Statistical Cooperation with ENP-South Twelfth meeting of the Management Group on Statistical Cooperation March 2010 Luxembourg Agenda item 6.1

ENP = European Neighbourhood Policy (2004) ENP South builds on the Barcelona Process (1995) Algeria Egypt Israel Jordan Lebanon Morocco occupied Palestinian territory Syria Tunisia Libya See:

Association Agreements Exist for: - Egypt (2004, requested reinforced partnership 2008) - Israel (2000, working on reinforced partnership since 2008) - Jordan (2002, requested reinforced partnership 2008) - Lebanon (2006) - Morocco (2000, working on reinforced partnership 2008) - Occupied Palestinian territory (1997 – Interim Association Agreement on Trade and cooperation) - Tunisia (1998, requested reinforced partnership 2008)) No Association Agreements for Algeria, Syria or Libya

Monitoring the Association Agreements Sub-Committees to monitor the Association Agreements are organised with the countries to address any major issues and to assess progress in the alignment with the acquis in the areas covered by the Agreement Eurostat is usually asked to prepare a briefing note Statistics are generally covered by either (1) The Sub-Committee on Economic, Financial and Statistical Issues (2) The Subcommittee on Trade, Economic and Related Legal Issues

MEDSTAT programmes MEDSTAT I – MED-ENV – MEDSTAT II – (45 months) MEDSTAT III – 2010 – 2012 (24 months)

MEDSTAT II – some figures EUR 27 million, over 45 months Three separate contractors 80 sector orientation missions 63 statistical training courses (regional, sub-regional) 57 IT training courses (national) 38 study visits 53 workshops 188 technical assistance missions Increased data collection, from around 200 time series in 2006 to around 1500 in 2009

MEDSTAT II – Topics covered Agriculture statistics Energy statistics Environment statistics Migration statistics National Accounts Social statistics Tourism statistics Trade statistics Transport statistics Training Information Systems Dissemination

MEDSTAT II - Management DG EuropeAid managed programme, with technical assistance from Eurostat Monthly reports from contractors Bimonthly coordination meeting with contractors Sectoral Task Forces to agree on the work programme for the sector for next year Annual Directors Committee meeting to approve work programme

MEDSTAT II – External evaluation Recommendations I Find funding for a MEDSTAT III, keeping the programme elements that worked well and dropping what is not essential for a successor regional programme. Avoid a gap between MEDSTAT II and III. That alone would be detrimental to the progress made thus far. Situate everyday management of such a successor programme at Eurostat. Avoid any artificial separation between horizontal and thematic activities.

MEDSTAT II – External evaluation (cont.) Recommendations II Increase the use of expertise from the partner countries, and their role in managing events that concern them; Increase flexibility in technical cooperation events in terms of duration and number of participants; Focus on continuous improvement of the Euro-Med statistical database, including increasing its visibility to decision makers; In the longer term: explore options to succeed the Medstat series of programmes with a permanent statistical coordination and cooperation facility for the region.

MEDSTAT III Start in April/May 2010 Smaller programme - EUR 4 million Two year programme No IT component Only one contractor To consolidate the results of MEDSTAT II

Expected results of MEDSTAT III Measurable improvement in the statistical capacities of the NSIs and the NSSs Strengthening of the institutional capacities of the NSIs and NSSs, including improved cooperation within the countries Further harmonisation of statistics, in line with European and international standards Promotion of regional cooperation + exchange of experiences More user-friendly dissemination of statistics Better understanding and increased awareness among users of the importance of statistics

MEDSTAT III Sectors/themes covered : Agriculture Energy Migration Social Trade Transport Training Dissemination

MEDSTAT III Not included : National Accounts Environment Tourism Software and IT equipment IT training Data collection Annual publications Statistics in Focus

Regional Strategy for statistics MEDSTAT and other regional cooperation programmes have resulted in countries producing more and better statistics National action plans to implement the Association Agreements between EU and MED countries Bilateral cooperation projects focused more on production Build on and complement the national strategies Address common challenges

Regional Strategy : Challenges Economic : –Globalisation –Free trade issues –Financial crisis management Environmental : –The climate change issues –Sustainable development –Specific regional policies (transport, energy, environment) Social: –Millenium Development Goals –Initiatives/National Programmes

Regional Strategy : Main advantages Positive impact on the development of national statistical system Increase the visibility of the region by producing common publications Sharing of best practices in the region Facilitate funding of statistical activities in the region Improved dialogue between national statistical systems

Regional Strategy: What ? Consolidation and sustainability of the results achieved so far Harmonization of classifications, statistical concepts and methodologies Reduction of disparities between countries in terms of statistical development Advocacy for the development of statistics in the region Promote the use of statistics for policy decision-making in the region Common position in international statistical meetings

Regional Strategy: Possible Activities Seminars, Workshops, Training courses, Study visits Strengthening of technical capacity in the NSIs by “training for trainers” or e-Learning Traineeships, exchange of experts Common statistical activities, e.g. common surveys, research, publications Development of a Statistics Code of Practice for the region Assessments and peer reviews Use of existing financial instruments (e.g. TAIEX) Use tools developed by other international agencies such as Paris 21 Coverage of the implementation of the strategy by NSO websites

Next Steps Prepare draft of strategy Discuss at meeting of MED Directors in Helsinki (6-7 May 2010 Modify following discussions Present to wider groups, e.g. other donor organisations working in the region (Autumn 2010?)

Thank you for your attention