Fuldstændigt Forhandlingsreferat

Onsdag den 13. september 2017 - Strasbourg

17. Forlængelse af det europæiske statistiske program til 2020 (forhandling)

  El Presidente. – El punto siguiente en el orden del día es el debate sobre el informe de Roberto Gualtieri, en nombre de la Comisión de Asuntos Económicos y Monetarios, sobre la propuesta de Reglamento del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo por el que se modifica el Reglamento (UE) n.º 99/2013 del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo, relativo al Programa Estadístico Europeo 2013-17, prorrogándolo para el período 2018-2020 (COM(2016)0557 - C8-0367/2016 - 2016/0265(COD)) (A8-0158/2017).

  Roberto Gualtieri, rapporteur. – Mr President, I would like first to express my appreciation for the excellent collaboration I had with the Maltese Presidency, the acting Director-General of Eurostat and their respective staff and I would also like to thank all the shadow rapporteurs for their cooperation.

The European Parliament has always been supportive of the European Statistical System and has highlighted the need for European statistics to be as comprehensive, comparable, accurate and timely as possible. In this sense, the extension of the European Statistical Programme 2018-2020 is an important achievement. It is not the pure extension of its deadline; but it aims to revamp the European Statistical Programme 2013-2017, securing the good functioning of the European Statistical System, taking into account new high standards and expanding demands of data and information by policymakers and citizens.

In the regulation, we envisage advances in areas such as migration, social and environmental statistics, as well as energy and transport statistics. All these data should allow the monitoring of objectives and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to be set at Union and Member State level and, in this way, to contribute to the achievement of such goals. Let me stress the main issues we take on this regulation: migration is certainly a key topic. The new regulation encourages the further development of existing data collection as well as new data collection in order to better cover asylum and manage migration. This should give a better picture of the migration phenomenon, thanks to the valuation of other variables like education level and integration in the labour market.

With respect to the statistical measurement of the situation of refugees, further cooperation with the EU and international organisations is foreseen in order to provide increased availability of data. As regards the social and economic area, with the extension of the European Statistical Programme, we have large and better specified indicators that should be available to monitor the implementation of Europe 2020. The regulation foresees more detailed information on employment indicators distinguishing between fixed-term and permanent contracts. Moreover, indicators should also include data on gender divides and wage gaps, as well as the measurement of pockets of high unemployment, including high unemployment in cross-border regions.

As regards international trade, this regulation provides for the strengthening of indicators on economic globalisation and global value chains in order to allow an analysis of the positive and negative consequences for the European market, in particular for the Union’s labour market. Special attention has been devoted also to the production of indicators on income, consumption and wealth distribution in particular, indicators such as the Gini index, as well as data on inequality of access to basic goods and services. Improvement of the quality of information on national accounts has also been encouraged in order to allow better estimates of tax gaps and tax avoidance.

The user friendliness of European statistics and easy access to the data are key priorities allowing European citizens to use such data for their education and decision-making. I recognise the important effort that Eurostat has made in the last number of years regarding better communicated statistics and improving its website, for example, by including interactive visualisation maps and infographics. This regulation supports further action in this direction, which we consider necessary in order to contribute effectively to the announcement of the dissemination of statistical information throughout European society.

Finally, the extension of the European Statistical Programme for the period 2018-2020 has reinforced the resources at the disposal of the European Statistical System. This recent increase of the budget for European statistics will bring significant added value in terms of outputs and will also benefit the statistical system in Member States.

  Christos Stylianides, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, in these turbulent times, it is more important than ever that public debate and political decisions are based on reliable facts, not ‘fake news’. The European statistical programme ensures just that, by providing trusted statistics on Europe through Eurostat, the statistical authority of the Union.

The evidence provided by the European statistical programme underpins all of the political priorities of the Union. As priorities change and in order to address new challenges, the statistical programme now needs to be adapted to remain relevant and to provide the information needed to take informed decisions for the future of Europe.

The Commission welcomes the compromise achieved between the three institutions on the extension of the current European statistical programme to 2020. The compromise addresses the growing demand for relevant and timely statistics to support the key Union priorities. In particular, the extension of the programme contains measures for the production of new and better statistics in support of a more social Europe. For example, it will provide better data on income and inequalities, as well as equal opportunities on the labour market. Furthermore, the integration of migrants into the labour market will be better monitored. The programme will also deliver more detailed and faster statistics for other important policy areas such as the Energy Union and will support the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals at Union level.

The Commission considers this extension of the programme to 2020 to be a most important step forward in further strengthening the European Statistical System’s capacity to deliver more timely data and to better respond to policy needs. The foreseen enhanced budgetary support is urgently needed for these developments.

I am grateful that Parliament has been a most active and cooperative ally by providing political guidance and support in this regard. The Commission looks forward to pursuing this positive development for European statistics in the coming years and in particular in relation to the evolution of EU governance in many policy domains and in preparing the future multiannual financial framework (MFF).

I wish to conclude by thanking the rapporteur Mr Roberto Gualtieri – thank you so much – and the shadow rapporteurs of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs for their constructive approach to the proposal. I also wish to thank Ms Maria Arena and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs for their much appreciated opinion. I believe we have reached the common objective to ensure that European policymakers and citizens can continue to rely on the valuable facts provided by the European statistical programme.

  Daniel Buda, în numele grupului PPE. – Am ținut să intervin pe acest subiect deoarece apreciez că este mai mult decât vital pentru eficiența politicilor europene utilizarea datelor statistice, dar mai ales evaluarea acestora și a trendurilor care rezultă de aici. Statisticile ne oferă o radiografie a stării actuale a societății, a economiei noastre, precum și a pieței forței de muncă, respectiv a condițiilor de viață, a veniturilor obținute de cetățenii europeni, dar și a tendințelor în diverse sectoare economice și sociale, furnizând date concrete. Conceperea, punerea în aplicare și monitorizarea politicilor Uniunii Europene pot fi realizate doar având o bază statistică solidă, imparțială, fiabilă, conținând date concrete și relevante.

Prin urmare, consider că programul statistic european trebuie prelungit până în anul 2020, fiind necesar a fi oferit sprijinul financiar menit să asigure o perfecționare a acestuia. Totodată, instituțiile europene trebuie să acorde atenția necesară statisticilor furnizate, tocmai pentru a fi capabile să reacționeze prompt atunci când sunt identificate posibile crize în multiple domenii, preîntâmpinând, totodată, apariția acestora. Dacă s-ar fi ținut cont de statistici și de rezultate, la un moment dat, în sectorul laptelui, în 2016, nu am fi avut o criză care a lovit din plin acest segment. Prin politici eficiente, în mod cert s-ar fi reușit asigurarea unui echilibru între cerere și ofertă pe piața acestui sector. Nu în ultimul rând, criza privind migrația ar fi putut fi anticipată, iar implicațiile sociale, economice și bugetare ale acesteia mult atenuate, dacă se aveau în vedere din timp tendințele acestui fenomen.

  Alfred Sant, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Mr President, the text we have before us is important because it provides excellent guidelines regarding the collection of data we need to design to implement and to evaluate European policy in the coming years. There will be enormous needs for consolidation of policies with the probability that the deepening of eurozone governance will be attempted.

The danger is that consolidation will lag. Deepening could encourage further centrifugal effects on a systemic basis. To be able to detect such developments, we need statistics that are close to the bone and relevant to the issues. On that basis, one should be able to distinguish what is causal and what is contingent on developments between regions, nations, the North, South and East of the Union. This applies, not least to the situation of peripheral and island regions, which is my special interest.

Overridingly, there is a problem of how to reverse the growing divergences between parts of the Union. An essential step in that direction is a proper measurement of divergences. The text stresses rightly the social aspect of the data that will be needed. In that context, a priority area for statistical improvement would be labour data that captures the extent of precarious work, in-work poverty, youth and other under-employment of migrant workers.

  Enrique Calvet Chambon, en nombre del Grupo ALDE. – Señor presidente, quiero aprovechar estos dos minutos que me dan, primero, para felicitar al señor Gualtieri, el ponente, y a todos los que han trabajado, y celebrar el texto inicial de la Comisión y también el interés que todos ellos han demostrado —y la Comisión la primera— por un arma poderosísima desde el punto de vista social, no solo económico, que son las estadísticas. Que son a veces arduas y no tienen sex appeal, pero que son absolutamente fundamentales para la futura prosperidad y la futura libertad democrática de nuestras sociedades. Y en eso —quiero recalcarlo—, detrás del análisis de las desigualdades, detrás del análisis de la pobreza, detrás del análisis de las necesidades básicas y de si se cumplen o no, detrás de las necesidades de electricidad y la pobreza de la electricidad, y de todo lo que usted quiera, hay estadística, y sin ella no se harían políticas.

Por lo tanto, quiero recalcar el aspecto social y agradecer que las sugerencias del Grupo ALDE hayan sido recogidas por los ponentes y, después, en el diálogo tripartito. Estas se han centrado básicamente en tener información potente de cara a futuros Tratados y la ampliación de la UE; ampliar la información disponible y que llegue puntualmente para el Semestre Europeo, que es fundamental; monitorizar el programa de estabilidad y crecimiento; resaltar la importancia de la medición de las desigualdades; ir más allá de las prioridades políticas de la Comisión y de la Estrategia 2020; que las estadísticas estén disponibles —muy importante— y sean públicas y fácilmente accesibles para todo aquel que lo necesite y desee; hacer ver que la extensión del programa anual estadístico es también una oportunidad para reforzar la cooperación entre los centros nacionales y los grandes centros estadísticos, incluso internacionales; y, finalmente, considerarlas temas prioritarios en la acción Más allá del PIB, para ir enriqueciendo, sobre todo socialmente, las medidas del bienestar, y que no solo se queden en el PIB.

  David Coburn, on behalf of the EFDD Group. – Mr President, the European Statistical Programme sounds like a dry and very barren landscape to sow rhetorical seeds. We are told the availability of reliable, comprehensive European statistics is an important public good. Who could object? But the Commission in its explanation of the purpose behind the statistical programme refers to these statistics as ‘indispensable’ if Europe is to be understood by the general public. Well, that’s their true purpose. What is it? Propaganda, ladies and gentlemen, propaganda. It was after all, the EU that changed the definition of the gross national income to include the black economy on drugs and prostitution and, by doing so, increased Member State contributions to the EU based on the size of their economy.

And, by sleight of hand, it is the EU that averages statistics telling us that the EU rates of economic growth are up and unemployment down, disguising from the public that youth unemployment in southern Europe is still between 40% and 50%. Taxpayers should not be asked to fund the collation of EU propaganda. This is a waste of taxpayers’ money. We should stop using propaganda to put forward statistics are not true.

  Miguel Viegas, em nome do Grupo GUE/NGL. – Senhor Presidente, a produção de dados estatísticos de elevada qualidade é de grande importância, tanto para os decisores políticos como para a população em geral. Melhores estatísticas poderão ajudar a uma melhor compreensão da realidade e, por conseguinte, a tomadas de decisões possivelmente mais conscientes e consequentes.

É verdade que estamos de acordo com a extensão do programa pelo período de 2018-2020, com a sua ligação à consecução da Agenda 2030, com o aumento da verba orçamental que lhe é destinada, mas também com algumas melhorias feitas ao projeto da Comissão Europeia, nomeadamente a introdução de indicadores sobre emprego, que distingam emprego com contratos de termo certo e com contratos permanentes e o pedido para que sejam feitos progressos no sentido de desenvolver um quadro conceptual para a produção de séries de dados estatísticos que meçam e o cumprimento das normas fiscais, a elisão e a evasão fiscais.

Porém, não é menos verdade que não podemos estar inteiramente de acordo com o facto de, o foco deste prolongamento ser o apoio a 10 prioridades políticas da Comissão Europeia como o Semestre Europeu, a Estratégia Europa 2020, a iniciativa Legislar Melhor e a União Europeia da Energia relativamente às quais mantemos muitas reservas.

  Gabriel Mato (PPE). – Señor presidente, comisario, lo primero que quisiera es dar las gracias al presidente Gualtieri y al resto de colegas por su trabajo. Por un trabajo bien hecho. Y quiero dar la bienvenida a esta propuesta para extender el Programa Estadístico Europeo al período 2018-2020.

Las pruebas fiables y pertinentes basadas en las estadísticas europeas son absolutamente esenciales para medir el progreso y evaluar la eficiencia de las políticas y los programas de la Unión, especialmente en el contexto de la Estrategia Europa 2020 y la Agenda en materia de empleo, crecimiento, equidad y cambio democrático.

La unidad europea se enfrenta a retos en muchos ámbitos políticos y la demanda de estadísticas europeas sigue siendo muy elevada. La necesidad de una respuesta política a la profunda crisis económica y su impacto social ha impulsado la demanda de mejores políticas económicas y sociales basadas en pruebas sólidas y comparables.

La Comisión Europea presentó entre sus diez prioridades políticas la importancia de satisfacer la demanda creciente de estadísticas y la necesidad de ponerlas a disposición mucho más rápidamente. La aplicación y el seguimiento de las políticas de la Unión Europea se basan en información estadística comparable y de alta calidad sobre la situación económica, social y medioambiental en la Unión Europea y sus componentes a escala nacional y regional.

Tras el acuerdo logrado, hemos asegurado cumplir con tres de los objetivos fundamentales. Primero, información estadística de alta calidad, asegurándonos de que no queda ninguna laguna estadística y centrándonos en una serie de ámbitos prioritarios que reflejen las diez prioridades de la política de la Comisión. Segundo, tener la capacidad de responder más rápidamente a las necesidades estadísticas de la Unión, adaptando la infraestructura estadística para aprovechar el potencial de las nuevas fuentes de datos. Y tercero, mejorar la productividad del sistema estadístico europeo y garantizar su protagonismo a nivel mundial.

Las estadísticas europeas también son fundamentales para que el público en general entienda Europa y para que los ciudadanos participen en el proceso democrático y el debate sobre el presente y el futuro de la Unión Europea. Gracias a este nuevo sistema se estará en condiciones de satisfacer la demanda creciente de estadísticas y la necesidad de ponerlas a disposición más rápidamente, garantizando unas estadísticas europeas fiables, objetivas, comparables y coherentes a pesar de lo que aquí alguno ha dicho.

(El orador acepta responder a una pregunta formulada con arreglo al procedimiento de la «tarjeta azul» (artículo 162, apartado 8, del Reglamento interno))

  David Coburn (EFDD), blue-card question. – The Soviet Union used to have some of the finest statistics the world has ever known. As a matter of fact, I took the trouble once or twice to listen to some of the speeches of some of the Soviet Union’s leaders, some of which went on for several hours. If you were very tired at night, it was a very good way to get to sleep. They used to dish out statistics about how tractor production figures were up, comrades.

Well, this sounds a bit like that. This gentleman here was saying that we want more statistics. Well, good grief, you couldn’t get more statistics than the Soviet Union turned out, but they were all lies. You can do anything with statistics. Who was it who said ‘lies, damned lies and statistics’? Well, would you not agree with me that you can tell any lie with statistics? The Soviet Union was marvellous at that and this place becomes more like the Soviet Union every day, especially after what Herr Juncker said this morning.

  Gabriel Mato (PPE), respuesta de «tarjeta azul». – Efectivamente, tiene razón: cualquier mentira puede pasar una estadística, incluso las suyas. Evidentemente, no aspiro yo a que alguien que no cree en la Unión Europea crea en las estadísticas.

  Doru-Claudian Frunzulică (S&D). – Mr President, it seems that Mr Coburn was in a great hurry.

First, I would like to congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Gualtieri, on the outcome of the report and for stressing within it the need to strengthen the quality of EU statistics, in particular the macro—economic, employment and social statistics, to better implement the EU 2020 Agenda. Secondly, I would like to welcome the proposed extension of the European Statistical Programme to 2020 as I consider it important to align it with the present financial framework. There were still a number of gaps that needed to be filled in order to better support EU policies. Moreover, the statistical infrastructure was also not yet flexible enough to deliver new data when needed.

Therefore, I believe it is essential to improve the quality of statistics, especially on sustainable development, and ensure that our policies are based on more than GDP or debt deficit indicators. High-quality statistics should contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Intervenciones con arreglo al procedimiento de solicitud incidental de uso de la palabra («catch the eye»)

  Nicola Caputo (S&D). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, il miglioramento del sistema statistico europeo è questione di fondamentale importanza, non solo per valutare efficacemente i risultati e i progressi della strategia Europa 2020, ma anche per l'elaborazione di risposte specifiche a problemi nuovi e istanze inedite.

La crisi economica globale dell'ultimo decennio ha impoverito tanti cittadini dell'Unione, provocando mutamenti sociali e politici non ancora del tutto definiti, che per la loro complessità necessitano di nuovi strumenti di analisi, non soltanto macroeconomici.

La qualità del lavoro, le nuove povertà, l'esclusione sociale, la qualità dell'ambiente e della vita nelle città, le periferie, la violenza di genere, la qualità democratica, la questione migratoria sono solo alcuni degli aspetti sociali di cui occorre tener conto nell'elaborazione di nuovi indici di rilevazione, utili a modernizzare le statistiche ufficiali ma anche ad allargare l'orizzonte della qualità della vita dei cittadini europei, in linea con le priorità della Commissione nel programma per l'occupazione, la crescita e l'equità sociale.

Complimenti al collega Gualtieri per l'ottima relazione.

  Νικόλαος Χουντής (GUE/NGL). – Κύριε Πρόεδρε, αγαπητοί συνάδελφοι, ο ελληνικός λαός έχει πληρώσει ακριβά τις λαθροχειρίες των κυβερνήσεων και της Εurostat όσον αφορά τον τρόπο καταγραφής των στρατιωτικών δαπανών, των χρεών των νοσοκομείων, της ένταξης κρατικών εταιρειών και θεσμών στη γενική κυβέρνηση. Το 2010, ο τότε Πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής Στατιστικής Υπηρεσίας, κύριος Γεωργίου, η Εurostat και η τρόικα αύξησαν το δημοσιονομικό έλλειμμα της Ελλάδας με τρόπο που παραβιάζει τόσο την ελληνική όσο και την ευρωπαϊκή νομοθεσία. Η ελληνική Δικαιοσύνη καταδίκασε τον Πρόεδρο της Ελληνικής Επιτροπής Στατιστικής Υπηρεσίας.

Κύριε Επίτροπε, η Επιτροπή και οι ευρωπαϊκοί θεσμοί αντί να εξετάσουν το θέμα στη βάση της αξιοπιστίας των στατιστικών εκβιάζουν την Ελλάδα να παρέμβει στη Δικαιοσύνη ώστε να αθωωθεί ο κύριος Γεωργίου, να κλείσει η υπόθεση και να ξεχαστεί το μεγαλύτερο ευρωπαϊκό σκάνδαλο χειραγώγησης των στατιστικών. Ο ελληνικός λαός και οι ευρωπαίοι πολίτες έχουν το δικαίωμα σε αξιόπιστα στατιστικά στοιχεία και όχι σε πολιτικά παιχνίδια κυβερνήσεων και τρόικας που στόχο έχουν να δικαιολογήσουν τα μέτρα λιτότητας που επιβάλλουν.

  Ελευθέριος Συναδινός (NI). – Κύριε Πρόεδρε, ο εκφοβισμός και η χειραγώγηση των λαών της Ευρώπης, και ειδικά των Βρετανών πριν το δημοψήφισμα, απέτυχαν παταγωδώς και το δείχνουν ακόμα και οι χαλκευμένες στατιστικές. Η επιστήμη της στατιστικής και δεδομένων αποτελούν μεθοδικά μαθηματικά εργαλεία που έχουν ως απώτερο σκοπό την εξαγωγή ασφαλών συμπερασμάτων για λήψη ορθών αποφάσεων. Αντιθέτως, στην Ένωση τα στατιστικά προγράμματα χρησιμοποιούνται ως εργαλεία προπαγάνδας, μηχανές παραγωγής σκανδάλων ακόμα και συνειδητής ύπουλης διαχείρισης κρατών μελών και των λαών τους. Παράδειγμα, η διοχέτευση κονδυλίων σε πολλούς τομείς άνευ αξίας επειδή απλά η τεχνηέντως διαμορφωμένη κοινή γνώμη χειραγωγήθηκε ως προς τη χρησιμότητα αυτών. Οφθαλμοφανής απόδειξη είναι η σκανδαλώδης επίτευξη των κριτηρίων σύγκλισης υποψηφίων προς ένταξη χωρών, τα οποία απείχαν παρασάγγας από την πραγματικότητα. Πραγματικό όφελος των φορέων λήψης απόφασης, των ερευνητών και των πολιτών της Ένωσης, εν γένει, δεν είναι η ποιότητα των δεδομένων αλλά η ακρίβεια και η εγκυρότητα αυτών.

(Fin de las intervenciones con arreglo al procedimiento de solicitud incidental de uso de la palabra («catch the eye»))

  Christos Stylianides, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, I wish to thank colleagues for their valuable views and opinions. Firstly, I would like to say in a very polite manner to my dear colleague from the EFDD Group that I completely disagree with his view. I am sorry for this, but I do not want to engage in more details.

With regard to Greece, may I remind you of this; that the independence of statistical offices in our Member States is a key pillar of the proper functioning of the EMU. This is why it is protected by EU law. The Commission, as you know, has full confidence in the reliability and the accuracy of ELSTAT data during 2010-2015 and beyond. This is, as you know, the Commission position regarding many developments in Greece just two or three months ago.

The compromise that has been reached in very fruitful discussions between the three institutions is a major step forward in making the European statistical programme fit for the future. I believe the measures foreseen address the views you have expressed today. As priorities and information needs evolve, further developments in statistics will be needed at both Union and Member State level. The Commission has therefore already started a reflection and stakeholder dialogue about further enhancements of European statistics within the framework of the next multiannual financial framework.

With the support of this Parliament, the Commission will ensure that European statistics remain relevant and of highest quality to support our common endeavour of a better Europe for our citizens. I strongly believe that we have a very reliable statistical programme.

  Roberto Gualtieri, relatore. – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, mi sembra che il largo consenso emerso in questo dibattito sia un dato positivo, che riflette anche il consenso espresso in seno alla commissione ECON, e quindi volevo ringraziare tutti i colleghi che sono intervenuti e di nuovo tutti i relatori ombra e i relatori dei pareri che hanno contribuito a concludere positivamente questo lavoro legislativo, che costituisce un tassello limitato ma significativo verso l'ulteriore rafforzamento della qualità delle statistiche europee, sulle quali naturalmente le obiezioni che sono state rivolte in questo dibattito appaiono destituite di ogni fondamento.

Volevo anche unirmi alle parole della Commissione nel sottolineare come anche il Parlamento europeo sia un forte sostenitore dell'indipendenza degli uffici statistici nazionali. Su questo, anche nell'ambito del gruppo di lavoro per l'assistenza finanziaria, che presiedo, abbiamo espresso parole chiare anche nei confronti della vicenda greca.

  El Presidente. – Se cierra el debate.

La votación tendrá lugar mañana.