Labour Force Survey (LFS): aligning the Regulation with the TFEU (Commission delegated and implementing powers); financing provision

2013/0084(COD)

PURPOSE: to align Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (delegated and implementing powers of the Commission) and to incorporate into the Regulation a provision on funding.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation (EU) No 545/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community.

CONTENT: in order to monitor progress towards Union policy objectives, such as the Europe 2020 headline targets, it is necessary to have comparable, reliable and objective statistics on the situation of employed persons, unemployed persons and persons outside the labour market, while respecting statistical confidentiality, privacy and protection of personal data.

This Regulation amends Regulation (EC) No 577/982 to align it with the new institutional context of the Lisbon Treaty, and to allow the EU to make a financial contribution in the form of grants to the national statistical institutes and other national authorities.

Labour Force Survey ad hoc modules for Union policies: the regulation provides that a further set of characteristics may be added to supplement the information described in the Regulation. The Union can award financial support for the implementation of the ad hoc modules. The Union may award grants, without a call for proposals, to those national statistical institutes and other national authorities. The grants may take the form of lump-sum payments and shall be made on condition that Member States actually participate in the implementation of ad hoc modules.

Delegation of power to the Commission: to take account of economic, social and technical developments, the Regulation delegates the power to adopt acts to the Commission in respect of the adjustment of the list of survey variables, specified within the list of 14 groups of survey characteristics referred to in Regulation (EC) No 577/98, to establish a three-year programme of ad hoc modules, specifying, for each ad hoc module the subject, the list and description of the area of specialised information (‘ad hoc sub-modules’) and the reference period.

In addition, the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in order to adopt the list of structural variables and the survey frequency.

The power to adopt the delegated acts shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years (with tacit extension) from 18 June 2014. The European Parliament or the Council may object to a delegated act within a period of two months from the date of notification (this period can be extended for two months). If the European Parliament or the Council make objections, the delegated act will not enter into force.

The Commission shall duly justify the statistical actions provided for in those delegated acts, using, where appropriate, input from relevant experts based on a cost-effectiveness analysis, including an assessment of the burden on the respondents and of the production costs.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 18.06.2014.