Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) amending Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 58/97 concerning structural business statistics'
Date: 1998-01-28
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: data collection, insurance, insurance company, single market, statistics

30.3.98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 95/43

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Regulation
(EC, Euratom) amending Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 58/97 concerning structural business
statistics’ (1)

(98/C 95/11)

On 6 October 1997, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
proposal.

The Section for Economic, Financial and Monetary Questions, which was responsible for the
preparatory work, adopted its opinion on 8 January 1998. The rapporteur was Mr Kenneth
Walker.

At its 351st plenary session of 28 and 29 January 1998 (meeting of 28 January 1998) the
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 83 votes to three with two
abstentions.

1.

Introduction

The general purpose of the regulation is to require
1.1.
Member States to provide Eurostat with comparable and
harmonized statistical data relating to the structure,
activity, competitiveness and performance of businesses
in the insurance sector at European level.

1.2.
The Member States are responsible for the actual
data collection and the methods finally applied. The
regulation lays down the norms, standards and defi-
nitions necessary for compiling, transmitting and evalu-
ating insurance statistics within the European Union. It
is mainly based on existing EU legislation (such as
Directive 91/674/EEC of 20 December 1991, Directive
92/49/EEC of 18 June 1992 and Directive 92/96/EEC of
10 November 1992) setting up measures to harmonize
the annual and consolidated accounts of insurance
undertakings or opening-up the Internal Market to
direct life and non-life insurance. Many characteristics
are also included in the enterprises’ returns for supervis-
ory purposes. Therefore in this regard, and also in
respect of Article 6 of Regulation No 58/97, the draft
regulation does not define the actual collection methods
to be used.

1.3.
All Member States are currently collecting stat-
istics on the authorized population of insurance enter-
prises (based on the published accounts or the returns
used for supervisory purposes). With the support of
Member States, Eurostat started, in 1994, the collection
of a voluntary base of mostly non-harmonized data on
insurance enterprises. The draft regulation is largely
based on the existing data circuits. It will entail the
collection of a modest amount of additional data for a
limited number of Member States only.

(1) OJ C 310, 10.10.1997, p. 5.

1.4.
The Commission believes that a legal base is
now required to ensure an improvement in both the
quality and reliability of the insurance data to be
collected, compiled and transmitted.

1.5.
The Commission also feels that the step-by-step
completion of the Internal Market in insurance services
and the setting-up of
the Internal Market Action
Plan have significantly increased the need for reliable
Community statistics on the sector.

2. The Commission’s proposals

2.1.

The Commission has three objectives.

Firstly, to establish a common framework for the
2.2.
collection, transmission and evaluation of Community
statistics on the structure, activity and performance of
the insurance services industry. The statistics to be
compiled aim at improving the knowledge of the
national, Community and international development of
the insurance sector. This statistical system is intended to
meet the information requirements of the Commission,
Member State governments, the insurance industry itself
(with its enterprises and clients) and a wide range of
other users.

2.2.1.
Secondly, to continue the strengthening of the
development of the Community statistical system by
incorporating into the production of insurance statistics
the Community statistical tools such as the classification
of activities (NACE Rev. 1 — Council Regulation
No 761/93 of 24 March 1993) and the classification
of products by activities (CPA Council Regulation
No 3696/93 of 29 October 1993).

2.2.2.
Thirdly, to provide flexibility to allow minor
changes, notably to the list of indicators to be collected
in the future (use of Council Decision 87/373 of
13 July 1987 on ‘Comitology’). In the framework of the
comitology procedure, as laid down in Article 13 of

C 95/44

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Official Journal of the European Communities

30.3.98

Regulation No 58/97, Article 12 of the same framework
regulation [in its indent (i)] provides the flexibility, under
certain conditions, to update the list of characteristics.

therefore supports in principle the Commission’s present
proposals.

2.3.
The draft regulation was submitted to the
Insurance Committee in April 1996 and to the Statistical
Programme Committee on 17 March 1997. Both com-
mittees support the legislation.

2.3.1. However, reservations have been expressed by
some Member States concerning the extension of the
reporting requirements being placed on the insurance
businesses. Additional form-filling burdens on enter-
prises and processing burdens for the national adminis-
trations concerned would be unwelcome.

2.4.
For the data to be collected (published data or
data delivered within the framework of the financial
supervision of insurance enterprises), the population of
enterprises concerned is the total population. For the
data which is not yet part of existing data collections
and not available from other sources, Member States
are free to use sampling techniques and methods of
statistical
inference, as laid down in Article 6 of
Regulation No 58/97.

2.4.1. Where small and medium-sized enterprises are
included in the sampling process, the possibility of not
surveying those entities is open to Member States, who
would then need to use statistical inference methods to
compile the full list of variables for the population under
review.

In the context of the ongoing cooperation with
2.5.
the European Monetary Institute, the Commission sees
a requirement for the insurance services statistics in the
larger framework of the statistics needed for Economic
and Monetary Union.

3. General Comments

3.1.
The ESC has constantly reiterated its support for
all measures designed to improve the operation of the
single market and remove the remaining obstacles to its
completion. It acknowledges the progress which has
been made in building a European single market in
insurance services by the second generation of life and
non-life insurance directives (1) at the beginning of the
1990s and the third generation of these directives (2),
which came into force on 1 July 1994.

3.2.
The efficient monitoring of this market will
require the existence of accurate, reliable, regular,
timely, harmonized and comparable statistical data. It

3.3. However, the collection, compilation and trans-
mission of this data imposes a double burden; firstly, on
the enterprises which have to provide the raw data
relating to their own activities and, secondly, on the
national administrative authorities within each Member
State, which are responsible for aggregating the data
provided and transmitting it to Eurostat.

The ESC therefore shares the concerns that
3.3.1.
have been expressed that these burdens should not be
unnecessarily increased.

3.3.2.
As in all such cases, it is necessary to strike a
balance between the needs of the information users and
the burdens imposed on the information suppliers.
Information, like any other commodity, must be cost-
effective; in other words, the value of the information
produced must exceed the cost of obtaining it.

3.3.3.
For these reasons, the ESC considers that it
would be advisable for this element of the statistical
system to be made the subject of a project under the
SLIM initiative.

The ESC considers it unlikely that the statistics
3.4.
produced would be of much benefit
to insurance
enterprises, their clients or other private-sector users
because of the delay in publishing them. Typically,
market-research information on the insurance sector
generated by private-sector organisations is produced
on a quarterly basis and is available within one month
of the end of each quarter. National statistics are
produced annually and, unavoidably, there is a further
delay in compiling Eurostat returns. This would vitiate
their viability for commercial usage. This does not, of
course, mean that they are not important for macro-
economic management.

3.5.
True comparability of statistics is not attainable
unless the insurance markets are also comparable.
Subsisting differences between the nature and the oper-
ation of the insurance markets in different Member
States are likely to make this difficult to achieve.

3.6.
The ESC notes that Member States will be free
to organize statistical surveys at their discretion and
may elect to exempt SMEs from participation in these
surveys, filling the data by the use of statistical inference
methods. While it approves of the aim of thereby
lightening the burden on SMEs, it would point out that
differences in the way in which Member States choose
to exercise this option could further undermine the
comparability of the statistical information produced.

4. Conclusions

(1) Council Directive of 8 November 1990 (90/619/EEC), life
Council Directive of 22 June 1988 (88/357/EEC), non-life.
(2) Council Directive of 10 November 1992 (92/96/EEC), life
Council Directive of 18 June 1992 (92/49/EEC), non-life.

On balance, the ESC approves the Commission’s pro-
posal for a regulation, with the abovementioned reser-
vations, but considers that it should be made the subject

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 95/45

of a SLIM initiative project in order to determine whether
the benefits are commensurate with the additional

costs being imposed on enterprises and governmental
administrations.

Brussels, 28 January 1998.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Communication from the Commission
“Promoting Apprenticeship Training in Europe”’

(98/C 95/12)

On 23 June 1997 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
communication.

The Section for Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 15 January 1998. The
rapporteur was Mr Dantin and the co-rapporteur Mr Rodrı´guez Garcı´a Caro.

At its 351st plenary session (meeting of 28 January 1998) the Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 105 votes to two with five abstentions.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
The Florence European Council of 21 and 22 June
1996 called on the Commission to undertake a study on
the role of apprenticeship in enhancing job creation.

1.2.
This request highlighted the commitment of
the heads of state and government to fight, through
education and training, youth unemployment, notably
young people under the age of 25, which is currently
close to 20 %.

1.3.
The study shows that greater promotion of
apprenticeship responds to their concern. Indeed, the
study shows that apprenticeship training enhances job
prospects to the extent that unemployment among young
people who have successfully finished apprenticeship
training is below average.

and looks at conditions and significant trends in the
various Member States, highlighting the characteristics
and objectives of apprenticeship training:

— narrow the gap between schools and the workplace;

— get closer to market needs;

— promote job flexibility and mobility;

— fight social exclusion;

— raise the educational level of apprentice diplomas;

— give apprentices access to higher education.

1.4.2.
proposes the following five keys:

As regards the areas for action, the Commission

— expand and develop new forms of apprenticeship

training;

— raise the quality of training;

— encourage the mobility of apprentices;

— involve the social partners;

— towards real strategies for apprenticeship training.

The Commission communication submitted for
1.4.
the ESC’s opinion takes account of this study and makes
proposals for action set out in five keys.

2. General comments

The communication draws on the report, which
1.4.1.
is based on various sources of data and information,

2.1.
The Committee welcomes the initiative taken by
the Florence European Council which has resulted in
the Commission communication.