The experiences of Turkey in the 2nd Round Peer Reviews International Relations Department, TurkStat April, 2016 22.11.2018

Outline Being pilot country Preparations Visit Current situation Early preparations Informative meetings Questionnaires Documentation Organisational issues Visit Current situation Conclusions/Remarks 22.11.2018

Being pilot country Strategic Information Meeting, March 18, 2015: Turkey decided to be the pilot country for the second round of peer reviews on the enlargement countries 22.11.2018

Preparation of TurkStat for 2nd Round PR Right after Strategic Information Meeting: “TurkStat Peer Review (TPR) Team” established Key documents; “Code of Practice Self-Assessment Questionnaire”, “NSI’s Guide” and “Peer’s Guide” reviewed Road map, managerial issues and tasks of departments discussed with top management 4

Preparation of TurkStat Right after Strategic Information Meeting: Informative meetings realized internally Introductory presentation performed for stakeholders and staff Documentation studies started in TurkStat Gantt Chart prepared for following the process 5

Preparation of TurkStat Right after Strategic Information Meeting: Two stakeholders chosen for filling the Light Self- Assessment Questionnaire: Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs (MFWA) 6

Preparation of TurkStat -Questionnaires Self-Assessment and Coordination role of NSIs Questionnaires delivered to all units in TurkStat Light Self-Assessment Questionnaire shared with two stakeholders TPR Team filled certain parts of the questionnaires and worked as an information/support desk 7

Preparation of TurkStat-Questionnaires Self-Assessment and Coordination Questionnaires obtained from units and merged by TPR Team Inadequate or unclear answers evaluated and improved Merged Questionnaire examined at several stages: TPR Team level Vice Presidency level Presidency level 8

Preparation of TurkStat-Questionnaires Light Self-Assessment Questionnaire given to two stakeholders Translation services organized by TPR Team Questionnaires evaluated and finalized in consultation with two stakeholders 9

Preparation of TurkStat -Documentation An inventory prepared for important/institutional documents in TurkStat in the light of; - 1st round experiences - Institutional inventory - Questionnaires - Country reports Similar inventory requested from two stakeholders according to refers in questionnaires Translation and summarisation studies realised Documents ( ̴ 80) prepared 10

Preparation of TurkStat -Organisational Issues Organisational studies realized simultaneously with questionnaires and documentations Several meetings organized with units in TurkStat regional offices for increasing awareness CBRT and MFWA target groups stakeholders academics 11

2nd Round Peer Review- Visit Realized on November 3-6, 2015 Peer Review Team: Mr. Gerry O’Hanlon, former DG of CSO Ireland Ms. Pilar Martin-Guzman, Former Director of INE, Spain Mr. Ferenc Galik (Eurostat) 22.11.2018

2nd Round Peer Review- Visit AGENDA REVIEW TURKEY.docx All agenda items put in order according to the participants TurkStat represented Presidency/Vice Presidency level in all meetings 22.11.2018

Current situation First draft report sent to TurkStat on November 25th, 2015 Peer Review team concluded that TurkStat is highly compliant with the CoP Compares favourably with other NSls in this respect The two ONAs examined as part of the Review also exhibited very good levels of compliance PR team identified some issues and challenges to improve or enhance the level of compliance with the CoP…. 22.11.2018

TurkStat is expecting second draft report… Current situation Draft report contains 25 recommendations in 3 main headings Comments and objections sent to peer review Team on December 11th, 2015 by TurkStat TurkStat is expecting second draft report… 22.11.2018

Conclusions/ Lessons Learned Opportunity to see strong aspects of the system and good practices, and areas need to be developed, More responsibility on the NSIs and ONAs Number of questionnaires Audit-like approach Principles evaluated during the visit Formulating the improvement actions by the NSI itself Experiencing the same methods like the ESS countries: A positive novelty for enlargement countries 22.11.2018

Conclusions/Lessons Learned Support of top management: indispensible for PRs Informing not only the top management but also all levels of staff: a significant activity for the global awareness Defining improvement actions by the NSIs themselves very useful method on defining more “to the point” actions and ensuring the NSIs to be more committed to the improvement actions 22.11.2018

Conclusions/Remarks A small core group consisting of head of departments/senior experts would be better for the questionnaire phase Self-assessment questionnaire is very long and some questions are not clear and repeating guidelines would be useful A study visit prior and in addition to the in-country visit as observer be beneficial Annexing a template on the improvement actions to the methodology of the peer reviews be beneficial Time constraint is a critical aspect during the PR activities 22.11.2018

Thank you four your attention!! 19