CELEX: 51992PC0125
Language: en
Date: 1992-03-31
Title: Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) concerning the organization of a survey of labour costs in industry and the services sector

u. COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMVIUNITIES
                                              C0M(92) 125 final
                                              Brussels, 31 March 1992
                                   Proposal for a
                              COUNCIL REGULATION fEEC)
             concerning the organization of a survey of labour costs
                       in industry and the services sector
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                           (presented by the Commission)
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 ---pagebreak---                                                                                    1-
                                EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
    The Commission cannot carry out certain tasks assigned to it by the Treaty establishing the
    European Economic Community, in particular those set out in Articles 2, 3, 117, 188, 122 and
     123 thereof, without access to data on labour costs and employees' incomes in the Community
    providing a valid basis for comparison between countries. For this reason, a series of specific
    Community^surveys on labour costs in industry '*', wholesale and retail distribution, banking and
    insurance "' has been carried out since 1959 in pursuance of Council Regulations. These surveys
    were conducted by the Commission of the European Communities in cooperation with the
    National Statistical Institutes and the ministries of labour in the Member States.
    The comparative analysis of the level and composition of labour costs in the Member States
    requires that data be obtained on the basis of uniform survey conditions and definitions. These
    conditions are met by the Community surveys on labour costs, which to date constitute the sole
    European source of statistics on wages and salaries providing a valid basis for comparison. This is
    why the survey results published by Eurostat are valued highly by the Commission departments,
    economic and social decision-makers and researchers.
    The Commission's activities in various domains require up-to-date figures on wage and salary
    costs. Eurostat, in cooperation with the competent authorities in the Member States, has worked
    out methods of updating the main results of the surveys on labour costs. However, since
    enterprises' expenditure on wages, salaries and related employers' contributions is subject to
    substantial change, such updating can only furnish valid results in the years directly following the
    survey; thereafter, it is necessary to repeat the survey.
(1) Regulat on  No. 10 (OJ No. 56, 31.8.1960, p. 1199/60)
    Regulat on  No. 14 (OJ No. 55, 16.8.1961, p. 1054/61)
    Regulat on  No. 28 (OJ No. 41, 28.5.1962, p. 1277/62)
    Regulat on  No. 151 (OJ No. 133, 13.12.1962, p. 2841/62)
    Regulat on  No. 101/66/EEC (OJ No. 134, 22.7.1966, p. 2540/66)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 1899/68 (OJ No. L 289, 29.11.1968, p. 4)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 2259/71 (OJ No. L 238, 23.10.1971, p. 1)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 328/75 (OJ No. L 37, 12.2.1975, p. 1)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 494/78 (OJ No. L 68, 10.3.1978, p. 1)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 1596/81 (OJ No. L 159, 17.6.1981, p. 1)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 3149/83 (OJ No. L 309, 10.11.1983, p. 2)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 1612/88 (OJ No. L 145, 11.6.1988, p. 1)
(2) Regulat on  (EEC) No. 2053/69 (OJ No. L 263, 21.10.1969, p. 8)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 3192/73 (OJ No. L 326, 27.11.1973, p. 1)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 494/78 (OJ No. L 68, 10.3.1978, p. 1)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 1596/81 (OJ No. L 159, 17.6.1981, p. 1)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 3149/83 (OJ No. L 309, 10.11.1983, p. 2)
    Regulat on  (EEC) No. 1612/88 (OJ No. L 145, 11.6.1988, p. 1)
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                   -2-
4.   For this reason, Eurostat's Working Party on Wage Statistics considered at the time that labour
     cost surveys should be repeated every three years. In the course of Council discussions on the
     Regulation relating to the 1984 survey, it was decided to extend the interval between surveys from
    three to four years, so that the subsequent survey was carried out with reference to 1988. It is
    desirable to maintain this periodicity and to plan the next survey with reference to 1992.
5.  The labour cost surveys have gradually increased the range of economic activities covered.
    Initially, only industry was studied, while later surveys also covered wholesale and retail
    distribution, banking and insurance. Since the end of the 1960s, the scope of the survey has not
    changed. However, greater account needs to be taken of the growth in employment in the services
    sector. For this reason, the Working Party on Wage Statistics considers it necessary to extend the
    survey to the following sectors: hotels and restaurants, activities of travel agencies and tour
    operators, real estate, renting and services to business. This choice reflects the current priorities
    in improving services statistics.
6.  In order to lighten the burden on enterprises and on the budgets of the European Communities and
    the Member States, it is not planned to make an exhaustive survey of all enterprises, but to
    proceed on the basis of a representative sample. In addition, to facilitate the enterprises' task, the
    Working Party has agreed to cease collecting data on the basis of employee-category (manual
    worker, non-manual worker), thereby facilitating the task of replying to the survey-
    questionnaires and improving the timescale for publication of the results.
7.  As with the 1972, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1984 and 1988 surveys the survey is to cover local units or
    enterprises with at least ten employees. The survey will therefore be comparable with those
    conducted in previous years, and with other Community wage and salary statistics (harmonized
    statistics on earnings).
8.  The planned survey will furnish detailed statistical data on employers' expenditure on wages,
    salaries and related contributions, as well as on hours worked.
9.  The Working Party on Wage Statistics has emphasized the need to take a decision on conducting
    this survey as soon as possible, so that the enterprises and establishments to be included in the
    sample can take appropriate measures to reply to the questionnaires from the beginning of 1992.
10. The smooth functioning of the surveys requires the Community to contribute towards the cost of
    carrying them out and of processing the results. Because the scope of the survey has been
    extended to services sectors not covered in the past, because it is also to be conducted in the new
    German territories and because changes have had to be made to the survey management
    programmes, an increase in the Community contribution to the survey costs should be considered.
11. To this end, the Commission submits the following draft Regulation to the Council.
 ---pagebreak---                               Proposal for a
                         COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No
                                      Of
          concerning the organization of a survey of labour costs
                     in industry and the services sector
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community and in particular Article 213 thereof,
Having regard to the Commission proposal,
Whereas, in order to fulfil the tasks assigned to it by the Treaty,
particularly Articles 2, 3, 117, 118, 122 and 123, the Commission must
have information regarding labour costs and workers' incomes in the
Member States;
Whereas the statistical data available in the Member States do not
permit valid comparisons, particularly because of divergences in
national legislations, regulations and administrative practices;
whereas surveys must therefore be conducted and processed on the basis
of standard definitions and methods;
Whereas the best way of ascertaining the level, breakdown and
development of labour costs and workers' income is to carry out
specific surveys, as was most recently done in 1989 in implementation
of Regulation (EEC) No 1612/88(*), on the basis of accounting data for
1988;
Whereas, because of the major changes in the level and structure of
expenditure by enterprises on wages and related employers*
contributions, a new survey must be carried out based on accounting
data for 1992 in industry, trade, banking and insurance, in order to
update the results of the previous survey;
(1) O J N o l 14S of 11.6.1966, p. 1.
 ---pagebreak---                                  -4-
Whereas, because of the changes in the economic structures and the
unemployment situation in the Member States the range of economic
activities covered must be extended, particularly in the services
sector;
Whereas, because of the size of the field covered, the survey must be
based on a sample in order to avoid placing an excessive burden on the
enterprises and the budgets of the European Communities and the Member
States,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
                               Article 1
As part of its periodical surveys on labour costs and workers' incomes,
the Commission shall carry out a survey on labour costs in industry and
certain services sectors in 1993 on the basis of accounting data for
1992.
                               Article 2
The survey shall cover enterprises or local units with at least 10
employees carrying out the activities delimited and defined in sections
C, D, E, F, G, H and K, divisions 65 and 66, and group 63.3 of the
Classification of Economic Activities in the European Communities (NACE
Rev.l), apart from the exceptions indicated in Annex I.
The survey shall be based on a sample.
                               Article 3
Employers must supply, for the enterprises or local units in the
sample, the information necessary for determining the labour costs on
the basis of accounting data for 1992 under the conditions set out
below.
                               Article 4
The survey shall cover:
a)  wage costs, including bonuses and ex gratia payments, and all
    ancillary costs including in particular contributions by employers
    to social security schemes, any supplementary voluntary schemes and
    other social expenditure, including the cost of vocational training
    and any taxes or subsidies directly relating to labour costs;
b)  the total staff employed by the enterprises or local units;
c)  working hours.
 ---pagebreak---                                   -f-
                                Article 5
Data shall be collected by the statistical institutes of the Member
States, which shall draw up appropriate questionnaires. The Commission
 shall determine the list of characteristics and definitions to be used
 for the surveys. It shall also, under the same conditions, stipulate
the starting and closing dates for the survey and deadlines for
answering the questionnaires.
The Member States shall ensure that the parties responsible for
supplying information provide accurate and complete answers to the
questionnaires within the specified time limits.
                                Article 6
The statistical departments of the Member States shall process the
replies to the questionnaires. After verification and in accordance
with the utilization programme defined by the Commission, they shall
transmit the results of the survey to the Commission, including the
data declared confidential by the Member States pursuant to national
legislation or practice concerning statistical confidentiality.
The results shall be broken down by sector of economic activity
according to NACE Rev.l, by region and by size category of enterprise
or local unit.
                                Article 7
The individual data supplied in the survey may be used for statistical
purposes only. It is forbidden to use them for any other purposes,
particularly tax purposes, or to communicate them to third parties.
                                Article 8
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following the date of
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.
                                                 For the Council,
                                                 President
 ---pagebreak---                                 -i-
                               ANNEX I
            Exceptions to the field covered by the survey
1. For all the Member States: class 65.11.
2. For Germany: section H, divisions 50, 70 and 71 and group 63.3.
   Divisions 72, 73 and 74 will be excluded for the territory of the
   former German Democratic Republic and East Berlin.
3. For Greece: section F, group 51.1 and class 51.57.
4. For Ireland: section H.
 ---pagebreak---                                     -4--
DG-34 Eurostat
                          FINANCIAL STATEMENT No 1
                     SECTION 1: FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
1.  Title of operation
    Action relating to the sectoral statistical programmes connected
    with the provisions of the Single European Act.
    Organization of a survey of labour costs in industry and services
    in 1992.
2.  Budget headings involved
    -     Financial prospects - 4. other policies
    -     Sub-section B-5. Consumers, internal market, industry and
          innovation
         Chapter B5-60. Statistical information policy connected with
         the completion of the internal market and in support of
         Community policies
    -     Line B5-6000. Operating appropriations
         Line B8-5900. Operations support appropriations
3.  Legal basis
         Article 213 of the Treaty
4. Description of operation
   4.1. Specific objectives of operation
         Work to standardize surveys, studies and analyses intended to
         produce a set of Community statistical information concerning:
         - social policy,
         for a total of thirty component projects of the European
         Commission's statistical programme 1989-1992, including this
         project, which involves a survey of labour costs in industry
         and services.
   4.2. Duration
         One-off operation.
   4.3. Target population
         The beneficiaries of this operation are: the Community
         institutions, the governments of the Member States, economic
         and social decision makers in the Member States, research
         institutes, universities and the media.
 ---pagebreak--- Classification of expenditure or of revenue
5.1. Non-compulsory expenditure
 5.2. DA/NDA
5.3. Type of revenue involved: NONE
Type of expenditure or revenue?
6.1. 100% subsidy
      NO - The Commission's contribution only represents a fraction
      of the order of 15 to 30% of the real cost of collecting the
      data, because the Commission's statistical activity is
      devolved to a large extent; nevertheless, the expenditure is
      essential to encourage the standardization of data collection
      and compilation and their transmission to Eurostat.
6.2. Subsidy for joint financing with other sources in the public
      and/or private sector
      YES - Public sector joint financing (budgets of the national
      statistical services).
6.3. Interest subsidy
      NO
6.4. Other
      NONE
6.5. Should the operation prove an economic success, is there
      provision for all or part of the Community contribution to be
      reimbursed?
      NO
6.6. Will the proposed operation cause any change in the level of
      revenue?
      NO
 ---pagebreak---                                     -? -
 7.  Financial impact on appropriations for operations (part B of the
     budget)
     7.1. Method of calculating total cost of operation:
           Total cost of operation in 1993: 1.31 million ecu
     of which:
     -      contribution to Member States (survey,
           collection and processing):                1.22 million ecu
     -      Provision of services (studies,
           analyses, data management):                -
     7.2. Proportion of mini-budget in total
           cost of operation:                         0.09 million ecu
     7.3. Indicative schedule of commitment and
           payment appropriations
           Not applicable
8.  What anti-fraud measures are planned in the proposal for the
    operation?
    -      Payments in respect of any contracts and agreements into which
           the Commission enters are only made on the basis of the
           results obtained.
    -      The statistical information is considered an objective means
           of evaluating Community action programmes and thus contributes
           to consolidating the mechanism for fraud prevention.
       SECTION 2: ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE (part A of the budget)
1.  Will the proposed operation involve an increase in the number of
    Commission staff? If so, how many?
    No
2.  Indicate the amount of staff and administrative expenditure
    involved in the proposed operation. Explain the method of
    calculation.
    Unit of the DG taking part in the work: (as per establishment plan
    of 01.01.91): Unit E2 - Living and working conditions. Staff: 11 as
    of 01.01.1991, of which 2 on the "Survey of Labour Costs" project.
    0.5% of total DG 34 staff (389 as of 01.01.1991) are engaged on the
    "Survey of Labour Costs" project.
 ---pagebreak---                                  -4$ -
          SECTION 3: ELEMENTS OF COST EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS
1. Objectives and coherence with financial programming
   1.1. Specific objective(s) of proposed operation:
        -   Statistics in the context of social policy:
        Earnings, employment, vocational training and syntheses of
        social statistics.
   1.2. Is the operation incorporated in the financial programming of
        the DG for the years concerned?
        YES - Note 476 of 8 February 1991 - DG 34
   1.3. To which broader objective defined in the DG's financial
        programming does the objective of the proposed operation
        correspond?
        Objective No 1
2. Grounds for the operation
   2.1. Reasons for choosing this operation rather than an alternative
        which would achieve the same objectives.
        This operation achieves four results:
        -  It provides the Institutions with the quantitative elements
           on the basis of which any action programme pursuant to
           Article 3 (2) of the Financial Regulation can be drawn up,
           monitored and evaluated: "it therefore contributes to more
           effective and pertinent use of the Community budget".
        -  It provides the national administrations with comparable
           statistics on all of the Member States, allowing them to
           evaluate and monitor the development of Community policy
           programmes.
        -  It provides political, economic and social decision makers
           in the Community with figures on which to base and evaluate
           their decisions in their respective fields of activity: it
           is therefore an essential part of the European information
           market.
        -  It provides the scientific community with the information
           necessary to improve the analysis and understanding of
           economic and social life in the Community.
 ---pagebreak---                                  - « -
         a) cost:
                The bulk of the financing for this operation comes from
                the Member States (section 1, paragraph 6.1.), which
                have a well-established structure for collecting and
                compiling data. If the Commission had to finance this
                programme entirely, the cost would be extremely high
                and the product would certainly be less reliable.
        b) spin-off effect:
            -   The results of the operation contribute to improving
                the statistical information used in work related to
                social policy, economic cohesion and convergence in the
                internal market.
                The collection of statistical information is based on a
                highly devolved structure, within which the national
                systems are responsible at the level of each Member
                State. The Community statistical programme becomes an
                integral part of the national statistical programmes
                and thus contributes to creating a European statistical
                area.
        c) multiplier effect
            -   Multiplier effect in tne direction of a European
                statistical area and therefore towards greater
                integration of the national statistical systems at
                Community level.
3. Monitoring and evaluation of the operation
   3.1. Performance indicators selected:
           Monitoring of operational objectives connected with the
           provisions of the Single European Act using the ?
   3.2. Annual progress report on programme:
        Implementation of the statistical programme is constantly
        checked against a monitoring file (TBPS) which defines the
        operational objectives and resources needed for each project
        ( + 190) on the basis of the planning-execution principle. At
        the beginning of each year, Eurostat prepares a report on the
        programme's progress during the previous year. This report is
        in three parts:
        -  the first summarizes the main achievements of the year in
           policy terms;
        -  the second describes the objective laid down and the
           results obtained for each project;
           the third provides statistics on the use made of human,
           budgetary, computer and administrative resources during the
           previous year.
 ---pagebreak---                                    - iL-
                          IMPACT ASSESSMENT FORM
                  IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL ON BUSINESSES
            with special reference to small and medium-sized
                            enterprises (SMEs)
Title of the proposal:   Proposal for a Council Regulation on the
                        organization of a survey of labour costs in
                         industry and the services sector
Reference No of the document:
The proposal
1.  Taking account of the principle of subsidiarity, why is Community
    legislation necessary in this area, and what are its principal
    aims?
    The aim of the survey is to obtain comparable data on the levels
    and structures of labour costs in the Member States for the purpose
    of implementing Articles 2, 3, 117, 118, 122 and 123 of the Treaty
    establishing the European Community.
    The statistical information available in the Member States is an
    inadequate basis for valid comparisons, for reasons which include,
    in particular, the differences between their legislation and
    administrative practices. The only way to ensure the comparability
    of statistics in this domain is to carry out surveys and exploit
    the results on the basis of uniform definitions and common methods.
    The survey of labour costs is presently the only statistical source
    in the field of remuneration to provide a regular flow of
    comparable data on the detailed composition of labour costs in the
    Member States. This characteristic means that the survey is
    intensively used by the Commission's departments, both sides of
    industry and researchers as a source of statistical information.
Impact on business
2.  Who will be affected by the proposal?
    - which sectors of business?
    The survey covers undertakings in sections C, D, E, F, G, H, K,
    divisions 65, 66 and group 63.3 of the General Industrial
    Classification of Economic Activities within the European
    Communities NACE (Rev.1).
 ---pagebreak---                               -n -
 —which sizes of business (what is the concentration of small and
 medium-sized firms)?
 The statistical units used for the survey are the local unit with
 10 and more employees in the industrial domain and the undertaking
with 10 and more employees in the services domain.
 Results are to be obtained for the following size classes:
units  with 10-19 employees
units  with 20-49 employees
units  with 50-99 employees
units  with 100-199 employees
units  with 200-499 employees
units  with 500-999 employees
units  with 1000 and more employees
The proposed survey will differ from the 1988 survey in that the
size class of "units with 10-49 employees" used in 1988 will be
split into two size classes containing "units with 10-19 employees"
and "units with 20-49 employees".
The survey will not include units with less than 10 employees.
To reduce the burden on undertakings and NSIs, the survey will be
carried out by sampling. The sampling plans will be established by
the NSIs which will, in general, use different sampling fractions
for the different size classes.
- are there particular geographical areas of the Community where
these businesses are found?
What will business have to do to comply with the proposal?
Undertakings selected as respondents will be obliged to supply the
information required for the determination of labour costs, and
this information must be true and complete and forwarded in time to
meet the deadline fixed in the Regulation.
What economic effects is the proposal likely to have?
- on employment?             No effect
- on investment and the creation of new businesses? No effect
- on the competitive position of busineses?          No effect
 ---pagebreak---                                  -4-
5.  Does the proposal contain measures to take account of the specific
    situation of small and medium-sized firms (reduced or different
    requirements, etc)?
    Yes. Units with less than 10 employees will be excluded from the
    field, so as to reduce the number of units from which survey data
    need to be collected.
Consultation
6.  List the organizations which have been consulted about the proposal
    and outline their main views.
    Representatives of UNICE and the CES attended the meetings of
    Eurostat Working Group on Wages held on 27 September and 19-20
    November 1991 to prepare the survey and indicated that they were in
    favour. But the UNICE representative had doubts about the
    possibility of including units with less than 10 employees.
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                      ISSN 0254-1475
                                                              COM(92) 125 final
                                                      DOCUMENTS
EN                                                                         04 10
                                 Catalogue number: CB-CO-92-136-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-77-42423-0
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