Eurostat
Encyclopedia
Eurostat is a Directorate-General
of the European Commission
located in Luxembourg
. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union
with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union
, candidate countries
and EFTA
countries. The organisations in the different countries which actively cooperate with Eurostat are summarised under the concept of the European Statistical System.
, Olli Rehn
.
The current Director-General
of Eurostat is since 2008, former President of the Federal Statistical Office of Germany
. Current Deputy Director-General is since 2004, former President of the Czech Statistical Office
.
established.
1958 The European Community founded and the forerunner of Eurostat established.
1959 The present name of Eurostat as the Statistical Office of the European Communities adopted. First publication issued - on agricultural statistics.
1960 First Community Labour Force Survey
.
1970 The European System of Integrated Economic Accounts (European System of Accounts
, ESA) published and the general Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community
(NACE) established.
1974 First domain in the statistical database Cronos databank installed.
1988 European Commission
adopts a document defining the first policy for statistical information.
1989 The Statistical Programme Committee established and the first programme (1989-1992) adopted by the Council as an instrument for implementing statistical information policy.
1990 The Council adopts a directive on transmission of confidential data to Eurostat, previously an obstacle to Community statistical work.
1991 Eurostat’s role extended as a result of the agreement on establishment of the European Economic Area
and adoption of the Maastricht Treaty
.
1993 The single market extends Eurostat’s activities e.g. Intrastat established for statistics on intra-EU trade. Eurostat starts issuing regular news releases.
1994 First European household panel held, analysing income, employment, poverty, social exclusion, households, health, etc.
1997 Statistics added for the first time to the Treaty of Amsterdam and the Statistical Law approved by the Council. Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices HICP published for the first time - designed for Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union
(EMU) convergence criteria.
1998 The eleven countries in at the start of EMU (EUR-11) announced, and Eurostat issues the first indicators specific to the EMU area.
1999 Start of EMU, 1 January 2001.
2002 Start of the Euro on 1 January, Eurostat supplies key statistics for monetary policy.
2003 Irregularities were suspected in Eurostat, see Eurostat scandal
.
2004 Start of free-of-charge dissemination of all statistical data except microdata for research purposes.
2005 Commission Recommendation on the independence, integrity and Accountability of the National and Community Statistical Authorities (European Statistics Code of Practice)
2005 Start of a three year peer review exercise across the European Statistical System to monitor compliance with the Code of Practice.
2007 The currently valid five-year Statistical Programme 2008-2012 was adopted.
2009 New European Regulation governing statistical cooperation in the European Union was adopted.
2010 Following strong critics from within and outside the EU on how it did handle falsified Greek data, Eurostat published a report to try to justify its procedures.
2011 Revision of European Statistics Code of Practice by the European Statistical System Committee.
General statistical activities related to the European Statistical system are:
Eurostat disseminates its statistics free of charge via its Internet and its statistical databases that are accessible via the Internet. The statistics are hierarchically ordered in a navigation tree. Tables are distinguished from multi-dimensional datasets from which the statistics are extracted via an interactive tool.
In addition various printed publications are available either in electronic form free on the internet or in printed form via the EU Bookshop. Only larger publications are charged for as printed copies.
Since September 2009 Eurostat has pioneered a fully electronical way of publishing, Statistics Explained, like Wikipedia based on Mediawiki open source software and with a largely similar structure and navigation. Statistics Explained is not only a dissemination format, however, but also a wiki working platform for producing flagship publications like the Eurostat Yearbook.
Directorate-General
A Directorate-General is a branch of an administration dedicated to a specific field of expertise.* The European Commission: Commission Directorates-General are each headed by a European Commissioner;* The European Patent Office: EPO Directorates-General;...
of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
located in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union
Member State of the European Union
A member state of the European Union is a state that is party to treaties of the European Union and has thereby undertaken the privileges and obligations that EU membership entails. Unlike membership of an international organisation, being an EU member state places a country under binding laws in...
, candidate countries
Enlargement of the European Union
The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
and EFTA
European Free Trade Association
The European Free Trade Association or EFTA is a free trade organisation between four European countries that operates parallel to, and is linked to, the European Union . EFTA was established on 3 May 1960 as a trade bloc-alternative for European states who were either unable to, or chose not to,...
countries. The organisations in the different countries which actively cooperate with Eurostat are summarised under the concept of the European Statistical System.
Organisation
As a Directorate-General of the Commission, Eurostat is allocated to the portfolio of the Commissioner for Economic & Financial AffairsEuropean Commissioner for Economic & Financial Affairs
The Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro is the member of the European Commission responsible for economic and financial affairs. The current Commissioner is Olli Rehn .-Responsibilities:...
, Olli Rehn
Olli Rehn
Olli Ilmari Rehn is a Finnish politician, currently serving as European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs. He had previously served as Commissioner for Enlargement...
.
The current Director-General
Director-general
The term director-general is a title given the highest executive officer within a governmental, statutory, NGO, third sector or not-for-profit institution.-European Union:...
of Eurostat is since 2008, former President of the Federal Statistical Office of Germany
Federal Statistical Office of Germany
The Federal Statistical Office of Germany is a federal authority of Germany. It is a part of the Federal Ministry of the Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany....
. Current Deputy Director-General is since 2004, former President of the Czech Statistical Office
Czech Statistical Office
The Czech Statistical Office is the main organization which collects, analyzes and disseminates statistical information for the benefit of the various parts of the local and national governments of the Czech Republic...
.
History
1953 The Statistics Division for the European Coal and Steel CommunityEuropean Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union...
established.
1958 The European Community founded and the forerunner of Eurostat established.
1959 The present name of Eurostat as the Statistical Office of the European Communities adopted. First publication issued - on agricultural statistics.
1960 First Community Labour Force Survey
Labour Force Survey
Labour Force Surveys are statistical surveys conducted in a number of countries designed to capture data about the labour market. All European Union member states are required to conduct a Labour Force Survey annually. Labour Force Surveys are also carried out in some non-EU countries. They are...
.
1970 The European System of Integrated Economic Accounts (European System of Accounts
European System of Accounts
The European System of Accounts is the system of national accounts and regional accounts used by members of the European Union. It was most recently updated in 1995 ....
, ESA) published and the general Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community
Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community
The Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community , commonly referred to as NACE, is a European industry standard classification system consisting of a 6 digit code.NACE is similar in function to the SIC and NAICS systems:*Standard Industrial...
(NACE) established.
1974 First domain in the statistical database Cronos databank installed.
1988 European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
adopts a document defining the first policy for statistical information.
1989 The Statistical Programme Committee established and the first programme (1989-1992) adopted by the Council as an instrument for implementing statistical information policy.
1990 The Council adopts a directive on transmission of confidential data to Eurostat, previously an obstacle to Community statistical work.
1991 Eurostat’s role extended as a result of the agreement on establishment of the European Economic Area
European Economic Area
The European Economic Area was established on 1 January 1994 following an agreement between the member states of the European Free Trade Association and the European Community, later the European Union . Specifically, it allows Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to participate in the EU's Internal...
and adoption of the Maastricht Treaty
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
.
1993 The single market extends Eurostat’s activities e.g. Intrastat established for statistics on intra-EU trade. Eurostat starts issuing regular news releases.
1994 First European household panel held, analysing income, employment, poverty, social exclusion, households, health, etc.
1997 Statistics added for the first time to the Treaty of Amsterdam and the Statistical Law approved by the Council. Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices HICP published for the first time - designed for Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union
Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union
The Economic and Monetary Union is an umbrella term for the group of policies aimed at converging the economies of members of the European Union in three stages so as to allow them to adopt a single currency, the euro. As such, it is largely synonymous with the eurozone.All member states of the...
(EMU) convergence criteria.
1998 The eleven countries in at the start of EMU (EUR-11) announced, and Eurostat issues the first indicators specific to the EMU area.
1999 Start of EMU, 1 January 2001.
2002 Start of the Euro on 1 January, Eurostat supplies key statistics for monetary policy.
2003 Irregularities were suspected in Eurostat, see Eurostat scandal
Eurostat scandal
In 2000, internal auditors raised concerns about fictitious Eurostat's contracts with outside companies and referred the matter to the European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF...
.
2004 Start of free-of-charge dissemination of all statistical data except microdata for research purposes.
2005 Commission Recommendation on the independence, integrity and Accountability of the National and Community Statistical Authorities (European Statistics Code of Practice)
2005 Start of a three year peer review exercise across the European Statistical System to monitor compliance with the Code of Practice.
2007 The currently valid five-year Statistical Programme 2008-2012 was adopted.
2009 New European Regulation governing statistical cooperation in the European Union was adopted.
2010 Following strong critics from within and outside the EU on how it did handle falsified Greek data, Eurostat published a report to try to justify its procedures.
2011 Revision of European Statistics Code of Practice by the European Statistical System Committee.
Directors General
| Name | Nationality | Term |
|---|---|---|
| Rolf Wagenführ |  Germany |
1952–66 |
| Raymond Dumas |  Early Modern France |
1966–73 |
| Jaques Mayer | Early Modern France |
1973–77 |
| Aage Dornonville de la Cour |  Denmark |
1977–82 |
| Pieter de Geus Pieter de Geus Pieter Boudewijn Richard de Geus was a Dutch politician.-References:* at www.parlement.com... |
 Netherlands |
1982–84 |
| Silvio Ronchetti |  Italy |
1984–87 |
| Yves Franchet | Early Modern France |
1987–03 |
| Michel Vanden Abeele Michel Vanden Abeele Michel van den Abeele [Baron] is a former Director-General of the European Commission, is actually chairman of the board of the belgian public owned company APETRA and active in several Belgian charities.-Education:... |
 Belgium |
2003–04 |
| Günther Hahnreich |  Austria |
2004–06 |
| Hervé Carré Hervé Carré Hervé Carré is a French economist and Eurostat's general director since May 18, 2006.-Career:After graduating in econometrics in Paris, Carré joined the European Commission in 1973 as an administrator... |
Early Modern France |
2006–08 |
| Walter Radermacher | Germany |
2008–present |
Main areas of statistical activities
The Eurostat statistical work is structured into Themes and Sub-themes.EU Policy Indicators
|
General and regional statistics
|
| Economy and finance
|
Population and social conditions
|
| Industry, trade and services
Short-term business statistics Short-term business statistics are economic statistics published by Eurostat, the European Commission's statistical office. They cover the single countries of the European Union and provide aggregated results for the euro area and the EU.... |
Agriculture and fisheries
|
| External trade | Transport |
| Environment and energy
|
Science and technology |
General statistical activities related to the European Statistical system are:
- Coordination and governance of the European Statistical System
- Statistical methodological coordination and research
- Statistical quality and reporting
Access to Eurostat statistics
The most important statistics are made available via press releases. They are placed on the Eurostat Internet at 11:00 in the morning. This is also the time that the press release content may be distributed to the public by press agencies.Eurostat disseminates its statistics free of charge via its Internet and its statistical databases that are accessible via the Internet. The statistics are hierarchically ordered in a navigation tree. Tables are distinguished from multi-dimensional datasets from which the statistics are extracted via an interactive tool.
In addition various printed publications are available either in electronic form free on the internet or in printed form via the EU Bookshop. Only larger publications are charged for as printed copies.
Since September 2009 Eurostat has pioneered a fully electronical way of publishing, Statistics Explained, like Wikipedia based on Mediawiki open source software and with a largely similar structure and navigation. Statistics Explained is not only a dissemination format, however, but also a wiki working platform for producing flagship publications like the Eurostat Yearbook.
Statistical data for research purposes
Microdata, which in principle allows the identification of the statistical unit (e.g. a person in the labour force survey or a company for innovation statistics), is treated as strictly confidential. Under tight security procedures various anonymised datasets are provided to research institutions for validated research projects.See also
- EurobarometerEurobarometerEurobarometer is a series of surveys regularly performed on behalf of the European Commission since 1973. It produces reports of public opinion of certain issues relating to the European Union across the member states...
- European CommissionEuropean CommissionThe European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
- European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
- European Forum for GeoStatisticsEuropean Forum for GeoStatisticsThe European Forum for GeoStatistics is an interest organisation for people working or studying, or in any other way have an interest in geostatistics.-Organisation:...
- Largest cities and metropolitan areas in the European Union (Eurostat)Largest cities and metropolitan areas in the European Union (Eurostat)Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency, has created the concept of Larger Urban Zone in an effort to harmonise definitions of urbanisation in the European Union and in countries outside the European Union...
External links
- Eurostat Home Page
- Statistics Explained - wiki-based encyclopaedia / glossary / portal for EU statistics
- Health-EU Portal the official public health portal of the European Union