EUROPEAN STATISTICAL WEEK

STUDY VISIT TO EUROSTAT

What is Eurostat? Eurostat is the statistical arm of the European Commission, producing data for the European Union and promoting the harmonisation of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union.

Eurostat’s official role is to provide the European Union with a high-quality statistical information service that enables comparisons to be made between countries and regions. It supplies statistics to the Commission and other European Institutions with data in order for them to define implement and analyse Community policies.

Eurostat was established in 1953 to meet the requirements of the Coal and Steel Community. Over the years its task has broadened and when the European Community was founded in 1958 it became a Directorate-General (DG) of the European Commission. It now has its seat in Luxembourg.

What is the European Statistical Week? The European Statistical Week (ESW) aims at providing junior staff from Member States' National Statistical Institutes' (NSIs) and National Competent Authorities (CNA) with the opportunity to learn more about the set-up and functioning of Eurostat as part of the European Commission and the European Statistical System (ESS).

This year, from 13 to 17 October 2014, junior staff working in the NSIs and CNA in the Member States will be able to attend a programme in Eurostat, consisting of lectures, trainings and other learning opportunities.

Two days in the middle of the programme (15 - 16 October 2014) are dedicated to discovering the work in Eurostat's Units. Participants will be able to benefit from more in-depth experience in their specific working areas by shadowing colleagues from Eurostat's units.

Interested? Descriptions of the different Units in Eurostat (included in this year's programme) are listed below. Application forms are available on ESS ESTP website and from the National ESTP Contact Points. In order to facilitate the selection process, all candidates are advised to complete the forms with care and attention to detail. You can apply only for one Unit, except where a "shadowing package" is being offered. The deadline for submitting applications to the ESTP National Contact Points (NCPs) is 20 June 2014. Questions? For more information regarding the European Statistical Training Programme, please

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contact the National ESTP Contact Point.

Contents

Eurostat Unit DG.02: Press Office

Eurostat DDG.TF.PR: Task Force Peer Reviews

Eurostat Unit A2: Human resources management

Eurostat Unit A3: Statistical Cooperation

Eurostat Task Force Integrated Planning: TF Integrated Planning

Eurostat Unit E1: Agriculture

Eurostat Unit E2: Environmental statistics and accounts, sustainable development

Eurostat Unit E3: Transport statistics

Eurostat Unit E4: GISCO

Eurostat Unit E5: Energy

Eurostat Unit F1: Social statistics - modernisation and coordination

Eurostat Unit F3: Labor market

Eurostat Unit F5: Education, health and social protection statistics

Eurostat Unit G3: Short-term business statistics and tourism

Eurostat Unit G1: Business statistics - coordination and registers

Eurostat Unit G5: Goods-production and International trade

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Eurostat Unit DG-02: Press Office Who we are: The Eurostat Press Office is part of Unit DG-02 Communication, which also includes the internal communication team. We work on writing and issuing News Releases to journalists, as well as helping journalists to find the Eurostat data they need for the stories they write. We work closely with the spokesman's service of the European Commission and with journalists and news agencies The Unit is made up of twelve colleagues, representing nine different nationalities. What we offer: In the Press Office, you will help draft News Releases and learn how to use the available data to meet journalists' needs for information. You will also participate in the internal meetings of our section and the preparation of the future programme of News Releases. You will also be able to learn about the work of the Internal Communications section. Your profile: In order to gain the full benefit from this opportunity, it is essential that you currently work in a press office/media support role. A sound knowledge of English is required. A working knowledge of French or German would provide additional learning opportunities. Previous writing experience would be helpful.

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Eurostat DDG.TF.PR: Task Force Peer Reviews Who we are: Our Task Force is composed of two small teams dealing with:

- The implementation of the Code of Practice and the peer review of the ESS; - The evaluation activities inside Eurostat.

Our mission is to provide the ESS in general and Eurostat, in particular, with service, guidance and expertise in the areas of implementation of the Code of Practice, peer reviews and evaluation in order to ensure the quality of EU statistics and the smooth implementation of the peer reviews in the ESS. The Task Force is made up of 7 colleagues representing 5 different nationalities. What we offer: The current offer is related to both teams, so to have a full picture of what we do. Working with two experienced teams, you will be able to share in particular the activities linked to the management of the peer reviews in the ESS and to the intermediate evaluation of the implementation of the European statistical programme 2013-17. Your profile: A sound knowledge of English is required. Experience with evaluations and being acquainted to the Code of Practice would be an advantage but they are not a must.

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Eurostat Unit A-2: Human Resources Management Who we are:

We provide services in human resource management in order to support Eurostat and the ESS in fulfilling its mission, now and in the future.

To achieve our mission, we promote:

• a service culture in all our actions based on the following values: high quality, competence, integrity and transparency

• a continuous dialogue with our main stakeholders, in particular management and staff

• the use of modern learning and development methods • change, in order to keep our organisation in line with developing demands • close cooperation with the relevant central services • a modern, healthy and dynamic workplace allowing staff to reconcile their

professional and private life

The Unit is made up of twenty eight colleagues, representing fourteen different nationalities. The Learning & Development team is made up of 9 colleagues. What we offer: We offer a combined hands-on experience and information sessions in the HRM unit of Eurostat for two days. Your shadowing experience will be composed of four different parts:

• Staffing and recruitment • Staff development • Horizontal HR processes • Learning and Development

The first three blocks will give an overview of our range of services and the HR strategy in place. This will be done more by means of different information sessions and less by shadowing colleagues in their offices. This will provide an overview about HR policy in Eurostat and a better understanding of the European approach in this area of work. In addition, this opportunity will offer an exchange of views and good practices for the junior statisticians and the occasion to build up networks with counterparts at Eurostat. During the job shadowing in the Learning and Development Team, you will become acquainted with the Learning & Development Framework Strategy for Eurostat staff, including the development of the informal learning framework, the European Statistical System's Learning & Development Framework, the European Master in Official Statistics, and the on-going projects. You will experience first-hand how learning and development is developed, organised, promoted, and evaluated by Eurostat based on the learning needs analysis. You will be able to enjoy a unique international experience in a multicultural & multilingual environment. Your profile: A sound knowledge of English is required. You should have some experience in HR management and/or learning and development issues.

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Eurostat Unit A3: Statistical cooperation

Who we are: Our Unit A3 is in charge of statistical cooperation with European and Mediterranean countries as well as with African, Asian and Latin American countries. The Unit is made up of 26 colleagues and trainees, representing 17 different nationalities. The main task of the unit is to organise statistical cooperation with the countries aspiring to join the European Union and with the countries neighbouring the EU both in the East and in the South and to prepare these countries for accession or association in the area of statistics. The unit also supports a number of regional organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America with the aim to promote European values and initiatives such as quality management, the European Statistics Code of practice and the way to organise partnership and cooperation in a system like the ESS. Our counterparts in the Member States are the international cooperation departments but we also work a lot with colleagues in the external relations departments in Brussels and EU embassies in the countries as well as with other international organisations. So, coordination and publicity of statistical cooperation activities are also very high on our agenda. What we offer: We offer hands-on experience in one of the three sections in the unit (on the enlargement countries, the European neighbourhood countries or the developing countries) depending on the interest of the person. This may involve participating in meetings with other Eurostat colleagues, in preparing agendas for forthcoming high level meetings with one or two groups of the countries, in analysing reports from global assessments on statistical systems in different countries, in validating data and publications on the different countries or on doing some research work on countries and their data. In summary, you will be able to share one day of our daily work, which never turns out to be a routine and can be very challenging in trying to deal with an unknown situation. Working with an experienced team, you will be able to share your knowledge on how international cooperation is organised in your member state and what are the challenges you meet in your work. Your profile: A sound knowledge of English is required. Interest in international cooperation and preferably some experience in such work would be useful to better understand our work and may be even to contribute to it. An open attitude and willingness to face the unknown will be helpful to benefit to a maximum extent.

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Eurostat Task Force Integrated Planning

Who we are: Set up for a duration of two years, 2014 to 2016, the small but resourceful team of eight has a mandate of providing Eurostat with an effective and integrated planning and monitoring system. The Task Force is responsible, inter alia, for strategic planning and reporting vis-à-vis the European Statistical System and the Commission and other EU institutions/bodies. Eight staff members, representing six nationalities, work on the preparation of the extension of the Multiannual Programme 2013-2017 to 2018-2020 and the Annual Work Programmes, as well as other planning and reporting activities within the framework of the Commission's Strategic Planning and Programming cycle. The Task Force also develops and promotes process and project management techniques within Eurostat. What we offer: You will be acquainted with the preparation of the Multiannual and Annual Statistical Work Programmes, including the process of setting priorities in the European Statistical System. If interested, you can have a glimpse into the project management support function and the planning of meetings. You will be able to enjoy a unique international experience in a multicultural and multilingual environment. Your profile: A sound knowledge of English is required. Experience in planning and coordination activities, as well as interest in project management would be an advantage.

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Eurostat Unit E1: Agriculture and fishery statistics Who we are: Our Unit is the main source of statistics that are used for the Common Agricultural and Fishery Policies, and the data are also used in policies related to climate change and environment. In addition researchers use our statistics for a multitude of purposes. In short, unit E1 provides information on the food production, on whether or not we have enough to eat. The unit cooperates closely with FAO, the OECD and other international organisations. Our Unit is responsible for farm structure surveys, animal production and milk statistics, crop production statistics including vineyards and orchards, agri-environmental statistics including pesticides, agricultural price statistics, and economic accounts for agriculture. In addition, the Unit collects information on fishing, including aquaculture and the fishing fleet. The Unit is made up of around 30 colleagues representing more than 15 different nationalities. What we offer: The current offer is related to all the teams of the Unit so this means that you can yourself choose which part of the work you would most like to know more about. You can also choose to follow more than one team, depending on the tasks that you would consider most interesting. Our core tasks are the collection, validation and dissemination of reliable and comparable agriculture and fishery data. Working with the teams, you will be able to share your views on the topics at hand, learn how we deal with agricultural and/or fishery statistics at a European level, and discuss with the team members on issues that you have met in your professional life or during the studies that you find particularly interesting. We will be at your disposal to plan the visit in advance so that you will get the most out of it. Your profile: We are looking for participants that are interested in the area of agricultural and/or fishery statistics. Experience in this field would be an advantage but it is not a must. The successful applicant(s) should have good analytical skills and sufficient knowledge of modern IT tools. The working language of the Unit is English and therefore a good knowledge of this language would be an advantage.

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Eurostat Unit E2: Environmental statistics and accounts, sustainable development Who we are: Eurostat’s Unit E2 is responsible for environmental statistics, environmental accounts including climate-change related statistics and sustainable development and Europe 2020 indicators. The work includes the data collection, validation and dissemination in areas such as waste statistics, water statistics, environmental protection expenditure, the environmental goods and services sector, environmental taxes, air emissions accounts, material flow accounts, energy flow accounts. Methodological developments are on-going in several areas. The Unit is made up of 35 colleagues representing many different nationalities. What we offer: The current offer is related primarily to the teams of the Unit dealing with the environmental accounts. Sustainable development indicators and other indicator work will also be covered. Working with experienced teams, you will be able to get acquainted with the work in the different areas of environmental accounts and indicators. You will be able to share your own experience. Your profile: You should be interested in some of the areas of environmental accounts. Successful applicants should have good analytical skills, a background in environment-related issues and good English language skills.

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Eurostat Unit E3: Transport Statistics Who we are:

Unit E3, Transport statistics, is one of the units in the Directorate on sectoral and regional statistics. Our mission is to provide the EU with a quality statistical information service on transport in order to support the EU transport policy, in particular to monitor the liberalisation and rationalisation of European transport as well as the impact of transport on regional development and on environment. The core of this service concerns traffic of vehicles, quantities and passengers, transported for each mode of transport: road, rail, inland waterways, sea, and air. In addition, development work is on-going in different areas such as: indicators (structural, modal split), infrastructure, equipment, passenger mobility, road traffic, intermodality as well as the undesirable effects of mobility on safety, congestion and impact on the environment. Main partners within the Commission are DG MOVE, DG REGIO, DG ENV and DG CLIMA.

The unit includes 13 people (10 nationalities) and has an operational budget of 1.5 million per year.

What we offer: You will be part of the team responsible for organising and supervising the legal, methodological and processing aspects of the reception, elaboration and dissemination of statistics on one of the transport modes. You will have the possibility to understand better the way we work at European level and what happened with the data sent by countries, how they are processed, validated and disseminated. Working with an experienced team, you will be able to share your experience at national level on how data are collected, methodological issues and the way data are validated. Your profile: We look for a dynamic and motivated colleague, interested in the EU transport policy and in finding more how European transport statistics aggregates are produced and disseminated. Experience in Transport statistics would be an asset. The working language of the unit is mainly English and French.

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Unit E-4 GISCO Who we are: GISCO's main task is to provide reference geographical information and related services for use within Eurostat and the Commission and to the European citizens at large. It also coordinates Commission-wide geographical information activities and common strategies and has the goal to promote and stimulate the use of geographical information within the European Statistical System and the Commission. GISCO activities consist of the following pillars:

• management of the geographical reference database of the Commission; • operation of the spatial data infrastructure of the European Commission; • data processing, mainly for thematic mapping, spatial analysis, and data

dissemination; • coordination and relationships with users and producers (Commission, European

agencies, statistical offices); • promoting activities to integrate geographical information with thematic information,

notably statistical information; • cooperation in initiatives for the establishment of a geographical information

infrastructure at the European level (INSPIRE). Your profile: The participant(s) must have a very good background in GIS and cartography and work with GIS tools, mainly ArcGIS (Desktop or Server) on a daily basis. He/she must work with geospatial data in a statistical office or similar, e.g. on a geodatabase for statistical purposes, or on making maps and building map viewer applications showing statistics in their spatial context. He/she must have experience with spatial analysis techniques using spatial statistics tools in a GIS, with the aim of deriving new information out of the combination of statistics and geography e.g. in accessibility studies. He/she must be familiar with INSPIRE and its implementation in a statistical office.

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Eurostat unit F1: Social statistics - modernisation and coordination

Who we are: Unit F1 (one of five units in the Directorate for Social Statistics) coordinates the modernisation actions for social statistics as well as some other cross-cutting activities in the directorate. Among other things, the unit is currently working on a framework regulation for social statistics and on projects for increasing the use of administrative data sources, for the standardisation of social variables, and for the integration of the main social surveys (LFS, SILC, AES, EHIS….). The unit has daily contacts with other units in the directorate and also collaborates closely with several other Eurostat units - those responsible for methodology, corporate architecture and integrated planning as well as with other statistical units - for example, business statistics and agriculture statistics - to support the idea of a corporate approach to common issues. There is an active collaboration with NSIs on the modernisation projects. The unit is also developing contacts with DG Education and Culture for the cross-cutting work on culture and sport statistics. At present, unit F1 comprises 12 people from 8 countries. The unit consists of two teams: (i) the modernisation team and (ii) the financial cell for the directorate. What we offer: For 2 days you will be able to shadow the staff of the team as they work on the modernisation actions. Depending on the schedule and staff availability, activities might include participating in meetings with other units, discussions on common definitions for social variables, drafting legislation, reviewing deliverables from outside experts working on future survey methodology, preparing meetings with NSIs. Your profile: This unit could be of interest to anyone working in social statistics or, more generally, in planning or modernization activities in a national statistical authority. A good command of English is required.

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Eurostat unit F3: labour market statistics

Who we are: Unit F3 (one of five units in the Directorate for Social Statistics) is in charge of the whole range of labour market statistics. This comprises collection, processing, dissemination and analysis of data as well as conceptual and methodological developments. The wide range of data which unit F3 is providing is key to economic, monetary and social policy. They are used for short-term business cycle assessments; for the design, coordination and monitoring of structural policies, in particular in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy; for in-depth analysis of the supply and demand sides of the labour markets, both at national and European levels. Our headline indicators get high attention by the media, financial markets and decision makers. The Unit also makes significant contributions to the Europe2020 and the Euro-Indicators projects. The Unit co-operates closely with DG EMPL, DG JUST, the European Central Bank, OECD, ILO and the UN. As labour market issues are of a cross-cutting nature, there are also regular and close contacts with many other Eurostat units. At present, unit F3 comprises 23 persons from 14 countries. The Unit consists of two sections: (i) Labour Force Survey team (ii) Labour Market Indicators – LMI team that produces among others quarterly indicators on job vacancy statistics ('JVS') and Monthly indicators on the Unemployment Rate ('MUR'). What we offer: The two sections of the Unit, a 14-person team for the LFS and an 8-person team for the LMI, cover a wide range of activities. For 2 days you will see the work developed in this office, which includes: collecting and validating the data received from the Member States, estimating missing information and disseminating the results through dedicated news releases with additional information/analyses provided through wiki tools, dealing with users’ requests, methodological discussions, co-ordination with other Eurostat units and with NSIs, participate in meetings, etc. You will join these activities depending on the schedule and staff availability. Your profile: The candidates should be working / have worked in labour market statistics. Ideally, he/she would also have some knowledge of time series techniques in theory or practice. Furthermore, people applying to shadow in the LFS team, have to work in the LFS in their country of origin. A good command of English is required. The candidates must have some knowledge about the co-operation between Eurostat and the National Statistical Institutes.

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Eurostat unit F5: Education, health and social protection statistics

Who we are: Unit F5 (one of five units in the Directorate for Social Statistics) is in charge of EU statistics on education, health and social protection statistics. As regards education and health statistics, data are collected from member States either from National Statistical Institutes (NSI,) or other national competent statistical authorities. They relate to both "surveys data" (micro data) collected to households or individuals (AES, EHIS in particular) and "administrative data" (aggregated data on education & training systems, on public health care and on causes of death). As regards social protection statistics, they are based on annual "administrative data. The unit has close contacts with other units in the directorate (especially units dealing with labour market statistics and income statistics) and also collaborates closely with several other Eurostat units – IT units and the dissemination unit in particular, as well as the legal unit. There is an active collaboration with NSIs and with other national competent statistical authorities. The unit is working on a very regular basis with Commission Services (DG Education and Culture, DG Health and Consumers, DG Employment, Social affairs and Inclusion and DG JUSTICE). In the area on "administrative data", there are joint data collections with OECD and UNESCO or WHO. At present, unit F5 comprises around 30 people with a large diversity of nationalities represented. The unit is organised into three teams, the "surveys data" team" and two teams on "administrative data" (one dealing with expenditure data, the other one with non-expenditure data). What we offer: We can offer a shadowing experience during 2 days, in the Unit, either on education statistics or on health statistics or on social protection statistics. The experience can be also on micro-data collected to households/individuals for education & health or for administrative data as a whole. For 2 days you will be able to shadow some key staff of the unit, depending on what you are interested in (see below). Depending also on the schedule and staff availability, activities might include participating in meetings with other units, discussions on methodology/quality or issues related to data collection/validation/dissemination, and drafting legislation. Your profile: This unit could be of interest to anyone working in education, health and social statistics in a national statistical authority. A good command of English is required.

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Eurostat Unit G3: Short-term business statistics and tourism

Who we are: Eurostat Unit G3 (one of the five Units in the Directorate ‘Global business statistics’) is responsible for the provision of high quality statistics on Europe in the field of short-term business statistics (STS) and in the field of tourism. In the field of STS, the Unit is responsible for a wide range of indicators (out of which 8 Principal European Economic Indicators – PEEIs) covering industry, construction and services (including trade), mostly available on a monthly basis. In addition, the Unit publishes 4 news release per month (industrial production, industrial producer prices, production in construction, and volume of retail trade). The short-term business indicators are used by the Commission services, the ECB and economists for a better understanding of the recent economic developments in the euro area and in the European Union and for the formulation and monitoring of the economic and monetary policies. The Unit consists of 15 staff organised in two teams (STS and tourism) representing around 10 different nationalities. What we offer: We propose a learning experience during 2 days in the STS section of our Unit, offering several opportunities to get acquainted with our work. You will receive a thorough introduction in STS, and you will be able to shadow us in our day-to-day work with the incoming data from the NSIs, from their reception and validation to their dissemination on our website. Your profile: We are looking for someone already working in the area of STS or interested to do so in the near future. Please do not forget to mention in your application which particular indicator you are (or will be) working on. A good command of English is required.

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Eurostat Unit G5 "Goods: Production and International Trade"

Who we are: Unit G5 "Goods: Production and International Trade" is part of the Eurostat's Directorate G "Global Business Statistics". We deal with two statistical domains: production of manufactured goods and international trade in goods statistics. Our main tasks comprise:

• providing statistical data on production of manufactured goods and Intra-EU and Extra-EU trade in goods to enrich information on the structure of the European economy, its short term developments and openness to the world economy

• maintaining the COMEXT database, implementing the external trade network with Member States, EFTA countries and enlargement countries, providing user support and disseminating relevant statistics to institutional and public users

• providing the Commission and its departments with the high-quality statistical services required to develop, implement and evaluate EU policies closely related with potential economic growth and employment creation, in particular enterprise, competitiveness, external trade and Internal market policies. Statistical support to the Commission also includes (a) primary data and/or indicators for policy frameworks such as smart growth and Europe 2020 strategy as well as the sustainable development policy, (b) data extractions, interpretation and analysis and (c) training

• providing relevant statistics, in particular Euro area data on international trade in goods, to the ECB for the conduct of the monetary policy

• cooperating with third countries for the promotion of European statistics and for mutual exchange and analysis of data

The Unit is made up of 32 colleagues representing more than 15 different nationalities. What we offer: The current offer is related to the team of the Unit dealing with the production of manufactured goods (PRODCOM). The PRODCOM team comprises four persons. We offer the opportunity to work alongside our staff to get hands-on experience of the daily work of the Unit in the following areas:

• Data processing and validation; • Data extractions, analysis and dissemination; • Methodological developments and quality assessment; • Dealing with questions from users.

Your profile: We are happy to meet a person with a background in the field of industrial production statistics, who has good English language skills, and who is interested in learning what Eurostat is doing in this statistical domain.