Smarter, greener, more inclusive? : indicators to support the Europe 2020 strategy

Eurostat - the statistical office of the EU - has the role of informing the public about important developments in the EU and within important European policy frameworks. In this overall context, Eurostat is introducing a new type of flagship publication that provides statistical analyses related to important European Commission policy frameworks or significant economic, social or environmental phenomena. 'Smarter, greener, more inclusive? : indicators to support the Europe 2020 strategy' is the first of these new flagship publications. It focuses on statistics related to the Europe 2020 strategy. It presents the long-term trends as described by the headline indicators of the strategy together with other relevant statistical data which enable a better understanding of the driving forces behind the headline indicators. The publication is based on data produced by the European statistical system (ESS) and disseminated by Eurostat, thus ensuring that the quality standards of official European statistics are met. Impartial and objective statistical information is essential for evidence-based political decision-making and forms the basis of Eurostat's role in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy. This role is to provide statistical and methodological support in the process of developing and choosing the relevant indicators to support the strategy, to produce and supply statistical data, and ensure its high quality standards.