1998R0577 — EN — 12.01.2004 — 003.001 — 1
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►B COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No577/98
of9March1998
ontheorganisationofalabourforcesamplesurveyintheCommunity
(OJ L 77, 14.3.1998, p. 3)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Regulation (EC) No 1991/2002 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 8 October 2002L 308 1 9.11.2002
►M2CommissionRegulation(EC) No 2104/2002 of 28 November 2002 L 324 14 29.11.2002
►M3Regulation (EC) No 2257/2003 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 25 November 2003L 336 6 23.12.2003
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COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No577/98
of9March1998
ontheorganisationofalabourforcesamplesurveyintheCommu-
nity
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, andinparticular Article 213 thereof,
Having regard to the draft Regulation presented by the Commission,
Whereas, inorder to carry out the tasks assign ed to it, the Commission
needs comparable statistical information on the level and pattern of and
trends in employment and unemployment in the Member States;
Whereas the best method of obtaining such information at Community
level is to conduct harmonised labour force surveys;
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 3711/91 of 16 December 1991
on the organisation of an annual labour force sample survey in theCommunity (
1) laid downthat, startin g in1992, a survey was to be
conducted in the spring of each year;
Whereas, although a continuous survey is preferable to an annual
spring survey for ensuring the availability and harmonisation of data
and measuring the volume of work, it is difficult to implement a
continuous survey on the same dates in all the Member States;
Whereas the use of existing administrative sources should be encour-
aged insofar as they can usefully supplement the information obtained
through interviews or serve as a sampling basis;
Whereas the data inthe survey, as fixed by this Regulation , may be
extended to include a further set of variables forming part of a
programme of ad hocmodules which covers several years, and which
will be drawnup un der anappropriate procedure as part of the imple-mentation arrangements;
Whereas the principles of relevance and cost-effectiveness, as these are
defined in Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 onCommunity statistics (
2), which constitutes the legislative framework
for the productionof Commun ity statistics, will also apply to thisRegulation;
Whereas statistical confidentiality is governed by the rules set out in
Regulation (EC) No 322/97 and in Council Regulation (Euratom,EEC) No 1588/90 of 11 June 1990 on the transmission of data subject
to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European
Communities (
3);
Whereas the Statistical Programme Committee established by Decision
89/382/EEC, Euratom (4) has beencon sulted by the Commissionin
accordance with Article 3 of the aforesaid Decision,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Frequency ofthesurvey
A labour force sample survey, hereinafter referred to as ‘the survey’,
shall be conducted by the Member States each year.1998R0577 — EN — 12.01.2004 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ L 351, 20. 12. 1991, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 52, 22. 2. 1997, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 151, 15. 6. 1990, p. 1. Regulationas amen ded by Regulation(EC)
No 322/97.
(4) OJ L 181, 28. 6. 1989, p. 47.
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The survey shall be a continuous survey providing quarterly and annual
results; however, during a transitional period not extending beyond2002, Member States which are unable to implement a continuous
survey shall instead carry out an annual survey, to take place in the
spring.
By way of derogation, the transitional period shall be extended
(a) until 2003 for Italy,
(b) until 2004 for Germany under the condition that Germany provide
quarterly substitute estimates for the mainlabour force samplesurvey aggregates as well as annual average estimates for somespecified labour force sample survey aggregates.
The information collected during the survey relates generally to the
situation during the course of the week (taken to run from Monday to
Sunday) preceding the interview, known as the reference week.
In the case of a continuous survey:
— the reference weeks are spread uniformly throughout the whole
year;
— the interview normally takes place during the week immediately
following the reference week. The reference week and the date ofthe interview may not be more than five weeks apart, except inthe third quarter,
— the reference quarters and years are respectively groups of 13 or 52
consecutive weeks. A list of the weeks making up a given quarteror year is drawnup accordin g to the procedure laid downinArticle8.
Article 2
Unitsandscopeofthesurvey,observationmethods
1. The survey shall be carried out ineach Member State ina sample
of households or of persons residing in the economic territory of thatState at the time of the survey.
2. The principal scope of the survey consists of persons residing in
private households onthe econ omic territory of each Member State. Ifpossible, this main population of persons living in private households,is supplemented by persons living in collective households.
Wherever possible, collective households are covered by means of
samples specially drawnto permit direct observationof the person s
concerned. If this is not possible, then persons in these groups who
continue to have an association with a private household are includedin connection with that household.
3. The variables used to determine labour status and underemploy-
ment must be obtained by interviewing the person concerned, or, ifthis is not possible, another member of the household. Other informa-tion may be obtained from alternative sources, including administrative
records, provided that the data obtained are of equivalent quality.
4. Regardless of whether the sampling unit is an individual or a
household, information is usually collected for all individuals of the
household. However, if the sampling unit is an individual, the informa-tion concerning the other members of the household
— may exclude the characteristics listed under Article 4(1)(g), (h), (i)
and (j),
— and may be collected from a sub-sample defined in such a way that:
— the reference weeks are uniformly distributed throughout the
whole year,
— the number of observations (individuals sampled plus the
members of their household) satisfies, for the annual estimatesof levels, the reliability criteria defined in Article 3.1998R0577 — EN — 12.01.2004 — 003.001 — 3
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Article 3
Representativenessofthesample
1. For a group of unemployed people representing 5 % of the
working age population the relative standard error for the estimationof annual averages (or for the spring estimates in the case of an annualsurvey in the spring) at NUTS II level shall not exceed 8 % of the sub-
populationinquestion .
Regions with less than 300000 inhabitants shall be exempt from this
requirement.
2. In the case of a continuous survey, for sub-populations which
constitute 5 % of the working age population the relative standard error
at national level for the estimate of changes between two successivequarters, shall not exceed 2 % of the sub-population in question.
For Member States with a population of between one million and
twenty million inhabitants, this requirement is relaxed so that the rela-tive standard error for the estimate of quarterly changes shall notexceed 3 % of the sub-populationinquestion .
Member States whose population is below one million inhabitants are
exempt from these precision requirements concerning changes.
3. Where the survey is carried out only in the spring, at least a
quarter of the survey units are taken from the preceding survey and at
least a quarter form part of the following survey.
These two groups shall be identified by a code.
4. Where non-response to certain questions results in missing data, a
method of statistical imputationshall be applied where appropriate.
5. The weighting factors are calculated taking into account in parti-
cular the probability of selection and external data relating to the
distributionof the populationbein g surveyed, by sex, age (five-yearage groups) and region (NUTS II level), where such external data areheld to be sufficiently reliable by the Member States concerned.
6. Member States shall provide the Commission(Eurostat) with
whatever information is required concerning the organisation and meth-odology of the survey, and in particular, they shall indicate the criteria
adopted for the designan d size of the sample.
Article 4
Surveycharacteristics
1. Data shall be provided on:
(a) demographic background:
— sequence number in the household,
— sex,
— year of birth,
— date of birth in relation to the end of the reference period,— marital status,
— relationship to reference person,
— sequence number of spouse,— sequence number of father,
— sequence number of mother,
— nationality,
— number of years of residence in the Member State,
— country of birth (optional),— n ature of participationinthe survey (direct participationor
proxy through another member of the household);
(b) labour status:
— labour status during the reference week,1998R0577 — EN — 12.01.2004 — 003.001 — 4
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— continuing receipt of wages and salary,
— reason for not having worked though having a job,
— search for employment for person without employment,
— type of employment sought (self-employed or employee),— methods used to find a job,
— availability to start work;
(c) employment characteristics of the main job:
— professional status,
— economic activity of the local unit,
— occupation,— supervisory responsibilities,
— number of persons working at the local unit,
— country of place of work,— regionof place of work,— year and month when the person started working in current
employment,
— involvement of public employment service in finding the
current job,
— permanency of the job (and reasons),
— duration of temporary job or work contract of limited duration,
— full-time/part-time distinction (and reasons),— contract with a temporary work agency,
— working at home;
(d) hours worked:
— number of hours per week usually worked,
— number of hours actually worked,
— number of hours of overtime in the reference week,— main reason for hours actually worked being different from
usual hours;
(e) second job:
— existence of more than one job,
— professional status,— economic activity of the local unit,
— number of hours actually worked;
(f) visible underemployment:
— wish to work usually more than the current number of hours
(optional in the case of an annual survey),
— looking for another job and reasons for doing so,— type of employment sought (as employee or otherwise),
— methods used to find another job,
— reasons why the person is not seeking another job (optional in
the case of an annual survey),
— availability to start work,
— number of hours of work wished for (optional in the case of an
annual survey);
(g) search for employment:
— type of employment sought,
— durationof search for employmen t,
— situationof personimmediately before startin g to seek employ-
ment,
— registration at public employment office and whether receiving
benefits,
— for person not seeking employment, willingness to work,— reasons why person has not sought work,— lack of care facilities;1998R0577 — EN — 12.01.2004 — 003.001 — 5
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(h) education and training:
participation in formal education or training during previous four
weeks
— level,
— field;
participation in courses and other taught learning activities during
previous four weeks
— total length,
— purpose of the most recent course or other taught activity,— field of the most recent taught activity,
— participated in most recent taught activity during working
hours;
educational attainment— highest successfully completed level of education or training,
— field of this highest level of education and training,— year whenthis highest level was successfully completed;
(i) previous work experience of person not in employment:
— existence of previous employment experience,
— year and month in which the person last worked,
— main reason for leaving last job or business,— professional status in last job,— ecoomic activity of local unit in which person last worked,
— occupationof last job;
(j) situation one year before the survey (optional for quarters 1, 3, 4)
— mainlabour status,
— professional status,
— economic activity of local unit in which person was working,— country of residence,— regionof residen ce;
(k) mainlabour status (option al);
(l) income (optional);
(m) technical items relating to the interview
— year of survey,
— reference week,— interview week,
— Member State,
— regionof household,— degree of urbanisation,— serial number of household,
— type of household,
— type of institution,— weighting factor,— sub-sample in relation to the preceding survey (annual survey),
— sub-sample in relation to the following survey (annual survey),
— sequence number of the survey wave;
(n) atypical working times:
— shift work,
— evening work,
— night work,— Saturday work,— Sunday work.1998R0577 — EN — 12.01.2004 — 003.001 — 6
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2. A futher set of variables, hereinafter referred to as an ‘ ad hoc
module’, may be added to supplement the information described aboveinparagraph 1.
A programme of ad hocmodules covering several years shall be drawn
up each year according to the procedure laid down in Article 8:
— this programme shall specify for each ad hocmodule, the subject,
the reference period, the sample size (equal to or less than the
sample size determined according to Article 3) and the deadlinefor the transmission of the results (which may be different fromthe deadline according to Article 6),
— the Member States and regions covered and the detailed list of
information to be collected in an ad hocmodule shall be drawnup
at least twelve months before the beginning of the reference periodfor that module,
— the volume of anad hoc module shall be limited to 11 variables.
3. The definitions, the edits to be used, the codification of the vari-
ables, the adjustment of the list of survey variables made necessary by
the evolution of techniques and concepts, and a list of principles for theformulation of the questions concerning the labour status, are drawn upaccording to the procedure laid down in Article 8.
4. On a proposal from the Commission, a list of variables, herein-
after referred to as ‘structural variables’, may be identified fromamong the survey characteristics specified in paragraph 1 which needto be surveyed only as annual averages with reference to 52 weeksrather thanas quarterly averages. This list of structural variables, theminimum sample size and the survey frequency will be drawn up in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8. Spain, Finland
and the United Kingdom may survey the structural variables with refer-ence to a single quarter during a transition period until the end of 2007.
Article 5
Conductofthesurvey
The Member States may make it compulsory to reply to the survey.
Article 6
Transmissionoftheresults
Within twelve weeks of the end of the reference period in the case of a
continuous survey (and within nine months of the end of the reference
period inthe case of a survey inthe sprin g), the Member States shallforward to Eurostat the results of the survey, without direct identifiers.
Article 7
Reports
A report onthe implemen tationof this Regulationshall be submitted
by the Commission to the Parliament and the Council every threeyears, beginning in the year 2000. This report shall evaluate in parti-cular the quality of the statistical methods envisaged by the MemberStates to improve the results or to lightenthe survey procedures.1998R0577 — EN — 12.01.2004 — 003.001 — 7
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Article 8
Procedure
1. The Commissionshall be assisted by the Statistical Programme
Committee instituted by Article 1 of Council Decision No 89/382/
EEC, Euratom (1).
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of
Decision1999/468/EC (2) shall apply, having regard to the provisions
of Article 8 thereof.
The period laid downinArticle 5(6) of Decision1999/468/EC shall be
set at three months.
3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 9
Arrangementsforrepealing
Regulation(EEC) No 3711/91 is hereby repealed.
Article 10
Entryintoforce
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its
publicationinthe Official Journal of the European Communities .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
inall Member States.1998R0577 — EN — 12.01.2004 — 003.001 — 8
(1) OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.
(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.▼B