REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of the labour force sample survey in the Community
Date: 2015-12-14
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU statistics, Eurostat, data protection, employment statistics, national implementing measure, personal data, sample survey, statistical method, working population

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 14.12.2015  COM(2015) 628 final   REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98  on the organisation of the labour force sample survey in the Community  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
THE COUNCIL 

on the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98  
on the organisation of the labour force sample survey in the Community 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of the labour force sample survey in 
the  Community1  sets  minimum  standards  for  the  harmonised  production  of  labour  force 
surveys in the European Union and its Member States. It was amended in 2002, 2003, 2007 
and 20142. 

Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 577/98 states that: 
‘A report on the implementation of this Regulation shall be submitted by the Commission to 
the  Parliament  and  the  Council  every  three  years,  beginning  in  the  year  2000.  This  report 
shall  evaluate  in  particular  the  quality  of  the  statistical  methods  envisaged  by  the  Member 
States to improve the results or to lighten the survey procedures.’ 
This is the Commission's sixth report to the Parliament and the Council. 

Section 2 gives an overview of the European Union Labour Force Survey and its relevance 
supporting European Union policies.  

Section  3  takes  stock  of  how  Regulation  (EC)  No  577/98  has  been  implemented  in  the 
Member States, in candidate countries, and in EFTA countries.  
Section 4 focuses on ongoing initiatives launched by the European Statistical System3 (ESS) 
to improve the quality and reduce the burden of the Labour Force Survey. 

2. 

OVERVIEW OF THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY 

2.1. 

General description 

The  European  Union  Labour  Force  Survey  (hereinafter  referred  to  as  EU-LFS)  is  a  large 
sample survey of residents in private households. It provides both quarterly and annual labour 
market statistics on employment and unemployment, as well as on people outside the labour 
force. It also collects multi-annual information from ad-hoc modules and provides input for 
model-based monthly estimates of unemployment and unemployment rates. 

The  national  statistical  institutes  of  the  Member  States  are  responsible  for  designing 
national questionnaires, drawing the sample, conducting interviews and sending results to the 

1 
2 

3 

OJ L 77, 14.3.1998, p. 3. 
Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  2104/2002  (OJ  L  324,  29.11.2002,  p.  14),  Regulations  (EC)  No 
1991/2002 (OJ L 308, 9.11.2002, p. 1), (EC) No 2257/2003 (OJ L 336, 23.12.2003, p. 6) and (EC) No 
1372/2007 (OJ L 315, 3.12.2007, p. 42), and  (EU) No 545/2014 (OJ L 163, 29.5.2014, p. 10) of the 
European Parliament and of the Council. 
According to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 
164),  the  ESS  is  the  partnership  between  the  European  statistical  authority,  which  is  the  European 
Commission (Eurostat), and the national statistical institutes and other national authorities responsible 
in each Member State for the development, production and dissemination of European statistics. 

2 

 
 
                                                            
Commission  (Eurostat)  in  accordance  with  a  common  coding  scheme  established  by 
Commission Regulation (EC) No 377/20084.  

Eurostat  is  in  charge  of  monitoring  the  implementation  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  577/98, 
providing  assistance  to  national  statistical  institutes,  promoting  harmonised  concepts  and 
methods, and disseminating comparable national and European labour market statistics. 

The EU-LFS sample size is 1.3 million (EU-28 1.2 million) people aged 15-74 years every 
quarter, covering 33 participating countries5. This makes the EU-LFS the largest household 
survey in Europe. 

2.2. 

Relevance 

The  EU-LFS  is  the  most  important  source  of  official  statistics  on  labour  markets  in  the 
European Union. All in all, it collects more than 100 variables on labour status, employment 
individuals, 
time,  educational  background  and 
characteristics,  working 
complemented  by  thematic  yearly  ad-hoc  modules6.  Based  on  international  standards  and 
definitions,  it  has  relevance  beyond  European  Union  borders,  enabling  the  situation  in  the 
European labour market to be compared with that in other areas or countries.  

training  of 

Some key EU policy initiatives rely on EU-LFS data. For instance, the EU-LFS is one of the 
main data sources for monitoring Member States’ progress under the employment guidelines 
adopted  pursuant  to  Article  148  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union7 
(TFEU) and the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy. Three EU-LFS indicators (employment rate 20-
64;  share  of  early  school  leavers;  30-34  years  old  having  completed  tertiary  education)  are 
used  to  monitor  two  of  the  five  Europe  2020  headline  targets8.  Many  other  LFS-based 
indicators are used under the Europe 2020 Joint Assessment Framework.  

Regional  LFS  indicators  are  used  to  help  determine  the  financial  allocations  of  the  EU’s 
Cohesion  Policy  and  to  design,  to  monitor  and  to  evaluate  the  impact  of  Cohesion  Policy 
programmes. 

The LFS-based monthly unemployment rate is an important short-term economic indicator. It 
is one of the Principal European Economic Indicators9, and also used to build moving annual 
averages  of unemployment rates  for  the  scoreboard  of  economic  and  financial  indicators  to 
detect  macroeconomic  and  competitiveness  imbalances10.  The  EU-LFS  provides  input  for 

4 
5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 57.  
Participating countries are the 28 Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the Former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia and Turkey. 
The ad-hoc modules in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 were: 
2011: Employment of disabled people; 2012: Transition from work into retirement 
2013: Accidents at work and other work-related health problems 
2014: Labour market situation of migrants and their immediate descendants. 
See Council Decision 2014/322/EU of 6 May 2014 on  guidelines for the employment policies of the 
Member States for 2014, (OJ L 165, 4.6.2014, p. 49).  
Europe 2020 headline targets: 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Europe_2020_headline_indicators  
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-statistical-books/-/KS-81-08-398 
Economic Indicators — A statistical guide, Eurostat 2009). 
The  MIP  Scoreboard  is  used  to  identify  emerging  or  persistent  macroeconomic  imbalances  in  a 
country. It is a part of an annual exercise, where the first step is the compilation of an Alert Mechanism 
Report (AMR). See Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and the Council (OJ L 
306, 23.11.2011, p. 25).  

(Principal  European 

3 

 
 
 
                                                            
 
national accounts on employed persons and on working time, and on other areas beyond the 
labour market, such as education. 

Finally,  the  EU-LFS  is  one  of  the  most  important  sources  of  statistical  microdata  for 
researchers in Europe. The large sample enables studies to be done on specific groups in the 
labour  market.  There  is  also  broad  coverage  of  demographic,  regional  and  educational 
background variables, among others. 

3. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY 

3.1. 

Accuracy 

Estimates from sample surveys are subject to two types of errors: sampling errors and non-
sampling  errors.  Together,  they  determine  the  accuracy  of  the  estimates.  Sampling  errors 
occur because only a subset of the whole population is surveyed. Non-sampling errors are all 
other errors introduced that are not the result of sampling (e.g. coverage errors, measurement 
errors, processing errors, non-response errors). 

As regards sampling errors, the size of the sample is the main determinant. Larger samples 
improve the accuracy of the results. The table below shows the size of the sample of persons 
aged  15-74  interviewed  each  quarter  in  each  participating  country,  in  absolute  terms  and 
compared with the total population of that age group. The sampling rate11 ranges from 0.2 % 
(Belgium,  Germany,  France,  Croatia,  Italy,  Poland,  United  Kingdom,  and  Turkey)  to  1.5 % 
(Malta). On average, the quarterly sample size was 1.3 million individuals in 2014, 0.3 % of 
the total population aged 15-74 in the 33 countries taking part. 

European Labour Force Survey 
Achieved sample size and percentage of the population aged 15-74 (quarterly average 2014) 

Country 
EU-28 
BE 
BG 
CZ 
DK 
DE 
EE 
IE 
EL 
ES 
FR 
HR 
IT 
CY 
LV 
LT 
LU 
HU 

Quarterly 
sample size 
(thousand) 
1 195 
20 
25 
42 
25 
127 
5 
38 
44 
127 
84 
7 
110 
8 
8 
12 
3 
49 

Sampling rate 

15-74 (%)  Country 
0.3  MT 
0.2  NL 
0.4  AT 
0.5  PL 
0.6  PT 
0.2  RO 
0.5  SI 
1.1  SK 
0.5  FI 
0.4  SE 
0.2  UK 
IS 
0.2 
0.2  NO 
1.2  CH 
0.5  MK 
0.6  TR 
0.6 
0.6  TOTAL 

Quarterly 
sample size 
(thousand) 
5 
81 
34 
70 
32 
45 
12 
19 
31 
57 
74 
3 
19 
30 
8 
93 

Sampling rate 
15-74 (%) 
1.5 
0.6 
0.5 
0.2 
0.4 
0.3 
0.8 
0.5 
0.8 
0.8 
0.2 
1.3 
0.5 
0.5 
0.5 
0.2 

1 348 

0.3 

11 

The  sampling  rate  is  defined  as  the  ratio  of  the  sample  size  (the  number  of  sampling  units  in  the 
sample) and the population size (the total number of sampling units in the target population). 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Official  surveys,  such  as  the  EU-LFS,  use  probability  sampling.  This  makes  it  possible  to 
quantify  sampling  errors  in  terms  of  confidence  intervals.  The  table  below  provides  the 
estimates and 95 % confidence intervals reached for the four main indicators on aggregated 
EU-28 level. 

95 % confidence interval of the main LFS indicators for the EU28 (2014) 

Number of employed 
(million) 
218.3 ± 0.5 

Number of 
unemployed 
(million) 
24.8 ± 0.3 

Unemployment rate 
(%) 
10.2 ± 0.3 

Average number of 
hours actually 
worked 
(hours) 
36.8 ± 0.1 

These  intervals  reflect  the  precision  requirements  set  out  in  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 
577/98. 

As  regards  non-sampling  errors,  Eurostat  and  participating  countries  regularly  monitor 
relevant sources of non-sampling errors like non-response. Participating countries report the 
main  causes  of  errors  to  Eurostat  on  an  annual  basis,  along  with  the  methods  applied 
nationally  to  reduce  them.  A  summary  is  published  in  the  annual  quality  report  of  the  EU-
LFS12. 

In  2014,  participation  in  the  EU-LFS  was  compulsory  in  thirteen  countries  (Belgium, 
Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Slovakia, Norway 
and  Turkey),  and  voluntary  in  the  other  twenty  countries.  Countries  having  a  voluntary 
survey  generally  have  a  higher  non-response  rate  than  countries  conducting  a  compulsory 
survey13. 

Participation and non-response rate of the EU-LFS by country 2014 

Non-response 

Country 
BE 
BG 
CZ 
DK 
DE 
EE 
IE 
EL 
ES 
FR 
HR 
IT 
CY 
LV 
LT 
LU 
HU 

Participation 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Compulsory 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 

rate (%)  Country 
27.8  MT 
23.7  NL 
20.6  AT 
46.2  PL 
2.3  PT 
31.3  RO 
23.9  SI 
24.6  SK 
15.2  FI 
20.9  SE 
31.3  UK 
IS 
11.8 

4.2  NO 
35.7  CH 
19.6  MK 
84.6  TR 
17.2 

Participation 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 
Voluntary 
Voluntary 
Compulsory 

Non-response 
rate (%) 

23.7 
42.7 
5.7 
31.5 
14.8 
9.5 
21.3 
11.0 
28.0 
35.7 
39.8 
21.0 
19.9 
18.8 
24.6 
9.3 

12 
13 

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/lfs/publications/quality-reporting 
The non-response rates are not fully comparable. Most of the countries calculate non-response on the 
basis  of  the  household  unit,  except  Denmark,  Finland,  Sweden,  Iceland,  Norway  and  Switzerland, 
which calculate non-response on the basis of persons. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
3.2. 

Timeliness and punctuality 

The  timeliness  of  statistics  is  defined  as  the  time  gap  between  the  reference  period  and  the 
availability of data for users. For the EU-LFS, this time span depends on the time Member 
States  need  to  conduct  and  process the  survey, then  to  send  the  results  to  Eurostat,  and  for 
Eurostat to process, validate and publish the results. 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  577/98  states  that  Member  States  have  to  deliver  data  to 
Eurostat  within  12  weeks  of  the  end  of  a  reference  quarter.  Eurostat  validates  the  national 
datasets as soon as they are received. The chart below shows the time span between the end 
of the reference quarter and the availability of data for Eurostat’s users for the period 2011-
2014, compared to the last year covered by the previous report (2010). 

Timeliness  of  EU-LFS  data  has  improved  over  the  period  examined.  In  2010,  85 %  of 
Member State datasets were available for extractions 13 weeks after the end of the reference 
quarter. By 2014, this figure has increased to 95%.  

The punctuality of statistics is defined as the time lag between the announced release date and 
the  actual  release  date.  For  several  years  now,  Eurostat  has  been  publishing  the  planned 
release dates of quarterly and annual main EU-LFS indicators. During the period 2011-2014, 
all announced publication deadlines were met.  

Eurostat also envisages improving further the timeliness of dissemination of EU-LFS results 
by shortening the deadline for data delivery to Eurostat in the future. Timeliness of EU-LFS 
data is also a key point for estimating monthly unemployment rates. As soon as national data 
are  processed  by  Eurostat,  they  are  used  in  the  compilation  of  the  next  monthly 
unemployment rate calculation. The monthly unemployment rate is published approximately 
30 days after the end of the month. 

6 

 
 
 
 
3.3. 

Accessibility and clarity 

Eurostat disseminates EU-LFS statistics in several ways. The main tool is Eurostat’s online 
database,  offering  more  than  400  tables  of  detailed  EU-LFS  data  (quarterly,  annual, 
household and ad-hoc module results). Headline Europe 2020 indicators are also published in 
a  specific  section  of  the  website14.  These  tables  cover  only  the  most  important  EU-LFS 
results. Eurostat produces other combinations of EU-LFS variables as tailor-made tabulations 
on demand from users. 

EU-LFS  microdata  are  also  highly  relevant  for  scientific  purposes.  They  are  requested  by 
more  and  more  researchers  from  universities,  research  institutes  and  national  statistical 
institutes  across  Europe  and  beyond.  Eurostat  has  been  providing  microdata  free  of  charge 
since 2011. Access is granted in accordance with the terms set out in Commission Regulation 
(EC) No 557/201315 to ensure the protection of survey respondents' personal data. The data 
files,  consisting  of  individual  records,  are  ‘anonymised’  to  prevent unlawful  disclosure  of 
personal data. 

Detailed  documentation  (metadata)  is  provided  to  users  through  various  dissemination 
channels. General information is disseminated for the public at large on the EU-LFS section 
of  the  Eurostat  website  and,  in  even  more  detail,  under  Statistics  Explained16.  Specific 
information  on  the  content  and  quality  of  statistics  is  disseminated  in  an  annual 
methodological  publication  describing  the  characteristics  of  the  national  surveys  and  in  an 
annual quality report summarising the results achieved by the EU-LFS17. In addition, specific 
metadata  is  attached  to  the  EU-LFS  statistics  disseminated  in  Eurostat's  online  database. 
Since  2014  information  from  the  National  Quality  Reports  of  each  participating  country  is 
published on-line. 

Countries  regularly  improve  their  LFS,  either  in  its  methodology  or  processes.  If  such 
improvements  lead  to  breaks  in  EU-LFS  data,  the  national  statistical  institute  involved 
informs Eurostat. Significant breaks are documented and labelled in Eurostat publications18. 
Eurostat also publishes a special dataset called ‘LFS main indicators’, in which past series are 
adjusted for breaks and occasional data gaps are filled. 

3.4. 

Comparability 

The EU-LFS draws on a high degree of harmonisation of concepts, definitions, classifications 
and  methodologies.  Regulation  (EC)  No  377/2008  defines  a  common  coding  scheme, 
ensuring  that  all  participating  countries  use  the  same  variable  definitions.  Common 
classifications  are  used  (e.g.  NACE  for  economic  activity,  ISCO  for  occupations)  and 
whenever  these  classifications  are  revised,  Eurostat  ensures  that  all  countries  taking  part 
coordinate  implementation.  In  addition,  common  explanatory  notes  provide  detailed 
guidelines  on  the  purpose,  coding  and  implementation  by  national  statistical  institutes. 

14 

15 
16 

17 
18 

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/europe-2020-indicators/europe-2020-strategy/headline-indicators-
scoreboard 
OJ L 164, 18.6.2013, p. 16. 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/lfs/overview 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/EU_labour_force_survey 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/lfs/publications/quality-reporting  
The documentation on breaks in series in the EU-LFS is available: 
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/EU_labour_force_survey (Chapter 1). 

7 

 
 
 
                                                            
 
Methodological  issues  are  discussed  in  a  dedicated  working  group,  the  Labour  Market 
Statistics  Working Group, which fosters the  exchange of experience  and common practices 
among all participating countries. 

To  ensure  that  the  measurement  of  unemployment  is  harmonised  across  all  countries 
participating,  Commission  Regulation  (EC)  No  1897/200019  lays  down  an  operational 
definition of unemployment, as well as principles to be followed for formulating the survey 
questions  on  labour  status.  The  definition  of  unemployment  is  consistent  with  International 
Labour Organisation (ILO) standards, which were adopted by the 13th and 14th International 
Conferences of Labour Statisticians20. This ensures that EU-LFS statistics are comparable to 
those from other countries, especially those of other OECD members. 

3.5. 

Coherence 

Coherence between population estimates based on EU-LFS and from demographic statistics 
is  an  important  aspect  of  overall  quality.  Being  a  sample  survey,  the  EU-LFS's  results  are 
calculated  from  the  responses  of  a  sub-set  of  the  population.  The  responses  are  then 
benchmarked  against  the  entire  population.  The  data  for  population  are  based  on  the  best 
estimates available at the time (broken down by sex and age groups to improve the accuracy 
of the procedure). In principle, this benchmarking procedure ensures coherence between EU-
LFS  and  demographic  statistics.  Differences  may,  however,  occur  under  exceptional 
circumstances. For instance, every 10 years, new population census results become available. 
Should a new census yield figures that differ from previous population estimates, a past series 
may have to be revised. In such a case, the revision policy for demographic statistics and EU-
LFS  may  differ  as  regards  length  and  timing,  constrained  by  the  availability  of  detailed 
information on the population for the 10 years between censuses. In many European countries 
the latest population census took place in 2011, and in around 20 countries it had knock-on 
effects on the LFS. Countries affected agreed on revising their data at least back to the year 
2010,  consequently  ensuring  that  there  will  be  no  break  in  series  for  the  Europe  2020 
headline indicators based on EU-LFS data. All necessary back-data revisions of the EU-LFS 
should be completed by the end of 2015. 

As regards coherence of unemployment estimates, many countries also publish statistics on 
the number of persons registered at the public employment office and looking for work. The 
LFS  unemployment  figures  and  the  number  of  registered  job  seekers  differ  because  of  the 
different nature of the data collected. While the EU-LFS draws on a harmonised methodology 
to  survey  households  as  regards  their  employment  activities  and  availability  for  work,  the 
public employment offices' administrative records comprise an exhaustive list of individuals 
registered and eligible for unemployment benefits. As the criteria for registration depend on 
national  social  policies,  statistics  on  registered  job  seekers  are  neither  comparable  across 
countries nor over time. 

Another  area  in  which  statistical  coherence  is  important  concerns  the  estimation  of 
employment,  which  can  be  provided  both  from  LFS  and  from  national  accounts.  Estimates 
are not  necessarily the same. This  is due to  differences in methodologies  (the concepts and 
coverage  of  the  population  are  not  identical),  but  also  to  different  compilation  processes. 

19 
20 

OJ L 228, 8.9.2000, p. 18. 
The  implementation  of  the newly adopted ILO definitions  of employment  and unemployment  by  the 
19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians is described in Chapter 4. 

8 

 
 
 
                                                            
National  accounts  are  compiled  by  comparing  and  combining  all  relevant  data  sources 
available  in  a  country,  taking  the  best  from  each  source  so  as  to  obtain  a  comprehensive 
result.  They  also  seek  coherence  between  employment  and  production  (Gross  Domestic 
Product,  GDP).  The  LFS  is  one  data  source  in  that  process,  as  well  as  business  surveys, 
employment registers or social security registers. The consistency between LFS and national 
accounts  has  been  addressed  by  the  Labour  Market  Statistics  Working  Group.  Eurostat 
monitors the differences between the two estimates, and several national statistical institutes 
have analysed the causes and the size of the differences. In some cases, they have published 
reconciliation tables between the two datasets.  

When comparing LFS with national accounts it can be stated that the LFS is more suitable for 
measuring  participation  in  the  labour  market  (i.e.  employment  and  unemployment  rates, 
activity  rates,  etc.),  or  for  analysing  the  situation  of  specific  socio-economic  groups  in  the 
population (e.g. by age, gender or educational level). 

4. 

INITIATIVES TO FURTHER IMPROVE THE LABOUR FORCE SURVEY 

4.1. 

The LFS in a modernised system of social statistics 

Building  on  the  Commission’s  2009  'Communication  on  the  production  method  of  EU 
statistics: a vision for the next decade21, an initiative to modernise European social statistics 
was launched. This then developed into a concrete strategy, as set out in the 2011 Wiesbaden 
Memorandum22. It was agreed that the production of social statistics needed to be made more 
efficient,  while  maintaining  the  same  high  standards  of  quality,  by  developing  a  common 
architecture for European social statistics.  

Modernising social statistics also has an impact on the Labour Force Survey. The European 
Statistical System is currently carrying out a comprehensive review of all EU-LFS variables, 
with  the  aim  of  adapting  the  information  collected  in  the  survey  to  current  and  future  user 
needs. As an example, the revised ILO standards for measuring employment, unemployment 
and  other  forms  of  work,  adopted  by  the  19th  International  Conference  of  Labour 
Statisticians in Geneva, Switzerland (2-11 October 201323) , need to be implemented in the 
EU-LFS. 

Within the process of modernising European social statistics, Eurostat and the Member States 
are  also  working  towards  greater  harmonisation  of  data  across  surveys.  This  should  allow 
increased  use  of  the  information  collected,  by  e.g.  crossing  information  from  different  data 
sources.  To  achieve  this  goal,  the  definition,  concepts  and  codes  of  a  subset  of  variables 
collected from more than one European social survey are being standardised. 

Furthermore  the  revision  of  the  EU-LFS  encompasses  an  improved  timeliness  for  the  data 
transmission to Eurostat, a revision of the precision requirements and further methodological 
work. 

In  addition  to  the  practical  changes  described  above,  the  modernisation  of  social  statistics 
should  lead  to  changes  in  the  legal  framework.  A  new  framework  regulation  for  social 
statistics covering the EU-LFS is currently being prepared.  

21 
22 
23 

COM(2009) 404. 
https://www.destatis.de/EN/AboutUs/Events/DGINS/Document_Memorandum.pdf?__blob=publicationFile 
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---
stat/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_230304.pdf 

9 

 
 
                                                            
4.2. 

Extending the EU-LFS to additional candidate countries 

Currently 33 countries participate in the EU-LFS, meaning that they transmit data to Eurostat 
in line with Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 (EU-28, two candidate countries and three 
EFTA  countries).  The  candidate  countries  included  are  Turkey  and  the  Former  Yugoslav 
Republic  of  Macedonia.  Eurostat  is  working  closely  with  the  statistical  offices  of  other 
candidate countries to help them make progress towards compliance with Council Regulation 
(EC)  No  577/98  in  terms  of  survey  content  and  quality.  Montenegro  and  the  Republic  of 
Serbia have already started sending LFS data to Eurostat. Once  their  national  surveys meet 
the  requirements  of  the  European  regulations,  their  data  will  also  be  disseminated  by 
Eurostat.  

4.3. 

Developing new statistical products  

Statistics to capture the dynamics on the labour market 

Changes  in  the  labour  status  of  individuals  are  of  great  interest  because  they  provide 
additional information on the general situation of the labour market, including its flexibility 
or  rigidity,  and  on  the  situation  of  specific  groups.  Such  data  on  labour  market  dynamics 
allow for instance analysis on how many and which types of people became unemployed or 
found  a  job  over  a  certain  period  of  time.  As  a  result,  it  is  possible  to  identify  the  groups 
which have a better chance of finding a job,  and the vulnerable groups that are more at risk 
of becoming  or remaining unemployed.  

Labour status transitions can be measured using flow statistics. Meeting this data need with 
the EU-LFS is not straightforward, as the survey was originally designed for gathering stock 
information (e.g. the number of unemployed persons at a given point in time), rather than for 
capturing  flows  by  following  individuals  over  time.  Although  this  important  new  field  of 
statistics in relation to the labour market is accompanied by methodological challenges, work 
has progressed in recent years. It is expected that publication of flow estimates based on EU-
LFS data will allow monitoring transitions on the labour market from the end of 2015. 

Revision of the EU-LFS main indicators 

The  EU-LFS  main  indicators  are  a  collection  of  the  most  important  EU-LFS  results 
disseminated in Eurostat's online database. They serve to provide users with key statistics on 
the  labour  market.  These  EU-LFS  main  indicators  are  currently  being  revised,  in  order  to 
further improve their quality. This includes the estimation of back data, filling in data gaps, 
the  removal  of  breaks  in  the  time-series  where  feasible,  and  most  importantly  seasonal 
adjustment  allowing  quarter-to-quarter  comparisons.  As  the  EU-LFS  is  a  quarterly  survey, 
this will provide policy makers and other stakeholders with additional possibilities of using 
the timely EU-LFS data. The first publications of these improved series are expected in 2016. 

Additional information on the precision of EU-LFS results   

Surveys like the EU-LFS provide estimates of indicators on the total population based on a 
randomly  selected sample of that population. It is therefore important to provide, alongside 
with  the  estimate,  information  on  its  precision.  Such  quality  indicators  take  the  form  of 
standard errors or confidence intervals. Eurostat and the Member States are currently working 
to  establish  methods  and  procedures  for  estimating  the  statistical  precision  of  the  EU-LFS 
main  indicators.  These  harmonised  quality  indicators  should  improve  the  evaluation  of  EU 
labour market policies based on the EU-LFS. 

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5. 

CONCLUSION 

Eurostat monitors compliance with Regulation (EC) No 577/98. The Commission considers 
the implementation of the EU-LFS to be satisfactory and Member States are fully or almost 
fully complying with this legislation. Open issues are discussed with Member States, and, if 
necessary, action plans are drawn up jointly. The overall quality of the EU-LFS is good. 

The  European  Statistical  System  is  making  efforts  to  continuously  improve  EU-LFS 
processes  and  methods.  Progress  has  continued to  be  made  despite  a  difficult  environment, 
with scarce resources and a significantly reduced budget. Constant improvements of EU-LFS 
are under way within the modernisation of social statistics or as individual EU-LFS projects 
to  adapt  the  survey  to  changes  in  user  needs  and  new  challenges.  This  work  will  continue 
steadily over the coming years 

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