1. The current term of all members of the Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians expires at the closing of the 1995 plenary session, on 15 June 1995. At the 1995 plenary session, therefore, elections for a Chairman and five Vice- Chairmen will be held for the two-year period June 1995 to June 1997.
2. The rules governing the election of the Bureau are the ones which the Conference adopted at its 1991 plenary session when the work of the Bureau was reoriented and new work methods were adopted to reflect the new role of the Bureau as a "Steering Body" of the Conference. They are reproduced in Annex I of this note.
3. During the course of 1994/95, two Bureau members who were elected by the Conference at its 1993 plenary session for a two year term left their posts as president of the statistical office of their country (Mr. Zeuthen of Denmark, and Mr. Guvenen of Turkey). Their places on the Bureau therefore became vacant because Bureau members are elected 'ad personam'. All participants in the Conference, who are heads of their national statistical offices, are eligible for election to the Bureau. These include the remaining elected Bureau members whose current terms end in June 1995. The term of office they have served on the Bureau to date is indicated below:
Mr. I. Fellegi (Canada): Vice-Chairman, 1991/93
Chairman, 1993/95
Mr. G. Vukovich (Hungary): Vice-Chairman,1991/93 and 1993/95
Mr. P. Garonna (Italy): Vice-Chairman, 1993/95
Mr. J. Olenski (Poland): Vice-Chairman, 1993(November)/95
4. As stated in para. 98 (i) of the annexed material, any member of the Conference is eligible for membership in the Bureau of the Conference. "Membership" in the Conference is defined in the Conference's Report on Structure and Relations (see attached annex) as "the head of the statistical service of any country participating in the work of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe".
5. As noted above, when Bureau members retire, their places become vacant. They are not succeeded on the bureau by their successor as head of their statistical office.
6. It should also be noted that it is possible for a head of the statistical service of a country outside the ECE region to be a member of the Conference, and to be elected to its Bureau.
7. Para. 98 (iii) of the annexed material provides for the elections to the Bureau at the 1995 plenary session being organized by "the most senior previous Chairman of the Conference, present at the plenary session concerned". Mr. Carlo Malaguerra, President of the Federal Statistical Office of Switzerland, is the ony previous Chairman of the Conference2 who is currently head of a national statistical office, and therefore if he is present at the 1995 plenary session, the elections would be organized by him.
8. The Bureau of the Conference now meets twice a year, in February and October, for two days each time, in addition to having short meetings during the course of the plenary session in June.
96. The subjects discussed under this agenda item were (a) the reorientation of the work of the Bureau in order to adapt existing work methods to the new role of the Bureau as a steering body of the Conference, (b) the formal consequences of the new role of the Bureau for the composition and election of the officers of the Bureau, and (c) the revision of the 1953 Report on Structure and Relations in order to adjust the existing report to the new conditions for international statistical cooperation in general and the role of the Conference in particular.
97. The following decisions were taken with regard to the reorientation of the work of the Bureau:
(i) One meeting of the Bureau of a duration of one to two full days should continue to be held in the second half of February each year. The subjects of discussion, as well as the need for the availability of all secretariat experts for this meeting, suggest that the meeting should be held in Geneva.
(ii) A second Bureau meeting could regularly be convened during the morning of the first day of the plenary session.
(iii) Further meetings of the Bureau could be determined by the Bureau members or the Chairman of the Conference as the need arises.
(iv) The documentation necessary for Bureau meetings would be determined by the Bureau members in each case. The reports of all meetings convened within the work programme of the Conference prior to the Bureau meeting in February each year would have to be evaluated in detail from the point of view of the success of the meetings.
(v) Invitations for Bureau meetings are issued by the secretariat. As a rule, they should be mailed not less than six weeks in advance.
(vi) For purposes of consultation with the Bureau, the secretariat may take initiatives on matters affecting the implementation of the work programme of the Conference, or in relation to other issues that are of interest to the Conference and the Bureau.
98. Regarding the procedural consequences of the new role of the Bureau on the election of its officials, the following was agreed:
(i) Any member of the Conference is eligible for membership in the Bureau of the Conference. The members of the Bureau undertake to devote the time necessary to an adequate discharge of their duties.
(ii) The Conference elects its Bureau for a period of two years, starting with the thirty-ninth plenary session.
(iii) The election by the Conference is made on the basis of a proposal by the most senior previous Chairman of the Conference, present at the plenary session concerned. The proposal should be prepared in such a way that it maximizes the chances of being adopted by consensus.
(iv) If no previous Chairman of the Conference is present at the plenary session, the Bureau proposes the designation of a member of the Conference at the beginning of the plenary session, who will assume the task of preparing the proposal for the composition of the Bureau.
(v) The Bureau is composed of six members. The Bureau may invite to the meetings of the Bureau anyone who may facilitate its work.
(vi) If a Bureau seat falls vacant, the Bureau may decide to co-opt a member until the time of the next plenary session, when a new Bureau member is elected.
(vii) Bureau members can be elected to four successive Bureaus. Any previous Bureau member can be re-elected to the Bureau after an interruption of at least two years.
(viii) The Chairman of the Conference is elected by the Conference from among the members of the Bureau. The term of office is two years.
(ix) The election is made on the basis of a proposal by the member of the Conference who is responsible for the proposal of Bureau composition.
(x) If the post of Chairman of the Conference falls vacant, the Bureau may decide to designate an Acting Chairman from among the Bureau members until the time of the next plenary session, when a new Chairman is elected by the Conference.
(xi) A Chairman of the Conference may be re-elected once. Any previous Chairman may be re-elected Chairman after an interruption of at least two years.
(xii) Standing invitations are extended to the Director-General of Eurostat and to the chief statistical representative of the OECD Secretariat to attend meetings of the Bureau as observers. The Director of the UN Statistical Office continues to participate in Bureau meetings as representative of the UN secretariat.
99. The Conference agreed on a revision of the report on structure and relations. The agreed text is included in Annex II of this report.
The Conference of European Statisticians meets as a continuing body under the joint auspices of the UN Statistical Commission and the UN Economic Commission for Europe. The Conference reviewed at its thirty-ninth plenary session the Report on Structure and Relations, which was included as Appendix C in the report of the Third Regional Meeting of European Statisticians (Geneva, 15-19 June 1953; document E/CN.3/CONF.3/1;E/ECE/167). The Conference decided to revise the Report on Structure and Relations in the light of the new requirements for statistical cooperation in the ECE region, which have emerged from contemporary transition, integration and other processes of cooperation in the region. The Conference agreed on the amended Report on Structure and Relations as it is set out below.
(ii) to promote close coordination of the statistical activities in Europe of international organizations so as to achieve greater uniformity in concepts and definitions and to reduce to a minimum the burdens on national statistical offices.
(iii) to respond to any emerging need for international statistical cooperation arising out of transition, integration and other processes of cooperation both within the ECE region and between the ECE region and other regions.
(i) Decide on the collection and dissemination of such internationally comparable statistics of ECE member countries as are required by policy makers, enterprises, researchers and the general public in the ECE region;
(ii) promote the development of statistical methodological guidelines and standards (concepts, definitions, classifications) as required for purposes of international comparability of statistics in the region;
(iii) assist in the improvement of the statistical infrastructure of countries both within and outside the ECE region;
(iv) coordinate international statistical cooperation and the statistical work programme of the ECE, using the work programme of the Conference as the basic management tool for international statistical coordination;
(v) make the results of its work available to national statistical offices, international organizations, enterprises or any other user;
(vi) arrange for any study that may be required to further its objectives.
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1 At the 1993 plenary, the Conference selected Mr. Olenski
to be co-opted to serve on the Bureau during the 1993/94-
1994/95 term of the Bureau, in the event that a Bureau seat
fell vacant. This occurred in November 1993 when Mr. P.
Guzhvin, who had been elected as a Vice-Chairman of the
Conference at the 1993 plenary session, left his post as head
of the statistical office of the Russian Federation.
2 Mr. Malaguerra served as Chairman of the Conference for
four years (1989-93), and as Vice-Chairman for two years
(1987/89).