Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Community statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC)" (COM(2001) 754 final — 2001/0293 (COD))
Date: 2002-04-24
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU statistics, household, income, living conditions

C 149/24

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

21.6.2002

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European
Parliament and of the Council concerning Community statistics on income and living conditions
(EU-SILC)’

(COM(2001) 754 final — 2001/0293 (COD))

(2002/C 149/07)

On 18 February 2002 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 10 April 2002. The rapporteur was Ms Florio
and the co-rapporteurs were Mr Bento Gonçalves and Mr Burani.

At its 390th plenary session (meeting of 24 April 2002) the Economic and Social Committee adopted
the following opinion with 98 votes in favour, no dissenting votes and one abstention.

1.

Introduction

The idea of an EU-SILC regulation originated in the

1.6.
second report on economic and social cohesion.

1.1.
A regulation concerning Community statistics on
income and living conditions (EU-SILC) is necessary in view of
the high priority which the Council and Commission accord
to the fight against poverty and social exclusion. Reliable,
comparable and timely statistics are vital in order to obtain a
realistic picture of the situation and monitor the progress of
the relevant policies.

2. The proposed regulation

The legal basis

1.2.
found in
Articles 136, 137 and 258 of the Amsterdam Treaty. These
articles stress the need for, and possibility of, providing
statistics on income, living conditions and social exclusion.

the regulation is

for

The conclusions of the European Councils of Lisbon
1.3.
(23-24 March 2000) and Nice (7-9 December 2000) also
confirmed the Community’s goal of eradicating poverty by
means of continued dialogue and the pooling of information
and best practice on the basis of commonly agreed indicators.

1.4.
In 2000 the Commission drew up a programme of
Community action to encourage cooperation between Member
States to combat social exclusion. One of the aims of this
programme was to promote the ‘collection and dissemination
of comparable statistics in Member States and at Community
level’. The programme also laid down conditions for the
funding of measures to obtain reliable, comparable statistics
for analysing poverty and social exclusion.

The Commission communication on structural indi-
1.5.
cators (1) includes in this category indicators of inequalities in
income distribution and poverty rates.

The aim of the regulation is to establish a common
2.1.
framework for the systematic production of Community
statistics on income and living conditions in all Member States,
with a view to gaining a better understanding of poverty and
social exclusion at national and EU level. The regulation
intrinsically provides a useful tool for achieving these objec-
tives and monitoring developments.

2.2.
The statistics are to cover households comprising one
or more people, using harmonised methods and definitions
which will be common to all Member States.

2.3.
Statistical surveys will collect both cross-sectional and
longitudinal data. Cross-sectional data provide a snapshot of a
given moment of time.

(1) COM(2000) 594 final.

Longitudinal data relate to changes within a given
2.4.
sample observed over a period of at least four years, and
involve a smaller sample than cross-sectional data.

21.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 149/25

2.5.
In terms of sources, the regulation favours a flexible
approach based on the use of existing national data (registers,
surveys, national samples, etc.) plus some new sources. Hence
it makes provision for direct interviews but also allows the use
of data from registers where these exist.

2.6.

Data are to be collected annually.

2.7.
The regulation identifies target areas, determined on
the basis of primary and secondary variables. Various modules
can then be submitted annually for the observation of new
phenomena.

2.8.
During the first four years of the programme, ad hoc
financial contributions will be made to the Member States.
After this period, two thirds of the costs of data collection will
be met by the Commission.

3. The Committee’s recommendations (1)

3.1.
As pointed out in earlier opinions, there are neverthe-
less still considerable differences in the collection of data for
the individual national systems. This makes data comparison
and analysis difficult.

(1) See also
— EESC opinion on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European
Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation
(EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample
survey in the Community — OJ C 48, 21.2.2002

— EESC opinion currently being drafted on social indicators.

Brussels, 24 April 2002.

3.2.
It is disappointing that the data to be collected under
the regulation only cover the national dimension of poverty
and social exclusion, with no provision for local or regional
data. This seems in direct contradiction with EU guidelines,
especially as regards economic and social cohesion policy
which since 1992 has formed one of the three pillars of the
Union.

3.3.
The link with regional policies should be brought out
more clearly, particularly as regards the less developed regions
(objective 1) where unemployment, poverty and exclusion
reach worrying levels.

3.4. More detailed analysis is also needed of the big cities,
as these problems are particularly acute on their outskirts.
Careful attention must also be paid to rural areas with higher
levels of poverty.

3.5.
The regulation contains no explicit provision for
the breakdown of data by gender, although many surveys
conducted by international bodies and by the Commission
have shown that women are the main victims of exclusion and
poverty.

As regards the need for harmonised definitions and
3.6.
methodology to ensure that data are truly comparable, dead-
lines should be set and Member States called upon to make a
specific economic commitment.

3.7.
Cooperation between Eurostat, the European Com-
mission, the socio-occupational bodies and the associations
most closely involved in social exclusion issues represented on
the EESC, is vital if analysis and monitoring instruments such
as EU-SILC are to be exploited to the full.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS