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Eurostat: Making Europe Commensurate and Comparable

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Policy Design in the European Union

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology ((PSEPS))

Abstract

Numbers are crucial to the modern systems of government, because they make objects of government commensurate and comparable and reduce complexity. In this chapter, I outline the making of a European statistical apparatus and a Europe-wide space of equivalence. I argue that the present situation, where all member states and even applicant states can be represented by rows, bars and lines in statistical releases, is not self-evident but has taken decades of costly investment in the statistical regime before it became commensurable and comparable.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Both de Michelis and Alain Chantraine began their careers in Eurostat in the early 1960s, and ultimately became directors around the start of the 1990s. I refer to them as Eurostat insiders, and mark references to their book with a letter M and a page number to separate these references from the research literature.

  2. 2.

    DGs = Directorates-General.

  3. 3.

    The High Authority was an executive body of the ECSC, being merged into the European Commission in 1967.

  4. 4.

    For clarity, I use the terms Eurostat or ‘the statistical office’ throughout the text.

  5. 5.

    United Nations ’ Economic Commission for Europe.

  6. 6.

    Insiders note that member states sometimes used international organisations to hinder, or at least to slow down, initiatives that were adverse to them.

  7. 7.

    The five Euro convergence criteria, known also as the Maastricht criteria and the indicators , are the following: (1) HICP inflation (12-month average of yearly rates); (2) government budget deficit; (3) government debt-to-GDP ratio; (4) exchange rate stability; and (5) long-term interest rates (ECB n.d.).

  8. 8.

    On juridification, see Blichner and Molander (2005).

  9. 9.

    During the period when Eurostat was weak, the European Community was also in difficulties, as Europe was suffering from economic stagnation, and political integration had also stagnated.

  10. 10.

    Officially the Hellenic Statistical Authority.

  11. 11.

    Impartiality and professional independence are carefully inscribed into statistical legislation and the Statistical Code of Practice, but the inevitable dependency and modes of interaction between the Commission and other DGs remain hidden.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland

    Marja Alastalo

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  1. Marja Alastalo
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jyväskylä, Finland

    Risto Heiskala

  2. Akaa, Finland

    Jari Aro

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Alastalo, M. (2018). Eurostat: Making Europe Commensurate and Comparable. In: Heiskala, R., Aro, J. (eds) Policy Design in the European Union. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64849-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64849-1_5

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