EN Official Journal of the European Union L 337/6

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2016/2236

of 12 December 2016

specifying the technical characteristics of the 2018 ad hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community (1), and in particular Article 7a(5) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The EU has a long-standing commitment to promoting work-life balance. Minimum standards in this field are set out through Directives on Maternity Leave (2) and Parental Leave (3). The EU has likewise set targets to improve the provision of childcare with the Barcelona Objectives, and Country-Specific Recommendations in the area of work-life balance have also been issued in the European Semester 2016.

(2) In its work programme 2016 (4) , the Commission sets out its plans to develop an initiative addressing the work-life balance challenges faced by parents and carers.

(3) Monitoring the challenges of work-life balance and progress in this area is therefore essential and improved data collection is likewise important.

(4) Commission Regulation (EU) No 318/2013 (5) establishes an ad hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life.

(5) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1397/2014 (6) specifies and describes the areas of specialised information (‘ad hoc sub-modules’) to be included in the 2018 ad hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life.

(6) The Commission should specify the technical characteristics, filters, codes and the deadline for the transmission of data under the ad hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life.

(7) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the European Statistical System Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The technical characteristics of the 2018 ad hoc module on reconciliation between work and family life, the filters, the codes to be used and the deadline by which the results shall be sent to the Commission are laid down in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 12 December 2016. For the Commission The President Jean-Claude JUNCKER

(1) OJ L 77, 14.3.1998, p. 3.

(2) Council Directive 92/85/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding (tenth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) (OJ L 348, 28.11.1992, p. 1).

(3) Council Directive 2010/18/EU of 8 March 2010 implementing the revised Framework Agreement on parental leave concluded by BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME, CEEP and ETUC and repealing Directive 96/34/EC (OJ L 68, 18.3.2010, p. 13).

(4) COM(2015) 610 final.

(5) Commission Regulation (EU) No 318/2013 of 8 April 2013 adopting the programme of ad hoc modules, covering the years 2016 to 2018, for the labour force sample survey provided for by Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98, (OJ L 99, 9.4.2013, p. 11).

(6) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1397/2014 of 22 October 2014 amending Regulation (EU) No 318/2013 adopting the programme of ad-hoc modules, covering the years 2016 to 2018, for the labour force sample survey provided for by Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 (OJ L 370, 30.12.2014, p. 42).