Page 51 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 1

IPS55 Maria João S. et al.
3. Annual and multiannual programming
The Commission (Eurostat) prepares its multiannual work programme in
collaboration with Member States. The Director-General of Eurostat has the
responsibility to define the process by which the various stakeholders and
producers provide the information necessary for the planning process.
Eurostat and the European Statistical System obtain information about user
needs, different data sources and the outputs.
The multiannual European Statistical Programme focuses on long-term
challenges and strategic developments of the statistical system as a whole,
including elements such as vision and priorities for the future, activities and
projects implementing those priorities, aspects needing improvement, needs
expressed by users and stakeholders, and resources needed to achieve those
objectives.

4. Accountability of European statistics
Accountability to the supervisory bodies, to users and to the public at large
for what the national statistical system has produced with the given resources
is essential, and the adopted programmes are the benchmark against which
such a performance is assessed. Therefore, in the middle and at the end of the
period covered by a programme the Commission prepares and presents to
the European Parliament and the Council reports evaluating the extent of
implementation.
In addition, the European Parliament holds the annual hearings of the
Director-General of Eurostat with the relevant EP committee (Committee on
Economic and Monetary Affairs, ECON), as foreseen in Regulation 223/2009
on European statistics. This statistical dialogue is a useful opportunity for the
Members of the EP to gain a better insight into − and an understanding of −
key statistical issues.
Accountability is also ensured via the annual report of the European
Statistical Governance Advisory Board. ESGAB was established by Decision
235/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2008
to provide an independent overview of the European Statistical System (ESS)
as regards the implementation of the European Statistics Code of Practice. Its
tasks include the preparation of an annual report for the European Parliament
and the Council on the implementation of the Code by Eurostat and the ESS
as a whole. ESGAB also advises the Commission on appropriate measures to
facilitate the implementation of the Code.
The 2018 ESGAB Annual Report was transmitted to the European
Parliament and the Council on 22 January 2019, followed by an exchange of
views between the ECON Committee and the Chair of ESGAB on 28 January.
The report mainly focuses on the achievements of the ESS over the past years
and on the new challenges and opportunities such as an increased

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