What is a peer review?

The national statistical institutes of the Member States of the European Union, the EFTA countries and Eurostat form a partnership called the European Statistical System (ESS). Together, they develop, produce and disseminate European statistics.
 
Quality is recognised as one of the comparative advantages of European statistics in a world where the trend of instantaneous information and new challenges is increasingly prevalent. The European Statistics Code of Practice (the Code) is the basis of the common quality framework of the ESS, and its statistical authorities are committed to complying with it.
 
In this context, the compliance of the national statistical systems of the EU Member States and EFTA countries with the Code is extremely important, and the ESS periodically monitors the implementation of the principles of the Code through peer reviews. The aim of the peer reviews is to improve the integrity, professional independence and responsibility of all statistical authorities of the ESS, thus increasing users’ trust in European statistics.
 
The first round of the peer reviews was carried out from 2006 to 2008, followed by the second round from 2013 to 2015. In 2017, the Code was revised and extended, and from mid-2021, the third round of the peer reviews began to be implemented in all ESS members, which will last until mid-2023.
 
The peer reviews are carried out by expert teams with long-standing experience in the area of official statistics. The peer reviews are carried out in a standardised way, as follows:
 

• National statistical institutes fill out a self-assessment questionnaire.
• Expert team conducts an analysis of the self-assessment questionnaire.
• During a visit, the expert team holds meetings with system stakeholders.
• Expert team prepares a report and gives recommendations for improvement.

 
After the visit of the expert team, the national statistical institutes, in cooperation with other holders of official statistics, apply recommendations for specific improvement measures, and their implementation is monitored by Eurostat on an annual basis.