Statistical requirements of the European central bank in the field of general economic statistics

The European Central Bank (ECB) is today releasing a report highlighting its needs regarding euro area data on general economic statistics, in particular data on prices and costs, national accounts, the labour market, government receipts and expenditure, short-term indicators of output and demand, and business and consumer surveys.

After more than 18 months of Monetary Union, significant improvements are urgently required for the purpose of conducting monetary policy for the euro area as a whole. The report supports an initiative taken recently by the ECOFIN Council, which has invited the European Commission (Eurostat), in close collaboration with the ECB, to establish an action plan on statistical requirements identifying for each Member State and for each statistical area where urgent progress should be made with a view to significantly improving availability, quality and timeliness of euro area wide data, as well as identifying possible needs for enhancements to existing EU regulations in the field of statistics.

The report will be available on the ECB's website (see the section Publications) as from 3 p.m. (C.E.T.). Copies of the printed version are available free of charge and can be ordered in writing from the ECB's Press Division (Fax: +49 69 1344 7404).