The partnership between the Eurostat-OECD PPP Program and the International Comparison Program is an excellent example of an effective global development partnership between international organizations. The two programs collaborate on methodological improvements for the international comparison of prices and volumes and the establishment and publication of the world-wide results, although they are managed and organized independently. The Eurostat-OECD PPP Program was established in the early 1980s to compare the GDPs of the member states of the European Union (EU) and the member countries of the OECD. This remains the purpose of the program, although its coverage has been extended to include countries that have applied to join the European Union and countries of the former Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia, with which Eurostat and the OECD have programs of technical cooperation in statistics. From 1980 to 1990, Eurostat comparisons took place every five years and involved mainly EU member states and countries in line for EU membership. After 1990, Eurostat adopted the rolling benchmark approach and started making annual comparisons. The number of participating countries rose from 14 in 1991 to 19 in 1994. In 1999, the number reached 31 with the inclusion of the 13 countries that were candidates for EU membership. At the same time, the Eurostat program was also “regionalised” into three country groups in order to manage better the increasing number of participating countries. In 2006, a fourth group, covering Western Balkan countries, joined the program, bringing the number of countries participating in Eurostat annual comparisons up to 36. The OECD began organizing comparisons for those OECD member countries that were not included in Eurostat comparisons in the early 1980s. The OECD worked closely with Eurostat during the 1985 and 1990 comparisons.. Formal agreements between the two organizations were made to establish the Eurostat-OECD PPP Program during the 1990 round. Since 1990, the joint Program has covered all OECD member countries. OECD comparisons also cover Russia, which is included in the regular publications of the joint Program. While OECD follows the rolling benchmark approach for consumer prices, results for the joint Program are established only every three years. The next joint comparison was planned for 2005. Eurostat and OECD are ICP coordinators for the 46 countries currently covered by the joint Program. The two institutions are represented on both the ICP Executive Board and the ICP Technical Advisory Group. For more information about the Eurostat-OECD PPP Program, please visit http://www.oecd.org and http://europa.eu.int. View the list of participating countries. |
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