About DGINS 

Directors General of the National Statistical Institutes

DGINS Conference is the most important forum in the European Union for discussions about the future and development of the European Statistical System (ESS).

The first DGINS meeting was held in Luxembourg in 1953. Nowadays the DGINS Conference is held once a year in one of the Member-states with the aim of discussing topics related to the statistical programme and current strategic issues in statistics. The head of the host country's national statistical institute acts as chairperson. Around 120 people, including the Presidents of the National Statistical Offices, representatives of the European Commission, the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, participate in this meeting.

The present mandate for the DGINS Conference has been adopted by the Statistical Programme Committee at its meeting on 22-23 November 2000, indicating the objectives, tasks and functions of the Conference. According to this document, the specific objectives of the DGINS Conference are defined as:

• organization and management of statistical work within the ESS;
• identifying and discussing future needs for statistics in a strategic context;
• pursuit of existing priority needs that are not being met;
• presentation of the statistical system of the host country.