The European formula for trust in data

Ukraine, in its 35th year of independence, is steadily progressing towards European Union membership. A key component of this process is the national statistical service, known as the State Statistics Service, which must transition from being a central executive body to a capable national statistical institute. This transformation is essential for the service to produce official data that is trusted, of high quality, and coordinated with the European Union's standards.

European requirements for statistics go beyond basic calculations such as GDP, inflation, and employment. They encompass the entire system of producing official statistics, including the professional independence of those who work with the data, the institutional capacity to produce high-quality statistics, and the responsibility for the results.

Institutional capacity refers to the State Statistics Service's ability to fulfill its role as a national statistical institute. This includes having sufficient human, financial, technological, and organizational resources, a management system protected from external influence, coordination of the national system of statistical producers, setting methodological and quality standards, ensuring quality, confidentiality, and timeliness of statistics, and providing equal access to users.

Professional independence is a fundamental requirement for European integration. According to EU Regulation No. 223/2009, professional decisions on statistical methods, standards, procedures, data sources, and dissemination timing should be made independently of political or external influence. However, independence does not mean the absence of accountability or responsibility.

The European model combines autonomy in professional decisions with responsibility for the quality of statistics, efficient use of resources, and compliance with established standards.

The European Statistics Code of Practice outlines principles and indicators that define standards for Eurostat and the national statistical services of European Union countries. These principles include professional independence, impartiality, objectivity, confidentiality, quality, and accessibility of statistics. These standards are applied not only at the legislative level but also in daily practices, such as predetermined rules for statistical releases and equal access for users.

For Ukraine, these principles translate into practical importance. In 2022, a new Law "On Official Statistics" was adopted, reinforcing the principle of professional independence and bringing the Ukrainian system closer to European rules. However, European legislation continues to evolve. Regulation No. 223/2009 was updated at the end of 2024, addressing access to new data sources, the use of private data, and the need for statistical services to respond quickly to information needs during crises.

The next stage of Ukraine's European integration involves more than harmonizing methodologies and producing necessary indicators for Eurostat. It requires a fundamental change in the institutional model of official statistics. A modern national statistical service should not merely collect reports, calculate indicators, and publish spreadsheets.

Instead, it should provide the state with a robust institutional model that meets both national needs and the European vision of statistics, characterized by a modern approach to data collection, processing, and dissemination.