WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2011/98 by José APOLINÁRIO to the Commission. Income and GDP - Agenda 2000
Date: 1998-06-30
Institutions: APOLINARIO, European Parliament
Subjects: EU publication, economic development, gross domestic product, household income, income, regional development, regional policy, report

29.4.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 118/15

(1999/C 118/016)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2011/98

by JosØ ApolinÆrio (PSE) to the Commission

(30 June 1998)

Subject: Income and GDP › Agenda 2000

Can the Commission confirm that in the context of Agenda 2000 the concepts of GDP and income are used
interchangeably? Is it the case that in Agenda 2000 the classification of regions would look completely
different if production were used rather than income as the yardstick? What would be the results of this
prospective effort?

(1999/C 118/017)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2013/98

by JosØ ApolinÆrio (PSE) to the Commission

(30 June 1998)

Subject: Real disposable regional incomes

Does the Commission consider that the statistical base for the regions in Agenda 2000 is an accurate
reflection of real disposable income levels in each region?

(1999/C 118/018)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2014/98

by JosØ ApolinÆrio (PSE) to the Commission

(30 June 1998)

Subject: Regional GDP

Can the Commission confirm whether, in one of the studies commissioned by it for the cohesion report, it
is stated unequivocally that production and disposable income are, where the regions are concerned, two
totally different concepts?

Can it confirm whether it is stated in the same study that to confuse production with income would inflate
(cid:145)income(cid:146) figures to artificially high levels in the case of the more productive regions of the less prosperous
Member States, and would have the reverse effect with the less productive regions of the more prosperous
Member States?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2010/98, E-2011/98, E-2013/98 and E-2014/98
given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commission

(9 September 1998)

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the value of production generated by resident producer units. The value
of production equates to the sum of the incomes › wages, rents and profits › that are created in the course
of productive activity. The existence of this identity means that the terms GDP and income are sometimes
used interchangeably. At the same time, incomes from production are not the same as the disposable
incomes of citizens. The disposable incomes of citizens are derived from the productive income net of
taxes and transfers.

Where Agenda 2000 (1) refers to income in the context of Community structural policies, it is clearly
defined in terms of GDP. This is particularly relevant to decisions relating to the identification of lagging
regions under Objective 1, where GDP is an excellent measure of the level of development. Accordingly,
in Agenda 2000 the proposed Objective 1 criteria are defined unambiguously in terms of GDP per capita.

The differences between income from production and disposable income are clearly recognised in the
Commission(cid:146)s first cohesion report of 1996 and in the underlying study to which the Honourable Member
refers. In the report, it is stated that (cid:145)the distribution of personal disposable income (PDI) can differ
significantly from the distribution of income before taxes and benefits(cid:146). While disposable income
indicates what people living in a region can actually spend, GDP indicates what is produced in a region
and therefore, expressed per capita, its state of economic development.