Organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community

OBJECTIVE: To amend Council Regulation (EC) 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community, in order to make that survey continuous. COMMUNITY MEASURE: Regulation (EC) 1991/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) 577/98 on the organisation of a labour force sample survey in the Community. CONTENT: Council Regulation (EC) 577/98 lays down the basic provisions for a labour force sample survey, designed to provide comparable statistical information on the level and pattern of, and trends in, employment and unemployment in the Member States. It also provides that Member States which are unable to implement a continuous survey must instead only carry out an annual survey, to take place in the spring. Since sufficient time has passed since this regulation took effect, the Council and Parliament have decided to guarantee and accelerate the move to a continuous labour force survey in all the Member States. However, some Member States are not always able to submit to these activities. It is for this reason that this amending regulation provides for two new derogations: - the first concerns Italy, which will apply the continuous survey only from 2003; - the second concerns Germany, which will apply the continuous survey from 2004. In the meantime, Germany will have to provide quarterly substitute estimates for the main labour force sample survey aggregates as well as annual average estimates The regulation also makes a number of amendments relating to comitology. ENTRY INTO FORCE: 10/11/2002. The regulation is directly applicable in all the Member States.�