ICON Multi-Beneficiary Programme: Newsletter Highlights (March–June 2026)
The ICON Multi-Beneficiary Programme continues to support partner countries in the Western Balkans and Türkiye in strengthening statistical systems, improving data quality, and advancing alignment with EU statistical standards.
Quality Management and Peer Reviews
A study visit hosted by Eurostat and ISTAT (Italy) under SP 6.1 provided hands-on experience in quality management, including SIMS 2.0 reporting, GSBPM/GSIM frameworks, internal audits, and ESS quality standards.
A peer review of Albania (23–27 March 2026) assessed compliance with the European Statistics Code of Practice. The process, coordinated using the ESS peer review methodology, included self-assessment, an expert visit, and a set of recommendations to further strengthen the national statistical system.
Progress Across Statistical Projects
Implementation of Statistical Projects continued across all key domains, including national accounts, price statistics, business statistics, social statistics, and environmental accounts.
Activities included expert missions, workshops, peer meetings with Eurostat, and ongoing helpdesk support. Work progressed particularly in national accounts methodology, EU-SILC, ESSPROS, environmental statistics, and business statistics, alongside preparations for upcoming missions and reports.
Upcoming Activities (May–June 2026)
The next period foresees a wide range of expert missions, workshops, training courses, and peer reviews across partner countries, including:
- National accounts, GFS, and price statistics missions
- Workshops on FDI statistics and GDP systems
- Training on quarterly GDP systems in Albania
- Peer reviews in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro
- Continued work on social and environmental statistics
Horizontal Activities
Working Groups, workshops, and training courses continue to support knowledge exchange and capacity building. Over 50 participants from partner countries were engaged in the previous period, with increased participation expected in the coming months.
Summary
Overall, the programme shows steady progress across all statistical areas, combining technical assistance, peer learning, and capacity development to strengthen statistical systems and further EU alignment in the Enlargement region.
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For more information about IPA 2022, you can contact us via e-mail: ipa2022@icon-institute.de.