The High-level meeting ‘Towards an ESS Vision 2030’ was organised by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office

The High-level meeting of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union on the future of European statistics took place on 12–13 September 2024 at the Anna Grand Hotel in Balatonfüred.

The meeting provided a platform for Directors-General and Presidents of Eurostat and national statistical institutes of the European Statistical System (ESS) to exchange views on a common vision for the ESS for the years to come.

The discussions were organised around three pillars: data, methods, and operations.
Each pillar was divided into three breakout sessions, which were moderated by the chief statisticians of Malta, Austria, and Croatia on the first day, then Greece, Iceland, and Switzerland, as well as Czech Republic, Sweden and Belgium on the second.
Findings of the breakout sessions were later presented to the plenary which was chaired by Spain, concerning the data pillar, and by Finland, on the subjects of the methods and operations pillars.

From this perspective, the participants looked at the challenges and opportunities for official statistics producers of the new data ecosystems and strategies to continue producing high-quality statistics in response to the evolving information needs of users and stakeholders.
The participants also discussed the integration of new data sources, harnessing technologies, especially artificial intelligence, and forging new partnerships with data holders and academia for producing timelier and more detailed European official statistics.

The participants concluded to continue discussions to further elaborate on the new common vision of the ESS for the years to come.