In 2021, Eurostat carried out the final evaluation of the 2013-2020 European statistical programme, which was the framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. Eurostat regularly evaluates its own performance in these programmes; the evaluations assess whether and how the objectives of a programme are achieved and also lead to recommendations for improvements in the design and monitoring of future programmes.
Eurostat based its evaluation on an independent evaluation by an external contractor. The Commission adopted the report on this evaluation on 15 December 2021.
Evaluation conclusions
The evaluation found that the programme was effective in delivering on its objectives and that it was adequately designed to satisfy the evolving needs of producers and users of European statistics. It also showed that the programme was efficient in using its financial and human resources to support the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. The programme had ‘EU added value’, i.e. produced results beyond what would have been achieved by Member States acting alone, and the programme’s objectives were consistent with other EU policy objectives.
One illustration of the high relevance of the programme is the number of data extractions made by external users from Eurostat reference databases, which greatly increased from 2014 to 2020 (+315%).
Source: Eurostat’s website monitoring
At the same time, the evaluation identified the need for adjustments in terms of the timeliness and completeness of the statistics, as well as the increasing demands among users for new statistics. The report therefore contains three recommendations:
- to focus on innovation, new methods and new data sources;
- to further improve the access to European statistics via Eurostat’s website;
- and to implement the new approach to prioritising demands for statistics.
Eurostat has already started addressing these recommendations and will include further actions in its annual planning of activities and under the next European statistical programme, which is included in the Single Market Programme.
For more information:
- European Commission report on the final evaluation of the European statistical programme 2013-2020
- The European statistical programme 2021-2027 as part of the Single Market Programme
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