EUROSTAT
Directorate E: Sectoral and regional statistics
Unit E-4: Regional statistics and geographical information /
Minutes of the
Discussion Group meeting on Regional Statistics
08 December 2011 in Luxembourg
Participants (*):
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Gunter Schäfer (E4)
Teodora Brandmüller (E4)
Isabelle Collet (E4)
Lourdes Prado Ureña (E4)
Asa Önnerfors (E4)
Johanna Pleijte (E4)
Pierluigi Brunori (E4)
Eusebio Bezzina (F2)
Arturode la Fuente (F2)
Christophe Demunter (F6)
Frank Espelage (F2)
Jürgen Foerster (E3)
Boyan Genev (F3)
Dominique Groenez (F4)
Stergiani Kalmpurtzi (B6)
Corinne Kuppel (B6)
José Lange (E6)
Pekka Loesoenen (E5)
Monica Marcu (F1)
Carla Martins (E1)
Alessandra Palmieri (E1)
Fabio Sartori (F1)
Gabriela Senchea-Badea (F1)
Paolo Turchetti (F4)
Sylvie Villaume (F6)
Albrecht Wirthmann (F6)
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(*) As the meeting took place in 2011, participantsand units appearas they were before Eurostat reorganization entered into force
Introduction
The chairman, Mr. Schäfer, welcomed the participants and the minutes of the previous meeting were approved.
Eurostat Regional Yearbook (RYB) 2012 – new routines and time planning
Åsa Önnerfors announced the publication of the online version of the RYB 2011 and presented the new publication process of the Regional Yearbook 2012 edition.
Main points to be underlined:
- Eurostat will get help from the external company Informa, also dealing with Eurostat Yearbook.
- By 13thof June, authors will be asked to propose the main outline of their chapters. Bilateral meetings between the contractor and the authors will be held and a detailed chapter plan should be agreed by 27thof January.
- The data extractions for the maps, tables and graphs will be done by Informa by the 15thof February. GDP data will be an exception, as they are not available until mid March. Authors will get a draft version of the maps by 23rdof March and comments should be provided by 30thof March.
- The draft text, tables, figures and maps will be delivered by the contractor by the 13th of April. Authors should then provide their comments by the 27th of April. This will be taken into account by Informa, which will put all articles online by the 25th of May finalising the contract at this moment.
- The text, maps, tables and figures will be proof-read at the publications office in June.
- The lay-out of the publication in English will be made by Jouve and checked by E4, like in previous years.
- The publication is planned to be sent to printing by September.
- The printed version and the news release are planned to be on the website by October.
- It was agreed to work with the NUTS 2006 classification when possible. Some exceptions (as it is the case for Tourism Statistics) may be accepted when just 2010 data are available.
- Some participants raised the issue of the expertise of the contractor. They stated that if the contractor does not work with real experts, the thematic units may have to rewrite the chapter completely.
Presentation of the Statistical Atlas
Gunter Schäfer made a presentation on the Statistical Atlas, a new tool for maps which is already available in Cybernews. This new tool will be released in October together with the Regional Yearbook 2012 and will make reference to the data shown in this publication. Data will be updated once a year.
Participants were encouraged to try the new tool and provide unit E4 with their feedback and impressions.
Some concerns were expressed regarding possible inconsistencies that may appear in the future. Data in the Statistical Atlas are static and will be updated once a year, so they may not follow the same updates as data in Eurobase.
The implementation of NUTS 2010
Teodora Brandmüllermade a presentation on the implementation of the NUTS 2010.
The NUTS 2012 enters into force the 1st January 2012. Tripartite consultations were held with the thematic units to agree on the implementation planning. The overview table and general guidelines on the implementation will be available by mid January. The main goal is to find the balance between data availability and clarity in dissemination.
After the presentation there was a discussion regarding the change forGreece from GR to EL. This change was foreseen for 7/8th December. It did not take place and some units were not informed about the cancelation. Unit E4 will inform the thematic units once a new date is agreed.
Any other business
- A SIF on Regional Labour Market was published in November together with a News Release.
- Participants were informed that unit E4 has been selected for a Rolling Review. The review will be restricted to some regional domains (rural development, labour market and new regional aggregates). The kick-off meeting took place on the 23rd November and the final report is foreseen for May 2012.
- A meeting with the units concerned with the Degree of Urbanisation will take place on the 13th December. DG REGIO will attend by video conference and the agenda will focus on the implementation of the new classification.
Next meeting
Next meeting will take place in 2012.
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