The final event of the EU-funded EU4ADMIN project was held in Tarčin from 2-4 September, marking the conclusion of three years of work to improve use of administrative data in producing official statistics in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The event brought together representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s statistical institutions, relevant institutions, and administrative data holders, domestic and international experts, and European partners.
Launched in September 2023, EU4ADMIN focused on increasing the use of administrative data sources in producing official statistics. It also strengthened cooperation between statistical institutions and institutions responsible for administrative records, addressing legal, methodological, organizational and technical aspects of data exchange and use.
The final event presented results, including more structured inter-institutional cooperation, more uniform approaches to the exchange and use of administrative data, and a stronger foundation for further development of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s statistical system in line with European Union practices.
Among the key results are cooperation agreements and technical protocols for data exchange between Bosnia and Herzegovina’s statistical institutions – the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federal Institute for Statistics and the Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics – and three institutions: the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Indirect Taxation Authority of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs. The agreements cover crime statistics and demography, transport statistics and tourism statistics.
“EU4ADMIN is important because it showed that the development of the statistical system is not only a matter of the way we produce statistics. It is about the ability of Bosnia and Herzegovina to turn available data into quality information about society and the economy, on which development policies and decisions can be based,” said Vesna Ćužić, Director of the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“The results of the project give us a firmer basis to continue this process systematically, with European standards as a common framework and long-term responsibility of all institutions participating in it,” she added.
The event brought together domestic and international experts for lectures and panel discussions on the future of official statistics and the growing role of administrative data in modern governance. Kari-Anne Lund from Eurostat discussed the importance of administrative data in the context of European integration and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s candidate status.
The results of EU4ADMIN provide a foundation for continued cooperation and further development of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s statistical system, aiming for greater alignment with European standards and practices.