Developments in European Statistics

Challenges in Official StatisticsVisit to NSO Romania 15-16 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

Survey Table

Survey Table

Survey Table

Survey Table

Survey

Survey

Register

Register

Survey

Data Ware-houses

Macrodata

Access

Microdata

Mesodata

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The new architecture: a vision

GIS

Business register

Meta-data

Entry Processing AnalysisPrimary surveys

Administrative data repository

ERP SystemSample Selectio

n

External registers

External registers

Communication

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.