2008年-ECB欧洲央行_Quality_assurance_procedures_within_the_ECB_statistical_function_16页_305kb

Summary of ECB Quality Assurance Procedures

Introduction

The ECB Statistical Function ensures adherence to the ECB Statistics Quality Framework (SQF) through well-defined quality assurance procedures. These procedures are either already in place or will be established in the near future, and they cover the entire statistical production chain as well as the supporting IT infrastructure. The document is a "living" document, regularly updated to reflect new procedures and remove outdated ones.

Core Content

The quality assurance procedures are structured around several key areas:

• Governance Issues
• Strategy, Work Programme, and Procedures for Identifying New User Requirements
• Confidentiality Protection
• Data Collection Procedures
• Compilation and Statistical Analysis
• Data Accessibility and Dissemination Policy
• Monitoring and Reporting
• Stakeholder Satisfaction Assessment

These procedures are designed to ensure the quality, consistency, and reliability of ECB statistics, while also maintaining confidentiality and transparency.

Main Governance Structures

1.1 ECB Governance

• The ECB's legal framework includes the Treaty on European Union, which ensures independence and accountability of the ECB, and the Protocol on the Statute of the ESCB and the EC Regulation 2533/98, which define the ECB’s responsibilities in collecting and providing statistics.
• The ECB Code of Conduct and the Ethics Adviser guide professional behavior and secrecy among ECB staff.
• The ESCB governance structure outlines the legal basis for statistical collection and dissemination, including the confidentiality regime and operational aspects.

1.2 International Cooperation

• The Statistics Committee (STC) and its working groups oversee the development and implementation of ESCB statistics, ensuring alignment with user needs and regulatory requirements.
• The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Eurostat aims to avoid duplication of statistical work and ensure high-quality, consistent data at the Community level.
• The Statistical Programme Committee (SPC) and CMFB (Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics) provide guidance and coordination on statistical matters across EU and international bodies.
• The ECB participates in international statistical standard-setting, including the SDMX initiative, and the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA), which promotes coordination and consistency among international statistical organizations.

Strategy and Work Programme

2.1 Medium-Term Strategy

• The ECB sets medium-term priorities for statistical development, including:
  • Enhancing quarterly sector accounts
  • Preparing for future EU enlargements
  • Improving harmonized statistics on insurance and pensions
  • Ensuring availability of high-frequency financial market statistics
  • Incorporating financial innovations
  • Supporting financial stability
  • Producing harmonized payment and securities settlement statistics
  • Enhancing dissemination of statistics

2.2 Annual Work Programme

• An annual work programme is prepared in close cooperation with ECB users.
• It includes medium-term objectives and is subject to a mid-year review and end-of-year assessment.
• It is also submitted for user feedback and is published in the Database of International Statistical Activities (DISA).

2.3 Merits and Costs Procedure

• This procedure is used when new or enhanced statistics could significantly affect reporting agents.
• It involves:
  • Identifying new statistical requirements
  • Assessing user priorities
  • Evaluating data availability and collection methods
  • Estimating costs for NCBs and compiling a euro area estimate
  • Final decision by the Governing Council, with input from the Executive Board and General Council

Confidentiality Protection

3.1 Legal Requirements

• Article 8 of EC Regulation 2533/98 defines the confidentiality regime for statistical data.
• The ECB has adopted Guideline ECB/1998/NP28 to protect individual data.
• The ECB ensures that confidential data are used only for statistical purposes and that reporting agents are protected from undue disclosure.

3.2 IT Infrastructure

• All data transmitted to and from the ECB are sent over a secure network and encrypted.
• A "flag" system is used to identify confidential data (CSI) within the GESMES/TS data exchange system.
• Secondary confidentiality is applied to hide additional country contributions when disseminating euro area aggregates.

3.3 Rules and Monitoring

• ECB statisticians annually declare their adherence to confidentiality rules.
• The ECB reports annually to the Governing Council on the compliance of its statistical processes with the confidentiality guidelines.

Data Collection Procedures

4.1 Transmission Calendar

• Data is collected from NCBs, NSIs, Eurostat, and other sources according to a predefined timetable.
• Reporting agents are required to adhere to this schedule.

4.2 Compliance Monitoring

• The ECB monitors compliance with the transmission calendar and conceptual framework.
• Non-compliance is regularly reported to the Governing Council.

4.3 Data Collection Standards

• Automated methods, such as application-to-application software, are used for data exchanges.
• The GESMES/TS (SDMX-EDI) message is central to these procedures, enabling data exchange, storage, and retrieval.
• Standardized concepts, data structures, and international code lists are used to ensure interoperability and efficiency.

4.4 Metadata Management

• Structural metadata is used to define statistical variables, dimensions, and data structures.
• Metadata is centralized within the ECB, with changes thoroughly discussed and cross-checked for consistency.
• Metadata is used throughout the statistical processing system, including user interfaces and search engines.

Compilation and Statistical Analysis

5.1 Completeness Checks

• Missing data is identified and the relevant country representatives are contacted to provide the missing information.

5.2 Internal Consistency

• The ECB verifies that linear constraints are met, such as balance sheet balances and sub-totals matching totals.

5.3 Consistency Across Frequencies

• The ECB ensures that monthly and quarterly data are consistent and that end-year stocks match end-December stocks.

5.4 External Consistency

• Data is compared with external sources such as the BIS and Eurostat to ensure cross-dataset consistency.

5.5 Revision Studies

• Revisions are analyzed for all statistics, with different revision policies applied depending on the dataset.
• The ECB conducts in-depth revision analyses for certain aggregates, such as monetary aggregates and balance of payments data.

5.6 Plausibility Checks

• Outliers in data are detected through time series analysis and statistical models (e.g., ARIMA).
• Tailor-made checks are applied to specific datasets, such as portfolio investment flows compared with leading indicators.

5.7 Regular Quality Reporting

• Quality assessment reports are circulated to internal users and NCBs after data is received and compiled.

Data Accessibility and Dissemination

6.1 Adherence to SDDS

• The ECB follows the IMF Special Data Dissemination Standards (SDDS).
• Its dissemination practices are published on the IMF Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board.

6.2 Release Calendar

• Statistics are released according to a predetermined timetable.
• The release calendar includes publication dates and reference periods.

Monitoring and Reporting

• The ECB regularly monitors and reports on the quality and consistency of its statistical outputs.
• This includes internal and external audits, user feedback, and performance reviews.

Stakeholder Satisfaction

• The ECB actively assesses and enhances stakeholder satisfaction.
• Feedback mechanisms are in place to ensure the relevance and usability of ECB statistics for its users.

Conclusion

The ECB's quality assurance procedures are comprehensive, covering governance, strategy, confidentiality, data collection, compilation, dissemination, monitoring, and stakeholder engagement. These procedures ensure high-quality, consistent, and transparent statistical outputs, aligned with both European and international standards. The ECB maintains a strong focus on interoperability, cost-effectiveness, and confidentiality, while continuously improving its statistical services through user engagement and international collaboration.