Quality guidelines
Quality standards in German official statistics
In official statistics, great importance has always been attached to the quality of statistical data. The statistical offices are recognised as modern and customer-friendly authorities. The goal is to ensure and enhance the quality level achieved. Therefore, the statistical offices of the Federation and the Länder have developed and adopted quality standards, which are largely identical with the European Statistics Code of Practice. That document contains several principles forming the basis of the daily work of German official statistics. The quality standards define quality assurance methods and procedures for all phases of producing official statistics (e.g. data collection, processing, dissemination) which ensure compliance with the principles. Among other things, the quality standards provide for a wider use of public administration data and the compliance with strict confidentiality rules.
European Statistics Code of Practice
Ensuring high data quality is one of the main functions of the European Statistical System (ESS). Therefore, in May 2005, the European Commission released the European Statistics Code of Practice in a recommendation. In a total of 15 principles, the Code of Practice defines the quality assurance guidelines regarding the institutional framework of statistics production, the statistical processes and the statistical products. This is to ensure that official statistics are produced according to recognised scientific methods and free from external influence in all Member States. The EU statistical institutes have committed themselves to the Code of Practice as a tool for self-regulation. Compliance with the Code of Practice is ensured by the statistical institutes through self-assessments and Peer Reviews. As regards compliance with the Code of Practice at Eurostat and in the ESS as a whole, an advisory body (European Statistical Governance Advisory Board) consisting of high-level statistical experts every year submits a report to the European Parliament and to the Council of the European Union.
Also, in accordance with Article 11 (4) of the revised EU Regulation No 223/2009 on European statistics, Germany is obliged to report on the implementation of the Code of Practice. This was first done in 2017 when a progress report on implementing the Statistics Code of Practice was sent to Eurostat.
Quality declaration of the European Statistical System
The heads of the National Statistical Institutes in the ESS have established common quality principles for all essential aspects of statistical work. The Quality Declaration, signed by all the authorities of the Member States of the European Statistical System, underscores and confirms the commitment to quality.
Quality requirements of the Regulation on European statistics
The Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European statistics is the legal basis for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics. To take account of the importance of high quality, separate Articles are dedicated to the Code of Practice and to quality assurance. Parallel to the European Statistics Code of Practice, Article 12 defines the following binding quality criteria applying to the development, production and dissemination of European statistics:
- relevance,
- accuracy,
- timeliness and punctuality,
- accessibility and clarity,
- comparability and coherence.
The Commission (Eurostat) may oblige the Member States to submit reports on the quality of individual sets of statistics. Specific quality requirements such as minimum standards and targets may additionally be defined here for any statistics.
UN-Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics
On 29 January 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution concerning the 10 Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, which have applied worldwide since 1994. The 20th anniversary of adopting these principles was used as an occasion to revise the preamble in order to take into account the new global developments of the past 20 years and to enhance the implementation of the principles.
The Fundamental Principles govern the production and dissemination of official statistics throughout the world. They constitute a global frame of reference for uniform professional and scientific standards, among other things, regarding objectivity, transparency, confidentiality, the prevention of unauthorised use, national co-ordination and international co-operation in official statistics.
In the coming years, the implementation efforts will be strengthened by political initiatives, training both the management and the staff involved in official statistics, compiling best practices and providing technical support.
Germany has actively supported the resolution in the United Nations General Assembly. Together with statistical offices worldwide, recommendations are currently being developed for an improved implementation of the Fundamental Principles at a global level.
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