Page 49 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 1

IPS55 Maria João S. et al.

Parliament and official statistics in a
multinational context: An EU perspective
Maria João SANTOS, Cristina PEREIRA DE SÁ
Eurostat, European Commission

Abstract
The European Parliament is a key player in the democratic process. The paper
describes the multiple roles of the European Parliament in EU official statistics:
providing a forum for political debate and decision-making; acting as a co-
legislator adopting and amending legislative proposals; deciding on the EU
budget together with the Council; supervising the work of the European
Commission and other EU bodies; and cooperating with national parliaments
of EU countries.

Keywords
Parliament; Official statistics; Governance; Accountability

1. Introduction
Across the world, countries, regions and multinational / supranational
entities have found different ways of establishing the governance for the
development and production of official statistics. One of the most important
actors, the statistical office, can be located within the administrative structure
but also as an autonomous agency outside the main branch of the executive.
The delimitation of the statistical system (be it national or multinational) is
crucial to ensure credibility and thus enable users, providers and respondents
to trust the producers, the processes and the products of official statistics.
The relationships between all actors in the statistical system (producers,
users, supervisors, etc.) are established via a clear governance structure or
organisation imposing obligations and reporting procedures that are binding
for the whole system. In addition, non-legally binding instruments also set
standards in that respect; examples are the UN Fundamental Principles for
Official Statistics which the global statistical system is encouraged to follow,
and the European Statistics Code of Practice to which the members of the
European Statistical System commit themselves to adhere.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines governance as ‘the way that
organisations or countries are managed at the highest level, and the systems
for doing this’. As a consequence, good governance may be achieved by both
the creation and use of arrangements that ensure consistency of processes,
transparent decision-making and adequate (external) oversight. This must
cascade from the highest level of the organisation. Good governance has

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