Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2016)557 - Amendment of Regulation 99/2013 on the European statistical programme 2013-17, by extending it to 2018-2020 - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2016)557 - Amendment of Regulation 99/2013 on the European statistical programme 2013-17, by extending it to 2018-2020. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2016)557  |
| date | 07-09-2016 |
1. CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL
• Reasons for and objectives of the proposal
The European Union is faced with challenges in many policy areas and demand for European statistics 1 is consistently high. The implementation and monitoring of EU policies relies on comparable and high-quality statistical information about the economic, social and environmental situation in the EU and its components at national and regional level. European statistics are also indispensable if ‘Europe’ is to be understood by the general public and citizens are to take part in the democratic process and debate the present and future of the EU.
In order to satisfy the information needs stemming from the Commission’s 10 political priorities 2 , a number of urgent statistical gaps need to be addressed. Furthermore, the timeliness of some European statistics needs to be improved urgently, so that they provide the more uptodate information needed in the context of the European Semester exercise.
Although national statistical systems have made a significant effort to modernise their production methods with the support of the 20132017 European statistical programme (ESP), the current statistical production infrastructure is still not flexible enough to deliver new statistics when needed, while also limiting the associated cost and administrative burden. Under the status quo, the European Statistical System (ESS) will not be in a position to satisfy the growing demand for statistics or the need to make them available more quickly, thus putting the relevance of European statistics at risk.
Against this background, the objective of the proposal is to extend the ESP for the 20182020 period and provide the financial support that the ESS needs in order to be able to:
– provide highquality statistical information and close the statistical gaps that need to be addressed most urgently, focusing on a number of priority areas that reflect the Commission’s 10 political priorities;
– build the permanent capacity needed to respond more quickly to emerging needs and to adapt the statistical infrastructure so as to harness the potential of new data sources; and
– strengthen partnership within the ESS and beyond in order to further increase its productivity and secure its leading role in official statistics worldwide.
The parties who would be affected most directly by the proposal are users of statistics (e.g. policymakers, the media and researchers), producers of statistics (national statistical institutes (NSIs) and other national authorities (ONAs)) and respondents (households and businesses).
As the ESP is a horizontal initiative, it is not part of the Commission’s Regulatory Fitness and Performance programme (REFIT).
• Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area
Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics provides that the ‘European Statistical Programme shall provide the framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, setting out the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for a period corresponding to that of the multiannual financial framework’. The ESP sets out the framework and priorities for European statistics for the duration of the programme and also sets the budget to cover that period. Eurostat annual work programmes are based on the multiannual ESP. The current ESP, as laid down in Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 and covering the period from 2013 to 2017, is the eighth programme of its kind.
This initiative is intended to establish a legislative framework for the ESP for the duration of the multiannual financial framework (MFF).
Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 provides that the ESP is to be implemented by ‘individual statistical actions’ as decided:
– by the European Parliament and the Council;
– by the Commission under specific conditions; or
– in ESS agreements between NSIs or ONAs and the Commission (Eurostat).
This proposal does not address 'other statistics' as defined in Commission Decision 2012/504/EU 3 that are not European statistics and that are identified in a planning and coordination exercise steered by Eurostat.
• Consistency with other Union policies
The main purpose of European statistics is to underpin the development, monitoring and evaluation of European policies with reliable, objective, comparable and coherent statistical information.
The current proposal will support the 10 political priorities in the Commission’s Agenda for jobs, growth, fairness and democratic change and other Union policies such as the European Semester, the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, and the European Energy Union. The need for a political response to the profound economic crisis and its social impact has fuelled demands for better economic and social policies based on robust and comparable evidence. Evidence-based decisions are especially important for the performance management of EU policies. On numerous occasions, most recently in the ECOFIN Council conclusions of 8 December 2015, the Council has stressed the vital importance of official statistics for policymaking.
In particular, the initiative will underpin Union policies in the following areas:
– in line with the key priorities on growth and job creation, skills, mobility and the reduction of poverty and social exclusion, social indicators should help to strengthen the EU social dimension, European monetary union and the social impact analysis of macroeconomic policies;
– to support the priority of ‘boosting jobs, growth and investment’, further statistical work is needed to analyse the growth and employment impact of technological change and innovation and to put in place a circular economy monitoring system;
– in order to provide better statistical evidence for the ‘European Energy Union’, more detailed data on energy consumption and better early estimates of energy balances are needed;
– statistics on online cross-border selling are needed for the ‘digital single market’ priority. In particular, there is a need for more detailed information on accessing services provided by intermediaries in content distribution, on trust in online platforms and intermediaries, and on barriers faced by households making cross-border purchases;
– to support the priority of ‘a deeper and fairer economic and monetary union’, a harmonised house price index and related statistics are becoming increasingly important in the context of assessing Member States’ structural reforms. As a result, users are calling for further efforts to expand their scope and quality; and
– in order to ‘strengthen the role of the EU as a global actor’ and in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, statistics should help the EU to steer and monitor the impact of its external policies and assistance programmes, and to contribute to good governance and democratic debate in partner countries.
2. LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY
• Legal basis
The Treaty legal basis for the proposal is Article 338 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, under which the European Parliament and the Council may adopt measures for the production of statistics where necessary for the activities of the Union. That Article sets out requirements as regards the production of European statistics, stating that they must conform to standards of impartiality, reliability, objectivity, scientific independence, cost-effectiveness and statistical confidentiality.
• Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)
The subsidiarity principle applies insofar as the proposal does not fall within the exclusive competence of the EU. The sharing of competence between the EU and Member States is justified by the need to ensure the high quality and comparability of statistics underpinning EU policies and by the transnational character of many aspects of statistics in general and European statistics in particular. Therefore, only a coordinated approach to the development, production and dissemination of European statistics – as provided for in the ESP – guarantees the required coherence and comparability of the statistics that are relevant for EU activities.
The objective of the proposed action, namely the development, production and dissemination of European statistics under an extended ESP for the 20182020 period, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and is therefore better achieved at EU level on the basis of an EU legal act, ensuring the necessary comparability of statistical information at European level in all statistical domains covered by this act. The data collection itself can be carried out by the Member States.
• Proportionality
The proposal complies with the proportionality principle for the following reasons:
In line with the principle of proportionality, the proposal for a Regulation confines itself to the minimum required to achieve its objective and does not go beyond what is necessary for this purpose. The specific objectives for the proposed extension of the programme are the same as in the current (2013-2017) programme. These are spelled out and planned in more detail in the Commission’s annual statistical work programmes, which are prepared in close cooperation with the Member States and adopted taking into account the opinion of the ESS Committee. New statistical requirements with an impact on Member States will be prepared with the Member States’ early and direct involvement.
• Choice of the instrument
Proposed instrument: Regulation.
The proposal is to amend Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European statistical programme 2013-17 4 , by extending it to 2018-2020.
3. RESULTS OF EX POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS
• Ex post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation
The evaluation of the 2008-2012 Community statistical programme, the mid-term evaluation 5 of the 2013-2017 ESP and final evaluations of the modernisation of European enterprise and trade statistics (MEETS) programme have been thoroughly analysed.
The 2013-2017 ESP mid-term evaluation concluded that the programme is generally well implemented, with 17 of the 23 detailed objectives well on track for completion. The ESP offers good EU added value, is run efficiently, responds to user needs and is consistent with other statistical programmes. For instance, the move towards new methods for the production of statistics helps the approaches used throughout the ESS. The evaluation puts forward three recommendations to guide and further optimise ESP implementation:
– pay particular attention to objectives where problems have been encountered;
– secure sufficient resources to maintain the necessary level of investment to modernise the production of European statistics; and
– identify and implement projects at EU level that can maximise EU added value.
The above recommendations have been carefully analysed and taken into account in this proposal.
• Stakeholder consultations
A strategy for consulting on the proposal to extend the 2013-2017 ESP was drawn up at an early stage with a view to collecting input and views from as many stakeholders as possible. In this context, and on the basis of intensive consultations with various stakeholder groups from 2014 onwards, Eurostat proposed a comprehensive approach to the consultation with stakeholders in the framework of the impact assessment.
Stakeholders were consulted in line with the strategy and the general principles and minimum standards identified by the Commission in its Guidelines on stakeholder consultation. The main elements of the strategy were a series of targeted consultations with key stakeholders and a public consultation 6 to ensure that all interested parties had an opportunity to express their views.
As the current 2013-2017 ESP had been drawn up in 2010-2011, it was considered important to get contributions from stakeholders to identify changes in the meantime that should be taken into account for the extension of the programme. These included political, economic and social changes, and developments in the fields of technology, statistics and methodology. An assessment was then carried out, in particular from the users’ point of view, of priorities for European statistics until 2020. Finally, feedback was requested on the impact of the suggested actions on the users and producers of statistics and on respondents (in particular businesses), and difficulties identified that would need to be overcome in order to implement them. The consultations also focused on the impact of the various policy options for the extension of the ESP.
The consultation strategy identified and mapped stakeholder categories and groups so that all were sufficiently covered. These included institutional and non-institutional users of European statistics, producers (NSIs and ONAs), survey respondents (businesses and households) and the public at large. Extensive consultation with various stakeholder categories, starting in 2014 and continuing through 2015, involved:
– a conference of European statistics users and stakeholders;
– consultation of the Commission’s Directorates-General;
– consultation of producers/NSIs; and
– a public consultation focusing on changes in the overall environment that could affect the priorities of the 2018-2020 ESP and the impact of the various options.
Also, at an early stage in the preparation of the ESP 7 and on an ongoing basis, the Commission consulted the European Statistics Advisory Committee, which represents users and respondents at European level and the members of which are wellestablished experts in the field of statistics. The Committee pointed to a clear need to reduce the burden on respondents, improve timeliness and incorporate new data sources from outside ESS, and to provide adequate resources to measure emerging policies.
In addition to the external consultations, the Commission has conducted an internal assessment of its statistical needs, indicating that those needs will not diminish over the 2018-2020 extension period. The current level of statistical information relevant for policy formulation, analysis and monitoring would need to be maintained. Data gaps should be filled, new needs in some specific policy areas should be covered, and more timely data and additional geographical breakdowns provided. In most cases, the new needs relate to the 10 political priorities set out in the Commission’s political guidelines for 2014-2019. Moreover, there is a need to exploit new data sources (e.g. ‘big data’) more effectively, which could lead to efficiency gains in the long run. Specific areas to be developed are social (including migration, health and gender) and business statistics. Changes in the design of European energy markets necessitate a streamlining of energy statistics so as to provide timely, comparable and sufficiently detailed data in the context of the energy union and climate policies.
Analysis of the feedback from the various stakeholder groups revealed a basic divergence:
– users ask for statistical products of the highest possible quality, in terms inter alia of relevance, timeliness, coverage and comparability; whereas
– given their scarce resources, producers face a series of challenges in meeting demand.
All groups pointed to a need further to modernise statistical production processes.
The results of the stakeholder consultations were studied thoroughly and fed into the analysis of the policy options in the context of the impact assessment. The preferred policy option, as put forward in the proposal, would have the greatest impact in terms of capacity to produce data more quickly, which is essential for meeting users’ fundamental needs. The proposal also includes new measures to improve the relevance and timeliness of social and energy statistics and the exploitation of new data sources, including ‘big data’. There is an emphasis on modernisation projects to improve the flexibility of statistical production systems and reduce both the long-term costs for producers and the administrative burden for respondents.
• Collection and use of expertise
Contents
- Not applicable
- Option 1: Same ESP (2013-2017) extended to 2018-2020 (baseline scenario)
- Option 2: Extension of current ESP with adaptations
- Option 2a: Amendment of current ESP and reduced annual budget
- Option 3: Two separate programmes
- Preferred policy option
- Other impacts
- Not applicable
- Not applicable
• Impact assessment
An impact assessment 8 was carried out for this proposal. The Regulatory Scrutiny Board issued a positive opinion on the impact assessment report on 18 March 2016.
As the establishment of a multiannual ESP is a requirement under Article 13 i of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009, the impact assessment did not examine whether or not to extend the ESP, but how best to do so. As the proposal extends the current (2013-2017) ESP, for all policy options the following existing specific objectives were taken over for 2018-2020:
– Objective 1: Provide high-quality statistical information necessary to support the development, monitoring and evaluation of EU policies and serving the needs of a wide range of users.
– Objective 2: Implement new methods to produce European statistics aiming at efficiency gains and quality improvements.
– Objective 3: Strengthen the partnership within the European Statistical System and beyond in order to further enhance its productivity and its leading role in official statistics worldwide.
The following policy options were considered:
This option was taken as the baseline scenario against which to compare the other options. It involves no change in terms of statistics planned (objective 1), the framework for adapting the statistical infrastructure (objective 2) or partnerships (objective 3).
This option involves a programme for 2018-2020 that will keep the structure of the current programme while taking into account possible ways of harnessing the potential of ‘big data’ for producing statistics, the ESS Vision 2020 and the new needs of users.
This would see changes in terms of both programme content and budget. To some extent, it can also be regarded as changing the scope, in particular with a possible reprioritisation of current statistical outputs.
This option was considered initially, but discarded at an early stage, since it does not sufficiently address the problems identified. It would entail a drastic reduction in the level of ambition for the detailed ‘multipurpose statistics and efficiency gains’ objective, in particular for ‘new data sources’ (no investment on ‘big data’) and be detrimental to data timeliness and relevance.
It emerged from the consultation of NSIs that this option would satisfy objective 2 requirements much less than expected for all Member States. In some countries, it is possible that no modernisation project would be taken up. Since activities relating to the implementation of ESS Vision 2020 depend on ESS funding, they would be seriously jeopardised without sufficient budgetary support. The cost of ‘big data’ (IT infrastructure, more advanced IT, statistical and other skills) and open data developments were highlighted.
Option 2b: Amended programme, including improved statistical outputs to align statistical production with the Commission’s 10 political priorities, balanced by strong reprioritisation (same annual budget as current ESP)
This option would see a significant re-prioritisation of current statistical outputs to facilitate the improvement (in particular, as regards timeliness) of statistics in line with the most urgent user needs, in particular related to statistics on inequality, poverty and material deprivation, energy and the environment. To make room for the new actions, some existing data collections would need to be significantly reduced in scope and coverage (reduced information, geographical breakdowns or periodicity). Possible reductions of existing outputs would be based on an analysis of the costs and relative merits of these statistics.
Option 2c: Amended programme, including new statistical outputs to align statistical production with the Commission’s 10 political priorities, complemented by major initiatives to reduce the burden on respondents and costs to NSIs, and increased annual budget
This option would involve the following new or improved statistical outputs (objective 1) in addition to the existing outputs of the current programme, taking into account new user needs:
– improve the timeliness of data on inequality, poverty and material deprivation of people in Europe (including flash estimates);
– produce more, and more timely, statistics on energy (efficiency, security, renewables, consumption, prices, etc.);
– improve the quality and timeliness of environmental data to support climate change policy and the circular economy;
– measure progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals;
– support drivers for technological change and e-commerce;
– improve annual population projections;
– extend housing price statistics;
– extend coverage of statistics on the service sector; and
– measure globalisation.
It would also involve new investments in the statistical infrastructure under objective 2, which would be focused on:
– exploratory work for a future EU social survey to increase substantially the flexibility of social indicators to provide more timely responses to new user needs;
– statistics on demand and dissemination as a service: developing the capacities to deliver more and better data analytics services and products to underpin, design and monitor EU polices, especially in the areas of competitiveness, the circular economy, agriculture and food policy, and regional development;
– modernisation, including the use of new sources: harnessing the potential of digital developments, notably as regards the take-up of new data sources (‘big data’, ‘internet of things’.); and
– basic infrastructure and pilot projects for modernisation: strengthen the European statistical infrastructure through projects that build on experience of the European system of interoperable statistical business registers (EuroGroups register) and the census hub. Develop, and share among statistical authorities, new methodological and IT tools and ensure wider use of administrative data and data-linking techniques.
This option resembles Option 2b in terms of objectives and work planned, but focuses on a different way of managing the work: by means of two different programmes, one of which would address modernisation only:
– extension of the current ESP to 2018-2020 and alignment with the timeline of the MFF, without the modernisation aspects (objective 2 of the current programme);
– a separate programme focusing on the modernisation and development of the European statistical infrastructure, the content of which would reflect objective 2 under option 2b. It is not possible to set a different timeline for this second programme (e.g. beyond 2020), because the timeline is determined by the current MFF (ending in 2020).
The impact assessment looked into the impact of the options on the main stakeholder groups on the basis of various criteria. The impact on users was assessed on the basis of timeliness, relevance and harmonisation, while the impact on producers of statistics was analysed on the basis of cost reductions and level of shared infrastructure. Reduced burden was the main criterion for assessing the impact on respondents. Also, the impact on the EU budget was analysed for each of the options.
From the multi-criteria analysis, option 2c emerged as the preferred policy option. This option would have the most positive impact on timeliness, with new actions focusing on enhanced timeliness for statistics on inequality, poverty and material deprivation, and for energy and environmental data. The relevance of statistics for policymakers is expected to improve significantly under this option, with investment in new areas, re-prioritisation, an action to enhance capacities to deliver more and better services and products (e.g. on-demand statistics), and enhanced dissemination.
With regard to the producers, option 2c will help to meet the new requirements under objectives 1 and 2 by increasing the ESP budget, as called for by the main stakeholders. A substantial proportion of the additional budget will be disbursed through Member States via grants, which will enable them to modernise their production systems further and to tap into new data sources.
Option 2c is expected to reduce further the overall response burden for businesses and citizens, although most effects will materialise only in the medium term, since the use of new data sources will be implemented gradually and subject to local conditions in Member States.
The realisation of the preferred policy option would entail an increase in the operational budget granted to the ESP in 2018-2020. The impact assessment concluded that only additional investment would ensure the development of new statistical outputs and more timely data, as requested by users, without cutting other highly relevant statistics. Moreover, additional investments in the statistical infrastructure (both in Member States and Eurostat) will be needed to facilitate the use of new data sources for the production of statistical information tailored to users’ needs, which will reduce administrative costs and response burden.
The economic, social and environmental impacts of the proposal will be indirect. With regard to the economy, the initiative will lead to a more efficient statistical evidence base (e.g. on globalisation, the service sector, innovation) for policies that contribute to stimulating and consolidating economic growth. Also, the proposal will improve capacity for assessing the social impact of economic policy decisions. Impacts on (un)employment levels, poverty trends and the labour market in general will be of particular interest. Improved timeliness of social indicators, combined with existing macroeconomic indicators, will enable more integrated and efficient analysis of decisions. As regards the environment, the proposal will facilitate policies that contribute to sustainable growth by providing improved energy and environmental statistics.
• Regulatory fitness and simplification
As the ESP is a horizontal initiative, it is not part of the Commission’s REFIT programme. However, the Commission has launched three REFIT initiatives in the specific domains of agricultural, social and business statistics. These are designed to complement the modernisation efforts envisaged under the present initiative, by simplifying and streamlining the fragmented regulations on agricultural statistics, social surveys on persons and households, and business statistics, and to render data collections more efficient, more flexible and less burdensome for respondents. However, the initiatives can be implemented only in the medium-to-long term and will go beyond the timeframe of the extended programme.
• Fundamental rights
4. BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
The total amount to be borne by the EU budget for the extension of the programme (20182020) is EUR 218.1 million (current prices).
Detailed budgetary implications are set out in the legislative financial statement.
5. OTHER ELEMENTS
• Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements
Under the revised Article 15 i, the Commission will submit a final evaluation report on the implementation of the programme to the European Parliament and the Council by 31 December 2021, after consulting the ESS Committee and the European Statistical Advisory Committee. This will be carried out according to the Commission’s guidelines.
On the basis of experience of the mid-term evaluation of the 2013-2017 ESP, Eurostat has started to link annual work programme activities with the 114 indicators in the ESP. This will have the double advantage of facilitating future evaluations and enabling automatic monitoring each year as to whether all ESP indicators are being achieved.
• Explanatory documents (for directives)
• Detailed explanation of the proposed provisions
The proposal amends the 2013-2017 ESP by including new statistical outputs to align statistical production with the Commission’s 10 political priorities, complemented by initiatives to modernise statistical production methods and to reduce the burden on respondents and costs to NSIs.