Destatis visits Eurostat

On 29 November, senior management from Destatis, the Federal Office of Statistics in Germany, visited Eurostat. The joint meeting discussed the planned agendas and priorities for the coming years and important challenges for official statistics in general, particularly for the future population and housing censuses in the EU. 

This visit was also one of the last meetings for Destatis President Dr Thiel, as he will be retiring at the end of this year. The visit was an opportunity for him to bid farewell to Director-General Mariana Kotzeva and thank her for their years of cooperation.

Eurostat presented the overall objectives of the European statistical programme, the multi-annual action plan and the draft European Statistical System (ESS) innovation agenda. In addition, Eurostat outlined the main future activities of statistical domains with a focus on 2023. Destatis presented the current challenges identified in official statistics and the strategy developed for the coming years to tackle the challenges in the national and European contexts. 

Much fruitful discussion and exchange of views took place on all topics, and both Eurostat and Destatis thanked each other for this opportunity to meet up and address topics of such common interest.