Community statistics: income and living conditions in the Union EU-SILC

ACT: Commission Regulation 13/2005/EC implementing Regulation 1177/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Community statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC) as regards the list of target secondary variables relating to “social participation”.

CONTENT: This Regulation acts as an implementing act and complements Regulation 1177/2003/EC, which establishes a common framework for the systematic production of Community statistics on income and living conditions, encompassing comparable and timely cross-sectional and longitudinal data on income and on the level and composition of poverty and social exclusion at national and European Union levels. As such this Regulation, in Annex, establishes a list of target secondary variables, the variable codes and the definitions for the 2006 Module for “social participation” to be included in the cross-sectional component of Community statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC).

In summary, the Annex specifies that:

-         information shall be provided for all current household members aged 16 and over.

-         only personal interviews or information extracted from registers will be considered.

-         the reference period will be the last 12 months for variables relating to participation in cultural events and participation in formal and informal activities.

-         the following terms are defined: relatives, friends, spending time with friends and family, the frequency thereof, informal voluntary activities and participation in cultural events.

Finally, the Annex lists the areas of target variables.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 27 January 2005.