European Statistical System

Through the European Statistical System (ESS), Eurostat works closely with the national statistical institutes (NSIs) and other national authorities of the EU and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries to deliver reliable and comparable statistics.

The ESS functions as a partnership: Eurostat's role is to lead the way in harmonising statistics in cooperation with these national statistical authorities.

EU legislation provides the legal basis for the ESS and the European statistical programme, and the EU and EFTA countries collect data and compile statistics for national and EU purposes in line with these and the European Statistics Code of Practice.

The European Statistical System Committee

The European Statistical System Committee, chaired by Eurostat’s Director-General, includes representatives from Eurostat, the NSIs of the ESS and the EFTA Statistical Office.

The committee guides the ESS in developing, producing, and disseminating European statistics, and it is supported by a Partnership Group and an annual conference of Directors-General.

Governance and advisory bodies

The European Statistical Advisory Committee (ESAC), with 24 members representing users, respondents, and other stakeholders, ensures these groups’ needs and costs are considered in coordinating EU statistical policy.

The European Statistical Governance Advisory Board, with 7 expert members, independently oversees the implementation of the European Statistics Code of Practice within the ESS.

European Statistics Day

ESS members celebrate European Statistics Day on 20 October. The commemorative day was initiated by ESAC in 2016 and is supported by the ESS and the European System of Central Banks.

European Statistics Day is celebrated annually, except every fifth year when World Statistics Day is marked.