The European Statistics Code of Practice was first adopted by the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC) in 2005. The Code was revised by the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) in 2011 and 2017; the ESSC endorsed the latter revision on 16 November 2017. The revised Code has 16 principles concerning the institutional environment, statistical processes and statistical outputs. The Code aims to ensure that statistics produced within the European Statistical System (ESS) are relevant, timely and accurate, and that they comply with the principles of professional independence, impartiality and objectivity. A set of indicators of best practices and standards for each principle provides guidance and a reference for reviewing the implementation of the Code. We are currently working on the other language versions and they will become available shortly.

The new European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB) team started its 3-year term on 1st February 2018.

The members are: Enrico Giovannini (Chair), Kai Carstensen, Bart De Moor, Mireille Elbaum, Jaume Garcia Villar, Frances Ruane and Algirdas Šemeta.

More information on the new ESGAB team can be found here.

In its 2017 Annnual report the European Statistical Governance Advisory Board (ESGAB) urges more to be done by European statistical authorities to ensure the public at large are aware of the high standards in place for European statistics. Such awareness-raising is essential in the face of conflicting or erroneous data from a range of non-official sources.

“Statistics from unreliable or biased sources can be easily spread through social media to promote specific interests and to mislead the public. So it is crucial that citizens are aware that the European statistics published by Eurostat and national statistical authorities are underpinned by the European Statistics Code of Practice, which promotes professional independence, objectivity and impartiality” says Martti Hetemäki, Chair of ESGAB.