European Statistics Code of Practice for the National and Community Statistical Authorities. The European Statistics Code of Practice was first adopted by the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) in February 2005 and promulgated in the Commission Recommendation COM(2005)217 on the independence, integrity and accountability of the national and Community statistical authorities. The Code is based on 15 principles concerning the institutional environment, statistical processes and outputs. It aims to ensure that statistics produced within the ESS are not only relevant, timely and accurate but also comply with principles of professional independence, impartiality and objectivity. A set of indicators of good practice for each of the 15 principles provides a reference for measuring the implementation of the Code. The Code was revised in 2011 and adopted by the ESSC on 28th September 2011.