site.btaContinue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria: OECD Expresses Concern over Proposed Amendments to Bulgaria’s Statistics Act

The Chief Statistician of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Steve MacFeely, has voiced serious concerns regarding the proposed amendments to Bulgaria’s Statistics Act, according to a letter sent in response to an inquiry by Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) MPs Nadezhda Yordanova and Assen Vassilev, who had requested the OECD’s opinion on legislative changes proposed by the governing majority.

In September, GERB-UDF, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) - New Beginning, BSP - United Left and There Is Such a People (TISP) voted at first reading to amend the law so that the President and Vice Presidents of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) would no longer be appointed through a competitive procedure by the Council of Ministers, but instead elected by Parliament.

The letter reads: "Regarding the dismissal of the President of the National Statistical Institute, the criteria for the termination of the mandate are defined in Article 8 of the Statistics Act, which we understand is not subject to revision by the draft amendments. These criteria and grounds for dismissal are in the Secretariat’s preliminary view aligned with international good practices. The transitional provision, which we understand would supersede the grounds for termination ahead of term of the mandates of the President and the Deputy Presidents which are set out in the Statistics Act, do not provide any further sound grounds and in the Secretariat’s preliminary view, may not fully align with OECD Members’ best policies and practices and the Recommendation in terms of measures to support the professional independence of Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute."

MP Nadezhda Yordanova commented that the bill’s second reading is forthcoming, and urged that the amendments be aligned with OECD standards, warning that failure to do so could hinder Bulgaria’s accession efforts after years of progress toward this national goal.

MacFeely, who is also Director of the OECD Directorate for Statistics and Data, recalled that the 2015 Recommendation on Good Statistical Practice requires national statistical authorities to be professionally independent and protected from political interference through explicit legal safeguards.

The OECD’s assessment questions whether the proposed transitional provisions comply with international standards guaranteeing the institutional and professional independence of national statistical offices.