Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community
Date: 1998-03-09
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU statistics, report, sampling, statistical method, working population

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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 577/98

of 9 March 1998

on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 213 thereof,

Having regard to the draft Regulation presented by the
Commission,

Whereas, in order to carry out the tasks assigned to it, the
Commission needs comparable statistical information on
the level and pattern of and trends in employment and
unemployment in the Member States;

Whereas the best method of obtaining such information
at Community level
is to conduct harmonised labour
force surveys;

Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 3711/91 of 16
December 1991 on the organisation of an annual labour
force sample survey in the Community (1) laid down that,
starting in 1992, a survey was to be conducted in the
spring of each year;

Whereas, although a continuous survey is preferable to an
annual spring survey for ensuring the availability and
harmonisation of data and measuring the volume of work,
it is difficult to implement a continuous survey on the
same dates in all the Member States;

Whereas the use of existing administrative sources should
be encouraged insofar as they can usefully supplement
the information obtained through interviews or serve as a
sampling basis;

Whereas the data in the survey, as fixed by this Regula-
tion, may be extended to include a further set of variables
forming part of a programme of ad hoc modules which
covers several years, and which will be drawn up under an
appropriate procedure as part of
the implementation
arrangements;

Whereas the principles of relevance and cost-effective-
ness, as these are defined in Council Regulation (EC) No
322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community statistics (2),
which constitutes
the
production of Community statistics, will also apply to this
Regulation;

the legislative framework for

Whereas statistical confidentiality is governed by the rules
set out in Regulation (EC) No 322/97 and in Council
Regulation (Euratom, EEC) No 1588/90 of 11 June 1990
on the transmission of data subject to statistical confiden-

(1) OJ L 351, 20. 12. 1991, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 52, 22. 2. 1997, p. 1.

tiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communi-
ties (3);

Whereas the Statistical Programme Committee estab-
lished by Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (4) has been
consulted by the Commission in accordance with Article
3 of the aforesaid Decision,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Frequency of the survey

A labour force sample survey, hereinafter referred to as
‘the survey', shall be conducted by the Member States
each year.

The survey is a continuous survey providing quarterly and
annual results; however, those Member States which are
not in a position to implement a continuous survey may
carry out an annual survey only, to take place in the
spring.

The information collected during the survey relates
generally to the situation during the course of the week
(taken to run from Monday to Sunday) preceding the
interview, known as the reference week.

In the case of a continuous survey:

(cid:190) the reference weeks are spread uniformly throughout

the whole year;

(cid:190) the interview normally takes place during the week
immediately following the reference week. The refer-
ence week and the date of the interview may not be
more than five weeks apart, except
in the third
quarter,

(cid:190) the reference quarters and years are respectively
groups of 13 or 52 consecutive weeks. A list of the
weeks making up a given quarter or year is drawn up
according to the procedure laid down in Article 8.

Article 2

Units and scope of the survey, observation methods

1.
The survey shall be carried out in each Member State
in a sample of households or of persons residing in the
economic territory of that State at the time of the survey.

(3) OJ L 151, 15. 6. 1990, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 322/97.

(4) OJ L 181, 28. 6. 1989, p. 47.

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The principal scope of the survey consists of persons
2.
residing in private households on the economic territory
of each Member State. If possible, this main population of
persons living in private households, is supplemented by
persons living in collective households.

Wherever possible, collective households are covered by
means of samples specially drawn to permit direct obser-
vation of the persons concerned. If this is not possible,
then persons in these groups who continue to have an
association with a private household are included in
connection with that household.

The variables used to determine labour status and
3.
underemployment must be obtained by interviewing the
person concerned, or,
this is not possible, another
member of the household. Other information may be
obtained from alternative sources,
including adminis-
trative records, provided that the data obtained are of
equivalent quality.

if

4. Regardless of whether the sampling unit is an indi-
vidual or a household, information is usually collected for
all individuals of the household. However, if the sampling
unit is an individual, the information concerning the
other members of the household

(cid:190) may exclude the characteristics listed under Article

4(1)(g),

(h),

(i) and (j),

(cid:190) and may be collected from a sub-sample defined in

such a way that:

(cid:190) the reference weeks are uniformly distributed

throughout the whole year,

(cid:190) the number of observations (individuals sampled
plus the members of their household) satisfies, for
the annual estimates of
the reliability
criteria defined in Article 3.

levels,

timate of quarterly changes shall not exceed 3 % of the
sub-population in question.

Member States whose population is below one million
inhabitants are exempt from these precision requirements
concerning changes.

3. Where the survey is carried out only in the spring, at
least a quarter of the survey units are taken from the
preceding survey and at least a quarter form part of the
following survey.

These two groups shall be identified by a code.

4. Where non-response to certain questions results in
missing data, a method of statistical imputation shall be
applied where appropriate.

The weighting factors are calculated taking into
5.
account
in particular the probability of selection and
external data relating to the distribution of the population
being surveyed, by sex, age (five-year age groups) and
region (NUTS II level), where such external data are held
to be
the Member States
reliable by
concerned.

sufficiently

6. Member States shall provide the Commission (Euro-
stat) with whatever information is required concerning the
organisation and methodology of
the survey, and in
particular, they shall indicate the criteria adopted for the
design and size of the sample.

Article 4

Survey characteristics

Article 3

1. Data shall be provided on:

(a) demographic background:

Representativeness of the sample

(cid:190) sequence number in the household,

1.
For a group of unemployed people representing 5 %
of the working age population the relative standard error
for the estimation of annual averages (or for the spring
estimates in the case of an annual survey in the spring) at
NUTS II level shall not exceed 8 % of the sub-popula-
tion in question.

Regions with less than 300 000 inhabitants shall be
exempt from this requirement.

In the case of a continuous survey, for sub-popula-
2.
tions which constitute 5 % of the working age population
the relative standard error at national level for the es-
timate of changes between two successive quarters, shall
not exceed 2 % of the sub-population in question.

(cid:190) sex,

(cid:190) year of birth,

(cid:190) date of birth in relation to the end of the refer-

ence period,

(cid:190) marital status,

(cid:190) relationship to reference person,

(cid:190) sequence number of spouse,

(cid:190) sequence number of father,

(cid:190) sequence number of mother,

(cid:190) nationality,

(cid:190) number of years of residence in the Member

State,

(cid:190) country of birth (optional),

For Member States with a population of between one
million and twenty million inhabitants, this requirement
is relaxed so that the relative standard error for the es-

(cid:190) nature of participation in the survey (direct partic-
ipation or proxy through another member of the
household);

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(b)

labour status:

(cid:190) availability to start work,

(cid:190) labour status during the reference week,

(cid:190) reason for not having worked though having a

job,

(cid:190) search for

employment

for person without

employment,

(cid:190) type of employment sought

(self-employed or

employee),

(cid:190) methods used to find a job,

(cid:190) availability to start work;

(c)

employment characteristics of the main job:

(cid:190) professional status,

(cid:190) economic activity of local unit,

(cid:190) occupation,

(cid:190) number of persons working at the local unit,

(cid:190) country of place of work,

(cid:190) region of place of work,

(cid:190) year and month when the person started working

in current employment,

(cid:190) permanency of the job (and reasons),

(cid:190) duration of temporary job or work contract of

limited duration,

(cid:190) full-time/part-time distinction (and reasons),

(cid:190) working at home;

(d) hours worked:

(cid:190) number of hours of work wished for (optional in

the case of an annual survey);

(g)

search for employment:

(cid:190) type of employment sought (full-time or part-

time),

(cid:190) duration of search for employment,

(cid:190) situation of person immediately before starting to

seek employment,

(cid:190) registration at public employment office and

whether receiving benefits,

(cid:190) willingness

to work for person not

seeking

employment,

(cid:190) reasons why person has not sought work;

(h) education and training

participation in education or training during previous
four weeks:

(cid:190) purpose,

(cid:190) level,

(cid:190) type,

(cid:190) total length,

(cid:190) total number of hours,

(cid:190) highest successfully completed level of education

or training,

(cid:190) year when this highest

level was successfully

completed,

(cid:190) non-tertiary vocational qualification obtained;

(cid:190) number of hours per week usually worked,

(i) previous work experience of person not in employ-

(cid:190) number of hours actually worked,

ment:

(cid:190) main reason for hours actually worked being

different from person’s usual hours;

(e)

second job:

(cid:190) existence of more than one job,

(cid:190) professional status,

(cid:190) economic activity of the local unit,

(cid:190) number of hours actually worked;

(f)

visible underemployment:

(cid:190) wish to work usually more than the current
in the case of an

number of hours (optional
annual survey),

(cid:190) looking for another job and reasons for doing so,

(cid:190) type of employment sought

(as employee or

otherwise),

(cid:190) methods used to find another job,

(cid:190) reasons why the person is not seeking another job
(optional in the case of an annual survey),

(cid:190) existence of previous employment experience,

(cid:190) year and month in which the person last worked,

(cid:190) main reason for leaving last job or business,

(cid:190) professional status in last job,

(cid:190) economic activity of local unit in which person

last worked,

(cid:190) occupation of last job;

(j)

situation one year before the survey (optional for
quarters 1, 3, 4)

(cid:190) main labour status,

(cid:190) professional status,

(cid:190) economic activity of local unit in which person

was working,

(cid:190) country of residence,

(cid:190) region of residence;

(k) main labour status (optional);

(l)

income (optional);

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(m) technical items relating to the interview

(cid:190) year of survey,
(cid:190) reference week,
(cid:190) interview week,
(cid:190) Member State,
(cid:190) region of household,
(cid:190) degree of urbanisation,
(cid:190) serial number of household,
(cid:190) type of household,
(cid:190) type of institution,
(cid:190) weighting factor,
(cid:190) sub-sample in relation to the preceding survey

(annual survey),

(cid:190) sub-sample in relation to the following survey

(annual survey),

(cid:190) sequence number of the survey wave.

2. A further set of variables, hereinafter referred to as an
‘ad hoc module', may be added to supplement the infor-
mation described above in paragraph 1.

A programme of ad hoc modules covering several years
shall be drawn up each year according to the procedure
laid down in Article 8:

(cid:190) this programme shall specify for each ad hoc module,
the subject,
the sample size
the reference period,
(equal to or less than the sample size determined
according to Article 3) and the deadline for the trans-
mission of the results (which may be different from
the deadline according to Article 6),

(cid:190) the Member States and regions covered and the
detailed list of information to be collected in an ad
hoc module shall be drawn up at least twelve months
before the beginning of the reference period for that
module,

(cid:190) the volume of an ad hoc module shall not exceed the
volume of the module c described under paragraph 1.

3.
The definitions, the edits to be used, the codification
of the variables, the adjustment of the list of survey vari-
ables made necessary by the evolution of techniques and
concepts, and a list of principles for the formulation of
the questions concerning the labour status, are drawn up
according to the procedure laid down in Article 8.

in the spring), the Member States shall forward to Eurostat
the results of the survey, without direct identifiers.

Article 7

Reports

A report on the implementation of this Regulation shall
be submitted by the Commission to the Parliament and
the Council every three years, beginning in the year 2000.
This report shall evaluate in particular the quality of the
statistical methods envisaged by the Member States to
improve the results or to lighten the survey procedures.

Article 8

Procedure

The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical
Programme Committee, hereinafter referred to as ‘the
Committee'.

The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The
Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a
time limit which the chairman may lay down according
to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be deliv-
ered by the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the
Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council
is
required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission.
The votes of the representatives of the Member States
within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner
set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.

The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if
they are
the
Committee.

in accordance with the opinion of

If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the
opinion of the Committee, or if no opinion is delivered,
the Commission shall, without delay, submit
to the
Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken.
The Council shall act by a qualified majority.

If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the
date of referral to the Council, the Council has not acted,
the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commis-
sion.

Article 5

Conduct of the survey

Article 9

Arrangements for repealing

The Member States may make it compulsory to reply to
the survey.

Regulation (EEC) No 3711/91 is hereby repealed.

Article 6

Transmission of the results

Article 10

Entry into force

Within twelve weeks of the end of the reference period in
the case of a continuous survey (and within nine months
of the end of the reference period in the case of a survey

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

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This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
States.

Done at Brussels, 9 March 1998.

For the Council

The President

G. BROWN