2003R1216 — EN — 28.07.2003 — 000.001 — 1
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►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No1216/2003
of7July2003
implementing Regulation (EC) No 450/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council
concerningthelabourcostindex
(TextwithEEArelevance)
(OJ L 169, 8.7.2003, p. 37)
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 186, 25.7.2003, p. 46 (1216/2003)
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COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No1216/2003
of7July2003
implementing Regulation (EC) No 450/2003 of the European
Parliament andoftheCouncilconcerningthelabourcostindex
(TextwithEEArelevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 450/2003 of the European Parlia-
ment and of the Council of 27 February 2003 concerning the labourcost index (
1), and in particular Article 11 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)Seasonal and working-day adjustment of the labour cost index is
an essential part of the compilation of the index. Adjusted seriesmake it possible to compare results and to interpret the index ina comprehensible manner.
(2)Predetermined transmission formats minimise the problems
arising from the data transmission and, together with standar-
dised quality reports, improve the interpretation and fast usageof the labour cost index.
(3)The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordancewith the opinion of the Statistical Programme Committee.
(4)Pursuant to Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 450/2003, certainderogationsfrom Regulation (EC) No 450/2003 s hould be
granted,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Transmissionandadjustmentprocedures
1. The transmitted indices and metadata shall be sent in electronic
form by the Member States to the Commission (Eurostat). Transmis-sion shall conform to appropriate interchange standards approved bythe Statistical Programme Committee. Eurostat shall make available
detailed documentation in relation to approved standards and shall
supply guidelines on how to implement these standards.
2. The transmitted indices and metadata shall be prepared in such a
way asto allow a thorough interpretation of the res ultsand the efficient
application of the Commission's (Eurostat) seasonal adjustment proce-duresfor the European aggregates .
The index series shall be delivered in the following forms:
(a) unadjusted;
(b) working-day adjusted;
(c) seasonally and working-day adjusted.
Article 2
Quality
1. The quality criteria referred to in Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC)
No 450/2003 shall comprise the following:
(a) relevance;
(b) accuracy;
(c) timeliness and punctuality;2003R1216 — EN — 28.07.2003 — 000.001 — 2
(1) OJ L 69, 13.3.2003, p. 1.
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(d) accessibility and clarity;
(e) comparability;
(f) coherence;
(g) completeness.
The national authorities shall ensure that the results reflect the true
situation regarding the economic activities with a sufficient degree of
representativity.
2. The quality reportsprovided for by Article 8(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 450/2003 shall be transmitted to the Commission by 31August each year at the latest and shall relate to data ending in thefourth quarter of the previouscalendar year. The firs t quality reportshall be transmitted by 31 August 2004 at the latest.
3. The content of the annual quality reportsfor the labour cos t index
shall be as set out in Annex I to this Regulation.
Article 3
Transitionperiods
Detailsrelating to the trans ition periodsprovided for in Article 9(1) of
Regulation (EC) No 450/2003 are set out in Annex II to this Regula-tion.
Article 4
Feasibility studies
Details relating to the feasibility studies provided for in Article 10 of
Regulation (EC) No 450/2003 are set out in Annex III to this Regula-tion.
Article 5
Chainingoftheindex
The Laspeyres chain index formula to be used for calculating the
labour cost index for combinations of NACE Rev. 1 sections referredto in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 450/2003 iss et out in Annex
IV to thisRegulation.
Article 6
Derogations
Derogations from the provisions of Article 1(2) accepted pursuant to
Article 9(2) of Regulation (EC) No 450/2003 are set out in Annex V
to thisRegulation.
Article 7
Entryintoforce
ThisRegulation s hall enter into force on the 20th day following that of
itspublication in the Official JournaloftheEuropeanUnion .
ThisRegulation s hall be binding in itsentirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.2003R1216 — EN — 28.07.2003 — 000.001 — 3
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ANNEX I
The annual reports on quality for the labour cost index include the
followingitems:
(a) evidence of relevance to user needs:
— a summary including description of the users, origin and satisfaction of
users' needs, and relevance of statistics for the users;
(b) evidence of accuracy (information broken down by NACE Rev. 1 sections):
— revision history: a table showing the revisions in the published year-on-
year growth rates for total labour costs using the unadjusted series, for
the last 12 quarters; a summary of the reasons for the revisions,
— coverage: a table showing the percentage of the employees represented
in the sample(s)/register(s) based on the number of employees according
to ESA 95; if labour cost items are collected from different sources, a
table broken down by labour cost items according to Article 4(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 450/2003,
— frequency: a table showing the frequency of collecting/updating the
different cost item information,
— estimation: a description of the methods used to estimate/model the
missing information (missing groups of employees, enterprises,
economic activities and cost items); an evaluation, as quantitative as
possible, of the impact on the final figures of completely missing infor-
mation (missing groups of employees, enterprises, economic activities
and cost items),
— hoursworked: a des cription of the methodsfor compiling the hours
worked; or a description of the proxy measure of the hours worked and
an evaluation, as quantitative as possible of the impact of the proxy
measure on the final figures,
— administrative data: where administrative data are used, comments on
the correspondence and differences between the administrative concepts
and the theoretical statistical concepts;
(c) timeliness and punctuality:
— a table showing the delays in days in transmitting the data for the last 12
quarterscovered by the report and the corres pondence between planned
and actual date of transmission;
(d) accessibility and clarity:
— a description of the publication media for the data and metadata in
Member States;
(e) comparability:
— a description of any differences in concepts and methods in any pair of
consecutive quarters from the first quarter of 1996 onwards. In addition,
a description of the differences and an assessment, as quantitative as
possible, of the effect of the change in the estimates. Any differences
in comparability between the NACE Rev. 1 sections should also be iden-
tified;
(f) coherence:
— a graph and a table showing annual unadjusted growth rates of the total
labour cost index (NACE Rev. 1 sections) and of the ESA 95 compensa-
tion of employeesper hoursworked (A6 breakdown) with explanations
for the differences in the growth rates for the last 12 quarters;
(g) completeness:
— a progress report of the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 450/2003
together with a detailed plan and timetable for completing the imple-
mentation; a summary of the remaining deviations from EU concepts.
The first quality report due by 31 August 2004 includes also the following
itemsforthebackdata:
— a description of the sources used for the back data and the methodology
employed,
— a description of the correspondence between the coverage (economic activ-
ities, employees, cost items) of the back data and that of the current data,
— a description of the comparability of the back data and the current data.2003R1216 — EN — 28.07.2003 — 000.001 — 4
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ANNEX II
THE TRANSITION PERIODS RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGU-
LATION
Member State Provision concerns Article Transition period
Belgium 70 day transmission delay 6 2 years
Labour costs per hour worked 2 2 years
Germany NACE sections H, I and K 3 2 yearsGreece All provisions 2 yearsSpain 70 day transmission delay 6 2 yearsFrance All provisions 2 yearsIreland All provisions 2 yearsItaly Labour costs per hour worked 2 1 year
Back data based on hours worked 2, 5 1 year
70 day transmission delay 6 1 year
Employers' social contributions plus
taxespaid by the employer les s
subsidies received
— without treatment of taxesand
subsidies (D4 and D5)4 2 years
Luxembourg All provisions 2 years
NetherlandsBack data 1996-2002 5 2 years
Employers' social contributions plus
taxespaid by the employer les s
subsidies received
— without treatment of taxesand
subsidies (D4 and D5)4 2 years
Austria NACE sections C, D, E and F 3 1 year
NACE sections G, H, I, J and K 3 2 years
Portugal 70 day transmission delay 6 1 yearFinland All provisions 2 yearsSweden All provisions 2 yearsUnited Kingdom Representation of Northern Ireland 3 2 years
Representation of units with less
than 20 employees3 2 years
Back data 5 1 year
Working-day adjustment 11 2 years2003R1216 — EN — 28.07.2003 — 000.001 — 5
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ANNEX III
1.The feasibility study to assess how the quarterly labour cost indices can
beobtainedforNACEsectionsL,M,NandO
The feasibility study undertaken by a Member State shall cover in particular:
TheBackgroundThe contribution each of these economic activities makes to the national
economy, expressed in terms of labour costs or a suitable alternative
measure.
A description of the similarities and differences in labour cost structures and
development for these economic activities compared with the cost structures
and development within NACE sections C to K.
TheOptions
An evaluation of the practicesin other Member States , where the data for
these NACE sections are already available.
An assessment of the different options for obtaining the labour cost indices
for NACE sections L, M, N and O, which would allow data transmission
for the first quarter of 2007. The following possible data sources should be
taken into account:
(a) the use of existing data collections;
(b) administrative sources;
(c) statistical estimation procedures;
(d) new data collections.
For each option considered, the assessment shall include details of the tech-
nical and legal issues involved; expected start-up and running costs for the
national statistical office; cost estimates for any additional burden on busi-
nesses; the expected statistical quality of the results; any risks or
uncertainties; and particular advantages or disadvantages.
TheRecommendation
Based on the assessment of the different options, a recommendation on the
most suitable approach shall be proposed.
TheImplementation
Details of the proposed implementation plan, including start date and the
completion dates of specific stages of the implementation of the recommen-
dation.
MemberStatesundertakingfeasibility studies
The following Member States shall undertake feasibility studies to assess
how the quarterly labour cost indices defined in Article 4(1) of Regulation
(EC) No 450/2003 can be obtained for NACE Rev. 1 sections L, M, N and
O:
— Denmark
— Germany
— Greece
— Spain
— France
— Italy— Austria
— Sweden.
2.Thefeasibilitystudytoassesshowtheindexestimatingtotallabourcosts
excludingbonusescanbeobtained
The feasibility study undertaken by a Member State shall cover in particular:
TheBackground
The contribution bonuses make to total national labour costs with a descrip-
tion of the characteristics of bonus payments in the national economy.
TheOptions
An evaluation of the practicesin other Member States , where the data are
already available to calculate an index of total labour costs excluding
bonuses.2003R1216 — EN — 28.07.2003 — 000.001 — 6
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An assessment of the different options for obtaining the index of total labour
costs excluding bonuses, which allow data transmission for the first quarter
of 2007. The following possible data sources should be taken into account:
(a) the use of existing data collections;
(b) administrative sources;
(c) statistical estimation procedures;
(d) new data collections.
For each option considered, the assessment shall include details of the tech-
nical and legal issues involved; expected start-up and running costs for the
national statistical office; cost estimates for any additional burden on busi-
nesses; the expected statistical quality of the results; any risks or
uncertainties; and particular advantages or disadvantages.
TheRecommendation
Based on the assessment of the different options, a recommendation on the
most suitable approach shall be proposed.
TheImplementation
Details of the proposed implementation plan, including start date and the
completion dates of specific stages of the implementation of the recommen-
dation.
MemberStatesundertakingfeasibility studies
The following Member States shall undertake feasibility studies to assess
how the index estimating total labour costs excluding bonuses defined in
Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 450/2003 can be obtained:
— Germany
— Greece
— France— Italy— Austria— Portugal— Finland— Sweden.2003R1216 — EN — 28.07.2003 — 000.001 — 7
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ANNEX IV
The Laspeyres chain index formula to be used for the calculation of the
labourcostindex(LCI)forcombinationsofNACERev.1sections:
1. Define:
witj= labour costs per hour worked of employees in NACE Rev. 1 section
i in quarter t in year j
ωik= labour costs per hour worked of employees in NACE Rev. 1 section
i in year k
hik= hoursworked by employeesin NACE Rev. 1 s ection i in year k
Wik=ωik*hik= labour costs of employees in NACE Rev. 1 section i in
year k.
2. The basic Laspeyres formula to be used to calculate the LCI for quarter t in
year j, with base year k is defined as:
LCItj kðÞ¼X
iwtj
ihk
i
X
iωkihki¼X
iwtj
i=ωk
i/C0/C1
ωk
ihki
X
iWki¼X
iwtj
i=ωk
i/C0/C1
Wk
i
X
iWki
where 1≤t≤4.
3. The weights used to calculate the index are defined as:
Wk
iX
iWki
where Wik, i and k are defined in paragraph 1 of thisAnnex.
4. The annual link for year l to year l + 1, where 0 ≤l < l + 1 < j isdefined
by:
Ll;lþ1¼X
iωlþ1
ihli
X
iωlihli
5. The Laspeyres chain index formula for quarter t in year j with reference year
k = 0 and m the interval required to process and apply the necessary annual
weights, where 1 ≤m≤2, isdefined as :
LCItj(0)= 100. (L0,1). (L1,2) ….. (Lj-m-1,j-m). LCItj(j-m).
6. The first reference year shall be the year 2000, when the annual labour cost
index equals100.2003R1216 — EN — 28.07.2003 — 000.001 — 8
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ANNEX V
Derogations
Denmark, Germany, France and Sweden: the index series shall be delivered only
(b) working-day adjusted and (c) seasonally and working-day adjusted. The
working-day and seasonal adjustment methods shall be fully documented and
made available for the Commission (Eurostat).2003R1216 — EN — 28.07.2003 — 000.001 — 9