1. “Managing Modern National Statistical Systems in Democratic Societies”
Tacis High Level-Seminar Vienna, August 31 – September 2, 2005
Opening Session
Welcoming Note and Introduction
Doc. TACIS
Eurostat
Marie Bohata

2. Statistical Systems in Democratic Societies: Ethical challenges for management Marie Bohata Deputy Director General, Eurostat High Level TACIS Seminar 31 August – 2 September 2005, Vienna
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Here I ’ll only present wage and labour cost statistics which are under the responsibility of unit labour market, E1. More statistics in this area can be found in the business statistics (both structural and short term data), National Accounts (annual and quarterly data) and from the European Community Household Panel (income data).

3. Statistics as a pillar of democratic society (Informed decision making - a precondition of good governance)
Main challenges of transformation of official statistical service
To guarantee impartiality
To abolish the previous orientation to the control of a relatively low and stable number of state-owned enterprises in order to introduce a full-fledged, high quality service to various agents in democratic society
To establish equal access to information and transparency in compiling and distributing information

4. Fundamental values and professional ethics
Professional ethics have traditionally held special importance in the statistical sector
The statisticians’ value-objective is to provide an accurate, up-to-date, comprehensive, unbiased, meaningful and reliable picture of society and its economic, social, demographic and environmental development, respecting the right of the sources of information to privacy and personal data protection and making sure all customers receive equal treatment.

5. Should statisticians be explicit about their ethics ?
Statistics cannot be judged by their truth value, but by the quality of methodology and defensibility of the underlying arguments.
Such arguments may have full force within the statistical profession, even if they remain unwritten. The modern trend is, however, to make the approach to the production and dissemination of statistics public.

6. European Statistics Code of Practice (Political background)
June 2004: ECOFIN Council invited COM to make by June 2005 a proposal to develop minimum European standards on the independence, integrity and accountability of statistical authorities
Code of Practice forms part of a global strategy to improve quality of fiscal statistics (announced by COM in December 2004)
February 2005: adoption of the Code by the SPC based on the proposal of its Task Force
25 May 2005: adoption of a Communication and a Recommendation on the independence, integrity and accountability of the national and Community statistical authorities incl. the Code
7 June 2005: ECOFIN Council welcomes the Code

7. Independence, integrity, accountability
Independence - a crucial factor contributing to public confidence.
Principle of scientific independence established in the Treaty covers the production.
The professional independence introduced by the Code focuses also on the dissemination, communication with users and other stakeholders.
Integrity - a complex of moral virtues attributed to individuals, organizations, professions ( an underlying concept of the Code).
Accountability - transparency and surveillance.

8. The European Statistics Code of Practice
Self regulatory instrument adopted by the SPC
Refers to the ESS and Community Statistics
External focus (public confidence) and internal focus
(benchmark)
Addressed for implementation to Governance and statistical authorities
Addressed for information to users and data providers

9. The European Statistics Code of Practice
(Continued)
Structured around 15 principles - three sections:
The institutional environment (Professional independence, Mandate for data collection, Adequacy of resources, Quality commitment, Statistical confidentiality and Impartiality and objectivity)
Statistical processes (Sound methodology, Appropriate statistical procedures, Non-excessive burden on respondents and Cost effectiveness)
Statistical output (Relevance, Accuracy and reliability, Timeliness and punctuality, Coherence and comparability, Accessibility and charity)
Key Indicators of Good Practice for each Principle are proposed as references.

10. Monitoring compliance with the Code
Surveillance mechanisms such as peer reviews, regular
reporting, questionnaires and dedicated visits.
Supporting instruments in the form of Protocols detailing
implementation requirements and conditions, quality
assurance and possibly certification instruments.
SPC pivotal - once per year a report from each MS on
accomplishments against indicators, problems,
recommendations.
Eurostat as an addressee of the Code - an external body
(a reformed CEIES) to monitor and periodically review the
implementation of the Code by Eurostat.