MEDSTAT Directors met in Luxembourg on February 14 , and reviewed progress in the MEDSTAT II programme

On 14 February, the Directors of the Statistical Institutes of the MEDSTAT countries met to review progress in the MEDSTAT II programme and to discuss the options for continuing cooperation in the post-MEDSTAT period. The meeting was held in Luxembourg to facilitate the EU-Med Dialogue, i.e. between the DGs of the MED, EU and EFTA NSIs, many of whom are active in the current programme.

MEDSTAT II is a regional statistical cooperation programme financed by EuropeAid.  It covers Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian territory, Syria Tunisia and Turkey. Its main objectives are to contribute to the strengthening of the national statistical institutes (NSIs) and the statistical systems of the MPCs, and to the adoption of international standards, definitions and methodologies.

The MEDSTAT II programme will end in mid-2009. Future cooperation will be based on the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument which favours bilateral support to countries.

Although countries recognised the advantages of bilateral support and twinning, they felt that a regional dimension was still needed. MEDSTAT II has created a dynamism that propels all countries forward, setting standards to be reached, providing training and technical assistance to help reach those standards.

It was agreed that a Task Force, involving Commission, EU NSIs and MED NSIs, be set up to identify the areas for which a regional programme is still important, and the priorities for any future regional programme.

Contact information	Rosemary Montgomery, Statistical Cooperation with European and Mediterranean countries Unit (email: rosemary.montgomery@ec.europa.eu)
News type	Inbrief
File link	http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page?_pageid=2733,70078374&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
Source of information	The Medstat programme
Keyword(s)	EU-MEDSTAT-ENV
Subject(s)	METHTODOLOGY - STATISTICS - DECISION AID
Relation	http://www.emwis.org/initiatives/medstat
Geographical coverage	Luxembourg, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey
News date	26/02/2008
Working language(s)	ENGLISH

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