Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European system of integrated social protection statistics (ESSPROS) COM(2006) 11 final — 2006/0004 (COD)
Date: 2006-07-05
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU statistics, European social policy, social security, statistical method

C 309/78

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Official Journal of the European Union

16.12.2006

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a regulation of the
European Parliament and of the Council on the European system of integrated social protection
statistics (ESSPROS)

COM(2006) 11 final — 2006/0004 (COD)

(2006/C 309/17)

On 10 February 2006 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned 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 2 June 2006. The rapporteur was Ms Sciberras.

At its 428th plenary session, held on 5 and 6 July 2006 (meeting of 5 July 2006), the European Economic
and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 162 votes in favour and 5 abstentions.

1. Recommendations

The EESC points out that in order to reinforce the social
1.1
dimension of the Lisbon Strategy, Member States should lend
more political weight through the new framework to the goal
of modernising and improving social protection. The social
dimension is key to meeting the challenges arising from globa-
lisation and an ageing population. The different objectives of
the Lisbon Strategy, namely sustainable economic growth,
more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, must be
equally endorsed and upheld (1).

1.6
Accurate collation of statistics is also important for the
governments of Member States in order to adapt current social
security systems to the needs of the respective societies and in
order to address the needs of sections of society which do not
fall under current social protection systems.

It also contributes to establishing and raising awareness
1.7
of targeted programmes for the vulnerable and excluded social
groups aimed in particular at eradicating child poverty.

1.2
The EESC believes that the European system of inte-
grated social protection statistics (ESSPROS) is important in the
context of the open methods of coordination in the fields of
social inclusion and pensions.

1.8
Policy cooperation in the field of social protection in all
Member States has, in recent years, taken a huge step forward.
The objective of the proposed action to harmonise data on
Community social protection statistics can only be achieved by
the Community and not by Member States acting alone.

1.3
There is a need for an analytical approach based on reli-
able and comparable indicators. This is essential for creating a
reliable picture of the progress or otherwise made towards
meeting the objectives. The EESC believes that in addition to
statistical streamlining the development of qualitative indicators
is also required.

1.4
A Member State may find it difficult to fund the collec-
tion of the necessary statistics. Consideration has thus to be
given to the capacity of all Member States to gather the infor-
mation. In addition, the costs to each Member State of such an
unfunded mandate, although minimal, should be estimated in
advance. The EESC is pleased that the Commission foresees
financial help for the Member States to introduce developments
in the existing system.

The outcomes of the Lisbon Strategy can be assessed by
1.9
means of indicators and by evaluation of economic perfor-
mance and the jobs and growth programme. There is a need to
link these indicators to the indicators of social protection. This
is the best way to evaluate the results of the whole Lisbon
strategy.

2. Introduction

1.5
It is also important that non-monetary criteria, based on
human needs, are reflected in the choice of indicators, such as
access, quality and participation (2).

(1) EESC opinion of 20.4.2006 on Communication from the Commis-
sion to the Council,
the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions
— Working together, working better: A new framework for the
open coordination of social protection and inclusion policies in the
European Union. Rapporteur: M. Olsson. OJ L 185, 8.8.2006

the European Parliament,

(2) See footnote 1.

2.1
In order to achieve the goals set in the Lisbon Strategy,
the social protection dimension has to be analysed and its
different targets and elements made visible and comparable.
The Commission's new Framework for the Open Coordination
of Social Protection is a tool for the Member States and EU in
this process. As the Committee stated in its opinion on the
Strategy for open coordination on social protection (3), there is
a need to create proper indicators for this tool.

(3) See footnote 1.

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Social

security systems

2.2
in all Member States have
evolved according to the States' history and any particular
circumstances resulting in different systems in different States.

2.3
Social protection encompasses all actions by public or
private bodies intended to relieve the community, be it house-
holds or individuals, of the burden of a defined set of risks or
needs (4).

2.4
Social protection has developed a great deal since the
beginning of the 1990s when confusion arose following the
(92/442) aimed at
two Council recommendations,
harmonising objectives and policies for social protection, the
second (92/441) aimed at determining common criteria to
guarantee sufficient resources in the systems of all EU Member
States (5).

the first

2.5
Further communications on social protection have
pushed social protection up the European agenda ‘and have
contributed positively to a common understanding of European
social protection’ (de la Porte 1999 a) (6).

2.6
This has led to the need for effective benchmarking,
based on cooperation (already in force) and on coordination
which consists mainly of exchanging views and recommenda-
tions based on best practices.

2.7
The most sensitive issue remained the establishment of
commonly agreed indicators. Existing systems of comparative
statistics needed to be revised. An analysis of the features,
causes and development of social exclusion had to be carried
out and the quality of the data improved.

The outcomes of the Lisbon Strategy can be evaluated
2.8
by means of indicators and by evaluation of economic perfor-
mance and the jobs and growth programme. There is a need to
link these indicators to the indicators of social protection. This
is the best way to evaluate the results of the whole Lisbon
Strategy.

It was agreed at

3.4
the European Council of October
2003 (7) that an annual Joint Report on Social Inclusion and
Social Protection will be the core reporting instrument for
streamlining the open method of coordination (OMC) (8).

3.5
The Communication from the Commission regarding A
new Framework for the open coordination of social protection and
inclusion policies in the EU spelt out the need to define a new
framework to make the OMC a more visible and a stronger
process (9).

The Commission proposal for a regulation of the Euro-
3.6
pean Parliament and of the Council on ESSPROS highlights the
importance of the Social Dimension as one of the pillars of the
Lisbon Strategy.

3.7
The objective of the regulation is to establish a frame-
work for collation of data on social protection by Members
States, which is currently carried out using different methods
impossible to
and definitions vary in each state making it
compare data. This comparability diminishes the usefulness of
such data when it comes to the analysis of social protection
systems in the EU.

The objectives of

3.8
the Commission proposal will be
better achieved if the statistics and analysis thereof are under-
taken at EU level on the basis of a harmonised collection of
data in the different Member States.

3.9
The EESC agrees that a legal framework for ESSPROS
will contribute to achieving the goals of competitiveness,
employment and social inclusion set out in the Lisbon Strategy
and consequently help to improve social protection systems in
the different Member States.

3.10
The open method of coordination (OMC) which will
facilitate work on social protection also presupposes the need
for comparable and reliable statistics in the field of social
policy (10).

3. Summary of the Commission document

3.11

The main elements of the Commission regulations are:

3.1
Social protection systems are highly developed in the
EU. The organisation and financing of such systems is the
responsibility of the Member States.

3.2
The EU has a distinct role to play in ensuring protection
for citizens in each Member State and for citizens moving
across borders on the basis of EU legislation coordinating
national social security systems.

Therefore,

it is essential to establish an agreed set of
3.3
from
common indicators which requires a commitment
Member States to develop key instruments such as ESSPROS. A
legal framework for ESSPROS, as specified in the Commission's
proposal ‘will improve the usefulness of current data collection
in terms of timeliness, coverage and comparability’.

(4) Social Benchmarking policy making, Caroline de la Porte.
(5) Definition from ESSPROS MANUAL (1996).
(6) Social Benchmarking policy making, Caroline de la Porte.

— the ESSPROS core system which covers the financial flows

on social protection expenditure and receipts;

— apart from the core systems, modules on pension benefici-

aries and net social beneficiaries will be added.

4. Methodology of ESSPROS

4.1
Developed in the late 70s the ESSPROS methodology
was a response to the need for a specific instrument to statisti-
cally monitor social protection in the EU Member States (11).

(7) Brussels European Council, 16 and 17 October 2003, Presidency

Conclusions.

(8) COM(2006) 11 final, 2006/2004 (COD).
(9) COM(2005) 706 final.
(10) COM(2003) 261 final.
(11) COM(2003) 261 final.

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The 1996 ESSPROS Manual established an extremely

4.2
detailed system for classifying social benefits.

The revised methodology in the ESSPROS Manual
4.3
increases flexibility, which to a certain extent is missing in the
Eurostat compilation of statistics.

One way in which this flexibility is increased is by

4.4
moving over to a core system and modules (12).

4.5
The core system corresponds to the standard informa-
tion on social protection receipts and expenditure published
annually by Eurostat.

The modules contain supplementary statistical informa-
4.6
tion on particular aspects of social protection. The themes
covered by the modules are determined by the requirements of
the Commission and the different Member States (13).

Although the objectives of ESSPROS provide a compre-
4.7
hensive description of social protection in the EU Member
States, the ESSPROS methodology does not include statistics on
important issues as health services, housing, poverty, social
exclusion and immigration. There is significant collation of
these statistics by Eurostat and comprehensive exchange of
information regarding social protection between the Member
States of the European Union on the basis of MISSOC (14).
However, a legal framework for ESSPROS would ensure a more
comprehensive and realistic description of social protection in
the Member States.

Brussels, 5 July 2006

5. Trends in the field of social protection

5.1 Housing

5.1.1
Housing affordability is an area that requires assess-
ment. Measurement of true housing affordability has to be
quite comprehensive.

5.1.2
Issues like this further underline the importance of
collating social and economic statistics in Member States for
the benefit of the public; sustainability indicators should be
kept as a warning.

5.2 Pensions

5.2.1
many EU countries.

Collation of statistics in this field is conducted in

5.2.2
However measurements of projected population
changes are made more difficult by the problem of estimating
immigration numbers. It may be important to include projected
immigration figures and the likely impact on the sustainability
of publicly funded pension funds. Consequently the more accu-
rate the data regarding immigration flows, the better the contri-
bution of statistics to proper decision making.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Anne-Marie SIGMUND

(12) ESSPROS Manual 1996.
(13) ESSPROS Manual 1996.
(14) MISSOC 2004 Manual.