Regulation (EC) No 453/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2008-04-23
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: EU statistics, Eurostat, data collection, employment statistics, exchange of information, job vacancy

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REGULATION (EC) No 453/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 23 April 2008

on quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EURO-
PEAN UNION,

(5)

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251
of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

On 8 December 2003, the Council endorsed the develop-
ment and publication of a structural
indicator on job
vacancies.

The Action Plan on EMU Statistical Requirements, which
was endorsed by the Council on 29 September 2000, and
subsequent progress reports on the implementation of that
plan, identified as a priority the development of a legal
basis covering job vacancy statistics.

The Employment Committee established by Council Deci-
sion 2000/98/EC (4) endorses the need for an indicator for
job vacancies in order to monitor the European Employ-
ment Strategy laid down in Council Decision 2005/600/EC
of 12 July 2005 on Guidelines for the employment poli-
cies of the Member States (5).

Decision No 1672/2006/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 24 October 2006 establishing a
Community Programme for Employment and Social Soli-
darity — Progress (6), provides for the financing of the rel-
evant actions, including, as specified therein, improving
the understanding of the employment situation and pros-
pects, in particular through analysis and studies and the
development of statistics and common indicators within
the framework of the European Employment Strategy.

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

Data on job vacancies broken down, inter alia, by eco-
nomic activity are required by the Commission in the
framework of the European Employment Strategy for
monitoring and analysis of the level and structure of labour
demand.

Readily available quarterly data on job vacancies are
required by the Commission and by the European Central
Bank to monitor short-term changes in job vacancies. Sea-
sonally adjusted job vacancy data facilitate the interpreta-
tion of quarterly changes.

Data provided on job vacancies should be relevant and
complete, accurate and comprehensive, timely, coherent,
comparable, and readily accessible to users.

The benefits of collecting complete data at Community
level on all segments of the economy should be balanced
against the reporting possibilities of, and the response bur-
den on, small and medium-sized enterprises in particular.

Particular efforts should be made to include in the statis-
tics as soon as possible all data concerning units with fewer
than 10 employees.

To determine the scope of the statistics to be compiled and
the level of detail required by economic activity, it is nec-
essary to apply the version of the statistical classification
system for economic activities in the Community (NACE)
that is currently in force.

In the production and dissemination of Community statis-
tics under this Regulation, the national and Community
statistical authorities should take account of the principles
set out in the European Statistics Code of Practice, which
was adopted by the Statistical Programme Committee
established by Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (7)
on 24 February 2005 and attached to the Recommenda-
tion of the Commission on the independence, integrity and
accountability of the national and Community statistical
authorities.

(1) OJ C 175, 27.7.2007, p. 11.
(2) OJ C 86, 20.4.2007, p. 1.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 15 November 2007 (not yet
published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 29 February
2008.

(4) OJ L 29, 4.2.2000, p. 21.
(5) OJ L 205, 6.8.2005, p. 21.
(6) OJ L 315, 15.11.2006, p. 1.

(12)

It is important that the data be shared with the social part-
ners at national and Community level and that the social
partners be informed concerning the implementation of
this Regulation. Furthermore, Member States should make
a particular effort to ensure that school career guidance
services and vocational training bodies receive the data.

(7) OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

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(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 of 17 February 1997
on Community Statistics (1) provides a general legislative
framework for the production of Community statistics and
applies,
job vacancy
statistics.

to the production of

therefore,

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Regulation should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
procedures for the exercise of implementing powers con-
ferred on the Commission (2).

In particular, the Commission should be empowered to
define certain concepts; determine certain reference dates,
formats and deadlines; set out the framework for feasibil-
ity studies, and adopt measures pursuant to the results of
those studies. Since those measures are of general scope
and are designed to amend non-essential elements of this
Regulation, inter alia, by supplementing it with new non-
essential elements, they must be adopted in accordance
with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for
in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.

Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the produc-
tion of Community job vacancy statistics, cannot be suffi-
ciently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be
better achieved at Community level, the Community may
adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of sub-
sidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance
with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that
Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is neces-
sary to achieve that objective.

(17)

The Statistical Programme Committee has been consulted
in accordance with Article 3 of Decision 89/382/EEC,
Euratom,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject matter and scope

This Regulation lays down the requirements for the regular

1.
quarterly production of statistics on Community job vacancies.

fishing activities, as defined by the NACE in force, shall be
optional. Member States that wish to provide data for those sec-
tors shall do so in accordance with this Regulation. Owing to the
growing importance of personal care services (residential care
activities and social work activities without accommodation) for
job creation, Member States are also requested to transmit, on an
optional basis, data on job vacancies for such services.

The data shall be broken down by economic activity in accor-
dance with the NACE in force at section level.

3.
Covering public administration and defence, compulsory
social security, education, human health and social work activi-
ties, arts, entertainments and recreation and activities of member-
ship organisations, repair of computers and personal and
household goods and other personal service activities, as defined
by the NACE in force, within the scope of this Regulation, and of
units with fewer than 10 employees, shall be determined taking
into account the feasibility studies referred to in Article 7.

Article 2

Definitions

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

1.

‘job vacancy’ shall mean a paid post that is newly created,
unoccupied, or about to become vacant:

(a)

for which the employer is taking active steps and is pre-
pared to take further steps to find a suitable candidate
from outside the enterprise concerned; and

(b) which the employer intends to fill either immediately or

within a specific period of time.

The concepts ‘active steps to find a suitable candidate’ and
‘specific period of time’ shall be defined in accordance with
the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in
Article 9(2).

Each Member State shall submit to the Commission (Euro-
2.
stat) data on job vacancies at least for business units with one
employee or more.

The statistics provided shall distinguish, on an optional basis,
between vacancies for fixed-term and permanent jobs;

Subject to paragraph 3, the data shall cover all economic activi-
ties defined by the common classification system for economic
activities in the Community (NACE) in force, except for the activi-
ties of households as employers and the activities of extraterrito-
rial organisations and bodies. Covering agriculture, forestry and

2.

3.

(1) OJ L 52, 22.2.1997, p. 1. Regulation as amended by European Parlia-
ment and Council Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003 (OJ L 284,
31.10.2003, p. 1).

(2) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision

2006/512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11).

‘occupied post’ shall mean a paid post within the organisa-
tion to which an employee has been assigned;

‘metadata’ shall mean the explanations needed to interpret
the changes in the data arising from either methodological or
technical changes;

4.

‘back data’ shall mean the historical data covering the speci-
fications given in Article 1.

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Article 3

Reference dates and technical specifications

later than on the date of the first data transmission, and the break-
downs no more than one year thereafter. Where necessary, back
data may be based on ‘best estimates’.

1. Member States shall compile the quarterly data with refer-
ence to specific reference dates, which shall be determined in
accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred
to in Article 9(2).

2. Member States shall provide data on occupied posts in order
to standardise job vacancy data for comparative purposes.

3. Member States shall be required to apply seasonal adjust-
ment procedures to the quarterly job vacancy data. The seasonal
adjustment procedures required shall be determined in accor-
dance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 9(3).

Article 4

Sources

1. Member States shall produce the data using business sur-
veys. Other sources, such as administrative data, may be used pro-
vided that they are appropriate in terms of quality, in accordance
with Article 6.

The sources of all data provided shall be specified.

2. Member States may supplement the sources referred to in
paragraph 1 with reliable statistical estimation procedures.

3.
Community sample schemes may be established and coor-
dinated by the Commission (Eurostat) in order to produce Com-
munity estimates where national sample schemes do not meet the
Community requirements with regard to quarterly data collection.
The detail of those schemes, their approval and their implemen-
tation shall be specified in accordance with the regulatory proce-
dure referred to in Article 9(3).

Member States may take part in Community sample schemes
when such schemes create possibilities for substantial reductions
in the cost of the statistical systems or the burden on business
entailed in meeting the Community requirement.

Article 5

Data transmission

1. Member States shall transmit the data and metadata to the
Commission (Eurostat) in a format and within transmission dead-
lines, which shall be determined in accordance with the regula-
tory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 9(2). The date
of the first reference quarter shall also be determined in accor-
dance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in
Article 9(2). Any revision of quarterly data for previous quarters
shall be transmitted at the same time.

Article 6

Quality assessment

For the purpose of this Regulation, the following quality

1.
assessment dimensions shall apply to the data transmitted:

— ‘relevance’ shall refer to the degree to which statistics meet

the current and potential needs of users,

— ‘accuracy’ shall refer to the closeness of estimates to the

unknown true values,

— ‘timeliness’ and ‘punctuality’ shall refer to the delay between
the availability of the information and the event or phenom-
enon it describes,

— ‘accessibility’ and ‘clarity’ shall refer to the conditions and
modalities by which users can obtain, use and interpret data,

— ‘comparability’ shall refer to the measurement of the impact
of differences in applied statistical concepts and measure-
ment tools and procedures when statistics are compared
between geographical areas or sectoral domains, or over
time,

— ‘coherence’ shall refer to the adequacy of the data to be reli-
ably combined in different ways and for various uses.

2. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat)
with reports on the quality of the data transmitted.

3.
In applying the quality assessment dimensions laid down in
paragraph 1 to the data covered by this Regulation, the modali-
ties, structure and periodicity of the quality reports shall be
defined in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in
Article 9(3). The Commission (Eurostat) shall assess the quality of
the data transmitted.

Article 7

Feasibility studies

The Commission (Eurostat) shall set out the appropriate
1.
framework for the establishment of a series of feasibility studies
in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny
referred to in Article 9(2). Those studies shall be undertaken by
those Member States that have difficulties in providing data for:

(a) units with fewer than 10 employees; and/or

(b)

the following activities:

(i) public administration and defence; compulsory social

2. Member States shall also transmit back data for at least the
four quarters preceding the quarter for which data is to be pro-
vided on the first data delivery. The totals shall be delivered no

security;

(ii) education;

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(iii) human health and social work activities;

(iv) arts, entertainments and recreation; and

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1)
to (4) and Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having
regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

(v) activities of membership organisations, repair of com-
puters and personal and household goods and other per-
sonal service activities.

2. Member States undertaking feasibility studies shall each sub-
mit a report on the results of those studies within 12 months of
the entry into force of the Commission implementing measures
referred to in paragraph 1.

3.
As soon as possible after the results of the feasibility studies
become available, in dialogue with the Member States, and within
a reasonable time frame, the Commission shall adopt measures in
accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred
to in Article 9(2).

4. Measures adopted pursuant to the results of the feasibility
studies shall respect the principle of cost-effectiveness, as defined
in Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 322/97, including minimisa-
tion of the burden on respondents, and shall take into account ini-
tial implementation problems.

Article 8

Financing

1.
For the first three years of data collection Member States
may receive a financial contribution from the Community
towards the cost of the work involved.

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

The budget authority shall grant the appropriations avail-

3.
able for each year.

4.
Further funding may be considered for implementation
work with respect to the measures adopted further to the results
of the feasibility studies.

3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7
of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the pro-
visions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

Article 10

Report on implementation

By 24 June 2010 and every three years thereafter, the Commis-
sion shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the
Council on the implementation of this Regulation. That report
shall assess the quality of the statistics provided by Member States
as well as the quality of European aggregates and shall identify
potential areas for improvement.

Preferably within a year of the publication of the three-yearly
report referred to in the first paragraph, Member States shall set
out how they intend to address the potential areas for improve-
ment identified in the Commission report. At the same time,
Member States shall report on the implementation status of pre-
vious recommendations.

Article 11

Publication of statistical data

The statistics provided by the Member States and an analysis
thereof shall be published on the Commission (Eurostat) Internet
site on a quarterly basis. The Commission (Eurostat) shall ensure
that as many European citizens as possible have access to the sta-
tistics and analyses, in particular through the EURES portal.

Article 9

Committee

Article 12

Entry into force

The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Pro-

1.
gramme Committee.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

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

Done at Strasbourg, 23 April 2008.

For the European Parliament
The President
H.-G. PÖTTERING

For the Council
The President
J. LENARČIČ