International statistical cooperation - instruments for technical assistance

Article last updated: March 2024

This article is part of a set of background articles which introduce the international statistical cooperation activities of the European Union (EU) with non-member countries in the context of enlargement policy, European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and European Development Policy. This article presents Eurostat’s role in assessing the statistical systems in the enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy context. It also presents the activities that are offered to assist candidate countries and potential candidates and ENP countries to better comply with European statistical standards, and lists the various instruments used for financing.

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Assessments in the context of European statistical system (ESS)

The European statistics Code of Practice sets the standards for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics for all members of the European statistical system (ESS). The Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System describes the tools and procedures put in place to ensure that any statistics that are produced are of high quality: effectively, it serves as guidance on how to implement the code. More information on the ESS can be found in the ESS section on Eurostat's website.

Assessment of statistical systems

As part of the process towards membership of the EU, candidate countries and potential candidates progressively apply the same concepts, definitions and main principles governing the production of statistics as the other members of the ESS, with Eurostat monitoring their progress towards adoption of the EU’s acquis in statistics. The assessment of statistical systems in Western Balkans, Moldova ^[1], Georgia, Türkiye and Ukraine is an important step towards achieving high quality statistics and compliance with EU standards.

Eurostat also conducts annual reviews of the compliance of candidate countries and potential candidates with the acquis in statistics. The purpose of these reviews is to monitor progress towards EU standards (reported upon in the European Commission’s annual progress reports) and then to plan and coordinate better the technical assistance in statistics provided in the context of European international statistical cooperation.

In recent years, Eurostat has also carried out four types of external assessment of Western Balkans, Moldova, Georgia, Türkiye and Ukraine, and ENP countries: adapted global assessments (AGAs), light peer reviews (LPRs), peer reviews and sector reviews. The results of these reviews can be found under Regional cooperation - Assessments in the dedicated section on International cooperation on Eurostat's website.

Adapted global assessments

Adapted global assessments (AGAs) are tailored towards the needs of countries with a European perspective (potential candidates and ENP countries) which have the intention to align their statistical systems with that of the EU. These assessments concern the entire national statistical infrastructure and some selected statistical domains in the reviewed country. The objectives of an AGA are to:

assess the administrative and technical capacity of the statistical system;
assess the statistical law and other legal acts and their compliance with European and international recommendations and principles;
assess the mechanisms used by the national statistical authority to coordinate the statistical system;
review the medium and long-term planning mechanisms in place;
propose a list of actions to be undertaken to improve and strengthen the statistical system;
assess statistical production against the acquis in statistics.

Prior to the assessment visit(s), a self-assessment is undertaken by the country under review. The assessment team is composed of two experts from ESS countries and one or two reviewers from Eurostat as well as experts from EFTA and UNECE. For assessments in the candidate countries or potential candidates, two observers from other candidate countries or potential candidates may also participate after the agreement of the country under review. Normally two visits are conducted for each country that is assessed.

The adapted global assessment contains a report with recommendations for improvements with a view to future assistance needs. The assessment covers the legislation, the national statistical system for official statistics and the national statistical authorities. The latter are assessed against the Code of Practice, while statistical domains are assessed against Eurostat’s statistical requirements compendium: this compendium summarises the key reference information such as legal basis, methodologies and data requirements for European statistical production in all statistical domains.

Light peer reviews

The objectives of these reviews are:

to assess compliance of the reviewed national statistical authority, in particular with respect to Principles 1 to 6 and 15 of the Code of Practice — professional independence (principle 1), coordination role of the national statistical authority (principle 1bis), a mandate for data collection (principle 2), the adequacy of resources (principle 3), a commitment to quality (principle 4), statistical confidentiality (principle 5), impartiality and objectivity (principle 6), and accessibility and clarity (principle 15);
to highlight transferable practices suitable to foster compliance with the Code of Practice;
to recommend improvement actions needed to comply fully with the Code of Practice.

Light peer reviews are conducted upon request from a country. Before the LPR is processed, the countries conduct a self-assessment using an adapted self-assessment questionnaire based on the one used by ESS members. A team of senior statisticians conduct the review. This team includes two peers from ESS countries, one representative from Eurostat, occasionally a representative from EFTA and possibly two observers from the group of reviewed countries; the team conducts the review in a single visit. The ensuing report includes recommendations for improvement covering all principles of the Code of Practice. Recommendations are then drafted in connection with the current and future assistance needs.

Peer reviews

Peer reviews are qualitative assessments of how compliant a country’s statistical system is with the European statistics Code of Practice. The peer reviews result in a set of recommendations, the implementation of which is followed up and monitored by Eurostat.

Eurostat conducted a wave of peer reviews in Western Balkans and Türkiye between 2015 and 2018. The methodology of these reviews was the same as that of the peer reviews carried out in the EU Member States and Eurostat between 2014 and 2015. Peer reviews were conducted in Türkiye in 2015; in Kosovo* ^[2], North Macedonia and Serbia in 2017; and in Albania and Montenegro in 2018. Reports and improvement actions have been published. It should be noted that the 2011 version of the European statistics Code of Practice with addition of coordination of the NSS was used in Western Balkans and Türkiye in this latest round of peer reviews. A new round of peer reviews is planned to be implemented in Western Balkans, Moldova, Georgia, Türkiye and Ukraine, after the end of the third round of peer reviews among EU Member States and Eurostat in 2023.

Eurostat has organised two light peer reviews and two peer reviews in the ENP-countries. The light peer reviews were conducted in Palestine ^[3] in 2012 and in Armenia in 2014. The peer reviews took place in Jordan in 2017 and Armenia in 2019.

Furthermore, under the Pan-African Statistics Programme (PAS I), managed by Eurostat, 16 peer reviews were organised in African countries in 2018/20. The results of these assessments were published by STATAFRIC, the African Union Institute for Statistics.

Sector reviews

Sector reviews analyse the statistical production processes in specific sectors (or domains) in detail. They are specifically tailored to partner countries that aim to align important areas of statistics with European standards. These reviews have the objectives to:

assess the administrative and technical capacity of the reviewed statistical systems to produce statistics in the sector concerned;
assess the statistical production in the relevant sector;
assess the statistical production against the EU acquis;
review the medium and long-term planning within the sector;
propose a list of recommendations to be undertaken to improve the data delivery and functioning of the sector under review.

Technical assistance activities

The assessment of national statistical systems in Western Balkans, Moldova, Georgia, Türkiye and Ukraine, as well as the ENP countries, makes it possible to better identify the needs of these countries. Assistance programmes to develop and improve the statistical systems in these countries can be designed from this information. Several instruments for technical statistical assistance are available to Western Balkans and Türkiye, while others are available to ENP countries.

In the African continent, technical statistical assistance is available via the six components of the Pan-African Statistics Programme II (PAS II). International organisations and European national statistical institutes provide assistance in some specific domains, facilitating knowledge-sharing among practitioners.

Data collection support

Official statistics are included in Chapter 18 of the acquis, and also form a component of other chapters; through annual progress reports, the screening and monitoring of progress towards the accession criteria can be performed. To meet European data requirements (as specified in the statistical requirements compendium), candidate countries and potential candidates should set up the necessary infrastructure to collect high-quality data, for example, through surveys or the collection of administrative data. To reach this goal, Western Balkans, Moldova, Georgia, Türkiye and Ukraine, with the assistance of Eurostat, develop their data collection infrastructure (registers, sampling methods, information technology resources, and so on) and their knowledge of the EU statistical methodologies with which they have to comply. The increased availability of data according to EU standards in the candidate countries and potential candidates is an important outcome of the process. These data are disseminated nationally and internationally, for example, through Eurobase, Eurostat’s reference database.

Transfer of know-how

The transfer of know-how from the European Commission and the EU Member States to Western Balkans, Moldova, Georgia, Türkiye and Ukraine, as well as ENP countries, is a key element in the success of adopting the statistical acquis and of becoming familiar with the functioning of the ESS. Statisticians from Western Balkans and Türkiye thus have the opportunity to take part in the following activities: participation in meetings within the ESS, statistical training courses, management training, traineeships, study visits to national statistical authorities in the EU and EFTA Member States and ad-hoc consultancies. Some of these activities are also available to statisticians from ENP countries, in particular to Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine.

Participation in meetings within the ESS: seminars, working groups, task forces and other meetings within the ESS are fora where Member States discuss and develop statistical methodologies and standards used across the EU. Participants therefore have the opportunity to learn about current issues regarding the implementation of the acquis and also to participate in the drafting of the new acquis in different statistical domains.
Statistical training courses: as in any professional field, lifelong learning is essential for statisticians. Statisticians need training courses to ensure that they will provide statistics in line with the EU’s quality standards and so that they become familiar with the working mechanisms of the ESS. Training courses can be provided for groups of countries or individual countries. Candidate countries and potential candidates are eligible to take part in training organised in the frame of the European Statistical Training Programme (ESTP), led by Eurostat.
Management training: top and middle managers of national statistical authorities need to be trained in planning and management practices and techniques. In statistics, such training usually leads to the development of strategies, the definition of statistical infrastructure, correct handling of user requests and the implementation of new initiatives in the national statistical authorities.
Traineeships: under the Instrument for pre-Accession (IPA), staff from the national statistical authorities of Western Balkans and Türkiye may be seconded to Eurostat or the national statistical authority of an EU or EFTA Member State for up to three months where they will observe and participate in the functioning and daily work of these institutions.
Study visits to national statistical authorities: the national statistical authorities of Western Balkans and Türkiye have the opportunity to send one or two of their specialists to visit national statistical authorities in the EU or EFTA Member States. The aim of these visits is to acquire new knowledge or to discuss specific technical or methodological shortcomings or problems within their own authority and try to overcome these through examples of best practice. Candidate countries and potential candidates can also host visits from experts from EU and EFTA Member States.
Ad-hoc consultancies in areas which are important and urgent for the countries. The ad-hoc consultancy is requested by one of the countries or by Eurostat and its duration may vary between 2 and 10 working days under IPA. There are also possibilities to finance ad-hoc consultancies from the TAIEX instrument.

The transfer of know-how also operates through ‘pilot projects’ and ‘data collection projects’ where Eurostat or internationally-trained statisticians give support to the national statistical authorities. Through such projects, Western Balkans, Türkiye and ENP countries can progressively improve their data collection and, in the case of candidate countries and potential candidates, transmit the resulting data to Eurostat as part of the EU accession process. This results in a growing volume of data that may be disseminated, describing developments in beneficiary countries. In the African continent, the design of the Pan-African Statistics Programme II (PAS II) includes six components managed by different entities in view of facilitating the creation of a community of practitioners and to promote knowledge-sharing.

Assistance funding and instruments

All activities are part of or funded by the relevant cooperation instrument:

Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) for Western Balkans and Türkiye;
Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) for neighbourhood, development and international cooperation.

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Notes

↑ On 14-15 December 2023, the European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine, and granted the status of candidate country to Georgia. These three countries are also ENP East countries.
↑ * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
↑ This designation shall not be construed as recognition of a State of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual positions of the EU Member States on this issue.

[1] On 14-15 December 2023, the European Council decided to open accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine, and granted the status of candidate country to Georgia. These three countries are also ENP East countries.

[2] * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

[3] This designation shall not be construed as recognition of a State of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual positions of the EU Member States on this issue.

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