1. Overview of assistance projects and activities for the ENP-East countries
MGSC April 2018 Agenda item 2.3

2. Content Political background
Eurostat/A3 activities: in/out-puts of technical cooperation
ENP-East regional programme for statistics
General issues linked to Eurostat activities in the ENP- East region

3. 1. Political background (1/2)
European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)
EU Political initiative for AM, AZ, BY, GE, MD, UA
Launched in 2004, adopted in 2007, fundamentally reviewed in 2015
Differentiation according to the country's ambitions is the main new characteristic of revised policy
Cooperation priorities per country are being negotiated in
Eastern Partnership Initiative
Joint initiative of 3 parties: EU, EU MS, and ENP-East countries
Launched in 2009
Multinational and national dimensions
Technical work is organized through 4 thematic platforms
Between , Statistics Panel operated under Platform 2 (Economic integration & convergence with EU policies)
Following the EaP Summit in November 2017, the architecture change
Expert Working Group on Statistics will replace Statistics Panel from 2018

4. 1. Political background (2/2)
ENP-East regional programme for statistics
In 2013, a Task Force (Eurostat, EFTA, AR, MD, UA, GE) develops a Strategy for Statistical Cooperation in the ENP-East Region
Eurostat implemented some cooperation activities for ENP-E based on its own available (limited) budget  see following slides
In 2016, the EU launched an ENP-E statistical regional cooperation programme
Eurostat is working on the terms of reference of this programme
[ See part 3 of this presentation].

5. 2. Eurostat/A3 activities (1/6)

6. 2. Eurostat/A3 activities (2/6)
Global Assessments, Peer Reviews
1st round:
Light peer review in Armenia in 2014
Eurostat annually monitors progress of implementation of recommendations
2nd round started in 2016
Adjusted methodology, improved reporting
2nd round: completed UA, AZ; ongoing: MD; planned 2018: BY, GE
High Level Seminars for EECCA countries, Mongolia
Annual meeting of Senior managers of NSIs of EECCA countries
Hosted in EU, ENP-East countries
HLS 2017 – September 2017, Minsk, Belarus
Updates on latest developments in quality; informal get-together
Since HLS 2017: more ownership to ENP-E countries
HLS 2018 – October 2018, Kiev, Ukraine

7. 2. Eurostat/A3 activities (3/6)
Expert Working Groups
To replace Statistics Panels (SP) from 2018 onwards
SP were established in within Eastern Partnership initiative
To promote ESCoP and EU acquis in statistics, exchange best practice
2 day-long technical meetings (on business, labour market, price, innovation, R&D statistics, ESCoP & GLOS, living conditions statistics)
Expert Working Groups probably will have similar to SP format
Follow-up workshops
In addition to ENP-E, Central Asian countries are invited
To continue technical discussion started during Statistical Panel meetings, focus on implementation
First workshops dedicated to business (JUL2016), labour market (Spring 2017), statistical law (November 2017), and Living conditions (March 2018)
Statistical Panel and workshops are popular with ENP-E/CA countries and actively supported by EU/EFTA NSIs.

8. 2. Eurostat/A3 activities (4/6)
Training courses for ENP-E, CA countries
Organized since 2013, 2-3 times a year
Focus on statistical concepts, EU acquis, methodology
Similar to ESTP courses, delivered with interpretation, participation is financed
Priority is given to qualified participants from ENP-E
Courses planned for :
ESA 2010 and its effect on government Finance Statistics and Excessive Deficit Procedure
Balance of Payments – introductory course
Dissemination and communication
International Trade in Goods Statistics
Statistical disclosure control
Small Area Estimation

9. 2. Eurostat/A3 activities (5/6)
Other activities
Support to PPPs for Georgia and Ukraine, via a contract
Twinning
TAIEX – advice on expertise and approvals

10. 2. Eurostat/A3 activities (6/6)
Outputs: data collection
Eurostat collects, disseminates data from ENP-E countries
Taking into account needs of the EU, MSs, etc.
ENP-E countries annually fill-in a questionnaire covering several areas (economy, finance, population, social conditions, industry, tourism, etc.)
Validation checks to assess quality carried out by Eurostat/contractor
In 2017, the questionnaire was revised/optimized to better take into account users' needs
Dissemination
Data is available in Eurobase [ (under General and regional statistics -> Non EU countries)]
Publications include books, leaflets, statistics explained articles

11. 3. ENP-East regional programme for statistics (1/4)
Background
Strategy for statistical cooperation with the ENP East countries
Statistics Panel, promotion of results
Objectives/results
to empower users including policy-makers, civil society and social partners in using statistical information in an educated and informed way
to improve the availability of good quality statistics for all groups of users
to strengthen the professional independence and institutional capacity of the NSIs
Main activities
Technical assistance in priority areas (SDGs, migration, SMEs, business, economy, trade, competitiveness, poverty, employment, etc.)
Preparation and implementation of surveys
Training courses, seminars, workshops
Statistical publications
Priorities at regional level
Priorities at national level

12. 3. ENP-East regional programme for statistics (2/4)
Regional priorities
Macro-economic statistics
Social statistics
Business statistics
Agriculture statistics
Energy and transport statistics
Gender breakdowns if reasonable
SDGs
Population census 2020 round
National priorities
Ukraine: population and demographic data, displaced people, migration
Belarus: market-economy driven statistics on businesses, institutional issues
Moldova: employment and migration
Georgia/Ukraine/Moldova: trade data for the DCFTA
Azerbaijan: energy, diversification of the economy
Georgia: economic and business statistics, population and migration statistics
Armenia: SMEs data, migration, poverty, population census

13. 3. ENP-East regional programme for statistics (3/4)
Budget, length
5 Mill EUR
36 months
Direct management by Eurostat
Next steps
Tender procedure to select private company to sign a contract
Inception phase – priorities to be consulted with MS, DG NEAR, EEAS, EU delegations, other DGs) and beneficiaries
HLS = steering committee for the programme
Annual country reports to report progress
Eurostat assures donor coordination

14. 3. ENP-East regional programme for statistics (4/4)
Commission implementing Decision published on 17 November 2017 [C(2017) 7757 final], on the Neighbourhood East Regional Action Programme 2017
Annex 3: Action Document for Regional Programme on Statistics with Eurostat in the Eastern Partnership
Contract notice was published on 7 April 2018.

15. 4. General issues. Generic Law on Official Statistics (GLOS)
Developed by UNECE, Eurostat, experts from EU/EFTA MS, AR and UA
Endorsed by CES in 2016
UA was pilot country for implementation. MD and AZ use GLOS to amend their statistical legislation
MD adopted new law based on GLOS in 2017
Eurostat supports, advises ENP-E countries on GLOS implementation
Transformative agenda
SDG monitoring is a challenge for all
In , Eurostat asked on the state of play in ENP-E countries:
Availability of data, generally similar in ENP-E region
30-40% proposed indicators are covered
Eurostat supports ENP-E in SGD monitoring though facilitation of countries' experts participation in international events, discussions during HLS, etc.

16. Thank you