Speaking at the presentation of three twinning projects from the statistics sector, financed by the CARDS programme and implemented through the state statistics offices of Denmark and Finland, Wuenschmann underlined the importance of statistics for 'common' citizens.
The acting director of the Central Bureau of Statistics (DSZ), Darko Jukic, said that the three projects and the already implemented adjustment measures, were part of a very intense period of the adjustment of Croatia's state statistics to European standards and preparations for the screening of the statistics sector, scheduled for next week.
Croatia's twinning partner in the project CARDS 2003 Public Finance Statistics, worth EUR800,000, is Statistics Finland. The purpose of the project is to develop government sector national accounts statistics to follow EU legislation. The project was launched in February and will last 24 months.
The expected key results of the project are: development of annual non-financial and financial sector accounts according to the European System of Accounts (ESA 95), ensuring that the national level cooperation especially in the compilation of national accounts statistics for the government sector functions properly, ensuring that the statistical data on the Croatian general government, included in the Excessive Deficit Procedure, is based on EU legislation.
Statistics Denmark is Croatia's twinning partners in the other two projects - CARDS 2002 Establishment of a System for Producing Regional Accounts at NUTS II Level and CARDS 2003 Labour Market Statistics Upgrading. The first project, worth EUR400,000, started in May and will last 20 months. The second project, worth EUR320,000, started in September 2005 will last 24 months.