1. Recent developments at Eurostat and future planning for the ESDS network John Allen
Agenda point 2 ESDS Working Group February 2013

2. Recent developments (1)
EU Multiannual Financial Framework
budget restraint
cut in staff (>100 posts from Eurostat?)
will not be business as usual in the coming years!
Commission Decision on Eurostat
adopted September 2012
reinforce coordinating role of Eurostat on statistical activities in Commission
introduce distinction between "European statistics" and "other statistics"

3. Recent developments (2)
ESS.VIP (European Statistical System – Vision Infrastructure Project) programme:
3 business projects (SIMSTAT, business registers, validation)
4 cross-cutting projects including data warehouses for production and dissemination
New Eurostat organigramme from 1 February 2013

4. Future of the ESDS network (1)
current series of contracts ends September 2014
new Call for tenders in late 2013 or early 2014
Overall
ESDS network is functioning well
delivers an essential service
harmonisation of approach and quality

5. Future of the ESDS network (2)
Issues for the ESDS network
need to simplify procedures
declining in number of support requests
promotional activities = Eurostat negative priority
for languages with low volume of support requests: can (more) NSIs deliver support service without financing?

6. Future of the ESDS network (3)
Evaluation of the service
some evidence now (feedback from users)
more evidence needed
surveys by NSIs and other support centres?
building a user feedback mechanism into Assist?