/ EUROPEAN COMMISSION
EUROSTAT
Directorate E: Agriculture and Environment Statistics; Statistical Cooperation
Unit E-4: Statistical Cooperation with European and Mediterranean countries /

Doc. MGSC/2008/12

Tenth meeting of the

Management Group on Statistical Cooperation

24 - 25 April 2008

Luxembourg, BechBuilding

Room Ampere

Start: 10h00 am

Cards 2003 regional programme and IPA multi-beneficiary programmes - status of implementation

Point 3.3 of the Agenda

1.General background

Since 2000, aid to the countries of the Western Balkans[1] was provided through a new programme called CARDS (Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation). Under CARDS, there were two regional statistical cooperation programmes, the CARDS 2001 and the CARDS 2003. The CARDS 2003 regional programme ended in March 2008.

The candidate countries Croatia and Turkey are beneficiaries of multi-beneficiary cooperation programmes financed under the Phare budget (the 2005 and 2006 MBP programmes). The 2005 MBP started in January 2007 and will end in December 2008, the MBP 2006 started in January 2008 and will end in December 2010.

From 2007 onwards, the IPA multi-beneficiary statistical cooperation programmes replace the previous CARDS regional programmes and the MBP programmes. The beneficiary countries of the IPA programmes are the Western Balkan countries and Turkey.[2]

The multi-beneficiary approach has been found to be the most beneficial and effective solution to develop the statistical systems of the beneficiary countries. At the same time this approach has to reflect the different stages of development and differing priorities of the beneficiary countries. This is best achieved by a sufficient level of flexibility in the implementation that can take account of groups of countries with different needs and levels of attainment.

The IPA multi-beneficiary programmes build up on the results achieved and continue the work carried out under the previous programmes. Individual multi-beneficiary programmes will be set for each budget year.

This document summarises the results of the Cards 2003 regional project and describes its successor, the IPA 2007 multi-beneficiary programme which will start in 2008. There will be a gap between these two programmes. EFTA and Sida/Statistics Sweden have kindly agreed to help bridge this gap. This bridge funding is described as well. The document also describes the IPA 2008 multi-beneficiary programme which is currently in the design stage and which will start in 2009.

2.Cards 2003 regional programme on statistics

The CARDS 2003 programme had not been sub-delegated to Eurostat. The contractual and financial responsibility was with DG Enlargement, whilst Eurostat contributed to the implementation by providing technical and statistical advice.

The programme was implemented via a service contract for an amount of 2 998 870 €.The service contract was signed on 14 July 2006 with ICON Institut (Germany) in consortium with ARTEMIS. The programme ended on 14 March 2008.

The recipient institutions were: Institute for Statistics in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina Agency for Statistics, Institute of Statistics of the Federal Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Institute of Statistics of Republika Srpska, Central Bureau of Statistics of Croatia, State Statistical Office of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Statistical Office of the Republic of Montenegro, Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia and Statistical Office of Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244).

The objective of the programme was to contribute to the Stabilisation and Association process in the CARDS countries by further developing the transformation of the statistical systems towards the needs of a democratic and market oriented society and a minimum level of harmonisation of statistical methods with EU.

The specific objectives can be summarised as follows:

  • Improve data collection and increase regional cooperation between the NSIs mainly in the pilot project areas external trade statistics, labour market statistics, migration statistics and Purchasing Power Parities.
  • Align statistical methods and gradually converge towards compliance with EU legislation in some key areas of statistics.
  • Increase confidence in official statistics, to raise the public profile of the NSIs.
  • Gradually introduce the NSIs into the European Statistical System.

The programme was successfully implemented. The service contract allowed for both pilot project work and general technical assistance. The activities carried out included:

  • consultancy missions of ICON and Artemis experts to the beneficiary NSIs,
  • conceptual papers, mission reports and recommendations produced by the project experts in different statistical areas,
  • 16 pilot project seminars attended by 184 experts from the beneficiary NSIs,
  • participation of staff from all recipient organisations at 35 training events (414 participants),
  • 7 study visits of 17 experts from the beneficiary NSIs to Eurostat and EU Member States,
  • participation of staff from all recipient organisations at 130 Working Group meetings (558 participants),
  • translation of the “SBS Manual” and “Intrastat documentation”,
  • preparation of two SIFs on External trade, one on PPP, and one on Labour Force Survey.

Hereafter some more detailed information on the four specific regional pilot projects covered by the service contract.

Improved quality of external trade statistics

The previous 2001 CARDS regional programme included a pilot project on external trade statistics, which resulted in the quality improvement of external trade data, the use of the Combined Nomenclature for the classification of goods, the extended use of Single Administrative Document (SAD) and the establishment of agreements between institutions involved in the production of foreign trade statistics.

This new project contributed to a further improvement in data quality and a further alignment with EU and international requirements and standards.

The direct objectives of this pilot project have been met and namely:

  • To foster inter-administrative cooperation in the region in order to improve institutional building
  • To improve the efficiency of national external trade systems in the region through training and technical assistance with regard to quality requirements
  • To harmonise statistical methods in the region with a view to a gradual convergence towards the acquis communautaire
  • To assess and improve the quality of external trade statistics through an analysis of mirror statistics and reconciliation
  • To complete and improve the regular data exchange established during the previous project in order to produce good quality national and regional external trade information

Assessment reports have been prepared which may serve for future guidance.

Improved quality of labour market statistics

1) Labour Force Survey

Recognising the need for reliable and timely information on the state and developments in the economy and society, all the countries in the CARDS region have introduced a labour force survey, some as early as in the middle of the past decade, others only within the last one or two years.

The main objective of the present project component has been to make a contribution towards improving the national surveys along the lines of current EU recommendations. These efforts have been received with a ready response from the beneficiary statistical institutes so that the project activities could be carried out in a spirit of mutual cooperation.

Thus, considerable progress was made towards the production of a harmonized LFS in each of the countries, though there are, of course, differences due to the available financial and staff resources. Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia already are in practically complete compliance with EU standards both in questionnaire content and survey periodicity or are planning to achieve it in the near future. The main hurdle yet to be taken in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244) is the shift to a continuous LFS.

Depending on the situation of each country, the respective statistical institutes will need further outside assistance to fulfil specific tasks or upgrade the entire work process of their national LFS, and last but not least, it is felt in view of the activities undertaken in this project component, that these efforts may greatly benefit from a continued exchange of experiences within the CARDS region.

2) Labour Cost Survey

The pilot project had foreseen an assessment of the state of play concerning the LCS, as well as the assistance to those statistical offices which have the best condition to carry out a pilot LCS.

In Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia a regular LCS exists. Serbia has conducted a pilot LCS and LCI project successfully during the year 2007. Serbia has some difficulties in maintaining the two surveys in the future due to lack of human recourses. Some improvements to the process of producing the statistics should be searched for in the future to make the process less work intensive.

Bosnia and Herzegovina will conduct a pilot LCS during this year and needs support in the development of the statistics.

Also Montenegro will prepare a LCS during this year. Sida is assisting in the development work but Montenegro is also interested in participating in a LCS together with the other neighbouring countries in the future.

Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244) is also interested in participating in a pilot project but Albania has no possibilities to conduct a survey in the near future.

In the future a survey including all the countries except Albania should be organised to get comparable statistics and data for all countries. Albania should be kept informed about the progress in other countries.

Improved Quality of Migration Statistics

Migration is a major priority of European policy makers. However, international migration statistics are among the less reliable statistics within the field of social statistics within the EU, and are definitely a problem in the countries of the CARDS region, especially due to the migration of persons within this region.

The objective of this project was to identify the current situation in the region, including the availability of data sources, and to provide assistance for their identification, the use of definitions and classifications.

Important pieces of legislation are still missing in several countries of the region. These elements must be clearly defined before starting to produce most of statistics related to international migration (law related to statistics, but also on residence, on foreigners, on citizenship…).

From a more general point of view, there is an urgent need for financial support in several countries because there is clear lack of personnel and material to produce the required data.

Improved quality of Purchasing Power Parities

Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) measure spatial differences in the price levels of goods and services between countries. The result is used frequently by both national and international users to establish volume deflators for Gross Domestic Product, allocate EU structural funds, compare levels of economic performance, as currency converter etc.

There are two consumer price surveys annually and one survey on equipment goods and one survey on construction every second year.

The project comprised the provision of technical assistance to six Western Balkan countries (Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia) in the field of the Equipment Goods and Construction component of the Eurostat Capital Goods surveys.

The Group Leaders (Statistics Slovenia and Statistics Austria) were responsible for guidance and follow up of all price surveys, while individual experts (Construction and Equipment Goods) provided advice on the price collection, analysis and validation in their respective fields.

Conclusions

Although one can say that the overall programme ran smoothly and without major complications, the administrative workload both for the beneficiary countries and the Commission services was considerable, due especially to selection and evaluation/approval procedures related to the experts involved. In addition, the absorption capacity of the beneficiary NSIs was limited and influenced by a high turnover of staff.

3.EFTA and Sida funding of the gap between Cards 2003 and IPA 2007

A gap of several months is occurring between the Cards 2003 regional programme and the IPA 2007 multi-beneficiary programme. The CARDS 2003 programme ended on 14 March 2008. Eurostat hopes that the IPA 2007 multi-beneficiary programme can be signed in June 2008 and could become operational after the inception phase of the contract, i.e. ideally from September/October 2008 onwards.

A similar gap occurred between the Cards 2001 and the Cards 2003 programmes. In Eurostat's experience a gap of several months between support programmes has a massive negative effect. A particular problem is the lack of funding for the participation of the beneficiary countries in Eurostat Working Group meetings and other important statistical meetings. This results in a discontinuation of knowledge transfer which is particularly problematic for areas of statistics where pilot projects were ongoing.

In order to ensure the continuity and sustainability of the pilot projects under CARDS 2003, EFTA and Sida/Statistics Sweden have kindly agreed to finance the participation of the Western Balkan countries in several priority meetings until the funding under the IPA 2007 contract becomes available.

The beneficiaries of this"bridge funding" are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegroand Serbia including Kosovo under UNSCR 1244.These countries have been informed of the list of eligible meetings under this bridge funding arrangement.

Participation in 8 meetings will be financed by EFTA, including the 2008 MGSC meeting, the 2008 DGINS meetings and the 2008 PGSC meeting. Participation in 11 meetings will be financed by Sida/Statistics Sweden, including the May 2008 Joint UNECE/Eurostat meeting on Population and Housing Censuses. Both EFTA and Sida/Statistics Sweden also provide some direct support to individual countries.

Eurostat (Unit E4) supports EFTA and Sida/Statistics Sweden in the overall management, administration and logistical aspects of the bridge funding. Eurostat is very grateful to EFTA and to Sida/Statistics Sweden for the quick support provided.

4.IPA 2007 multi-beneficiary statistical cooperation programme

4.1Content

The financing decision on the IPA 2007 multi-beneficiary statistical cooperation programme was taken on 12.10.2007.

The total value of the programme is 3.0 M€. The support will be given both for implementing selected pilot projects and for technical assistance, thus resembling the approaches traditionally adopted under the multi-beneficiary programmes financed from the Phare budget and under the Cards 2001 and 2003 regional programmes. The support for pilot projects consists of transfer of methodological advise via external experts and support for the beneficiaries own work such as data collection and making inventories.

Like the Cards 2003 regional programme, the IPA 2007 programme will be implemented via one single service contract which combines the activities covered both by the traditional service contracts and direct grants to beneficiaries under Phare/MBP. No co-financing is required under the IPA 2007 programme as the activities are funded 100% from the programme.

The project purpose is to upgrade and strengthen the statistical systems in the beneficiary countries, thereby improving the availability, quality, comparability and timeliness of statistical data in particular in the following main areas:

  • national accounts
  • price statistics (PPP and HICP)
  • external trade statistics
  • agricultural statistics: preparation of agricultural censuses, farm registers
  • population statistics: preparation of population and housing censuses
  • improved transmission of statistical data

These main statistical areas were identified based on the results from previous and ongoing assistance programmes and based on assessments undertaken by Eurostat of the state of the statistical systems in the beneficiary countries.

4.2Activities

The principal activities for pilot projects in each of these areas will include:

  • Expert missions to the beneficiary countries to assess the domains where improvements are most urgently required
  • Expert missions to the beneficiary countries to give on-the-spot guidance for improvements of identified weaknesses
  • Organising workshops and seminars for the beneficiaries to disseminate best practices and exchange views among the beneficiary country experts
  • Help desk function to give continuous assistance (e.g. on the use of classifications and statistical methods)
  • Finance data collection surveys such as the price collections needed for compiling the Purchasing Power Parities

In addition, it is important to allocate a sufficient amount for general statistical assistance to allow, where relevant:

  • the experts from the beneficiary countries to participate in technical meetings including working group meetings, task force meetings, seminars and workshops organised by Eurostat and other Commission services
  • study visits to statistical offices and other official statistics providers in Europe
  • to organise training activities both locally and in the EU
  • to organise consultation visits to the beneficiary countries on demand
  • to conduct assessments/reviews of the whole statistical system
  • to arrange for the translation and dissemination of the relevant documentation
  • to support to the development of web sites also in English language
  • to arrange traineeships of experts from the beneficiary countries' NSIs at Eurostat and at the NSIs of the European Statistical System.

These activities are expected to contribute also to the motivation of the staff of statistical offices, help integrate staff into the international statistical network and help widen the scope of staff activities. In this way a major risk to the sustainability of the project (high staff turnover) is addressed as well.

4.3Contracting

The Prior Information Notice was published on 16.11.2007 and the Service Procurement Notice on 18.12.2007. The maximum total amount to be tendered is 3.000.000 €, out of which the incidental costs (eligible pilot project related costs and technical assistance together) count for EUR 1,661,000. Deadline for submission of applications to be short-listed was 31.01.2008. The Shortlist Panel met on the 05.02.2008 and selected out of 7 application 5 candidates which were invited to submit their tenders by 11.04.2008. The evaluation of the tenders is scheduled for 22.04.2008 and the contract is hoped to be signed in June 2008. The implementation period of the IPA 2007 multi-beneficiary programme will be about 18 months. The contract will become operational after the 3-month inception period.