Enlargement
Countries join the European Union (EU) through the enlargement process. During this process, each country conducts its individual accession negotiations with the EU during which it needs to fulfil a set of political and economic conditions.
Currently, there are 10 enlargement countries. Of those, 9 countries are candidate countries and have a prospect to become members of the EU:
- Albania
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Georgia
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Serbia
- Türkiye
- Ukraine.
There is also a potential candidate with a prospect to become a candidate country, namely Kosovo (this designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence).
Statistics are important in gaining EU membership: Having comparable and harmonised data is essential to be able to measure the progress made by the enlargement countries towards the alignment with EU legislations. Statistics are key for:
- monitoring macroeconomic stability
- a welcoming business environment
- functioning labour and financial markets
- good levels and quality of education
- infrastructure
- innovation
- economic integration with the EU and the world.
Eurostat’s main role in working with the enlargement countries is to:
- assist them in aligning their statistical production to the requirements of the EU by involving the national statistical institutes (NSIs) in the work of the European Statistical System (ESS)
- provide support to achieve alignment with EU legislation in the area of statistics
- monitor their level of progress in aligning with EU requirements
- provide key indicators for measuring this progress and progress in implementing the various policies and reforms in the region.
As part of the process to join the EU, Eurostat monitors and assesses the progress of candidate countries and potential candidates in complying with EU law and standards in the field of statistics. Chapter 18 of the accession negotiations specifies the EU standards and rules for producing comparable and high-quality official statistics.
In order to help the countries understand and be aware of the EU legislation on statistics related to Chapter 18, Eurostat annually publishes the statistical requirements compendium (SRC). The SRC summarises the key reference information for production of official European statistics.
Eurostat also uses the SRC as the framework for conducting compliance monitoring of the enlargement area (candidate countries and potential candidates) in the field of statistics. Eurostat also conducts peer reviews of national statistical systems and sector assessments to review the alignment of the statistical authorities with the European Statistics Code of Practice.
Eurostat supports enlargement countries mainly by regional cooperation programmes on statistics. These cover several statistical areas. They help countries achieve progress in aligning with EU law in the area of statistics, while working together with other countries in their region to share experiences and best practices.
The EU uses the instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA) to support Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Türkiye.
Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are currently not part of a statistical support programme to prepare their statistical system for EU membership. However, they are participating:
- in Eurostat's expert groups to become aware of the EU legislation in statistics
- in training courses to learn about EU requirements
- in meetings to discuss issue of their concern on the way to meet EU requirements in statistics.
The instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA) is the means by which the EU has been supporting reforms in the enlargement region with financial and technical assistance since 2007.
Eurostat manages the instrument for pre-accession assistance multi-beneficiary programmes (IPA MBP) for statistical cooperation.
Focus and objectives
The efforts to support the national statistical institutes within the IPA MBP on statistical cooperation focus on those statistical areas which are of relevance for European integration or concern political priorities, for example macro-economic statistics, social statistics, environment, agriculture. In addition, further strengthening the dissemination and communication of statistics are high on the cooperation agenda.
The overall objective of this IPA MBP is to:
- prepare the statistical authorities for EU membership by aligning their methodologies and practices with the statistical requirements of the EU
- integrate their national statistical systems into the European Statistical System.
The beneficiaries and partners are national statistical institutes and other national authorities producing official statistics.
Types of assistance
The regional character of the programmes enables the partner countries to exchange their experiences and best practices. However – as each country is at a different stage of progress – tailor-made statistical assistance is also provided by experts from the EU countries to target their specific needs and weaknesses.
The assistance provided includes:
- statistical assistance in various fields
- participation of representatives of the national statistical institutes in working groups of the European Statistical System
- trainings
- workshop
- traineeships
- study visits to EU countries.
IPA MBP programmes
Every 2 to 3 years a new support programme is launched of around 10 Million Euro, lasting for 3 to 4 years. These programmes are based on Eurostat’s IPA strategy 2021-2027, which provides a comprehensive framework and guidance for using pre-accession funds for statistical cooperation.
The focus of Eurostat’s IPA strategy 2021-2027 is twofold: increase the transmission of high-quality statistical data to Eurostat and respond to the demand for data for the main EU policies, such as the European green deal.