ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(80)26
Vol.1980/0013

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(80)26final
Brussels.30January1980
Proposalfora
COUNCILDIRECTIVE
derogatinginfavouroftheFrenchRepublic
Directive73/403/EEConthesynchronisation
ofgeneralpopulation censuses
(submittedtotheCouncilbytheCommission)
COMC80)26final4
X!'■'
,■

REASONS FOR THE PROPOSAL -
Council Directive of22November 1973 on "thesynchronisation ofgeneral
population censuses stipulates that Member states shall conduct a
general population onadate between 1March and31May1981 .
Inamemorandum dated 11July 1979 thePermanent Representation for
Prance conveyed arequest from theFrench Government foraderogation
from this Directive for thefollowing .reasons :
\
'When theDirective wasbeing prepared ,France accepted theproposed
period taking account ,inparticular ,oftheelectoral timetable .How­
ever ,thetiming ofthepresidential elections hasbeen altered bythe
death ofMr.George Pompidou .Thefirst round ofthenext presidential
election isscheduled totake place inthelatter half ofApril I9SI .
The coincidence ofthis election and the census would lead tothe risk
ofthetwooperations being linked inthemind ofthepublic andwould ,
inaddition ,impose aheavy and inmany cases excessive workload on
local administrations .
The French Government therefore considers that the census should take
plaoe inFrance outside theperiod 1March to31MayI98I .Itshould
bepostponed toMarch 1982 ,which isthemost suitable date inthe
following year' . ^
TheCommission accepts that theabove reasons constitute valid grounds
forapostponement oftheFrench population census .Itmust ,however ,
point outthat postponement will have ,anumber ofconsequences detract­
ingfrom the value oftheforthcoming Community census .Inparticular ,
theavailability oftheoverall results will bedelayed while inter *- •
country comparisons will beless exact than had all thenational cen­
suses taken place within thesame short interval .Inaddition ,theim­
portant psychological advantage ofasimultaneous Community-wide exer­
cise will belost . .^

TheCommissionagreeswiththeviewoftheFrenchGovernmentthat,
ifthecensusistohepostponed,thisshouldheforaperiodofone
yearratherthantoalaterdatein19&1.Thisisbecauseseasonal
factors,notablyinrespectofemploymentandplaceofresidence,
haveamajorinfluenceoncensusresults. 1 .

Proposal for a
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE (EEC )
dero^ting infavour ofth»French "eou^lic Directive 73/403/EEConthe
synchronisation of .aeneral population censuses
THE COUNCIL OPTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES .
»
Having regard ,totheTreaty establishing theEuropean Economic Community ,
andinparticular Article 213thereof ,
Having regard totheproposal from theCommission ,
O)Whereas Council Directive 73/403/EEC stipulates that Member States
shall conduct ageneral population census onadate between 1March and
31May 1981 ,
Whereas serious administrative difficulties ,which could nothave been
foreseen atthetime when theDirective wasadopted ,have arisen which
aredetrimental tothegood conduct ofthe census ,intheFrench Republic
between thesaid dates ,
h
Whereas itisnowproposed tohold thesaid general population census in
theFrench Republic between 1March and31May1982 ,
-ν χ
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE
Article 1
Bywayofderogation from Article 1ofDirective
73/403/EEC ,theFrench Republic shall conduct thegeneral population census
onadate between 1March and31May 1982 .
<• Article 2
This Directive isaddressed totheMember States ,
Done atBrussels , _ FortheCouncil
The President
(1)OJNoL347,17.12.1973 ,p.50.