The Compromises and Controversies of the Harmonized Consumer Price Index (HICP)

This presentation focuses on the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices, designed to meet the Maastricht convergence criteria and now central to European economic governance. Conceived by European experts around Eurostat as « a new indicator » after failed attempts at harmonizing national indices, the HICP materializes an alternative approach to statistical standardization in EU countries through regulatory coordination and compliance monitoring. We trace the HICP's trajectory to analyze the tensions between national sovereignty and supranational harmonization within the European Statistical System based on an indicator often perceived as the backbone of the legitimacy of national statistical institutes. A case study of France illustrates how the discrepancy between the HICP and the domestic index can contribute to social controversies over purchasing power, wage indexation and redistribution. Drawing on archival research, document analysis and interviews, we argue that the HICP not only embodies the political rationalities of European integration but also reconfigures public debates about measurement, expertise, and social justice within national contexts.