Statistical Cooperation with ENP East Countries Current Situation in the ENP East Region

1. Statistical Cooperation with ENP East CountriesCurrent Situation in the ENP East Region Tenth meeting of the Management Group on Statistical Cooperation Luxembourg, 24 - 25 April 2008

2. Background • ENP East countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine • Statistical cooperation carried out within separate bilateral projects under TACIS 9 and TACIS 10 • Projects managed by on Commission side, either by EC Delegations in the country or by DG AidCo and are implemented by contractors • Eurostat provides technical expertise for the implementation of the projects Statistical Cooperation with ENP East Countries: Current Situation

3. Armenia, Azerbaijan, GeorgiaCountry-specific dimension • Assistance provided under single project 'Reform of Official Statistics in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia - Statistics 10' (TACIS 10). • Project implemented by a consortium led by Ref Ricerche per l'economia e al finanza (Inception report approved in Sep 2007, project ends in June 2009) • Areas of assistance: • Armenia: business register, labour market statistics, construction statistics, and national accounts; good progress; • Azerbaijan: business register, national accounts, price statistics, employment statistics, classifications, database technology, dissemination, and publication policy; good progress; • Georgia: supported in business statistics and price statistics; work on the change of the statistical law towards NSI independence. Statistical Cooperation with ENP East Countries: Current Situation

4. Republic of BelarusCountry-specific dimension • Assistance provided under TACIS 9 (coordinated by ADE in association with TDI) - finalised in Nov 2007 • Global Assessment of the national statistical system carried out based on 3 fact-finding missions in Oct 2007 • Main gaps in the various sectors of statistics identified to set priorities and determine a plan of actions for the harmonisation with the EU statistical standards; • Global Assessment Report can serve as a basis for future EU assistance programmes to the BY statistical system. Statistical Cooperation with ENP East Countries: Current Situation

5. MoldovaCountry-specific dimension • The project 'Reform of Official Statistics of the Republic of Moldova – Statistics 9' (TACIS 9) finalised in Dec 2007 (Ref (Ricerche per l'economia e al finanza) • Four components were covered: • (i) a Global Assessment and development strategy of the national statistical system • (ii) improvement of external trade statistics in goods and services • (iii) enterprise statistics, and • (iv) IT system • Some difficulties encountered: limited human resources at NSI, lack of local experts in project related areas, but • progress made; Global Assessment, training courses, seminars, study visits and expert missions implemented Statistical Cooperation with ENP East Countries: Current Situation

6. UkraineCountry-specific dimension • Current programme launched recently under the 'Reform of the official statistics – Statistics 10' (TACIS 10) implemented by GOPA-Consultants. (Inception Report approved in Feb 2008; project ends in Aug 2009) • Several components covering: labour statistics, investments, price statistics, trade in goods and services, regional and innovation statistics. • The State Statistical Committee of Ukraine (SSCU) is also supported in national stat strategy development for 2008-2012 and mid-term planning Mid-May 2008, a high-level conference is held to discuss and promote the need for a national strategy in the area of statistics • EU statistical project implemented concurrently with a large World Bank project for statistics oriented mainly to upgrading computer infrastructure • 1999 Memorandum of Understanding with SSCU on statistical data provision currently revised Statistical Cooperation with ENP East Countries: Current Situation

7. Future Outlook • A high-level seminar planned for all TACIS countries to explain recent revisions of major classifications and links between classification systems, and to review the regional practices in this areas (16-18 September 2008, Tashkent, Uzbekistan) • Assessment exercise provisionally planned for Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia around 2010 • A computerised database (SMIS+) recently updated to provide the CCs with a better access to the acquis in statistics; available for interested countries in the Region • DG RELEX launched a discussion with interested ENP countries on their possible participation in the Community programmes; ENP countries may explore this possibility to participate in future ESS activities Statistical Cooperation with ENP East Countries: Current Situation

8. Conclusions • EU is active in the ENP East region providing statistical assistance within TACIS 9 and TACIS 10 to be phased out at the latest at the end of 2009 • Need to continue to assistance to those countries to capitalise on the progress made under the projects. Statistical cooperation beyond 2009 in the Region is not defined yet, although some activities are planned for future • New ENPI focuses on bilateral support and the use of Twinning to provide continued technical assistance, • Use of TAIEX for short-term technical assistance to ENP countries is to be explored. May also be possible to organise a limited number of training courses, workshops and study visits financed by TAIEX, • Member States are invited to reflect on this issue in the context of ENPI and on the basis of their past experience. Statistical Cooperation with ENP East Countries: Current Situation