Statistical Capacity Master Plan for the Slovak Republic Comments by Klaus Reeh Adviser to the Director-General Eurostat, Luxembourg

Who are the European stakeholders? the European Union institutions in particular the European Commission Eurostat (within the framework set by the1997 Commission Decision) all the other members of the European Statistical System (and their masters) but also media, organised interest, scientific community

The European Context of the Statistical Capacity Master Plan Community legislation and codification (acquis communautaire) ESS –wide co-operation among NSIs Co-ordination through Eurostat, a DG of the European Commission Policy use of official Community statistics The EU context sets a couple of parameters Legislation = inflexibility; co-operation = interdependence/contamination; co-ordination = limited initiative; policy use = risk of biased discussion Attention: policy use of official statistics in national and EU environment quite different Statistics provide as much facts as perception frameworks

EU political and institutional needs compliance with law and code competence and authority adequate resources robust processes for collecting data, compiling statistics, transmitting and disseminating results

particular ESS needs active participation in networking capacity for co-operating ESS-wide readiness to strive for best practices readiness to defend EU positions Capacity to communicate forcefully internal as well as external connectivity and transparency

European Union: a biased perception a constraint, a burden, an obligation a user and thus a source of finance but not as a stabiliser, a partner, a supporter

ESS: an underestimated aspect a source for methodological innovation An opportunity for simplification and burden reduction An additional source of information an opportunity for economies of scale joint infrastructure maintenance (partial) specialisation

Conclusions Very little can/should be done autonomously Importance and relevance of national statistics in decline, of contributions to (and comparisons with) Community statistics on the rise EU with its ESS not only a constraint, but also an opportunity