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The Council adopted the following conclusions:
Following the priorities set in the previous Council Conclusions on EU statistics of November 2021, notably on the EFC Status Report on Information Requirements in EMU, and taking into consideration the political guidelines for the Commission 2019-2024, the Council has reviewed the progress related to information requirements in EMU, statistics for the EDP, surveillance of macroeconomic imbalances and structural statistics.
The Council welcomes that the European Statistical System (ESS) and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) have ensured that high quality official statistics continued to be published to deadline during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a strong and growing demand from users. The Council further welcomes the involvement and efforts of Eurostat, in close cooperation with the Member States, for developing and implementing guidance on the statistical aspects of new policy measures to address the pandemic. The Council calls for the expansion of statistical accounts for European Union institutions to reflect the impact of these initiatives in their statistics.
Further, the Council welcomes the response of the ESS to the needs for new and timelier statistics created by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, notably with respect to statistics on energy, supply chains, migration and the labour market, and encourages the ESS to provide relevant support to the Ukrainian statistical authorities.
In this overall context, the Council acknowledges the continuing development by the ESS of new, highly relevant statistics, often on an experimental basis, in particular those that measure the impact of the war in Ukraine on the European economies and societies.
The Council reiterates the importance of increased and sustained access for producers of official statistics to new data sources. The Council takes note of the ESS position paper on the future Data Act proposal, and takes note of the discussion on the forthcoming Data Act to support the establishment of a sustained and legally framed access to privately held data for the compilation of timely and more detailed official statistics. Furthermore, the Council looks forward to a possible proposal by the Commission on the revision of Regulation No°223/2009 on European statistics, addressing in particular the issue of access to new data sources from the specific perspective of European statistics as well as ways to ensure increased agility and responsiveness of the ESS.
The Council acknowledges the importance of accurate and consistent financial and non-financial statistics. It calls upon the ESS and the ESCB to further enhance cooperation within and between the respective systems. In this context, the Council encourages the ongoing reflections how to further facilitate the sharing of relevant information between statistical compilers.
The Council recognizes the need to ensure that human and financial resources are adequate for Eurostat and National Statistical Authorities, to address urgent data requirements including on the digital transformation, the green transition and climate change, as well as the aftermath of the pandemic and the impacts of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
The Council takes note of the developments described in the 2022 EFC Status Report on Information Requirements in the EMU. In particular, the Council:
Appreciates the further improvements in country coverage, timeliness, length of time series and overall quality of the Principal European Economic Indicators (PEEIs).
Uunderlines the continuing important role played by the PEEIs as a basis for monitoring short- term economic developments and looks forward to further progress to close remaining gaps....
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