Eurostat approach to international statistical cooperation Cristina Pereira de Sá Eurostat, A1

Eurostat context for inter. stat coop. EU sets political framework, actions support the EU's foreign policy agenda Actions financed either from European Stats Programme, or external action budgets Broad details (amounts, beneficiaries, main aims of the programme) must be agreed by Commission, Parliament and Council (very long, slow process) Increasing partnership approach with third countries

An example: Pan African Statistics (PAS) Programme (1) Political framework is the EU-AU relationship → main stakeholders involved New Pan African multi-annual instrument to strengthen AU continental governance and support AU integration→ sustainability Statistics considered essential AU function (by the AU and the EU agrees)– so capacity building for the AU level included in EU's Pan African Instrument → results-based management Domains covered reflect combined AU & EU strategic priorities (such as trade, migration) but also African interests such as governance → focus on beneficiary's needs Vast majority of experts involved are African → South-South cooperation The words in red link to the terminology used in the context of Capacity Development 4.0

An example: Pan African Statistics (PAS) Programme (2) Objective is to develop capacity of the AU for official statistics and to develop the African Statistical System... ... Improving quality & access/use of data at AU level → systemic approach Based on the African Strategy "SHaSA" → own strategy Integration indicators important as well as SDGs → policy relevance Ways of working based on African networks for linking the continent along statistical themes (the "STGs") → partnerships The African Union is key decision maker in choice and timing of activities → to ensure ownership STGs = Specialised Technical Groups. These were set up in the Shasa. These work on different statistical domains and are a place for governmetn experts to meet from across the continent. Shasa = Strategy for the Harmonisation of Statistics in Africa

Lessons learnt from EU statistical cooperation (1) Cooperation based on broader support to regional government preferable to country level actions It is preferable to move from patchwork of actions into multi-annual programmes based clear and agreed higher level strategies Where isolated actions are needed, essential that these fit fully in context of broader support agreed Set up needs to maximise partner governments ability to plan ahead own resources – so to request support on a call down basis In saying "regional government" here, I mean AUC plus the RECs (Regional Economic Communities) in Africa

Lessons learnt from EU statistical cooperation (2) Beware IT software cooperation – have a number of pitfalls Investment in communication with distant partners needs ingenuity and commitment Take time to build teams and trust with partners Good communication essential given number of stakeholders (but it is time consuming) Inputs ideally based on needs of partner governments IT pitfalls I would say include sustainability of the technology, also a dependency that easily be created with one private entreprise. Plus – hidden costs. A country is supported with the initial installation but then numerous trainings are subsequently required which are expensive, plus cost of licencing for linked software needed.