30 November 2022

Special report 26/2022: European statistics – Potential to further improve quality

While the auditors give the Commission a passing grade, they also warn of a number of weaknesses. European statistics should be more useful to their users and better tailored to their needs.

European statistics are a public good, and are essential to help policy-makers, businesses, and citizens reach evidence-based decisions. In 2012, we published a special report on the quality of European statistics, but in 2016 we found that some improvement actions had not been fully implemented. In this audit, we examined whether the Commission provides high-quality European statistics, and we conclude that their overall quality is sufficient for stakeholders. However, we have identified a number of weaknesses that still need to be addressed. We make several recommendations to improve the quality of European statistics. These include better meeting user needs, prioritising EU funding for innovative projects, improving the quality assessment of European statistics, and reconsidering the current practice of pre-releasing statistics.

European statistics should better meet user needs

The European Commission provides European statistics of generally sufficient quality and fit for use by policy makers, business and the public, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors. While the auditors give the Commission a passing grade, they also warn of a number of weaknesses. European statistics should be more useful to their users and better tailored to their needs. Stakeholders such as academia and the research community as a whole should be properly consulted on plans and priorities for European statistics. And there are data gaps in important statistical areas such as labour, business and health.

Official statistics are indispensable for evidence-based decision-making by politicians and business leaders, as well as for the work of researchers, journalists and the public. In the EU, they are used for collecting and allocating funds, as well as for designing and assessing policies in all areas, including employment, environment and the economy. Between 2013 and 2020, almost half a billion euros of taxpayers’ money was spent from EU coffers on the production of European statistics. The auditors checked whether the Commission had taken steps to ensure a high level of quality, and examined the areas of labour, businesses and health in depth.

“The production of statistics is not an end in itself”, said Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz, the ECA member who led the audit. “They are a public good, and must be generated first and foremost with users in mind. In an age of disinformation and serial crises, it is paramount that European official statistics must be high-quality, meet users’ needs and explore innovative ways of production.”

Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office directly connected to the Commission, consults users to identify which needs it should address in its future work. However, the auditors found that the main representative body for the users of statistics – the European Statistical Advisory Committee – had failed to represent all users in a balanced and effective manner, and should be more inclusive in order to ensure a collective viewpoint. Today, civil society, NGOs representing vulnerable groups, and international organisations are not involved at all....

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