Following the entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Statistics on 1^st April 2009, Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom, setting up the Statistical Programme Committee, is repealed and the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC) is created.

The ESS Committee provides professional guidance to the ESS for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics in line with the statistical principles.

The ESSC consults the Commission on issues related to the coordination and priorities of the European statistical programme, further development of the Code of Practice, reduction of response burden, statistical confidentiality, and issues of methodology, arising from the establishment and implementation of the statistical programmes.

It is chaired by the Commission (Eurostat) and composed of the NSO Heads of the Member States. Representatives of the EEA/EFTA, ECB, OECD could also take part in the ESSC meetings.

The ESS Committee meets four times a year.