Developments in European Statistics Challenges in Official Statistics Visit to NSO Romania July 2009 Walter Radermacher, Chief Statistician of the European Union, Director General Eurostat

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 2 European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in the early 1950s: The harmonisation of methods was the foundation of European statistics Rome Treaty on the European Economic Community (EEC) marked the birth of European legislation on statistics, for which the basis is laid in Art. 213 (subsequently Art. 284) => “Gentlemen's agreements“ Since the 1990s, European policies directly based on statistics (e.g. convergence criteria of the Maastricht Treaty ) The NSIs collect and produce harmonised data that are compiled by Eurostat to construct statistics at EU level. The approach continued to be "augmented": the European level was added to the national level European Statistics

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 3 European Statistical System ESS Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European Statistics Strengthens the cooperation in the ESS, in particular –cost-effectiveness-principle (Art. 2 (f)), –the European Statistical System Committee (Art. 7), –collaborative networks (Art. 15.), and a –European approach to statistics (Art. 16). Generally, a next phase for official statistics in Europe has been initiated, in which the intentions of the law, namely to put in place a real "system" that makes use of cooperation and standardisation as far as possible while respecting the subsidiarity principle have to be realised.

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 4 Elements of the ESS ESS Committee (ESSC) European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC) European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB) Partnership Group Directors Groups Comitolgy and advisory committees ESSnets Sponsorships DGINS and other conferences

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 5 Organisational structure of the ESS ESSC

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 6 Situation of Statistical Offices Need to reduce costs and increase efficiency Increasing demands for statistical products and reduction of respondent’s burden Improvements in quality are needed Emerging user needs Progress in information technology

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 7 Starting points for a solution: Efficiency!! Standardisation of processes (CVD-approach) Re-use of available data (administrative sources, online link to business accounting and other instruments of eGovernment, …) Common infrastructure (registers, meta-data, geo-spatial information) Meta-data driven architecture Collaborative networks, common tools and knowledge sharing Decentralised centralisation of production in shared webs …

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 8 Reengineering of statistical production 1:1 Stovepipes Multiple Source Mix Mode SurveyTable SurveyTable SurveyTable SurveyTable Survey Register Survey Data Ware- houses Macrodata Access Microdata Mesodata

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 9 The new architecture: a vision GIS Business register Meta-data EntryProcessingAnalysis Primary surveys Administrative data repository ERP System Sample Selection External registers Communi cation Processes Infrastructure Input Output

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 10 European systems method of statistics An integrated model for statistics in Europe: –horizontal integration across statistical domains at the level of NSIs and Eurostat, –and vertical integration covering both the national and EU levels. Improving efficiency by elimination of unnecessary variation and duplication of work Creation of free capacities for upcoming information needs

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 11 Change in the professional paradigm From "data-collectors" to "re-users of data" Risks –concepts and definitions may be changed by the owners of the data –data collections could be discontinued or altered –a loss of control (at least in the perception of statisticians) –higher complexity Reallocation of R&D in statistics needed

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 12 Technical and methodological challenges Standardisation and integration of formerly separated production processes will demand great efforts and an effective change management. Stepwise approach and with intensive collaboration Quality assessment + assurance of statistics will become much more complex The legitimate interest of statistics, i.e. the position vis-à- vis the owners of re-used data (administrators, regulators or others) has to be reconsidered and strengthened

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 13 New ways of communicating with users The more statistical production is based on complex methodology the more it is necessary to explain the results. Trust in the statistical system and the perception of the quality of statistical information are closely related. „Official“ has to become a quality stamp that users can assess against predefined quality guidelines A basic education in simple statistical elements could help to mitigate a tendency of misunderstanding with the general public (“innumeracy”). As a consequence, user orientation has to be the guiding principle in communication.

Walter Radermacher, Eurostat 14 Thank you for your attention!