Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Community statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC)
Date: 2001-12-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, household, income, living conditions

C 103 E/198

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Community
statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC)

(2002/C 103 E/12)

(Text with EEA relevance)

COM(2001) 754 final — 2001/0293(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 13 December 2001)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

(5) To reflect changes taking place in the distribution of
social

income and in the level and composition of
exclusion, the statistics need to be updated annually.

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 285(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty,

Whereas:

(1) In order to carry out the tasks assigned to it, particularly
after the Lisbon and Nice European Council meetings held
the
in March
Commission should be
income
distribution and of the level and composition of poverty
and social exclusion in the Member States.

and December

informed of

respectively,

2000

kept

(2) The development of the Community and the operation of
the internal market increase the need for comparable and
timely cross-sectional and longitudinal data on income
and composition of
distribution and on the
poverty and social exclusion for establishing reliable and
relevant comparisons between the Member States, to be
used mainly in the context of
the ‘Programme of
Community action to encourage co-operation between
Member States to combat social exclusion’ and as one
input to the Commission's Structural Indicators.

level

(3) The decision of

the European Parliament and of

the
Council establishing a programme of Community action
to encourage co-operation between Member States to
combat social exclusion has established, under Action
1.2 of Strand 1 ‘Analysis of
the
funding of
necessary conditions
measures concerning the collection and dissemination of
comparable statistics and in particular supporting the
improvement of surveys and analysis of poverty and
social exclusion.

in relation to the

social exclusion’,

(6) To investigate major issues of social concern, especially
new issues requiring specific research, the Commission
needs cross-sectional and longitudinal micro-data at the
household and personal level.

(7) Priority should be given to the production of timely and
comparable annual cross-sectional data on income and
social exclusion.

(8) Flexibility in terms of data sources, in particular the use of
existing national data sources whether they be surveys or
should be
and national
registers,
encouraged and the integration of
the new source(s)
into established national statistical systems should be
promoted.

designs

sample

(9) Commission Regulation

of

. . ./. . .

(EC) No

. . .
implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of
17 February 1997 on Community statistics, concerning
access to confidential data for scientific purposes has
statistical
established,
the purpose of
conclusions to be drawn for scientific purposes,
the
conditions pursuant to which access to confidential data
transmitted to the Community authority may be granted.

enabling

for

(10) The production of

specific Community statistics

is
governed by the rules set out in Council Regulation (EC)
No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community
Statistics (1).

(11) Since the measures necessary for the implementation of
this Regulation are management measures within the
meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC
of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the
exercise of
conferred on the
Commission (2), they are to be adopted by use of the
management procedure provided for in Article 4 of that
Decision.

implementing powers

(12) The Statistical Programme Committee (SPC) has been
consulted in accordance with Article 3 of Decision
89/382/EEC, Euratom (3) the aforesaid Decision,

(4) The best method of assessing the situation as regards
income, poverty and social exclusion is
to compile
Community statistics using harmonised methods and defi-
nitions.

(1) OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 61.
(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(3) OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 103 E/199

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Aim

The aim of this Regulation shall be to establish a common
the systematic production of Community
framework for
Statistics on Income
(hereinafter
encompassing comparable and
referred to as
timely cross-sectional and longitudinal data on income and
on the level and composition of poverty and social exclusion
at national and European levels.

and Living Conditions

‘EU-SILC’),

Article 2

Definitions

a certain duration. The longitudinal data may come either
from a cross-sectional survey with a rotational sample
where individuals once selected are followed-up or from
a pure panel survey;
it may be combined with register
data.

(i) ‘Sample persons’: means the persons selected into the
sample at the first wave of a longitudinal panel. They
sample of
may comprise all members of an initial
households, or a representative sample of individuals in
a survey of persons.

(j) ‘Target primary areas’: means the subject areas to be

collected on an annual basis.

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following definitions
shall apply:

(k) ‘Target secondary areas’: means the subject areas to be

collected every four years or less.

(a) ‘Community statistics’ shall have the meaning assigned to

it in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 322/97.

(b) ‘Production of statistics’ shall have the meaning assigned to

it in Regulation (EC) No 322/97.

(c) ‘Year of survey’: means the year in which the collection, or

most of the collection, is carried out.

(d) ‘Fieldwork period’: means the period of time in which the

survey component is collected.

(e) ‘Reference period’: means the period of time to which a

particular item of information relates.

(f) ‘Private household’: means a person living alone or a
group of people who live together in the same private
dwelling and share expenditures,
including the joint
provision of the essentials of living.

Small departures from this common definition, as long as
they only marginally affect comparability, shall be allowed
for Member States having a common household definition
in their national statistical system.

The impact on comparability of any departure from the
common definition shall be reported in the quality report
specified in Article 16.

(g) ‘Cross-sectional data’: means the data pertaining to a given
time or a certain time period. The cross-sectional data may
be extracted either from a cross-sectional sample survey
with or without a rotational sample or from a pure panel
sample survey (on condition that cross-sectional represen-
tativeness is guaranteed); such data may be combined with
register data (data on persons, households or dwellings
compiled from a unit-level administrative or statistical
register).

(h) ‘Longitudinal data’: means the data pertaining to indi-
vidual-level changes over time, observed periodically over

(l) ‘Gross income’: means the total

income received by the
household over a specified ‘income reference period’,
before deduction of income tax, regular taxes on wealth,
employees' compulsory social insurance contributions and
employers' social insurance contributions, but after taking
into account inter-household transfers.

(m) ‘Disposable income’: means gross income less income tax,
regular taxes on wealth, employees' compulsory social
insurance
insurance contributions and employers' social
contributions.

Article 3

Scope

EU-SILC shall cover comparable and timely cross-sectional data
living
on income, poverty,
conditions as well as longitudinal data restricted to income,
labour and a limited number of non-monetary indicators of
social exclusion.

exclusion and other

social

Article 4

Time reference

The

cross-sectional

and longitudinal data

1.
shall be
collected, or compiled in the case of registers, annually from
the year 2003.
In any given Member State, the timing of
collection shall be kept the same from one year to the next
as far as possible.

Italy,

By way of exception to paragraph 1 of Article 4,
2.
the Netherlands and the United
Germany, France,
Kingdom may start the annual cross-sectional and longitudinal
data collection in 2004, provided that they supply comparable
data during the transition period for the indicators requested
by the Commission in those fields where an open method of
co-ordination has been agreed by the Council.

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The income reference period shall be a twelve-month
3.
period. This may be a fixed twelve-month period (such as
the previous calendar or tax year) or a moving twelve-month
period (such as the twelve months preceding the interview).

Limited departures from this definition are allowed for Member
States having a different tradition in their national statistics, as
long as the impact on comparability is marginal.

The impact on comparability of any departure from the
common definition shall be reported in the quality report
specified in Article 16.

4.
If a fixed income reference period is used, fieldwork for
the survey component shall be carried out over a limited
period as close as possible to the income reference period or
to the tax declaration period so as to minimise time lag
between income and current variables.

Article 5

Characteristics of the data

In order to permit multi-dimensional analysis at the level
1.
of households and persons and in particular investigation of
major issues of social concern that are new and require specific
research, all the household and individual data shall be linkable
in the cross-sectional component.

Similarly, all household and personal data shall be linkable in
the longitudinal component.

The longitudinal micro-data do not need to be linkable with
the cross-sectional micro-data.

The longitudinal component shall cover at least four years.

2.
In order to reduce response burdens, to help in income
imputation procedures and to test data quality, the national
authorities shall have access to relevant administrative data
sources in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 322/97.

Article 7

Collection unit

1.
The reference population for EU-SILC shall be all private
households and their current members residing in the territory
of the Member State at the time of the data collection.

2.

The main information collected shall pertain to

(a) private households,

composition and basic
members; and

including data on household size,
current

characteristics of

its

(b) persons aged sixteen and over.

3.
The collection unit, together with the mode of collection
for the household and personal information, shall be as laid
down in Annex I.

Article 8

Sampling and tracing rules

The cross-sectional and longitudinal data shall be based

1.
on nationally representative probability samples.

In the longitudinal component,

individuals included in
2.
the initial sample, that is to say, sample persons, shall be
followed over the duration of the panel. Every sample person
who has moved to a private household within the national
followed-up to the new location
boundaries
following tracing rules and procedures
to be defined in
accordance with the procedure specified in Article 14.

shall be

Article 9

Sample sizes

On the basis of diverse

and practical
1.
considerations and the precision requirements for the most
critical variables, the minimum effective sample sizes to be
achieved shall be as set out in the table in Annex II.

statistical

Article 6

Data required

The target primary areas and corresponding reference
1.
periods to be covered by the cross-sectional and the longi-
tudinal components are laid down in Annex I.

2.
Target secondary areas shall be included every year
starting from 2004 only in the cross-sectional component.
They shall be defined in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 14. One secondary area shall be covered each
year.

2.
Sample size for the longitudinal component refers, for
any pair of consecutive years, to the number of households
successfully interviewed in the first year in which all or at least
a majority of
aged 16 + are
the household members
successfully interviewed in both the years.

3. Member States using registers for income and other data
may use a sample of persons rather than a sample of complete
households in the interview survey. The minimum effective
sample size in terms of
the number of detailed personal
interviews shall be taken as 75 % of the figures shown in
columns 3 and 4 of the table set out in Annex II, for the
cross-sectional and longitudinal components respectively.

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Information on income and other data shall also be collected
for the household of each selected respondent and for all its
members.

By way of exception for the first EU-SILC year (collection
during 2003), cross-sectional report at Community level shall
be produced, by Eurostat, by September 2005.

Article 10

Transmission of data

shall

to the Commission
1. Member States
(Eurostat)
in the form of micro-data files weighted cross-
sectional and longitudinal data which has been fully checked,
edited and imputed in relation to income.

transmit

Member States shall transmit the data in electronic form, in
conformity with an appropriate
to be
proposed by the Commission.

technical

format

2.
Regarding the cross-sectional component, Member States
shall transmit the micro-data files relating to year of survey N
to the Commission (Eurostat), preferably within ten months
after the end of the data collection. The extreme deadline for
the transmission of micro-data to Eurostat shall be 31 October
(N + 1) for Member States where data are collected at the end
of year N or through a continuous survey or through registers
and 1 September (N + 1) for other Member States.

By way of exception, cross-sectional micro-data files relating to
year 2003 shall be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) by
31 December 2004.

shall
Together with the micro-data files, Member States
transmit social cohesion indicators based on the cross-sectional
sample of year N that will be included in the annual Spring
report of year (N + 2) to the European Council.

Article 12

Access for scientific purposes to EU-SILC confidential data

The Community authority (Eurostat) may grant access for
1.
scientific purposes to EU-SILC micro-data in compliance with
Regulation (EC) No . . ./. . . [of . . . implementing Council Regu-
lation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997 on Community
statistics, concerning access to confidential data for scientific
purposes].

2.
For the cross-sectional component, micro-data files at
Community level for data collected during year N shall be
made available for scientific purposes by the end of February
N + 2.

By way of exception,
Community level
available for scientific purposes by the end of April 2005.

cross-sectional micro-data files at
relating to year 2003 shall be made

For

the longitudinal component, micro-data files at
3.
Community level
for data collected up to year N shall be
made available for scientific purposes by the end of July N + 2.

The first issue of longitudinal micro-data files at Community
level shall cover 2003 and 2004 and shall take place at the end
of July 2006. The second issue in July 2007 shall cover years
2003-2005;
thereafter, each July release shall cover longi-
tudinal data for the four most recent years available.

Article 13

Financing

3.
As for the longitudinal component, Member States shall
transmit the micro-data files up to year N to the Commission
(Eurostat) preferably within fifteen months after the end of the
fieldwork. The mandatory deadline for the transmission of
micro-data to Eurostat shall be the end of March (N + 2),
each year starting from the second year of EU-SILC. The first
transmission of data (covering longitudinally linked data for the
survey years 2003 and 2004) shall take place by end March
2006. The next transmission shall cover the first three survey
longitudinal data
years 2003-2005;
thereafter,
covering the preceding four
(revised from
previous releases as necessary) shall be provided.

each year
survey years

1.
For the first four years for which data provided for in this
Regulation are collected, Member States shall receive a financial
contribution from the Community towards the cost of the
work involved.

2.
The amount of the appropriations allocated annually for
the financial contribution referred to in paragraph 1 shall be
fixed as part of the annual budgetary procedures.

The budget authority shall determine the appropriations

3.
available for each year.

Article 11

Publication

Article 14

Committee

For the cross-sectional component, the Commission (Eurostat)
shall publish an annual cross-sectional report at Community
level by the end of June N + 2, based on the data collected
during year N.

The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical
1.
Programme Committee,
by Decision 89/382
instituted
(EEC/Euratom), composed of representatives of the Member
States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.

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reference

the
2. Where
management procedure laid down in Article 4 of Decision
1999/468/EC shall apply,
in compliance with Article 7 and
Article 8 thereof.

to this paragraph,

is made

to take

and
including measures
technical changes, shall be laid down at
least six months
before the beginning of the year of the survey and shall only
relate to points (a) to (e) of paragraph 1.

account of

economic

The period provided for in Article 4(3) of Decision

3.
1999/468/EC shall be three months.

3.
The total duration of the interview relating to the target
primary and target secondary variables of the cross-sectional
component,
interviews,
including household and individual
shall not exceed one hour on average in each country.

Article 15

Implementing measures

1.
The measures necessary for the implementation of this
including measures to take account of economic
Regulation,
and technical changes, shall be laid down, at least nine months
before the beginning of the year of the survey, in accordance
with the procedure specified in Article 14. Such measures shall
concern:

(a) the definition of the list of target primary variables to be
included in each area for the cross-sectional component
and the list of target variables included in the longitudinal
including the specification of variable codes
component,
and the technical format of transmission to Eurostat;

(b) the detailed content of the quality report;

(c) the updating of

the definitions,

in particular the oper-
ationalisation of the income definitions given in points (l)
and (m) of Article 2 (including the timetable for the
inclusion of the different components);

(d) the sampling aspects, including tracing rules;

(e) the fieldwork aspects;

(f)

the list of target secondary areas and variables.

2.
By way of exception to the provisions of paragraph 1, for
the data collection carried out in year 2003, the measures
this Regulation,
implementation
necessary

the

for

of

Article 16

Reports

Member States shall produce by the end of year N + 2, as
defined in the second subparagraph of Article 10(2), quality
and longitudinal
reports
that
components
survey N,
focussing on the internal accuracy. By way of exception, the
2003 report shall only cover the cross-sectional component.

cover both cross-sectional
in relation to the year of

the

The Commission (Eurostat) shall produce by 30 June N + 3 a
comparative quality report that covers both cross-sectional and
longitudinal components in relation to the year of the survey
N. By way of exception, the 2003 report shall only cover the
cross-sectional component.

No later than 31 December 2007, the Commission will submit
a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the
work done under this Regulation.

Article 17

Entry into Force

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

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

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PRIMARY AREAS COVERED IN THE CROSS-SECTIONAL COMPONENT AND AREAS COVERED IN THE
LONGITUDINAL COMPONENT

ANNEX I

1. Household information

Unit
(Persons or
households)

Household

Mode of collection

Domains

Areas

Reference period

Cross-sectional (X)
and/or longitudinal (L)
area

interview of

a
Personal
household member
aged
16 and over or extraction
from registers

Basic data

Basic household data

Current

Income

household

Total
(gross and disposable)

income

Income reference
period

Gross income components
at household level

Income reference
period

Social exclusion

Arrears

Last 12 months

Non-monetary
deprivation indicators

household

Current

Physical
vironment

and

social

en-

Current

Housing

Basic housing conditions

Current

Amenities in the dwelling

Current

Housing costs

Current

X, L

X, L

X, L

X, L

X, L

X

X, L

X

X

2. Personal information

Unit
(Persons or
households)

persons

All
under 16

aged

Former
members

household

All persons aged 16
and
the
over
household

in

Mode of collection

Domains

Areas

Reference period

Cross-sectional (X)
and/or longitudinal (L)
area

interview of

a
Personal
aged
household member
16 and over or extraction
from registers

interview of all
Personal
household members aged
16 and over (proxy as an
persons
for
exception
temporarily
in
away or
extraction
incapacity) or
from registers

Preferably
interview
on
accepted
procedure
or
from registers

by
personal
but
proxy
normal
a
extraction

Basic data

Demographic data

Current

Demographic data

Income reference
period

Income

income,
personal
Gross
total and components at
personal level

Income reference
period

Basic data

Basic personal data

Demographic data

Education

Education

Current

Current

Current

Labour information Basic labour information

Current/Income
reference period

Second job

Current

X, L

L

X, L

X, L

X, L

X, L

X, L

X

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Unit
(Persons or
households)

Mode of collection

Domains

Areas

Reference period

Cross-sectional (X)
and/or longitudinal (L)
area

least one house-
aged
(the

At
hold member
16 and over
selected respondent)

interview of

the
Personal
(proxy as an
individual(s)
exception)
extraction
or
from registers

Health

Health

Current

Access to health care

Past 12 months

Labour information Detailed labour information

Current

Activity history

Working life

Calendar of activities

Income reference
period

X, L

X

X, L

L

L

ANNEX II

MINIMUM EFFECTIVE SAMPLE SIZES

Households

Personal interviews

cross-sectional

longitudinal

cross-sectional

longitudinal

1

4 750

4 250

8 250

4 750

6 500

7 250

3 750

7 250

3 250

5 000

4 500

4 500

4 000

4 500

7 500

2

3 500

3 250

6 000

3 500

5 000

5 500

2 750

5 500

2 500

3 750

3 250

3 250

3 000

3 500

5 750

3

8 750

7 250

14 500

10 000

16 000

13 500

8 000

15 500

6 500

8 750

8 750

10 500

6 750

7 500

13 750

4

6 500

5 500

10 500

7 250

12 250

10 250

6 000

11 750

5 000

6 500

6 250

7 500

5 000

5 750

10 500

80 000

60 000

156 000

116 500

Belgium

Denmark

Germany

Greece

Spain

France

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Austria

Portugal

Finland

Sweden

United Kingdom

Note:

The reference is to the effective sample size which is the size required if the survey were based on simple random sampling
(design effect = 1,0). The actual sample sizes will have to be larger to the extent that the design effects exceed 1,0 to
compensate for non-response of all kinds. Furthermore, the sample size refers to the number of valid households which are
households for which, and for all members of which, all or nearly all the required information has been obtained.