Implementation and data quality
Implementation
The ESA 2010 regulation requires that, as of 2018, the European Commission reviews its application every 5 years. The Commission then reports the outcome of this review to the EU Parliament and the Council.
The review evaluates the
- quality of data on national and regional accounts
- effectiveness of the regulation and the monitoring process
- progress on contingent liabilities data and on data availability.
Further reading
- 2023: Report on the application of EU regulation 549/2013
- 2018: Report on the application of EU regulation 549/2013, accompanied by
Data quality
The ESA 2010 regulation also states that the quality of national and regional accounts data sent to Eurostat is assessed based on the following criteria
- relevance
- accuracy
- timeliness and punctuality
- accessibility and clarity
- comparability and coherence
The modalities, periodicity, and indicators of this assessment process are defined in EU regulation 2016/2304.
Quality reports
Since 2017, a quality reporting and assessment exercise has been conducted. Eurostat provides pre-filled national quality reports with quantitative indicators and qualitative information to EU countries, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland.
By the end of May, countries complete their national quality reports and return them to Eurostat. Eurostat assesses the results and prepares and publishes an overall assessment based on the national quality reports and other available information.