In accordance with the requirements Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005, the Commission presents a report on statistics relating to vocational training in enterprises which documents the progress made by the Member States and Norway (Participating Countries) with respect to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005 and the implementing Commission Regulation (EC) No 198/2006. The report was endorsed by the European Statistical System Committee (ESSC).

The contents of the report are based upon quality reports, data and other information received from the countries concerned, in addition to analyses of the national questionnaires sent to enterprises, as harmonised statistics relating to vocational training in enterprises were made available through Continuing Vocational Training sample Surveys (CVTS) in all Participating Countries.

The Commission states that the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005 is satisfactory as regards the type of data collected, and that the level of compliance with Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005 by the participating countries is largely appropriate. All participating countries took the necessary steps to ensure the quality of the results as required by the Regulation. All participating countries delivered the data in accordance with the 14 topics required. The delivery of certain quantitative and secondary information was difficult in some participating countries due to the complexity and length of the questionnaires sent to enterprises. Rather than impeding the production of national and EU results for the 14 topics, this actually helped to reduce the number of variables in the 2010 survey conducted under Regulation (EU) No 822/2010.

CVTS : under the terms of the Regulation, the Commission shall transmit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the Regulation in order to assess the benefits accruing in relation to the burden on the respondents, and identify areas for potential improvement and amendments considered necessary in the light of the results obtained. The CVTS results were published in the context of the European Commission's annual reports on progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training. These progress reports provide strategic guidance on policy cooperation at EU level and assess progress in attaining overall objectives in the education and training fields. The CVTS data also used to analyse the progress made as regards vocational training at the workplace, as well as by specialists of vocational training policies in Member States and at EU level by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP). All in all, the political context implies an increasing demand for, and importance of, the data on continuing vocational training.

Nevertheless, the high burden and cost of the CVTS require a deeper assessment, since there are many technical issues preventing the wider use of the data:

burden on enterprises : the length and complexity of the questionnaire have meant low response rates from enterprises in some participating countries, as a number of local departments need to be contacted in order to cover all the topics of the questionnaire; reliability of the quantitative data collected: many enterprises do not have precise records of the content and characteristics of the training provided in a given year. Possibilities of collecting quantitative data on continuing vocational training through other existing surveys shall be examined; coverage of the survey : the cost and burden of enlarging the CVTS to include small enterprises and public sectors is regarded as far too large by participating countries; timeliness : the transmission of complete micro-data delays the publication of EU results because of the large number of checks that have to be performed before dissemination. Despite the efforts of the Commission and participating countries to streamline the survey, a number of difficulties will still persist. This might require an adaptation of the technical requirements laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005 on the basis of the 2010 survey results.

In the light of the Europe 2020 strategy , the Commission will assess the outcomes of Regulation (EU) No 822/2010 (implementation of the 2010 CVTS) before proposing any further actions to streamline statistics relating to vocational training in enterprises. Reflection on the future development of the CVTS should include a review of potential complementarities with other instruments, notably the Adult Education Survey (AES).

COM(2011)0434
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ACT : Commission Regulation 198/2006/EC implementing Regulation 1552/2005/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on statistics relating to vocational training in enterprises

CONTENT : The main provisions of this Regulation are as follows:

- Regulation 1552/2005/EC establishes a common framework for the production of Community statistics on vocational training in enterprises. In order to implement that Regulation, measures concerning the sampling and precision requirements and sample size needed to meet these requirements, and the detailed NACE and size categories into which the results can be broken down, are adopted, and specified in Annex II. The specific variables to be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) shall be as specified in Annex I.

- The Commission has defined the specific data to be collected with respect to the training and non-training enterprises and to the different forms of vocational training. It has also adopted implementing measures concerning the quality requirements for the data to be collected and transmitted for Community statistics on vocational training in enterprises, the structure of the quality reports and measures necessary for assessing or improving the quality of the data. Member States will be responsible for data checking, error correction, imputation and weighting. Imputation and weighting of variables shall follow the principles laid down in Annex III. Derogation from these principles shall be fully justified and reported in the quality report. Data shall be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) by the means and in the format specified in Annex IV.

- The first reference year for which the data are to be collected shall be the calendar year 2005.

- Provisions are also adopted concerning the appropriate technical format and interchange standard of the electronically transmitted data.

- With a view to achieving a high level of harmonisation of the survey results across countries, the Commission (Eurostat) in close cooperation with Member States, will propose methodological and practical recommendations and guidelines for the implementation of the survey in the form of a ‘European Union Manual’.

ENTRY INTO FORCE:24 February 2006.

32006R0198
OJ L 032 04.02.2006, p. 0015-0033

PURPOSE: The establishment of a common framework for Community statistics on vocational training in enterprises.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation 1552/2005/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

CONTENT: The objective of this Regulation is the creation of common statistical standards that permit the production of harmonised data on vocational training in enterprises. In order to realise this objective the Regulation:

- Establishes a common framework for the production of Community statistics on vocational training in enterprises. The data to be collected covers the following fields:

- Training policy and enterprises strategies for developing work-place skills.

- Enterprise management, structure and the forms of continuing vocational training.

- The role of the social partners in ensuring all aspects of continuing vocational training in the workplace.

- Access to continuing vocational training, its volume and contents – especially in the context of economic activity and the size of an enterprise.

- Specific continuing vocational training measures of enterprises to improve the ICT skills of their work force.

- The types of opportunities for employees in SMEs to access continuing vocational training and to acquire new skills.

- The effect of public measures on continuing vocational training in enterprises.

- Equal opportunities and gender access to vocational training as well as access to training for differing age groups.

- Vocational opportunities to the disadvantaged.

- Employment contracts and their scope for vocational training.

- Expenditure, funding levels and incentives

- Enterprises’ monitoring and evaluation procedures relating to vocational training.

- Participants and the total expenditure on initial vocational training.

- The scope of the statistics are defined by the NACE

- A statistical unit shall apply to NACE definitions as well as an enterprise employing ten or more employees. Member States may extend the definition of the statistical unit.

- Member States shall acquire the data either through surveys or other sources. The modality for replies will be set by the Member States.

- In a bid to reduce the burden on enterprises the survey approach will allow a customised collection of data.

- To ensure that the reporting quality is of the highest standards, the Regulation sets out provisions that need to be applied when reporting on the statistical information gathered.

- The reference period to be covered by the data collection shall be one calendar year, with Member States collecting statistics every five years. Data will be transmitted in electronic format and no later than eighteen months after the end of each reference year. In return the Commission will present by October 2010 a report on the Regulation’s implementation.

- In the first reference year, the Commission will make a financial contribution to the Member States to help cover the costs associated with the collection of data.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 20/10/2005.

Regulation 2005/1552
OJ L 255 30.09.2005, p. 0001-0005

03607/2/2005

SP(2005)1076/2

Parliament adopted the report by Ottaviano DEL TURCO (PES, IT), broadly approving the proposal on statistics relating to vocational training in enterprises. The report was subject to a number of amendments. (Please refer to the summary dated 31/01/2005).

It should be added that the Parliament highlights the fact that when applying this Regulation, account should be taken of the notion of 'people at a disadvantage in the labour market' given in the Guidelines for the employment policies of Member States.

Moreover, the measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should take into account the available capacities within the Member States for data collection and processing.

Lastly, with regard to the specific national size distribution of enterprises and the evolution of policy needs, Member States may extend the definition of the statistical unit in their country. The Commission may also decide to extend this definition if such extension would enhance substantially the representativeness and the quality of the result of the survey in the concerned Member States.

T6-0038/2005
OJ C 304 01.12.2005, p. 0137-0183 E

Results of vote in Parliament

Parliament adopted the report by Ottaviano DEL TURCO (PES, IT), broadly approving the proposal on statistics relating to vocational training in enterprises. The report was subject to a number of amendments. (Please refer to the summary dated 31/01/2005).

It should be added that the Parliament highlights the fact that when applying this Regulation, account should be taken of the notion of 'people at a disadvantage in the labour market' given in the Guidelines for the employment policies of Member States.

Moreover, the measures necessary for the implementation of this Regulation should take into account the available capacities within the Member States for data collection and processing.

Lastly, with regard to the specific national size distribution of enterprises and the evolution of policy needs, Member States may extend the definition of the statistical unit in their country. The Commission may also decide to extend this definition if such extension would enhance substantially the representativeness and the quality of the result of the survey in the concerned Member States.

T6-0038/2005

A6-0033/2005

A6-0033/2005

The committee adopted the report by Ottaviano DEL TURCO (PES, IT), broadly approving the proposal, subject to a number of amendments under the 1st reading of the codecision procedure. In particular, MEPs wanted to make it compulsory for enterprises to respond to surveys seeking data for the relevant statistics, while at the same time allowing the individual Member States to determine the relevant procedures.

Other amendments sought to:

- include the effects of public policies in the analysis of continuing vocational training;

- update the survey to include new and different forms of employment contract in the analysis of vocational training;

- allow for the inclusion in the regulation of enterprises with fewer than 10 workers where the specific economic circumstances of the country so require;

- delete the annex, which is out of date as it does not include the new Member States and the growth sample sizes are based on the second CVTS survey conducted in 2000/2001.

COM(2004)0095
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COM(2004)0095
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