Eurostat DG Visits Istat

“Censuses are the priority of the European Statistical Systemin the next five years and serve as the base for social andeconomic development policies” stated yesterday Mr WalterRadermacher Director General of Eurostat – the statistical officeof the European Union – during his first official visit to the NationalStatistical Institute.

Mr Radermacher met Istat President Luigi Biggeri and the management to discuss European strategies for institutionalstrengthening and quality improvement of official statistics in timeswhen huge and sudden changes are taking place in production processes, household behaviours and world trade. Quality and soundness of Istat official statistics were widelyacknowledged and appreciated by Eurostat DG for their essentialvalue within the European Statistical System. Mr Radermacher alsostressed the great importance that “policy-makers, socialpartners and general public fully trust official statistics anduse them in their decision-making processes”. With reference tothe forthcoming agricultural, population and housing censuses, headded that “it is fundamental to be fully compliant with theEuropean legal acts on deadlines and standards of statisticsdevelopment, production and dissemination”.

During the meeting Mr Radermacher focused on the principles of thenew European statistical law, which is binding for all member statesand establishes that National Statistical Institutes “shall act as thecontact point for the Commission (Eurostat) on statistical matters”.