12 December, 2000
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Finland ranks among EU leaders as producer of statistical information
The tasks and challenges facing statistical production in the international environment were the topics of a special Seminar held to mark the 135th Anniversary of Statistics Finland on 12 December 2000.
Below are selected items from the Seminar agenda:
Mr Johnny Åkerholm, Under-Secretary of State, pointed out that Finland is one of the EU Member States best equipped to meet the statistical requirements of Economic and Monetary Union. Mr Åkerholm heads a statistical group that was set up in 1998 to plan measures for the development of the statistics on economic trends that are central from the point of Economic and Monetary Union. In the Action Plan drawn up this year, Finland was the country with the fewest demands for statistical development imposed upon it. Amongst the made demands were that Finland must speed up its compilation of quarterly national accounts and its production of statistics on construction industry output. According to plans, Statistics Finland will meet these requirements as of the beginning of 2002.
Mr Yves Franchet, Director General of Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, outlined a vision of the future of national statistical institutes as a network of networks. Statistical co-operation has become networked in the UN, ECE, OECD and EU alike. Global financial markets are a good point of comparison to statistical networking. The trademarks are good standards, efficient communication channels, continuous quality assessment, adequate infrastructure, close-knit co-operation between small and large operators and a shared vision.
Mr Paolo Garonna, Director of UN/ECE Statistical Division, emphasised the growing global significance of statistics. In an atmosphere of growing uncertainty and complexity, statistics provide a reliable information basis for decision-making at both national and international levels. Apart from that, they are a means of giving transparency to decision-making.
Mr Pertti Marjomaa, author of a history of Statistics Finland from the 1970s to today, analysed the main influences of the EU on official statistics. Before Finland became member of the European Union, Statistics Finland had already decided how it would produce statistics, applying international recommendations wherever possible. Finland's membership of the EU changed things, because many individual statistics are subject to specific EU Regulations. There were about one hundred EU Regulations in force relating to statistics when Finland joined the European Union, but today they number nearly twice as many.