Annexes to COM(2016)557 - Amendment of Regulation 99/2013 on the European statistical programme 2013-17, by extending it to 2018-2020

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dossier COM(2016)557 - Amendment of Regulation 99/2013 on the European statistical programme 2013-17, by extending it to 2018-2020.
document COM(2016)557 EN
date October 25, 2017
ANNEX

The Annex to Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 is amended as follows:

(1)the title of the Annex is replaced by the following:

‘Statistical infrastructure and objectives of the European statistical programme 2013 to 2020’;

(2)the introduction is amended as follows:

(a)the first and second paragraphs are replaced by the following:

‘The implementation of Union policies requires high-quality, comparable and reliable statistical information about the economic, social, territorial and environmental situation in the Union and its components at national and regional level. European statistics are also indispensable for the Union, allowing the general public and European citizens to understand and to participate in the democratic process and debate about the present state and future of the Union.

The programme provides for the legislative framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics over the period from 2013 to 2020.’;

(b)the fourth paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Statistics developed, produced and disseminated under the programme contribute to the implementation of the Union's policies as reflected in the TFEU and Europe 2020 and its respective flagship initiatives, as well as other policies set out in the Commission's strategic priorities.’;

(3)in Objectives, objective 1 is replaced by the following:

‘—Objective 1: provide statistical information in a timely and cost-effective manner, without unnecessary duplication of effort, to support the development, monitoring and evaluation of the policies of the Union properly reflecting priorities, while keeping a balance between economic, social, territorial and environmental fields and serving the needs of the wide range of users of European statistics, including other decision-makers, researchers, businesses and European citizens in general;’;

(4)part I. Statistical Outputs is amended as follows:

(a)in point 1.1. Europe 2020, the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Endorsement of Europe 2020 has to a large extent shaped the strategic agenda for Union and national policies in the years ahead. Within that agenda, a number of targets and initiatives for which statistical indicators have to be delivered by the ESS have been agreed in a number of areas, such as: improving the conditions for innovation; research and development; promoting decent jobs; promoting gender equality; meeting Union climate change and energy objectives; resource efficiency; improving education levels, including reducing early school leaving; increasing lifelong vocational training and learning mobility; healthy and active ageing; promoting social inclusion; and reducing poverty. Where appropriate, gender-disaggregated statistics are needed in order to understand what gender-based discrimination involves, with a focus on gender-based violence.’;

(b)objective 1.1.1 is amended as follows:

(i)the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Provide high-quality statistical information, which shall be made available in a timely manner for the European Semester, to monitor the implementation of Europe 2020. New indicators shall, to the extent possible, be based on available statistical data.’;

(ii)the fourth indent of the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘—employment indicators distinguishing between part-time and full-time employment and between fixed-term contracts and permanent contracts, as well as indicators on unemployment that take into account people in activation policies such as training. These indicators should also include data on gender divides.’;

(c)in objective 1.2.1, the second indent of the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘—providing statistical input for an enhanced Stability and Growth Pact specifically aimed at the production and provision of high-quality statistics on government deficit and debt;

—providing statistical input for efficiently monitoring economic inequalities;’;

(d)objective 1.3.1 is amended as follows:

(i)the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Enhance the indicators and statistical information available on economic globalisation and global value chains for Union decision-makers and for the public. That information should make for a better understanding of the economic, social and environmental impact of globalisation.’;

(ii)the third indent of the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘—the provision of data that allow for an analysis of the positive and negative consequences for the Union market, in particular the Union labour market;

—the analysis of the global value chains, possibly through appropriate input/output tables, and foreign trade and business statistics, including micro-data linking; and the coordination of outputs of this analysis with the international initiatives of Union interest; and’;

(e)point 2. Accounting frameworks is replaced by the following:

‘2.   Accounting frameworks

The Commission Communication of 20 August 2009 entitled “GDP and beyond: Measuring progress in a changing world” (“GDP and beyond”), and the publication of the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Report on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, have given new impetus to the key challenge for the ESS, namely how to achieve better statistics on cross-cutting issues and more integrated statistics to describe complex social, environmental and economic phenomena beyond the traditional measures of economic output. Work on GDP and beyond within the ESS focuses on three priority areas: statistics on the household sector and statistics measuring the distribution of income, consumption and wealth; measuring quality of life in a multidimensional way; and measuring environmental sustainability. The new worldwide Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015 provide further impetus. The European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA) offers an integrated and consistent framework for all economic statistics that should be complemented by other indicators in order to provide more comprehensive information for policy- and decision-making. Full implementation of the ESA 2010 will be supported by regular quality and compliance assessments, taking into account the progressive expiry of derogations until 2020, leading to further improvements in the timeliness and availability of indicators.’;

(f)point 2.1. Economic and social performance is replaced by the following:

‘2.1.   Economic and social performance

The economic crisis has reinforced the need to have high-quality macroeconomic indicators in order to better understand and analyse economic fluctuations as well as to better understand and analyse the evolution of economic inequalities and their effects on society, thereby facilitating the decision-making process. Increasingly globalised production makes it necessary to develop a consistent framework that facilitates the interpretation and integration of statistics from different areas.’;

(g)in objective 2.1.1, the second paragraph is amended as follows:

(i)the second indent is replaced by the following:

‘—the production of indicators on income, consumption and wealth distribution across households, and the reconciliation of national accounts aggregates with household survey data or administrative data;’;

(ii)the fourth indent is replaced by the following:

‘—the reinforcement of links with national accounts in the areas of social protection, health and education;

—the development of a framework for measuring quality of life, reinforcing the household perspective in national accounts;

—the development of GDP and beyond related indicators measuring environmental sustainability and external effects with a national account perspective;’;

(iii)the following indents are inserted after the fifth indent:

‘—the further development of timely social indicators, including advanced techniques for nowcasting and flash estimates;

—the support for international data sharing for macroeconomic data to reduce the burden for data producers and improve the availability of comparable and consistent data to users;

—the development and fine-tuning of aggregated indicators of income and aspects of wealth inequality;

—the measurement and analysis of gender inequality, including the wage gap;’;

(h)in objective 2.1.2, the last indent of the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘—the availability and extension of harmonised housing price statistics for all Member States.’;

(i)in objective 2.2.1, the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘The objective will be implemented by:

—the further development of a coherent system of environmental accounts as “satellite accounts” to the main national accounts, providing information on atmospheric emissions, energy consumption, flows of natural resources, trade in raw materials, environmental taxation and environmental protection expenditure, possibly including green growth/procurement;

—the further development of experimental ecosystem accounts that would allow the use of existing data, including those compiled by Union institutions, bodies, offices or agencies as part of a long-term data integration initiative;

—the further development work to better use existing data collections for climate change-related statistics; and

—the further development of indicators measuring environmental “footprints” based on existing data.’;

(j)objective 3.1.1 is amended as follows:

(i)the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of statistical production processes. In line with the Better Regulation Agenda, the existing legislation relating to the pillar of business statistics needs to be streamlined. In this context, due consideration should be given to the limited resources available to producers and to the overall burden on respondents in line with the Commission Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT). Provide high-quality statistics on key areas where enterprises are the centre of interest, such as business statistics, short-term indicators, their investment in human capital and skills, international transactions, globalisation, internal market monitoring, research, development and innovation, and tourism. Special attention should be paid to the availability of data in high value-added industrial and services sectors, in particular in the green, digital, collaborative, health, education and social economies.’;

(ii)the first indent of the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘—the reuse of data available in the statistical system or in society, the putting in place of a common legal basis for business statistics and the production of a common infrastructure and of common tools;’;

(k)objective 3.2.1 is amended as follows:

(i)the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Provide statistics on the main areas of social policy where the citizen is the centre of interest, such as: well-being; sustainability; social cohesion; poverty; inequalities; demographic challenges, in particular population ageing, depopulation, population dispersion and migration; the labour market; education and training, including childhood education, adult learning, vocational training and learning mobility of young people; culture, physical activity; quality of life; safety; health; disability; consumption; free movement and the internal market; mobility of young people; technological innovation and new lifestyle choices. Where appropriate, those statistics shall be disaggregated by gender for groups that are of special interest to social policy-makers. Priorities shall be set in accordance with Article 6. In line with the Better Regulation Agenda, the existing legislation relating to the pillar of social statistics needs to be streamlined. In this context, due consideration should be given to the limited resources available to producers and to the overall burden on respondents in line with REFIT.’;

(ii)the fourth indent of the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘—the provision of statistics on inequalities of income, with indicators such as the Gini index and the evolution of the top deciles of income distribution providing a comparable national headline indicator, as well as data on inequalities of access to basic goods and services;’;

(iii)the seventh indent of the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘—the implementation of actions of the work programme on mainstreaming of migration statistics taking into account new challenges, in particular international developments;

—the provision of population projections and of their annual updates;

—the development of comprehensive indicators on the situation of migrants within the Union;

—further cooperation with specialised agencies and organisations concerning the situation of refugees;

—the development of a methodology for a voluntary survey on gender-based violence, in cooperation with the European institutions, bodies, offices and agencies acting in this field;

—the putting in place of a common legal basis for social statistics and the production of a common infrastructure and of common tools;’;

(l)in point 3.3. Geospatial, environmental, agricultural and other sectoral statistics, the third paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Agriculture will remain an important Union policy area. The Common Agricultural Policy underlines the need for viable food production, for sustainable management of natural resources and climate action and for balanced territorial development, which are the main objectives of that policy. Focus will be on the environmental, biodiversity/ecosystem-related, economic, human health and safety and social dimensions.’;

(m)objective 3.3.1 is amended as follows:

(i)the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Support evidence-based policy-making by a more flexible and increased use of spatial information combined with social, territorial, economic and environmental statistical information for regions, regional typologies, cities and the degree of urbanisation.’;

(ii)the following indents are added to the second paragraph:

‘—the implementation of land use and land cover statistics;

—the coordination of statistical data for regions, cities and territorial typologies.’;

(n)objective 3.3.3 is amended as follows:

(i)the following paragraph is inserted after the first paragraph:

‘In line with the “European Energy Union” priority of the Commission, and, to the greatest possible extent based on existing data, particular focus will be given to statistics related to energy consumption, energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, energy dependence, aspects of energy poverty and security of supply and the circular economy. Furthermore, energy statistics will need to support the 2030 climate and energy framework that aims to make the Union's economy and energy system more competitive, secure and sustainable.’;

(ii)the following indent is added to the second paragraph:

‘—energy dependence and security of supply.’;

(o)objective 3.3.4 is amended as follows:

(i)the first paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Provide agriculture, fisheries and forestry statistics for the development and monitoring of the Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies, reflecting key Union strategic objectives related to sustainability, as well as to rural development, by carrying out regular activities related to the development, production and dissemination of statistics. In line with the Better Regulation Agenda, the existing legislation relating to the agricultural statistics needs to be streamlined. In this context, due consideration should be given to the limited resources available to producers and to the overall burden on respondents in line with REFIT.’;

(ii)the following indents are added to the second paragraph:

‘—the preparation and implementation of the agricultural census scheduled for 2020;

—the putting in place of a common legal basis for agriculture related statistics and the production of a common infrastructure and of common tools.’;

(5)part II. Production Methods of European Statistics is amended as follows:

(a)the introductory paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘The ESS is currently facing a number of challenges. The expectations on the scope, quality and comparability of European statistics are increasing. With globalisation, a complex reality has emerged that has to be captured by official statistics and raises methodological challenges. The ever increasing availability of data from private and public providers offers the potential to improve the timeliness and relevance of official statistics as well as to reduce response burden. To face these challenges, while at the same time confronted with constraints on resources, the ESS will gradually implement strategic goals defined in the ESS Vision 2020, building upon a holistic approach to reach quality and efficiency gains:

—to engage proactively in a regular dialogue with users to understand their needs more deeply, recognising that different user groups have different needs that need to be addressed correctly;

—to provide high quality products and services and apply a quality approach to the management, organisation, and governance of the ESS;

—to base statistical products and services on both traditional surveys and other sources, including administrative data, geospatial and, where possible, big data;

—to get access to new data sources, create methods and find suitable technology in order to use such data sources to produce European statistics in a reliable way;

—to improve the efficiency of statistical production by further intensifying the sharing of knowledge, experiences and methodologies but also by sharing tools, data, services and resources where appropriate and duly justified. The collaboration will be based on agreed standards and common elements of technological and statistical infrastructure;

—to implement a dissemination and communication strategy for European statistics which is flexible enough to adapt to emerging technologies, gives guidance in a world of data revolution and serves as a reliable pillar of democracy.’;

(b)in objective 1.1, the first indent of the third paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘—the introduction of new integrated, effective and fit-for purpose quality assurance mechanism based on the Code of Practice and the ESS Quality Assurance Framework;

—the assessment of compliance with the Code of Practice;’;

(c)objective 4.1 is amended as follows:

(i)the following paragraph is inserted before the first paragraph:

‘European citizens should be able to draw easily and without obstacles on European statistics to enable them to use such data for their education and decision-making. That objective will be implemented by enhancing the user-friendliness of European statistics and by facilitating access to data. Special attention should be paid to easy retrievability and convertibility of statistical data for practical use, including through graphs and maps. More citizens should benefit from European statistics, thereby contributing effectively to enhancing the dissemination of statistical information throughout society.’;

(ii)the following indent is added to the fifth paragraph:

‘—the identification of current and future data requirements to provide multi-purpose and customised end-user products and services.’;

(d)in objective 5.1, the following indent is inserted after the third indent of the fourth paragraph:

‘—the analysis of needs for new skills related to data science and their integration into training programmes;’;

(6)in part III. Partnership, the following indents are inserted after the fourth indent of the second paragraph of objective 1.4:

‘—raising European citizens' awareness of the importance of official statistics and the communication of these statistics to all stakeholders by celebrating European Statistics Day on 20 October each year;

—disseminating relevant statistical data to support the European Neighbourhood Policy and the respective Association Agreements;

—promoting European values and initiatives such as the Code of Practice, the ESS Quality Assurance Framework, and standardisation and harmonisation approaches to third countries and regions;’.