PURPOSE: to establish a Community Statistical Programme 2008-2012.
PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.
BACKGROUND: trustworthy statistical information about the economic, social and environmental situation in the EU and its components at national and regional level is a necessary precondition for the European integration process. The requirement for a multi-annual Community Statistical Programme (CSP) follows from Council Regulation 322/97/EC according to which the CSP shall define the approaches, the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for a period not exceeding five years and constitute the framework for the production of all Community statistics. The current CSP, Decision 2367/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, covers the period 2003-2007 and is the sixth of its kind.
CONTENT: the proposal establishes the Community Statistical Programme for the period from 2008 to 2012. The programme defines the approaches, the main fields and objectives of the actions envisaged, and it also provides a summary of statistical needs and requirements viewed from the perspective of the policy needs of the European Union.
This programme should comprise the production and delivery of products and services to the users, the improvement of the quality of statistics and the further development of the European Statistical System (ESS - the partnership comprising Eurostat, national statistical authorities and other national authorities responsible in each Member State for producing and disseminating European Statistics).
Taking account of the available resources of the national authorities and the Commission, the programme shall be guided by the principal Community policy priorities of:
For more information concerning the financial implications of this proposal, please refer to the financial statement.