019, Eurostat continued to support the economic governance of the EU by providing a high-quality statistical service on the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) and Member States’ underlying government finance statistics.
- Further improvements in the timeliness and availability for all Member States of the principal European economic indicators (PEEIs) has been a Eurostat priority for a number of years. Timeliness targets have been reached for the consumer price indicators. On the availability of PEEIs, most of the indicators are fully available and progress is being made on country coverage for some indicators such as on services producer price indices.
- New initiatives and preparatory work for the future took place on price statistics.
- In January 2018, the Commission adopted the EU monitoring framework for the circular economy and since then Eurostat publishes and maintains the EU monitoring framework for the circular economy in a dedicated website, also including a diagram on material flows in the EU economy.
- The ESS quality assurance framework was revised in 2018-2019 and its final version was endorsed by the ESSC in May 2019. This revised version of the ESS quality assurance framework contains good practices, methods and tools for all principles of the 2017 version of the European statistics Code of Practice.
- A highlight of the first half of 2019 was the launch of the review of the EU statistical classification of economic activities (NACE), broadly supported by the ESSC members.
Conclusions
Overall, the report stated that the implementation of the European statistical programme is progressing well, producing significant results under the programme’s different objectives. A final evaluation of the ESP will be performed by the end of 2021.
The two mid-term evaluations of the ESP demonstrated that:
(i) the current delivery mechanism works effectively;
(ii) the programme is run efficiently; and
(iii) is reaching its objectives.
The ESP provides clear EU added value thanks to the harmonised provision of comparable and high-quality data for the EU. However, the evaluations also show the need to ensure adequate resources in the future for the modernisation of the statistical production processes. In addition, Eurostat needs to be able to respond to users’ growing needs, especially concerning timeliness and coverage of new data for emerging policy needs, while becoming more agile and taking advantage of new technologies.
Future programme
- In June 2018, the Commission adopted the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the 2021-2027 programme for the single market, the competitiveness of enterprises, including SMEs, and the financing of European statistics. The proposal includes general and detailed specific objectives on European statistics, aiming to ensure their visibility and its cross-cutting character. The programme will in particular underpin the policies of the next multiannual financial framework, and support key initiatives such as the Investment Plan for Europe, the European Pillar of Social Rights, the Energy Union, defence and security, and the structural reform agenda.
- The structure of the future programme has been simplified in order to improve implementation. The new programme will enable more timely and cost-effective production of European statistics, using multiple data sources, advanced data analytics methods and digital technologies to support the design, monitoring and evaluation of EU policies. The programme will also ensure the provision of high-quality statistics as key instruments to enhance transparency and accountability of EU policies.