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In the European Union, tens of billions of euros are spent on regional policy every year. A major part of this amount is allocated on the basis of regional gross domestic product per capita. Because of the administrative use of this statistical estimate, the requirements for the quality of these figures are very strict. This quality is, however, not easy to specify by means of a confidence interval. What can be done to monitor the quality as a basis for improvement? In this paper an inventory is drawn up of recent work on the quality of regional accounts estimates. Special attention is paid to the instrument of process tables. In the last five years process tables have been developed for the national accounts (GNI Committee) as well as the regional accounts. The focus of the regional accounts process tables is on the treatment of multi-regional companies and the sources for top-down methods. The regional accounts should be compiled in close cooperation with the national accounts. The quality of the national accounts estimates and – indirectly – the regional accounts estimates, could be improved by the findings of the regional accounts compilation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an inventory study of progress made in developing producer price indices for services in Europe. The report makes a brief historical look at the situation from 1999 and the impact of the requirements of the systems of national accounts is discussed. The report will also describe both the guiding/determining instruments (such as existing manuals, handbooks, international regulations in the field, country-specific development reports) and the official and unofficial institutions that promote and make possible cooperation and information exchange. There are several reasons why some European countries have more developed producer price index (PPI) for services than others. The country-by-country inventory of the present situation in Europe summarises the results of the questionnaire sent to 23 European countries in February/March this year. It is presented in the Annex to this paper. The findings clearly demonstrate that different countries in Europe are at different stages in the development of PPIs for services. The current development process can be shortened and made more effective with the help of international exchange of information and international cooperation within both the official institutions for cooperation and the unofficial networks. The development process in countries with relatively little experience must, however, be allowed to develop at their own pace because the conditions may vary. In conclusion, this report outlines some general wishes and recommendations: - increase of national financial resources in the field; - higher status for PPI for services in the price index family; - increased cooperation between experts in the field of price statistics and those in the field of national accounts. Efforts to increase awareness of the value of PPI for services as deflators for production values in the SNA (System for National Accounts) are necessary so that their value is recognised among the government financial officers. Developments in Sweden, which can be of interest for other countries, are presented in the concluding section of this report. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. The methods used in regional population projections in the European Union and knowledge of internal migration processes in Council of Europe member states have advanced rapidly in the 1990s. This paper brings together these two streams of work and draws lessons from the analysis of migration processes in ten European countries for the design &the next round of European projections, to be launched once the 2000/2001 round of censuses has been successfully completed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discrimination is up for discussion in Europe. Directives on discrimination on the grounds of gender have been in force since 1957 and in 2000 two new acts were introduced to protect people from discrimination on the grounds of racial and ethnic origin and on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. Identifying the persons or groups who are exposed to discrimination is a basic requirement for combating discrimination. On the basis of register-based statistics, we are able to shed light on objective discrimination, i.e. the unjustifiable differences in outcomes, also in a longitudinal perspective. However, the existence of unjustifiable outcomes is not evidence that discrimination is taking place, but statistical analyses on outcomes can subsequently be used to conduct further studies, via surveys, as to why outcomes differ, as well as monitoring the level of differences in outcome nationally and internationally. In this paper, we will show some examples of statistics on access to the labor market for the elderly, for women of child-bearing age and for people of foreign origin and analyze the wage gap between men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. This paper discusses two developments in population censuses in the European region over the last few years. The first development is the effect of the break-up of much of eastern Europe into separate countries which each need to take a separate census. The second is the tendency toward a greater use of data from existing registers, intended to provide supplementary data or to avoid traditional population censuses altogether. Finally there is a brief overview, and a summary table, presenting some information on population censuses across Europe and North America. The data refer to the region of the Economic Commission for Europe, which is the whole of Europe including the former Soviet Union plus North America and Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. The European Union's Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICPs) were developed as a response to the need for comparable CPIs to measure the convergence of inflation of EU Member States as a criterion for entry to the Monetary Union. They are now used mainly as a tool for monitoring price stability in the Monetary Union. Many Eastern European countries and Cyprus are developing HICPs in readiness for accession to EU membership. The paper describes the main features of HICPs and the plans for further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criticizes the data on social conditions in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Baltics and eastern Europe. Inconsistency between data on health and on poverty; Unrecorded mechanisms of survival; Response to austerity.

We present results of a probabilistic forecast for the population in 18 European countries, to 2050. Other forecasts have recently predicted a falling population size for those countries. However, there are reasons to expect higher immigration and lower mortality than the earlier forecasts did. Hence, we find that population decline is postponed in our forecast. The forecast also alerts us to the fact that many demographic developments cannot be forecasted accurately. Although ageing is certain, the extent to which this will occur is difficult to predict accurately. The number of elderly persons is very uncertain in the long run. This has major implications for all European countries in which reforms for pension systems and the provision of health care for the elderly are considered. The reforms must be robust against unexpected demographic developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. As for any organisation, performance indicators for international statistical organisations must shed light on how progress is being made towards agreed objectives. Five types of output can be identified, and several types of customers. A cross-classification of the two lists leads to a number of quality aspects which can be measured with performance indicators. These indicators must have specific characteristics. A case study on EUROSTAT performance indicators illustrates this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]