Pre-release access to statistical data

Practices on privileged access

STATEC is professionally and scientifically independent i.e. it sets its own work programme in accordance with national and European statistical legislation, and produces and disseminates statistical data in complete neutrality. This data is accessible to all users at the same time. However this general rule has some exceptions which are described here below. These exceptions can be explained whether with the procedures fixed by a law or grand-ducal regulation or for practical reasons in order to allow the government members to take up their position in full knowledge of the facts.

The topics to be subject of pre-release communication :

Consumer price index (CPI)

nce the consumer price index is established, the Index Commission gives its opinion. The Index Commission is composed of representatives of trade unions, employers and experts. They are in charge of assisting and advising STATEC within the establishment of the CPI. Once the monthly consumer price index is approved by the Index Commission, the public is immediately informed.

The establishment and the composition of this commission are fixed by the grand-ducal regulation of the 20th December 1999 concerning the consumer price index. Its functioning is fixed by ministerial regulation which stipulates:

“No publication of the index or of its elements is allowed to be disseminated before the meeting of the Commission. The members of the commission may publish the documents and information that are transmitted by STATEC provided that the data source is mentioned (…). They have neither access to nominative data concerning the products, varieties of articles, brands, models nor to the points of sale and the individual prices observed. This data is covered by statistical confidentiality. The members of the Committee are bound to secrecy of the deliberations.”

The meeting dates are in accordance with the publication dates of the CPI which are announced four months in advance by STATEC’s release calendar. The members of the commission are aware of the publication dates 12 months in advance.

STATEC transmits the results of the CPI calculations exclusively to the members of the Index commission two working days before the meeting of the commission. For technical reasons, inflation forecasts are sometimes disseminated only on the day of the meeting without prior communication. The official publication will be transmitted to the public immediately after meeting’s end.

The draft of the press release is transmitted to the cabinet of the Minister of the Economy two working days before the publication of the results. This will allow the Minister or his spokes-man to react immediately to the press on the figures after official publication. The press release transmitted to the Minister is marked as “draft” or “provisional” allowing STATEC to make last minute revisions. Furthermore, the press release is transmitted under embargo; the latter ends the day of the official publication at noon.

Unemployment

Data of the job seekers registered at the employment agency (ADEM) are published according to the reference calendar established every year in November for the coming year. This calendar defines for each month a key day (between the 20th and 25th of the month) for data publication. On the eve at 19h00, the results are transmitted to the Minister having employment under his remits, to STATEC and to the government’s information and press service (SIP). The official publication is made by the director of ADEM or the person empowered of it, by the intermediate of the SIP who transmits the press release and the bulletin to the press at 11:00 a.m. according to the defined calendar. Simultaneously, STATEC and ADEM publish the data on their websites.

National accounts

At the moment, there is no official declared pre-release access. The process is the following: Quarterly accounts: Data is transmitted to Eurostat (under embargo) at t+90 days while on the national level data is published at t+95 days. During the five days separating the finalization of the accounts and the publication of the figures on the statistical website, the accounts and a draft of the accompanying press release are available for the director’s board in order to comment on it. The national accounts unit however does not make any communication to third parties. Nevertheless, the management normally informs the government and more precisely the Minister of the Economy about the figures one or two days before their publication.

Annual accounts: As to the annual accounts, the first transmission is scheduled for 22nd September, the deadline for the Gross National Income (GNI) notification within the framework of the fourth resource of the European Union. This notification contains aggregates that comprise GDP (Gross Domestic Product) from the production perspective, expenditure and income as well as the transition from GDP to GNI. The data is expressed in current prices. This notification is also transmitted for informational purposes to STATEC’s management, the Minister of the Economy, the Minister of Finance and Minister of State. An official transmission to the European Commission is also executed through the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg in Brussels. On demand, the notification data are also made available for the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation within the framework of the preparation of the development aid budget.

Annual accounts at constant prices, including in particular the growth rate in volume of the GDP, are usually finalised and transmitted to Eurostat on the 30th of September. Usually 5 days later the publication is made on the website with the publication of the quarterly accounts of the 2nd quarter of the current year. As well as for the quarterly accounts, the national accounts unit does not make any external communication except for those already described above related to the GNI notification and those concerning the main aggregates of the GDP and GNO at current prices. Nevertheless, as well as for quarterly accounts, the management informs the government, more precisely the Minister of the Economy on the figures that are about to be published.

Economic forecasts

The macroeconomic forecasts are produced by STATEC and discussed within the interministerial forecast committee in which the Ministry of Finance, IGSS, IGF and tax administrations are member. The forecasts on public finances are established on a consensual basis within the committee, in particular with the tax administration which brings their expertise and know-how regarding tax income. This procedure is placed in the context of the European semester that takes place from January to April.

Finally, the forecasts are published in the “Note de conjoncture” drawn up by the Short Term Economics unit under the responsibility of the management. The “Note de conjoncture” is usually transmitted to the Minister of the Economy two days before the press conference.