EN Official Journal of the European Union C 309/78

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European system of integrated social protection statistics (ESSPROS)

COM(2006) 11 final — 2006/0004 (COD)

(2006/C 309/17)

On 10 February 2006 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 2 June 2006. The rapporteur was Ms Sciberras.

At its 428th plenary session, held on 5 and 6 July 2006 (meeting of 5 July 2006), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 162 votes in favour and 5 abstentions.

1. Recommendations

1.1 The EESC points out that in order to reinforce the social dimension of the Lisbon Strategy, Member States should lend more political weight through the new framework to the goal of modernising and improving social protection. The social dimension is key to meeting the challenges arising from globalisation and an ageing population. The different objectives of the Lisbon Strategy, namely sustainable economic growth, more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, must be equally endorsed and upheld (1).

1.2 The EESC believes that the European system of integrated social protection statistics (ESSPROS) is important in the context of the open methods of coordination in the fields of social inclusion and pensions.

1.3 There is a need for an analytical approach based on reliable and comparable indicators. This is essential for creating a reliable picture of the progress or otherwise made towards meeting the objectives. The EESC believes that in addition to statistical streamlining the development of qualitative indicators is also required.

1.4 A Member State may find it difficult to fund the collection of the necessary statistics. Consideration has thus to be given to the capacity of all Member States to gather the information. In addition, the costs to each Member State of such an unfunded mandate, although minimal, should be estimated in advance. The EESC is pleased that the Commission foresees financial help for the Member States to introduce developments in the existing system.

1.5 It is also important that non-monetary criteria, based on human needs, are reflected in the choice of indicators, such as access, quality and participation (2).

1.6 Accurate collation of statistics is also important for the governments of Member States in order to adapt current social security systems to the needs of the respective societies and in order to address the needs of sections of society which do not fall under current social protection systems.

1.7 It also contributes to establishing and raising awareness of targeted programmes for the vulnerable and excluded social groups aimed in particular at eradicating child poverty.

1.8 Policy cooperation in the field of social protection in all Member States has, in recent years, taken a huge step forward. The objective of the proposed action to harmonise data on Community social protection statistics can only be achieved by the Community and not by Member States acting alone.

1.9 The outcomes of the Lisbon Strategy can be assessed by means of indicators and by evaluation of economic performance and the jobs and growth programme. There is a need to link these indicators to the indicators of social protection. This is the best way to evaluate the results of the whole Lisbon strategy.

2. Introduction

2.1 In order to achieve the goals set in the Lisbon Strategy, the social protection dimension has to be analysed and its different targets and elements made visible and comparable. The Commission's new Framework for the Open Coordination of Social Protection is a tool for the Member States and EU in this process. As the Committee stated in its opinion on the Strategy for open coordination on social protection (3), there is a need to create proper indicators for this tool.

2.2 Social security systems in all Member States have evolved according to the States' history and any particular circumstances resulting in different systems in different States.

2.3 Social protection encompasses all actions by public or private bodies intended to relieve the community, be it households or individuals, of the burden of a defined set of risks or needs (4).

2.4 Social protection has developed a great deal since the beginning of the 1990s when confusion arose following the two Council recommendations, the first (92/442) aimed at harmonising objectives and policies for social protection, the second (92/441) aimed at determining common criteria to guarantee sufficient resources in the systems of all EU Member States (5).

2.5 Further communications on social protection have pushed social protection up the European agenda ‘and have contributed positively to a common understanding of European social protection’ (de la Porte 1999 a) (6).

2.6 This has led to the need for effective benchmarking, based on cooperation (already in force) and on coordination which consists mainly of exchanging views and recommendations based on best practices.

2.7 The most sensitive issue remained the establishment of commonly agreed indicators. Existing systems of comparative statistics needed to be revised. An analysis of the features, causes and development of social exclusion had to be carried out and the quality of the data improved.

2.8 The outcomes of the Lisbon Strategy can be evaluated by means of indicators and by evaluation of economic performance and the jobs and growth programme. There is a need to link these indicators to the indicators of social protection. This is the best way to evaluate the results of the whole Lisbon Strategy.

3. Summary of the Commission document

3.1 Social protection systems are highly developed in the EU. The organisation and financing of such systems is the responsibility of the Member States.

3.2 The EU has a distinct role to play in ensuring protection for citizens in each Member State and for citizens moving across borders on the basis of EU legislation coordinating national social security systems.

3.3 Therefore, it is essential to establish an agreed set of common indicators which requires a commitment from Member States to develop key instruments such as ESSPROS. A legal framework for ESSPROS, as specified in the Commission's proposal ‘will improve the usefulness of current data collection in terms of timeliness, coverage and comparability’.

3.4 It was agreed at the European Council of October 2003 (7) that an annual Joint Report on Social Inclusion and Social Protection will be the core reporting instrument for streamlining the open method of coordination (OMC) (8).

3.5 The Communication from the Commission regarding A new Framework for the open coordination of social protection and inclusion policies in the EU spelt out the need to define a new framework to make the OMC a more visible and a stronger process (9).

3.6 The Commission proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on ESSPROS highlights the importance of the Social Dimension as one of the pillars of the Lisbon Strategy.

3.7 The objective of the regulation is to establish a framework for collation of data on social protection by Members States, which is currently carried out using different methods and definitions vary in each state making it impossible to compare data. This comparability diminishes the usefulness of such data when it comes to the analysis of social protection systems in the EU.

3.8 The objectives of the Commission proposal will be better achieved if the statistics and analysis thereof are undertaken at EU level on the basis of a harmonised collection of data in the different Member States.

3.9 The EESC agrees that a legal framework for ESSPROS will contribute to achieving the goals of competitiveness, employment and social inclusion set out in the Lisbon Strategy and consequently help to improve social protection systems in the different Member States.

3.10 The open method of coordination (OMC) which will facilitate work on social protection also presupposes the need for comparable and reliable statistics in the field of social policy (10).

3.11 The main elements of the Commission regulations are: — the ESSPROS core system which covers the financial flows on social protection expenditure and receipts; — apart from the core systems, modules on pension beneficiaries and net social beneficiaries will be added.

4. Methodology of ESSPROS

4.1 Developed in the late 70s the ESSPROS methodology was a response to the need for a specific instrument to statistically monitor social protection in the EU Member States (11).

4.2 The 1996 ESSPROS Manual established an extremely detailed system for classifying social benefits.

4.3 The revised methodology in the ESSPROS Manual increases flexibility, which to a certain extent is missing in the Eurostat compilation of statistics.

4.4 One way in which this flexibility is increased is by moving over to a core system and modules (12).

4.5 The core system corresponds to the standard information on social protection receipts and expenditure published annually by Eurostat.

4.6 The modules contain supplementary statistical information on particular aspects of social protection. The themes covered by the modules are determined by the requirements of the Commission and the different Member States (13).

4.7 Although the objectives of ESSPROS provide a comprehensive description of social protection in the EU Member States, the ESSPROS methodology does not include statistics on important issues as health services, housing, poverty, social exclusion and immigration. There is significant collation of these statistics by Eurostat and comprehensive exchange of information regarding social protection between the Member States of the European Union on the basis of MISSOC (14). However, a legal framework for ESSPROS would ensure a more comprehensive and realistic description of social protection in the Member States.

5. Trends in the field of social protection

5.1 Housing

5.1.1 Housing affordability is an area that requires assessment. Measurement of true housing affordability has to be quite comprehensive.

5.1.2 Issues like this further underline the importance of collating social and economic statistics in Member States for the benefit of the public; sustainability indicators should be kept as a warning.

5.2 Pensions

5.2.1 Collation of statistics in this field is conducted in many EU countries.

5.2.2 However measurements of projected population changes are made more difficult by the problem of estimating immigration numbers. It may be important to include projected immigration figures and the likely impact on the sustainability of publicly funded pension funds. Consequently the more accurate the data regarding immigration flows, the better the contribution of statistics to proper decision making.

Brussels, 5 July 2006 The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Anne-Marie SIGMUND

(1) EESC opinion of 20.4.2006 on Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Working together, working better: A new framework for the open coordination of social protection and inclusion policies in the European Union. Rapporteur: M. Olsson. OJ L 185, 8.8.2006

(2) See footnote 1.

(3) See footnote 1.

(4) Social Benchmarking policy making, Caroline de la Porte.

(5) Definition from ESSPROS MANUAL (1996).

(6) Social Benchmarking policy making, Caroline de la Porte.

(7) Brussels European Council, 16 and 17 October 2003, Presidency Conclusions.

(8) COM(2006) 11 final, 2006/2004 (COD).

(9) COM(2005) 706 final.

(10) COM(2003) 261 final.

(11) COM(2003) 261 final.

(12) ESSPROS Manual 1996.

(13) ESSPROS Manual 1996.

(14) MISSOC 2004 Manual.