Archive:Enlargement policy and the acquis in statistics
- Data from Month Year, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
Introduction
Accession negotiations are underway with the following two candidate countries: Iceland and Turkey. Croatia has already concluded accession negotiations. These negotiations concern the candidates’ ability to take on the obligations of EU membership. They focus on the conditions and the timing of the candidates’ adoption, implementation and application of EU rules, also known as the acquis. To facilitate the negotiations, the whole body of EU laws is divided into chapters, each generally corresponding to a policy area. For candidates it is essentially a matter of agreeing on how and when to adopt and implement the EU rules and procedures. For the EU it is important to obtain guarantees on the date and the effectiveness of each candidate's implementation of the the rules.
Before negotiations start, the screening of each chapter allows the Commission and the candidate country to assess how well the candidate country is prepared. When negotiations on a chapter are opened, the Commission monitors and reports (to the Council and the European Parliament) on the progress in applying EU legislation.
Official statistics are part of the acquis (Chapter 18) and also form a component of other chapters since they allow screening and monitoring the progress toward accession criteria through yearly progress reports.
Main statistical findings
The acquis in the field of statistics
At EU level the Statistical Law (Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European Statistics, OJ L 8731.3.2009, p. 164–173) defines the basic conditions, procedures and general provisions governing official statistics as well as the division of responsibilities between national and the EU statistical authority. Statistical authorities are, at national level, the National Statistical Institutes and other statistical bodies in charge of producing and disseminating official statistics and, at EU level, Eurostat. The law gives Eurostat the coordinating role on the EU level, and it gives the same role to National Statistical Institutes at the national level.
The confidence in official statistics depends to a large extent on respecting the widely accepted guidelines laid down in the European Statistics Code of Practice and in the United Nations Fundamental Principles for Official Statistics. The European Statistics Code of Practice sets out 15 key principles for the production and dissemination of European official statistics and the institutional environment under which national and EU statistical authorities operate. The Code of Practice reflects the United Nations' Fundamental Principles of Official Statisticsand the United Nations' Principles Governing International Statistical Activities. The acquis in the field of statistics requires the existence of a statistical infrastructure and includes legal basis, methodologies and data requirements in different statistical domains. The acquis in statistics is evolving. Therefore, the statistical systems of candidate and potential candidate countries must be strengthened to be able to maintain the level of harmonisation reached and to be able to incorporate changes in the acquis.
Statistical Requirements Compendium
Legal basis, methodologies and data requirements are presented in the Statistical Requirements Compendium (SRC). The Compendium summarises the key reference information for European statistical production for all the statistical domains: Demographic and social statistics, Macroeconomics statistics, Business statistics, Statistics on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, Multi-domain statistics (e.g. Statistics or business cycle analysis, Europe 2020 strategy and sustainable development). It also includes the acquis related to the support for statistical output (incl. quality, evaluation, statistical coordination and classification, data security and statistical confidentiality).
Outcomes
The candidate countries and potential candidates are expected to progressively increase data collection and transmission to the European Statistical System in the framework of the EU accession process. Enlargement countries already provide on a yearly basis a large set of data that are disseminated through various means: validated data are uploaded on the free-to-view public database (Eurobase); annual pocketbook (paper version and free-to-view online version) of comparative tables and graphics on full range of thematic indicators with analytical text and leaflets on particular statistical topics are edited and these data are used when preparing the statistical annex for national progress reports.
Further Eurostat information
Publications
Pocketbook on the enlargement countries – 2011 edition
Leaflets
Candidates and potential candidate countries: Transport and energy, 2011 edition Candidates and potential candidate countries: Economic developments, 2011 edition Candidates and potential candidate countries: Population and social condition, 2011 edition
Main tables
Candidate and potential candidate countries(t_cpc)
Databases
Candidate countries and potential candidates (cpc)
Dedicated section
External links
European Commission – Enlargement
See also
[To be defined with final titles of other SE pages]
Notes
[[Category:<Subtheme category name(s)>|Non-EU Countries]] [[Category:<Statistical article>|Non-EU Countries]]