Amended proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) N° 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community to adapt the list of survey characteristics (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty)
Date: 2003-10-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, sample survey, sampling, statistical method, working population

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 16.10.2003
COM(2003) 594 final

2003/0047 (COD)

Amended proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

amending Council Regulation (EC) N° 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force
sample survey in the Community to adapt the list of survey characteristics

(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty)

2003/0047 (COD)

Amended proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

amending Council Regulation (EC) N° 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force
sample survey in the Community to adapt the list of survey characteristics

1.

BACKGROUND

12 March 2003: transmission of the proposal to the Council and to the European Parliament
[COM(2003) 109 final - 2003/0047 (COD)].

2 September 2003: first reading by the European Parliament

2.

AIM OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL

The  labour  force  survey  is  a  primary  source  of  comparable  information  about  labour
participation in the EU. The results are widely used and are important for policy-making.

The organisation of the labour force survey in the EU to provide quarterly results, including
the  list  of  survey  characteristics,  was  established  in  1998  by  Council  Regulation  (EC)
n° 577/98. The labour market has changed over the past five years and many policy measures
have  come  into  effect  as  part  of  the  coordinated  process  of  the  European  Employment
Strategy. In order to monitor these developments, the list of survey characteristics needs to be
adapted and updated. Six new variables are added and the five variables on atypical working
times are included as a standard module instead of the current gentleman's agreement. Some
of the new variables are already collected in the Member States, but they are not yet available
for all Member States.

In 2000, only minor changes were introduced in the codification of the variables (for example,
additional reasons for absence from work; Commission Regulation No 1575/2000), while the
latest  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  n°  2104/2002  was  limited  to  improvements  in  the
variables on education.

To  balance  the  introduction  of  these  new  variables  and  to  limit  the  response  burden,  the
Commission  proposal  makes  it  possible  to  select  structural  variables  which  need  only  one
continuous  survey  a  year  in  order  to  estimate  annual  averages.  Because  the  collection  of
information for these structural variables on an annual basis rather than quarterly is sufficient,
data collection in these cases can be limited to a sub-sample. Achieving this balance between
additional  variables  with  a  view  to  improving  our  understanding  of  the  labour  market  and
limiting the response burden without jeopardising the use of the results for policy monitoring
or analysis, is an essential feature of the proposal.

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3.

COMMISSION OPINION ON THE AMENDMENT ADOPTED BY THE PARLIAMENT

3.1.

Amendment accepted by the Commission

The Commission agrees to take into account in its amended proposal the  single  amendment
adopted  by  the  European  Parliament  in  its  plenary  session  on  2  September  2003.  The
amendment grants an exemption to Spain, Finland and the United Kingdom for the collection
of  the  structural  variables  with  reference  to  a  single  quarter  for  a  transition  period  running
until the end of 2007. This will allow these Member States to adapt their survey procedures,
which  have  for  many  years  been  based  on  a  quarterly  structure.  This  amendment  is  in  line
with the Presidency compromise in the Council working party. The Commission accepts this
amendment  because  the  exemption  only  concerns  the  survey  process  and  the  new  variables
specified by the proposed Regulation will be available for all Member States.

4.

CONCLUSION

Having  regard  to  Article  250,  paragraph  2  of  the  EC  Treaty,  the  Commission  amends  its
initial proposal for the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending
Council Regulation. (EC) n° 577/98 on the organisation of the labour force sample survey in
the Community.

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