How can we make sure that the data from different European countries is comparable? What does quality in statistics mean? Jonathan Elliott talks to John Verrinder and Lourdes Prado (both Eurostat) about the work of the statisticians and data scientists at Eurostat and how they master and harmonize all the data from 27 EU Member States before they get shared with the public. They also look at how statisticians ensure reliable data that policymakers, academics and journalists can use for their work.

How is the European Union progressing on its way to becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral economy? Look at the data on renewable energy in Europe with us! Madeleine Mahovsky, head of the Energy Statistics Unit from Eurostat and Julian Prime, the head of Electricity, Renewables and Coal Statistics at the International Energy Agency, talk about the fascinating world of renewable energy and what the EU data have to say about it.

This episode looks at the winning entries in the European Statistics Competition. The competition invites secondary-school students to create two-minute films presenting official statistics on the topic “Environment”. Over 17,000 students from 19 different countries across Europe entered this year’s contest. Tim Allen from Eurostat explains why data analysis and communication work go hand in hand. The participating students were asked to demonstrate their skills by finding and analyzing data and then presenting them in in a video for the competition. Joanna Karlowska-Pik, a professor from Poland, talks about inspiration, creativity and originality she has found in students and how she prepares them for the competition by supporting their individual talents and ideas. Glen Campbell, a jury member from the Publications Office (European Commission), explains the criteria used to judge the competitors and why technical perfection is not the key to telling a good story. Students from the winning teams from Bulgaria, Italy and Slovenia share their experiences with creating the videos and what they learned in the process. In a conversation with Jonathan Elliott about this competition, we find out how all these factors decided the eventual winners and learn about the range and talent demonstrated by students with their very creative and original videos.

In this episode we talk about the prices of things and what happens when they just won’t stop going up. Maybe we can find out what’s going on with the EU’s inflation problem and what might be done about it. Paul Konijn from Eurostat and Professor Ludwig von Auer from the University of Trier discuss the topic with Jonathan Elliott and throw light on inflation and why it’s rising in Europe.

2022 is the ‘European Year of Youth’ and we are going to focus on the world of work for young people and the effects that the COVID pandemic has had and continues to have on it. Anna Emilia Martin from Eurostat and Niall O’Higgins, senior economist from the International Labour Organization Agency talk with Jonathan Elliott about this topic to figure out how the world has changed for young people aged 15 to 29 in Europe.

Are we saving the planet with our recycling or ruining it with more packaging and consumption? Is there now less pollution, or more? Oscar Gomez from Eurostat and Ioannis Bakas, an expert from the European Environment Agency talk with Jonathan Elliott about this topic to figure out what’s really going on when it comes to recycling our waste in Europe.

In spring 2020, the EU countries went into a lockdown because of the global COVID pandemic. Two years later, we take a look at the how the changes in the way we travel are reflected in the tourism statistical data. Christophe Demunter from Eurostat and Ulf Sonntag from NIT, Germany, talk to our host Jonathan Elliott about how the pandemic affected the modes of transport we take, where we go for holidays and how jobs in the tourism sector have changed. We also ask some people in the street how their experiences and habits changed because of the pandemic – and get some surprising answers!