The quality framework of European statistics by the ESCB

1. Aurel Schubert1) European Central Bank The quality framework of European statistics by the ESCB Quality Conference Vienna, 3 June 2014 1) This presentation reflects the personal views of the author and not necessarily those of the ECB or the ESCB.

2. AGENDA 1 Presentation of ESCB public commitment 2 Development of the framework 3 Quality assurance procedures 4 Conclusions and outlook

3. ESCB public commitment • General public statement Quality principles and associated indicators of good practice Institutional environment Statistical processes High output quality P1. Professional independence P2. Mandate for data collection P3. Adequacy of resources P4. Commitment to quality P5. Statistical confidentiality P6. Impartiality & objectivity P7. Sound methodology P8. Appropriate statistical procedures P9. Minimisation of reporting burden P10. Cost-effectiveness P11. Relevance P12. Accuracy and reliability (incl. stability) P13. Timeliness (incl. punctuality) P14. Consistency and comparability P15. Accessibility and clarity

4. ESCB public commitment Public statement • legal mandate • compliance with European and internationally agreed standards, guidelines and good practices • independence of the ESCB statistical function • collaboration with the ESS • efficient use of resources • Minimisation of reporting burden • confidentiality protection Principles and good practice indicators • based on principles of existing quality frameworks adapted to ESCB institutional environment and operational features • 5 models analysed: • similar scope and similar objectives • interesting features in implementation and monitoring • clear similarities with institutional environment of ESCB statistical function.

5. Development of ESCB framework UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (1994) • Provides the foundations for all quality frameworks IMF DQAF (2003) • Rooted in the UN Fundamental Principles • Provides an organised structure to assess existing practices against best practices, including international methodologies; • Easily applicable OECD Quality Framework (2003) • Adaptation of the UN Fundamental Principles and DQAF to OECD institutional environment • Interesting monitoring of the implementation via the use of quality assurance procedures • Based on the Code of Practice of UK NSI • Similar institutional environment • Concepts of cost-efficiency and non-excessive burdens to respondents • Code addressed to all stakeholders Bank of England Code of Practice (2004) • Coherent with UN Fundamental Principles and IMF DQAF • Of high relevance for the ESCB in view of the close cooperation with the ESS European Statistics Code of Practice (2005)

6. ESCB quality assurance procedures Objectives • inform on activities, methods and tools used to implement the public commitment • address all key stakeholders • cover whole statistical production chain (incl. supporting IT infrastructure) Characteristics

7. ESCB quality assurance procedures Different domains: • Governance issues • Strategy, work programme and procedures to identify new user requirements and develop new statistics • Protection of statistical confidentiality • Quality assurance procedures related to the collection of data • Quality assurance procedures related to the compilation and the statistical analysis • Quality assurance procedures related to data accessibility and dissemination policy • Monitoring and reporting • Statistical processes monitoring • High output quality monitoring and reporting

8. ESCB statistical processes monitoring with IAC audit reviews Audit reviews carried out by ESCB Internal Audit Committee (IAC): • Team of independent and specialized auditors on statistical issues • Audit scope focused on statistical processes • Statistical audits performed simultaneously in the ECB and all NCBs • audit recommendations applicable to whole ESCB • IAC follow-up procedure on implementation of recommendations with regular reporting to ECB decision-making bodies 13 statistical audits since 1999 • all European statistics produced by the ESCB • ESCB statistical information systems • ESCB procedure to develop new statistics • Governance of ESCB statistical databases projects

9. High output quality monitoring ESCB prepares annual quality reports to assess availability and quality of all European statistics from ESCB – reports also published on ECB website Objectives: • provide a good overview of the availability of the statistics • assess quality in terms of punctuality, timeliness, methodological soundness, reliability and stability • report on state of affairs concerning implementation of enhanced or new statistical requirements • provide information on possible further improvements to data collection and compilation methods and to level of detail and/or frequency of input data. Quantitative indicators to assess: • frequency, number, direction, magnitude and patterns of revisions • internal and external consistency of data

10. Conclusions and outlook ESCB public commitment ESCB statistical function • useful communication tool • provides ESCB staff with complementary benchmark for day-to-day compilation work, release of statistics and development of new statistical products • continuously tries to improve statistical output quality and statistical processes • scrutinises quality management and assurance procedures New initiatives • development of comprehensive ESCB quality framework with publication of ESCB quality assurance procedures together with quality principles • establishment of comprehensive list of all aspects to be possibly integrated in statistical audits • improve user-friendly access to statistical data and metadata importance of sharing good practices with other statistical authorities

11. Thank you for your attention.