Overview of assistance projects and activities for the ENP-East countries MGSC 12-13 April 2018 Agenda item 2.3

Content Political background Eurostat/A3 activities: in/out-puts of technical cooperation ENP-East regional programme for statistics General issues linked to Eurostat activities in the ENP- East region

1. Political background (1/2) European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) EU Political initiative for AM, AZ, BY, GE, MD, UA Launched in 2004, adopted in 2007, fundamentally reviewed in 2015 Differentiation according to the country's ambitions is the main new characteristic of revised policy Cooperation priorities per country are being negotiated in 2016-2017 Eastern Partnership Initiative Joint initiative of 3 parties: EU, EU MS, and ENP-East countries Launched in 2009 Multinational and national dimensions Technical work is organized through 4 thematic platforms Between 2015-2017, Statistics Panel operated under Platform 2 (Economic integration & convergence with EU policies) Following the EaP Summit in November 2017, the architecture change Expert Working Group on Statistics will replace Statistics Panel from 2018

1. Political background (2/2) ENP-East regional programme for statistics In 2013, a Task Force (Eurostat, EFTA, AR, MD, UA, GE) develops a Strategy for Statistical Cooperation in the ENP-East Region 2014-2020 Eurostat implemented some cooperation activities for ENP-E based on its own available (limited) budget  see following slides In 2016, the EU launched an ENP-E statistical regional cooperation programme Eurostat is working on the terms of reference of this programme [ See part 3 of this presentation].

2. Eurostat/A3 activities (1/6)

2. Eurostat/A3 activities (2/6) Global Assessments, Peer Reviews 1st round: 2008-2013 Light peer review in Armenia in 2014 Eurostat annually monitors progress of implementation of recommendations 2nd round started in 2016 Adjusted methodology, improved reporting 2nd round: completed UA, AZ; ongoing: MD; planned 2018: BY, GE High Level Seminars for EECCA countries, Mongolia Annual meeting of Senior managers of NSIs of EECCA countries Hosted in EU, ENP-East countries HLS 2017 – September 2017, Minsk, Belarus Updates on latest developments in quality; informal get-together Since HLS 2017: more ownership to ENP-E countries HLS 2018 – October 2018, Kiev, Ukraine

2. Eurostat/A3 activities (3/6) Expert Working Groups To replace Statistics Panels (SP) from 2018 onwards SP were established in 2014 within Eastern Partnership initiative To promote ESCoP and EU acquis in statistics, exchange best practice 2 day-long technical meetings (on business, labour market, price, innovation, R&D statistics, ESCoP & GLOS, living conditions statistics) Expert Working Groups probably will have similar to SP format Follow-up workshops In addition to ENP-E, Central Asian countries are invited To continue technical discussion started during Statistical Panel meetings, focus on implementation First workshops dedicated to business (JUL2016), labour market (Spring 2017), statistical law (November 2017), and Living conditions (March 2018) Statistical Panel and workshops are popular with ENP-E/CA countries and actively supported by EU/EFTA NSIs.

2. Eurostat/A3 activities (4/6) Training courses for ENP-E, CA countries Organized since 2013, 2-3 times a year Focus on statistical concepts, EU acquis, methodology Similar to ESTP courses, delivered with interpretation, participation is financed Priority is given to qualified participants from ENP-E Courses planned for 2017 -2018: ESA 2010 and its effect on government Finance Statistics and Excessive Deficit Procedure Balance of Payments – introductory course Dissemination and communication International Trade in Goods Statistics Statistical disclosure control Small Area Estimation

2. Eurostat/A3 activities (5/6) Other activities Support to PPPs for Georgia and Ukraine, via a contract Twinning TAIEX – advice on expertise and approvals

2. Eurostat/A3 activities (6/6) Outputs: data collection Eurostat collects, disseminates data from ENP-E countries Taking into account needs of the EU, MSs, etc. ENP-E countries annually fill-in a questionnaire covering several areas (economy, finance, population, social conditions, industry, tourism, etc.) Validation checks to assess quality carried out by Eurostat/contractor In 2017, the questionnaire was revised/optimized to better take into account users' needs Dissemination Data is available in Eurobase [http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database (under General and regional statistics -> Non EU countries)] Publications include books, leaflets, statistics explained articles

3. ENP-East regional programme for statistics (1/4) Background Strategy for statistical cooperation with the ENP East countries 2014-2020 Statistics Panel, promotion of results Objectives/results to empower users including policy-makers, civil society and social partners in using statistical information in an educated and informed way to improve the availability of good quality statistics for all groups of users to strengthen the professional independence and institutional capacity of the NSIs Main activities Technical assistance in priority areas (SDGs, migration, SMEs, business, economy, trade, competitiveness, poverty, employment, etc.) Preparation and implementation of surveys Training courses, seminars, workshops Statistical publications Priorities at regional level Priorities at national level

3. ENP-East regional programme for statistics (2/4) Regional priorities Macro-economic statistics Social statistics Business statistics Agriculture statistics Energy and transport statistics Gender breakdowns if reasonable SDGs Population census 2020 round National priorities Ukraine: population and demographic data, displaced people, migration Belarus: market-economy driven statistics on businesses, institutional issues Moldova: employment and migration Georgia/Ukraine/Moldova: trade data for the DCFTA Azerbaijan: energy, diversification of the economy Georgia: economic and business statistics, population and migration statistics Armenia: SMEs data, migration, poverty, population census

3. ENP-East regional programme for statistics (3/4) Budget, length 5 Mill EUR 36 months Direct management by Eurostat Next steps Tender procedure to select private company to sign a contract Inception phase – priorities to be consulted with MS, DG NEAR, EEAS, EU delegations, other DGs) and beneficiaries HLS = steering committee for the programme Annual country reports to report progress Eurostat assures donor coordination

3. ENP-East regional programme for statistics (4/4) Commission implementing Decision published on 17 November 2017 [C(2017) 7757 final], on the Neighbourhood East Regional Action Programme 2017 Annex 3: Action Document for Regional Programme on Statistics with Eurostat in the Eastern Partnership Contract notice was published on 7 April 2018.

4. General issues. Generic Law on Official Statistics (GLOS) Developed by UNECE, Eurostat, experts from EU/EFTA MS, AR and UA Endorsed by CES in 2016 UA was pilot country for implementation. MD and AZ use GLOS to amend their statistical legislation MD adopted new law based on GLOS in 2017 Eurostat supports, advises ENP-E countries on GLOS implementation Transformative agenda SDG monitoring is a challenge for all In 2016-2017, Eurostat asked on the state of play in ENP-E countries: Availability of data, generally similar in ENP-E region 30-40% proposed indicators are covered Eurostat supports ENP-E in SGD monitoring though facilitation of countries' experts participation in international events, discussions during HLS, etc.

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