Principle 1bis: Coordination and Cooperation

The National Statistical Institutes coordinate the statistical activities of all other national authorities that develop, produce and disseminate European statistics. They act in this regard as the sole contact point for Eurostat on statistical matters. Legislation and well defined and established procedures are in place for implementing the coordination role at both national and European levels.

The French Official Statistical Service is defined by French Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletAct No 51-711 of 7 June 1951 on Legal Obligation, Coordination and Confidentiality in Statistical Matters, as updated in particular by French Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletAct No 2016-1321 of 7 October 2016 for a Digital Republic. The Service is made up of the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) and the Ministerial Statistical Offices (MSOs), which carry out statistical operations in their area of expertise. The list of MSOs is annexed to the Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletDecree of 3 March 2009, as amended, on the French Official Statistics Authority (ASP). The list is drawn up and updated by a decree of the Minister for the Economy, issued after obtaining an opinion from the French Official Statistics Authority (ASP).

In application of national and European regulations, INSEE coordinates the work of the various MSOs to produce official statistics. For example, French Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletDecree No 46-1432 of 14 June 1946, as amended, specifies that INSEE’s mission is “to coordinate the statistical methods, means and statistical work of public bodies and private organisations subsidised or controlled by the State, to centralise their statistical and economic documentation and to unify statistical classifications and codes”. Article 5 of Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletRegulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Statistics, as amended, strengthens INSEE’s coordinating role for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics.

An MSO Charter, updated in 2019, specifies what is covered by the principle of INSEE’s coordination of the work of the various MSOs to produce official statistics, in particular the common reference frameworks associated with being a part of the French Official Statistical Service. It presents the missions, duties, rights and operating conditions of the MSOs.

INSEE’s coordination of the French Official Statistical Service operates both at a strategic level and at an operational level.

From a strategic point of view, the Director-General of INSEE represents the French Official Statistical Service in official governance bodies, such as the National Council for Statistical Information (CNIS) or the French Official Statistics Authority (ASP). In addition, he chairs the Statistical Programme Committee (Comité du programme statistique – CPS), the objective of which is to define and adopt the common positions of the members of the French Official Statistical Service on any matter of strategic interest. The Statistical Programme Committee secretariat is provided by the Statistical Coordination mission of INSEE.

At operational level, the missions of some INSEE departments include the coordination of actions between INSEE and the MSOs. Thus, the Statistical Coordination mission leads the network of heads of MSOs (meetings, information and support) and provides the secretariat of the Statistical Programme Committee. The Quality Unit is the guarantor of the quality assurance framework implemented within the French Official Statistical Service.

Coordination between INSEE and the MSOs is also encouraged by the existence of a mobility policy for INSEE executives within the French Official Statistical Service.

With this coordinating role, INSEE, and more specifically the Statistical Coordination and International Relations Department, plays a major role as the point of contact of the French Official Statistical Service for Eurostat and international bodies (UN, OECD, etc.).

National guidelines to ensure quality in the development, production and dissemination of European statistics within the national statistical system are produced by the Heads of the National Statistical Institutes, where necessary; their implementation is monitored and reviewed.

Article 5 bis.2 of Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletRegulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European Statistics, as amended, stipulates, in particular, that the heads of the NSIs shall produce “national guidelines [...] to ensure quality in the development, production and dissemination of all European statistics within their national statistical system”.

Working together with the Ministerial Statistical Offices (MSOs), INSEE has defined quality guidelines identifying the points in relation to which the Director-General of INSEE must be provided with information to ensure the quality of the structural statistics produced within the MSOs. These guidelines have enabled each MSO to establish its own “Quality Roadmap” formalising its medium-term commitments. Since 2019, a new MSO Charter has formalised the framework within which the French Official Statistical Service operates. This Charter specifies the common reference frameworks which are applicable to Ministerial Statistical Offices (MSOs).

The INSEE Quality Unit ensures the monitoring of actions taken in relation to the quality roadmaps of MSOs and links them with seminars or training focused on quality.

Statistical authorities continuously maintain and develop cooperation at various levels with each other and with the advisory bodies of the European Statistical System, as well as with the members of the European System of Central Banks, academic institutions and other international bodies, as appropriate.

INSEE provides the expertise needed to develop and harmonise official statistics at different levels. The Institute thus contributes to the construction and implementation of the European Statistical System (ESS), in particular by being actively involved in task forces (on quarterly accounts, price statistics, classifications, etc.), working groups or large-scale projects financed by European bodies. The latter are collaborative networks within the European Statistical System, named ESSnets and Centres of Excellence. Their aim is to develop tools for producing statistics, to formulate guidelines, to define standards, and to disseminate the results to all ESS stakeholders.

INSEE also develops frequent bilateral relations with other national statistical institutes in order to share knowledge and practices. The latter are not restricted to the European Union: for example, there has been regular collaboration with the Canadian Statistical Institute (StatCan) for 30 years.

As part of its international relations, INSEE cooperates with bodies such as the OECD and the UN, through its participation in expert groups including the Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletVoorburg Group in relation to services and the Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletOttawa Group in relation to prices.

INSEE has extensive relations with academia and researchers. Special links exist with the Centre for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST), over which INSEE exercises technical supervision by appointment from the Minister for the Economy. Many INSEE executives are affiliated with this research centre. INSEE also works closely with the Statistical Confidentiality Committee, the Secure Data Access Centre ( Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletCASD) and the Ouvrir dans un nouvel ongletQuetelet-Progedo network, which contribute to the secure provision of their micro-data to the world of research.

INSEE also works regularly with the Banque de France, in particular for the preparation of the National Accounts. The presence of INSEE statisticians within the Banque de France is an additional driver of cooperation.