WRITTEN QUESTION E-1302/02

by Miquel Mayol i Raynal (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(7 May 2002)

Subject: National census in Poland

A national census will start in May this year in Poland. Among a number of questions to be asked, two are related to national considerations: nationality and language.

Officially the Polish authorities say that everyone has the right to declare his or her own nationality and they corroborate that all the answers must be put down in application forms by census collectors as given by individuals, according to the self-definition of the respondent. But the Main Office for Statistics (Glowny Urzad Statystyczny-GUS) has already announced that only eleven nationalities will be officially recognised during the census (Silesian nationality, for example, will not be considered).

In an Upper Silesian regional paper called Dzien (A Day) of 4 March 2002 the officials of the GUS gave the information that the census collectors will induce Silesians not to declare Silesian nationality but Polish. In the same report GUS officials have suggested that even though Silesian nationality is declared and put in an application form, it will not be considered during the electronic preparation of data collected during the census.

Has the Commission any information about the national census in Poland? Is the Commission aware of the problem of non-respect of the self-definition of the nationality as given by the respondent? Is the Commission going to ask for further information from the Polish authorities?

Does the Commission share the opinion that the only democratic and transparent way of proceeding is to publish the results of the national census reflecting exactly the answers given by citizens, with no manipulation?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(6 June 2002)

The Commission follows with interest the census process in all the candidate countries, including the national census in Poland. In this context, the Commission has been in contact with the Polish authorities and in particular with regard to the, parallel, agricultural census. The Commission would recall that the legal basis for the census and its constituent elements is Polish domestic legislation.

The Polish census form contains one question on nationality (ethnic origin/affiliation) This asks the respondent to indicate whether he/she is Polish or other nationality by means of ticking one of two boxes Polish or Other. If Other is chosen, a blank space is provided on the form to insert the nationality. The choice of nationality is left to the individual and the Commission has been assured that there will be no guidance or instruction on the part of the census takers. It will, therefore, be perfectly possible for a respondent to put down any nationality they so wish.

The second concern raised in the question concerns the treatment of the data during processing. The Commission has been assured that the nationalities indicated on the form will be the nationalities which will be used to prepare the final census data. If, to use the example raised by the Honourable Member, Silesian is the nationality used in the form then Silesian will be accepted as the nationality and there will be no attempt to categorise the information under Polish.

The above should ensure that the census will provide an accurate representation of the information provided. The Commission will remain in close contact with the Polish authorities as the work to collect and process the date continues.