1. Reduction of administrative burden through official statistics
Feedback from the
94th DGINS Conference
25-26 September 2008,
Vilnius, Lithuania

2. Three plenary sessions
Two parallel sessions
Presentation of the Lithuanian Statistical System
Round table
25 papers presented and discussed
130 participants

3. Background
- Timely and reliable information is critical for analysing,
measuring and calibrating the ways in which complex
economy operates
The EU Commission’s action plan (January 2007) aims at
reducing burdens in the EU by 25% by 2012
- Methods, priorities and resources are being adopted
to the better regulation goals
- Intrastat, SBS, STS, IT ….
EU Commission’s action plan (January 2007) identified
statistics as one of 13 priority areas for burden reduction
- Code of Practice – Principal 9

4. Framework for improvement
Increased demand for statistics,
Priority setting and
Coordination
IMPROVED EFFICIENCY

5. Framework for coordination improvement
- The European Statistical System
Eurostat  National Statistical Institutes
Inter-institutional co-operation
- Sound legal frameworks at EU and national levels

6. Coordination at the national level
Main forms of cooperation:
- The use of administrative registers
- Electronic data collection
- e-Government
Relations with the business sector
Inter-institutional co-operation

7. - a matter of trust and quality -
Reresponse burden
- a matter of trust and quality -
Common views
Burden = Units x Time x Cost (x Frequency)
Quality = f (Units, Items, Redundancy,…)

8. Approaches - not WHAT but HOW
Process Optimisation = Burden less, Quality equal
Quality Changes = Reduced Coverage in Intrastat, Choice of sampling methods,
Communication  Respondents and Stackholders
Reprioritisation  Reviewing (Old) settings in the frame of Decision Making Processes
Innovate ways to satisfy new demands

9. Critical issues
Sharp increase demand of information on current economic and social situation  high burden
Decrease of budget
Limited possibilities of reducing statistical programme
Over-regulation business statistics (too many legal acts)
Considerable discrepancy perceived ↔ actual (real) burden

10. How to reduce burden Improved contact to data providers
Close contact and feed back to respondents/data providers
Survey calendar
Council of respondents
Information material/channels
Early information about incoming surveys
Improved questionnaires
Electronic questionnaires (and electronic usability)
Standardized and simplified variables in survey forms
Control of the time needed to fill in questionnaires
Simplified questionnaires for small enterprises
Adaptation of questionnaires to the available information in enterprises
Different questionnaires for different economic sectors

11. How to reduce burden IT solutions and better technology
Online surveys
Using the electronic systems of enterprises
Achievement in data transmission
Improved sampling methods
Improved sampling management
Exemption of small enterprises (random sampling)
Optimised samples

12. How to reduce burden Better survey design (design phase)
Avoiding overlapping of surveys
Rotation of units
Checking of frequency
Better survey monitoring (collection phase)
Better co-ordination of the time of surveys
Better management of data collection (monitoring)
Website with information of all statistical operations
Co-ordination between data producers
Tunning Statistical System of large enterprices and SMEs
Cooperation between Institutions
Consolidated questionnaires
Common projects

13. How to reduce burden
Use of administrative registers and exploitation of existing data sources
National projects
Auxiliary systems of information variables from administrative data sources (chances but also risks – quality,
data do not fit together, data confidentiality)
Creation of statistical registers
Better Regulation
INTRASTAT
Clear indication of future requirements

14. Conclusions There is no “one cure for all” Many different approaches
Focuses set differently
Harmonisation and co-ordination of the approaches will be necessary  global strategy?
Reviewing the traditional system
Entry of new actors and methods in the future
Working on statistical processes
Communication is a challenge

15. Thank you for your attentionJ
Thank you for your attention