Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

1. Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region 7th SPECA Project Working Group on Statistics, Issyk-Kul, 28 August, 2012 Mariana Kotzeva, Eurostat Adviser Hors Classe

2. Background 1.EU cooperationin Central Asiaisstructuredaround 2 overallstrategies: • the EU-Central AsiaStrategyapprovedby EU Heads of State andGovernmentinJune 2007 • the EC Regional Strategy Paper. 2.From 2007 onwardsthecooperationwiththefive Central AsiancountriesissupportedbythenewDevelopmentCooperationInstrument (DCI). 3. Until 2006, thecooperationwith Central Asiawascoveredbythe TACIS – TechnicalAssistance to theCommonwealth of Independent States – instrument. 28 August, 2012 Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

3. Role of statistics in the EU Co-operation in Central Asia 1. Statistics is gaining importance in the EU cooperation, negotiations and assistance in both neighboring countries and Central Asia: • International comparability; • Quality; • Transparency 2. The progress in different areas is measured through statistics; Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

4. Eurostat fields of activities • Providing advice and expertise to Commission services (in particular the External Relations Directorates-General, and the delegations) and national statistical authorities with respect to European Commission development and cooperation policies; • Advocating and promoting good governance through statistics in the EU's external relations policy in Central Asia; • Monitoring and coordinating EU efforts to build statistical capacity in Central Asia countries within the framework of international commitments such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); • Encouraging the application of ESS best practices in Central Asia countries through mutual contacts, training, study visits and attendance at meetings; • Management of Commission's statistical relations with Central Asia through the implementation of MoUs: follow-up and implementation of road maps of MoUs (i.e. Kazakhstan) in support of the development of national statistical systems of these countries in areas of joint priority.Supporting regional co-operation and building up a network of experts in the field of statistics Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

5. Cooperation activities:Adapted Global Assessments of National Statistical Systems 1. Goal: to assess institutional aspects of national statistical system and its capacity to produce and disseminate official statistics in all relevant areas; 2. Results • neededforthebeneficiarycountries to serveas a baseforbetterplanningandprioritysetting • Provide a good basis for planning of capacity building activities inthestatisticalarea in the these countries. 3. AGAs in the SPECA Region (Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan) Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

6. Co-operation Activities: Annual High-level Seminars for senior NSI management of 11 countries in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia countries • Statistical Classification of Economic Activities (NACE) and Statistical Classification of Productions by Activity (CPA) – Tashkent, 2008; • Coordinating role of National Statistical Institutes in the National Statistical Systems, Cologne, Germany, 2010 • Quality Matters in Statistics‚ June 2011, Athens, Greece • The EFTA / Eurostat / UNECE High-level Seminar on "Streamlining Statistical Production"  July 2011 in Zlatibor, Serbia; • 'Quality in Statistics: Metadata‘, 7-29 June 2012, Tbilisi, Georgia Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

7. Co-operation Activities: Subject matter seminars and projects • Analysis and dissemination for water statistics on specific Central Asian countries: increase the capacity of target countries to improve environmental policies trough reliable statistics; to assist the EC in developing programmes on environmental issues for Central Asia on the basis of better water statistics. • Providing training in regional workshops jointly organized with other international organizations on national accounts, economic statistics; • Bilateral projects and initiatives of Members States and SPECA countries to address country specific needs; Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

8. Future co-operation prospects and challenges • The importance of institutional and legal set up and quality management in capacity building for SPECA countries; • Modernizing statistical production based on data integration and use and reuse of various data sources including administrative ones; • The need for making up statistical capacity building indispensable part of public administration reforms; • Building up ownership of the reform process as a precondition for sustainability of the achievements; • Regional co-operation as facilitator of the development of the national statistical systems; Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

9. Recent ESS developments and the Co-operation in the SPECA region • Quality Management; • New Production Method of European Statistics: Vision for next decade; Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

10. Code of Practice and its implementation • Aim • Example • Compliance • Recent changes • New indicators • Publication • Quality assurance framework • Process-specific quality assurance Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

11. Major European Quality Initiatives 1. The European Conferences on Quality 2001 – 2012 2. European Statistics Code of Practice 2005 3. New European Statistical Law 2009 4. Sponsorship on Quality 2009 – 2011 • Theme I: Revised the Code of Practice • Theme II: Developed the Quality Assurance Framework • Theme III: Made recommendations on quality reporting (communicating quality) 5. Communication 211 “Towards robust quality management for European Statistics” in 2011 (preventive quality management, revision of the Statistical Law, Commitments of Confidence in Statistics 6. Revised Code of Practice 2011 Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region

12. Thank you for your attention! • mariana.kotzeva@ec.europa.eu • http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/ Eurostat’s Technical Co-operation in the SPECA Region