Definition: Standard code list

Category: General concept

Standard code lists (SCL) are code lists harmonised and agreed upon at Eurostat level in order to replace the variety of ad hoc and very often redundant code lists used in the past in production and dissemination of statistical data.

The harmonised code lists are/will be used in the Eurostat Reference database (Eurobase) and in the Dissemination environment. In addition to this use, domain managers in Eurostat should use them whenever possible in their production databases and in their data transmission formats. Even if sometimes no immediate implementation is possible at the production database level, domain managers are asked to adapt whenever the opportunity arises. The adoption of the harmonised codes into the data production chain would reduce the need for transcodification and the risk of errors. These harmonised codes could also be extended to Member States either directly or whenever they participate in the data transmission formats defined by Eurostat. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/miscellaneous/index.cfm?TargetUrl=DSP_GENINFO_SCL