Regulation (EC) no 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 march 2009 on European statistics establishes EU legal framework defining scope and forms of operations of the European Statistical System (ESS). This Regulations was furthermore amended on May 2015.
Pursuant to Article 4 of this Regulation: The European Statistical System (ESS) is the partnership between the Community statistical authority, which is the Commission (Eurostat), and the national statistical institutes (NSIs) and other national authorities responsible in each Member State for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics.
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union situated in Luxembourg. At European level, Eurostat ensures the production of European statistics according to established rules and statistical principles. Eurostat was established in 1953 to support the works of the European Coal and Steel Community. When the European Community was founded in 1958 it became one of the main units of the European Commission. Eurostat’s mission is to provide the European Union with a high-quality statistical information service at level that enable comparisons between countries and regions.
The National Statistical Institute (NSI) is the body designated by each Member State as having the responsibility for coordinating all activities at national level for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. It acts as contact point for the Eurostat on statistical matters. In Poland this role is performed by Statistics Poland.
Other national authorities responsible in the Polish Statistical System for development, production and dissemination of European Statistics are the following:
- Ministry of Finance
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
- Ministry of the Interior and Administration
- Ministry of Justice
- Polish Financial Supervision Authority
- Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection
- Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute
- Stanisław Sakowicz Inland Fisheries Institute
- Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine
- Motor Transport Institute
- Łukasiewicz Research Network - Wood Technology Institute
- Office for Foreigners
List of NSIs and other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics as designated by European Union Member States is available on the Eurostat website.
In the period from 2012 to 2017, the ESS reports were issued. The reports gave an annual overview of the most important developments in European Statistics, presented the organisation and structure of the ESS as well as showed the most important achievements of the system and introduced the challenges of producing European statistics.
Pursuant to Article 13 of the Regulation No 223/2009 of The European Parliament and the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics the European Statistical Programme (EPS) is created. The EPS provides the framework for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics, the main fields and the objectives of the actions envisaged for a period corresponding to that of the multiannual financial framework. It is adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.
The European statistical programme 2021-2027 as part of the Single Market Programme is established by Regulation (EU) 2021/690 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021. For the part on European statistics, this multi-annual programme is implemented by means of annual programmes which set detailed actions and outputs for each year.
Polish official statistics, especially Statistics Poland, as its main coordinator, is obliged to provide statistical information at many levels. One of them is transfer of European statistics to Eurostat by GUS. The data sent annually to the statistical office of the European Union is characterized by the highest flow rate.
1. European Statistical System
2. Eurostat, statistical office of the European Union – main page
3. European Union – main page
4. European Commision – main page