The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted the report by Irene TINAGLI (S&D, IT) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Union labour market statistics on businesses, repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 and Regulations (EC) No 450/2003 and (EC) No 453/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
This Regulation lays down a common legal framework for the development, production and dissemination of labour market statistics on businesses in the Union.
The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:
The amendments introduced by Members stress the following points:
- the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances and the monitoring of adequate minimum wages require accurate information on the evolution of hourly labour costs and wage levels¸ the rate of collective bargaining coverage, the level of the statutory minimum wage and the share of workers covered by it across Member States;
- it is important for analytical purposes that an appropriate amount of back data is available to be able to assess labour cost indices over time. However, in order to reduce the burden imposed on Member States, the transmission should be limited to back data that at least covers the calendar years 2024 and 2025;
- the application, monitoring and evaluation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of women and men in matters of employment and occupation require comparable data on the wages received by women and men;
- there is a need for timely, comparable and accurate data on the participation of people with disabilities in the labour market. Such data will provide a much-needed assessment of progress in joint efforts to reduce employment rate gaps and increase the employment rate of people with disabilities;
- the implementation of the principle of equal treatment irrespective of racial or ethnic origin requires timely, comparable and accurate data on wages and job characteristics of persons of different racial or ethnic origins. Such data will provide much needed assessment of progress in reducing discrimination in relation to employment and working conditions, including dismissals and pay;
- data collected in the framework of labour market statistics on enterprises concerning the structure of earnings, the gender pay gap and the structure of labour costs could also contribute to a better understanding of the gender pension gap in the Member States;
- the Commission (Eurostat) should provide further guidance on the management of data from low quality sources;
- the Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in order to specify which sources, other than survey data and administrative records, may be used to collect and transmit data under the Regulation;
- Member States should work to ensure adequate sharing of relevant data between authorities, in order to ensure that reporting burden is as small as possible on businesses;
- where the activities to be undertaken under the Regulation involve the processing of personal data, this must be proportionate and in compliance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- in order to improve the labour market statistics on businesses or to limit the administrative and financial burden on enterprises, in particular SMEs and micro-enterprises, the Commission (Eurostat) may initiate feasibility and pilot studies.
The results of those studies should be evaluated by the Commission (Eurostat) in cooperation with Member States and the main stakeholders, including social partners. The Commission (Eurostat) may recommend how pilot studies should be integrated as permanent solutions.
The Union financial contribution should not exceed 80% of the eligible costs.
Lastly, the regulation should apply from 1 January 2026.