Code of practice
FOR THE NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY STATISTICAL AUTHORITIES
Adopted by the European Statistical System Committee 28th September 2011
Preamble
The vision of the European Statistical System1
“The European Statistical System will be a world leader in statistical information
services and the most important information provider for the European Union and its
Member States. Based on scientific principles and methods, the European Statistical
System will offer and continuously improve a programme of harmonised European
statistics that constitutes an essential basis for democratic processes and progress
in society.”
The mission of the European Statistical System
“We provide the European Union, the world and the public with independent high
quality information on the economy and society on European, national and regional
levels and make the information available to everyone for decision-making purposes,
research and debate.”
To realize this mission and vision, the members of the European Statistical System strive for
joint cooperation and continuous interaction with users according to the Principles of the
European Statistics Code of Practice and general quality management principles including
commitment of leadership, partnership, staff satisfaction and continuous improvement, in
addition to integration and harmonization.
The European Statistics Code of Practice
The European Statistics Code of Practice is based on 15 Principles covering the institutional
environment, the statistical production processes and the output of statistics. A set of
indicators of good practice for each of the Principles provides a reference for reviewing the
implementation of the Code. The quality criteria for European Statistics are defined in
European Statistical Law2.
Statistical authorities3, comprising the Commission (Eurostat), National Statistical Institutes
and other national authorities responsible for the development, production and dissemination
of European Statistics4, together with governments, ministries and the European Council,
commit themselves to adhere to the Code.
The Principles of the Code of Practice together with the general quality management
principles represent a common quality framework in the European Statistical System.
1 Regulation (EC) 223/2009, Article 4
2 Regulation (EC) 223/2009, Article 12
3 Regulation (EC) 223/2009, Articles 4 and 5
4 Regulation (EC) 223/2009, Article 1. In the Code of Practice, "other national authorities responsible for the
development, production and dissemination of European Statistics" are referred to as "other statistical authorities".
You can download the entire document here.