The 'Statistical Office of the European Communities' ('Eurostat') is the
statistical arm of the
European Commission, producing data for the
European Union and promoting harmonisation of statistical methods across the
member states of the European Union.
Organisation
Eurostat is a
General Service Directorate-General of the
European Commission, headed by a
Director-General. Six directors and a chief adviser are responsible for different sectors of Eurostat activities.
Its current Director-General is
Hervé Carré.
Roles
Eurostat publishes economic statistics and statistics on economic and monetary convergence, trade statistics, business statistics, social and regional statistics, agricultural, environmental and energy statistics. The Eurostat Yearbook provides a wealth of harmonised and comparable data on the
European Union, the
euro zone and the
EU Member States, with additional statistics related to major non-European countries.
Three of its particularly significant roles are:
★ producing
macroeconomic data which helps guide the
European Central Bank in its monetary policy for the
euro,
★ providing the data used for the
Excessive Deficit Procedure, and
★ its regional data and classification (
NUTS) which guide the EU's structural policies.
Eurostat's website offers free access to download nearly all of its data and electronic publications grouped into the following themes:
★ General and regional statistics
★ Economy and finance
★ Population and social conditions
★ Industry, trade and services
★ Agriculture and fisheries
★ External trade
★ Transport
★ Environment and energy
★ Science and technology
The paper versions of some publications are still priced and can be ordered via the
EU bookshop.
See also
★
European Union
★
European Commission
★
Accountability in the European Union
★
Eurobarometer
★
Largest cities and metropolitan areas in the European Union (Eurostat)
★
Eurostat scandal
External links
★
Eurostat
★
Eurostat yearbook
★
Responsibility and guilt in the Eurostat scandal - MEP
Jens-Peter Bonde on the approval of the EU's accounts