COM(2022)0355
EUR-Lex

The Commission presented a report on the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 453/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies.

The document is the fourth report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. It is based on the experience gained from quarterly data transmissions and on the documentation provided by Member States in their annual quality reports. It focuses on the quality of the job vacancy statistics received since these reports and examines the statistics sent to the Commission for the reference quarters from the first quarter of 2016 to the fourth quarter of 2018.

Progress achieved

As regards the production process, a number of improvements have been made to the production chain of job vacancy statistics over the last three years:

- the statistics have been transmitted by all Member States using the Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX) data structure and internationally agreed code lists. The same coding was used in Eurostat’s JVS database and to transmit the EU’s job vacancy statistics to the European Central Bank;

- to check the structure and coding of JVS, a new IT tool (STRUVAL) has been introduced to simplify the production process and reduce the risk of errors arising from wrong coding;

- in each quarterly transmission, Eurostat makes plausibility checks by comparing data over time and across NACE Rev. 2 economic activities. In the event of significant quarter-on-quarter changes in the number of occupied posts or job vacancies, Eurostat asks Member States to confirm the data or retransmit a corrected data file. No major issues have been uncovered by the plausibility checks carried out over the last few years;

- Eurostat also introduced new rules on the processing of flags that signal special events such as breaks in the series and specify the confidentiality status of the data;

- Eurostat has started to give greater visibility to seasonally adjusted data by publishing European aggregates in the Statistics Explained article on job vacancy statistics, in parallel with unadjusted data.

Data quality

The report notes that job vacancy statistics were provided in a timely manner and European aggregates were published as planned. In general, the published European aggregates, for both flash and final estimates, required only slight revisions.

The Member States’ quality reports have been processed using the latest version of the European statistical system metadata handler and made available to all users.

Nevertheless, incomplete coverage is still the main reason why job vacancy statistics are not used more widely. It is crucial for all Member States to fully cover the public sector (in the case of Denmark, France and Italy) and small businesses (in the case of France, Italy and Malta).

Improved coverage would also make it possible to publish the number of vacancies, for European aggregates, in addition to the job vacancy rate. Eurostat plans to address this issue in close cooperation with the countries concerned, under the next review of EU legislation on labour market statistics collected from businesses.

The Commission will continue to monitor compliance and data quality at regular intervals, using the data delivered and other national documentation, including quality reports, and follow this up closely with the competent national statistical authorities.

COM(2019)0368
EUR-Lex

Article 10 of the Job Vacancy Statistics Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 453/2008) requires the Commission to report to the European Parliament and the Council on its implementation by 24 June 2010 and every three years thereafter.

Job vacancy statistics (JVS) correspond to the part of labour demand that is not met by labour supply and thus provide key information on the size and structure of labour market mismatches.

This is the third report presented by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. It draws on experience of providing data at quarterly intervals and on documentation provided by Member States in their annual quality reports.

To complement the general framework established by Regulation (EC) No 453/2008, the Commission adopted two implementing Regulations:

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1062/2008 , which defines the seasonal adjustment procedures to be applied from the first quarter of 2014, the structure and content of the annual quality reports which the Member States are to supply to the Commission, and the dates on which these reports are to be sent; Commission Regulation (EC) No 19/2009 , which defines the term ‘job vacancy’, sets deadlines for sending data and specifies the periods to be covered by the first set of data supplied.

The main conclusions of the report are as follows:

since the second report presented to the European Parliament and the Council in 2013, much progress has been made on implementing JVS legislation and collecting sound statistics on job vacancies. All Member States except Belgium, Finland and Sweden now provide seasonally adjusted data for both job vacancies and occupied posts which are published regularly by Eurostat. Eurostat intends to publish seasonally adjusted data for European aggregates in the second half of 2016; Job Vacancy Statistics data have been supplied in good time and European aggregates have been published as scheduled , although there is scope for further progress in timeliness in years to come. In general, the European aggregates published, for both the flash and final estimates, have been subject to minor revisions; Eurostat started publishing a quarterly news release on job vacancy rates. This new publication gives greater prominence to JVS and has been well received by users. However, some of these, including the European Central Bank, said there was a need for the four Member States which did not yet cover the economy as a whole (Denmark, France, Italy and Malta) to do so. They also requested that the number of vacancies and the job vacancy rate be published for all Member States, the euro area and the European Union; incomplete coverage is still the main reason why JVS data are not used more widely. It is vital for all Member States to fully cover the public sector and small businesses in their quarterly estimates. Improved coverage would also enable the number of vacancies for the European aggregates to be published.

The Commission examined whether, in the light of the feasibility studies, a new legislative proposal could be envisaged that would extend the coverage of job vacancy data for countries that do not include the public sector and/or small businesses. It was concluded that such a review should take place in the broader context of revising of EU business statistics legislation (future Framework Regulation on Integrated Business Statistics project - FRIBS).

COM(2016)0449
EUR-Lex

Article 10 of the Job Vacancy Statistics Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 453/2008) requires the Commission to report to the European Parliament and the Council on its implementation by 24 June 2010 and every three years thereafter. The report assesses the quality of the statistics provided by Member States and the quality of the European aggregates, and identifies potential areas for improvement .

This is the second report that the Commission submits to the European Parliament and to the Council. It draws upon experience accumulated through the quarterly data transmissions and documentation provided by the Member States in their annual quality reports.

The report’s main conclusions are as follows:

Much progress has been made in the past three years to implement job vacancy statistics (JVS) legislation and to build sound statistics in the field of job vacancies. Country data have been transmitted in a timely manner and European aggregates have been published as scheduled. Timeliness improved further in 2011 when Eurostat started publishing flash estimates. The European aggregates published, for both the flash and final estimates, have been subject to only minor revisions. Moreover, some of the countries that had previously produced more limited coverage of the economy have increased the scope of their JVS surveys in the recent past. Nevertheless, incomplete coverage is still the main reason that JVS data are not used more widely . It is of the utmost importance that all Member States fully cover the public sector and small businesses in their quarterly estimates . The Commission will examine how to improve the situation in this regard, including the possibility of new legislative initiatives , with a view to ensuring the necessary improvements.

COM(2013)0571
EUR-Lex

The Commission presents a report on the implementation of the Regulation (EC) No 453/2008 on quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies. Job vacancies are generally regarded as an important factor when it comes to analysing the demand side of the labour market. Regulation (EC) No 453/2008 established the framework for the production, transmission and evaluation of quarterly job vacancy statistics. It requires the Commission to report to the European Parliament and the Council on its implementation by 24 June 2010 and every three years thereafter. This report assesses the quality of the statistics provided by Member States and the quality of the European aggregates, and identifies potential areas for improvement.

Its main conclusions are as follows:

Following the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 453/2008, two implementing Commission Regulations were approved, covering a number of detailed aspects:

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1062/20082 defines: (i) the seasonal adjustment procedures in the Regulation; (ii) the structure, contents and transmission dates of the quality reports that Member States are required to provide to the Commission; Commission Regulation (EC) No 19/20093 covers the following aspects: (i) definitions related to 'job vacancy'; (ii) the reference dates for collecting quarterly figures, transmission deadlines and the date of the first reference quarter. The transmission deadline is fixed at 70 days after the end of the quarter. A limited number of Member States, representing more than 3% of the total number of employees in the European Union, should send at 45 days the total number of job vacancies and occupied posts. The first reference quarter is the first quarter of 2010.

Member States have received financial support in 2008 and 2009 to prepare for the transmission of data on quarterly job vacancies relating to the first quarter of 2010. The financial support will continue during 2010-2012, as stated in the Regulation (EC) No 453/2008. A call for proposals (restricted to the European Statistical System) was launched in 2010. The total amount to be awarded to beneficiaries is put at EUR 800000.

Eurostat co-organised two methodological workshops, one in Nuremberg (Germany) in December 2008 and one in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) in November 2009. Some twenty Member States took an active part, along with other countries like Norway, Switzerland and Israel, and International Organisations (European Central Bank and OECD). The purpose was to exchange best practices and experiences in collecting job vacancy statistics and to discuss methodological issues.

All Member States reported being broadly able to report the required data collection for the first reference quarter 2010. However, the following difficulties are likely to be experienced for the first reference quarter: a) coverage issues; some Member States will have difficulties covering NACE Rev. 2 sections O to S, especially for section O, and business units with fewer than 10 employees; b) lack of detailed methodological guidelines; c) low precision of estimates of the number of vacancies for the breakdown by economic activities.

These difficulties can be expected to clear up over time as Member States become more experienced in collecting vacancy statistics and fine-tune their production systems. Eurostat will develop, together with Member States, clear methodological guidelines to be followed.

For the next report to the European Parliament and Council, in June 2013, more detailed information will have been gathered through the national quality reports and from official data transmission exercises. This will enable a more complete assessment to be made of the quality and relevance of the quarterly statistics on job vacancies.

COM(2010)0421
EUR-Lex

PURPOSE: to establish a legal basis for the collection of quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation (EC) No 453/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies.

CONTENT: this Regulation lays down the requirements for the regular quarterly production of statistics on Community job vacancies. Each Member State shall submit to the Commission (Eurostat) data on job vacancies at least for business units with one employee or more . The data shall cover all economic activities defined by the common classification system for economic activities in the Community (NACE) in force, except for the activities of households as employers and the activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies. Covering agriculture, forestry and fishing activities, as defined by the NACE in force, shall be optional. Member States that wish to provide data for those sectors shall do so in accordance with this Regulation. Owing to the growing importance of personal care services (residential care activities and social work activities without accommodation) for job creation, Member States are also requested to transmit, on an optional basis, data on job vacancies for such services. The data shall be broken down by economic activity in accordance with the NACE in force at section level.

Covering public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, human health and social work activities, arts, entertainments and recreation and activities of membership organisations, repair of computers and personal and household goods and other personal service activities, as defined by the NACE in force, within the scope of this Regulation, and of units with fewer than 10 employees, shall be determined taking into account the feasibility studies.

Reference dates and technical specifications : Member States shall compile the quarterly data with reference to specific reference dates, which shall be determined in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. They shall also provide data on occupied posts in order to standardise job vacancy data for comparative purposes. They shall be required to apply seasonal adjustment procedures to the quarterly job vacancy data.

Data transmission : Member States shall transmit the data and metadata to the Commission (Eurostat) in a format and within transmission deadlines, which shall be determined in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. The date of the first reference quarter shall also be determined in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. Any revision of quarterly data for previous quarters shall be transmitted at the same time.

Member States shall also transmit back data for at least the four quarters preceding the quarter for which data is to be provided on the first data delivery. The totals shall be delivered no later than on the date of the first data transmission, and the breakdowns no more than one year thereafter. Where necessary, back data may be based on ‘best estimates’.

Quality assessment : the following quality assessment dimensions shall apply to the data transmitted:

"relevance" shall refer to the degree to which statistics meet the current and potential needs of users; "accuracy" shall refer to the closeness of estimates to the unknown true values; "timeliness" and "punctuality" shall refer to the delay between the availability of the information and the event or phenomenon it describes; "accessibility" and "clarity" shall refer to the conditions and modalities by which users can obtain, use and interpret data; "comparability" shall refer to the measurement of the impact of differences in applied statistical concepts and measurement tools and procedures when statistics are compared between geographical areas or sectoral domains, or over time; "coherence" shall refer to the adequacy of the data to be reliably combined in different ways and for various uses.

Feasibility studies : the Commission (Eurostat) shall set out the appropriate framework for the establishment of a series of feasibility studies. Those studies shall be undertaken by those Member States that have difficulties in providing data for: (a) units with fewer than 10 employees; and/or (b) the following activities: (i) public administration and defence; compulsory social security; (ii) education; (iii) human health and social work activities; (iv) arts, entertainments and recreation; and (v) activities of membership organisations, repair of computers and personal and household goods and other personal service activities.

Member States undertaking feasibility studies shall each submit a report on the results of those studies within 12 months of the entry into force of the Commission implementing measures.

Financing : for the first 3 years of data collection Member States may receive a financial contribution from the Community towards the cost of the work involved. The amount of the appropriations allocated annually for the financial contribution shall be fixed as part of the annual budgetary procedures. The budget authority shall grant the appropriations available for each year. Further funding may be considered for implementation work with respect to the measures adopted further to the results of the feasibility studies.

Implementation : by 24 June 2010 and every 3 years thereafter, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of this Regulation. That report shall assess the quality of the statistics provided by Member States as well as the quality of European aggregates and shall identify potential areas for improvement. Preferably within a year of the publication of the 3-yearly report referred to in the first paragraph, Member States shall set out how they intend to address the potential areas for improvement identified in the Commission report. At the same time, Member States shall report on the implementation status of previous recommendations.

The statistics provided by the Member States and an analysis thereof shall be published on the Commission (Eurostat) Internet site on a quarterly basis. The Commission (Eurostat) shall ensure that as many European citizens as possible have access to the statistics and analyses, in particular through the EURES portal.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 24/06/2008.

Regulation 2008/453
OJ L 145 04.06.2008, p. 0234

03668/2007/LEX

SP(2007)6527

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted the resolution drafted by Alexandru ATHANASIU (PES, RO), and made some amendments to the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies.

The main amendments were as follows:

- a recital states that it is important to share the data with the social partners at both national and European level and inform them about the implementation of this Regulation. Furthermore, Member States should make particular efforts to ensure that school career guidance services and vocational training bodies receive the data ;

- the coverage of agriculture, forestry and fishing activities, as defined by the NACE in force, shall be optional. Member States that wish to provide data for those sectors shall do so in accordance with the Regulation. Due to the growing importance of personal care services (residential care activities and social work activities without accommodation) for job creation, Member States are also requested to transmit, on an optional basis, data on job vacancies for such services ;

- the concepts "active steps to find a suitable candidate" and ‘specific period of time' shall be defined in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny ;

- the statistics provided shall distinguish, on an optional basis, between vacancies for fixed-term and permanent jobs;

- Member States shall compile the quarterly data with reference to specific reference dates which shall be determined in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. The seasonal adjustment procedures required will be determined in accordance with the old regulatory procedure ;

- the source of all data provided shall be specified ;

- European sample schemes may be established, and details of the schemes, their approval and implementation shall be specified by the regulatory procedure ;

- Member States will transmit the data and metadata to the Commission (Eurostat) in a format and within transmission deadlines which shall be determined in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. The date of the first reference quarter will also be determined in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny.

The following quality assessment dimensions shall apply to the data transmitted:

- "relevance' refers to the degree to which statistics meet the current and potential needs of users;

- "accuracy' refers to the closeness of estimates to the unknown true values;

- "timeliness' and 'punctuality' refer to the delay between the availability of the information and the event or phenomenon it describes;

- "accessibility' and 'clarity' refer to the conditions and modalities by which users can obtain, use and interpret data;

- "comparability' refers to the measurement of the impact of differences in applied statistical concepts and measurement tools and procedures when statistics are compared between geographical areas or sectoral domains, or over time;

- "coherence' refers to the adequacy of the data to be reliably combined in different ways and for various uses.

In applying the quality dimensions to the data covered by the Regulation, the modalities, structure and periodicity of the quality reports will be defined in accordance with the regulatory procedure. The Commission (Eurostat) shall assess the quality of the data transmitted.

The Commission (Eurostat) shall set out the appropriate framework for the establishment of a series of feasibility studies in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny. As soon as possible after the results of the feasibility studies become available and in dialogue with the Member States and within a reasonable timeframe the Commission shall adopt measures in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny

Further funding may be considered for the implementation work with respect to the measures adopted following the results of the feasibility studies

Report : preferably within a year following the publication of the three-yearly reports referred to in the first paragraph, the Member States shall set out how they intend to address the areas of potential improvement identified in the Commission's report. At the same time, the Member States shall report on the implementation status of previous recommendations.

Publication of statistical data : the statistics provided by the Member States and an analysis thereof shall be published on a quarterly basis, on the Commission (Eurostat) website. The Commission (Eurostat) shall ensure that as many European citizens as possible have access to the information, notably through the EURES portal.

T6-0530/2007

Debate in Parliament

A6-0335/2007

A6-0335/2007

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs adopted, at 1st reading of the codecision procedure and subject to amendments, the report by Alexandru ATHANASIU (PES, RO) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies.

The main amendments adopted in committee are as follows:

- the coverage of agriculture, forestry and fishing activities, as defined by the NACE in force, shall be optional. Member States who wish to provide data for these sectors shall do so in accordance with this Regulation;

- due to the growing importance of personal services (namely, activities delivered to individuals and families in their homes or elsewhere and carried out by government offices or private organisations) for job creation Member States are also requested to transmit job vacancies for such services, if possible.

- the statistics provided shall distinguish, where possible, between vacancies for fixed-term and permanent posts;

- the source of all data provided shall be specified;

- European sample schemes may (and not “shall”) be established and coordinated by the Commission (Eurostat) in order to produce Community estimates where national sample schemes do not meet the Community requirements with regard to quarterly data collection;

- the Commission (Eurostat) shall put in place a suitable framework to carry out a series of feasibility studies undertaken by the Member States who have encountered difficulties in supplying data, including for service activities delivered to individuals and families in their homes or elsewhere and carried out by government offices or by private organisations,

- as soon as possible after the results of the feasibility studies become available, and in dialogue with the Member States and within a reasonable timeframe, the Commission shall adopt measures in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny (comitology);

- further funding may be considered for the implementation work with respect to the measures adopted following the results of the feasibility studies ;

- as soon as possible, but preferably within a year following the publication of the three yearly

report on the implementation of the Regulation, the Member States shall put in place any recommendations set out therein and shall report on the implementation status of previous recommendations ;

- MEPs also inserted a new article concerning the publication of statistical data. The statistics provided by the Member States and an analysis thereof shall be published at regular intervals on the Commission (Eurostat) website. Member States shall also publish the data and shall advertise this fact in order to ensure that as many European citizens as possible have access to it, notably through the EURES portal. Lastly, a particular effort shall be made to ensure that school career guidance services and vocational training bodies receive the data.

PE392.102

CES0791/2007

PE390.439

Opinion of the European Central Bank on a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and Council on quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies.

The ECB welcomes the proposed regulation and considers that the proposed regulation already reflects a balanced compromise between user requirements and statistical simplification needs which has been carefully assessed to limit the reporting burden. The ECB strongly supports the implementation of the proposed regulation and invites the Commission and the Member States to give priority to the timely adoption of the required implementing Commission regulation.

The ECB emphasises that the proposed breakdown at section level of all economic activities defined by the common classification system in the Community (NACE), including the services sector, is an important aspect of the proposed regulation, given the increasing role of services as a percentage of the total economy. The proposed breakdown is, moreover, important for explaining changes in the overall number of job vacancies. The successful compilation and subsequent provision of data resulting from the proposed feasibility studies, as well as from the feasibility studies on the coverage of units with fewer than 10 employees, are considered important steps to further enhance the quality of the data.

The availability of an appropriate set of back data is crucial, due to the importance for analytical purposes of the ability to assess the evolution of job vacancies over time. However, the ECB acknowledges the burden that would be imposed on reporting agents if required to provide a full set of back data, and hence accepts the limited transmission requirement set out in Article 6 of the proposed regulation, while encouraging estimates over a longer period of time where feasible.

On the issue of the improved quality of data necessary for reliable euro area aggregates, a high degree of comparability of the national contributions used to calculate the euro area aggregates is a key aspect of the overall quality assessment. That being the case, the quality criteria to be defined under the implementing procedures in Article 7 of the proposed regulation might usefully include a periodic assessment of the impact of any non-comparable aspects of the national contributions.

CON/2007/0009
OJ C 086 20.04.2007, p. 0001

PURPOSE: to establish a legal basis for the collection of quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

CONTENT: national data on job vacancies and posts occupied have been collected since 2003 under a gentlemen's agreement. Even though this agreement initially proved useful, experience has shown that it is not capable of meeting users' needs.

For the quarterly data collection, neither the ECB requirements in terms of coverage, timeliness and harmonisation, nor the Commission's demand for structural data are being satisfied. For the time being only a very limited number of countries are transmitting annual data, with a very heterogeneous level of detail and reduced comparability.

A legal basis provides for a mechanism to achieve a comparable methodological basis for a significant set of short-term and structural statistics within a clear time frame. The development of an appropriate European legal framework was also requested by the Ecofin Council in the Status Report on Information Requirements in EMU of November 2005. In addition, a number of Member States need a legal basis in order to be able to continue with the collection of data on job vacancies.

Written consultation and discussions in working groups have been conducted with authorised delegates representing the Member States of the National Statistical System in the Labour Market Working Group meetings held in October 2005 and March 2006. The proposal for a Regulation was presented to the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC) for an opinion in May 2006. In summary, the SPC expressed its general support for the proposal as regards quarterly statistics. However, Member States had strong reservations about the scope and the level of detail of the annual breakdowns.

Following the SPC opinion, the Regulation was amended, in particular in relation to the collection of annual structural data, which are now excluded from this legal text.

The revised proposal for a Regulation of the EP/Council has the broad support of the Directors-General of the National Statistical Offices and the ECB. All Member States agreed on the importance of having a clear and appropriate legal framework for the collection of quarterly job vacancy data. The policy need for annual structural job vacancy statistics will continue to be dealt with in the short term on a gentlemen's agreement basis. In the medium term, and based on the experience of the regulation on quarterly data, consideration should be given to the possibility of a new regulation to cope with the demands for annual data.

The intention of this legal basis is to establish a legal framework to cover current and identifiable future activities in the field of quarterly job vacancy statistics. This includes, in particular, guaranteeing a harmonised data collection to satisfy the demand from users in this area. The proposal for a Regulation respects the principles set out in the European Statistics Code of Practice, in particular the principle of cost-effectiveness, and special measures have been taken to minimise the burden on businesses and National Statistical Offices. The EP/Council Regulation needs to be complemented by an implementing regulation.

The financial provisions included in the Regulation should help Member States during the start-up phase to launch new statistics in this area or to complete work already undertaken under the gentlemen's agreement to improve the quality of short-term data collections and to meet users' requirements.

The financing will be covered by the Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity – PROGRESS, adopted by Decision 1672/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. The budgetary impact in commitment and payment appropriations related to these actions has been estimated at EUR 4.5 million for the period 2008-2010 .

COM(2007)0076
EUR-Lex

PURPOSE: to establish a legal basis for the collection of quarterly statistics on Community job vacancies.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

CONTENT: national data on job vacancies and posts occupied have been collected since 2003 under a gentlemen's agreement. Even though this agreement initially proved useful, experience has shown that it is not capable of meeting users' needs.

For the quarterly data collection, neither the ECB requirements in terms of coverage, timeliness and harmonisation, nor the Commission's demand for structural data are being satisfied. For the time being only a very limited number of countries are transmitting annual data, with a very heterogeneous level of detail and reduced comparability.

A legal basis provides for a mechanism to achieve a comparable methodological basis for a significant set of short-term and structural statistics within a clear time frame. The development of an appropriate European legal framework was also requested by the Ecofin Council in the Status Report on Information Requirements in EMU of November 2005. In addition, a number of Member States need a legal basis in order to be able to continue with the collection of data on job vacancies.

Written consultation and discussions in working groups have been conducted with authorised delegates representing the Member States of the National Statistical System in the Labour Market Working Group meetings held in October 2005 and March 2006. The proposal for a Regulation was presented to the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC) for an opinion in May 2006. In summary, the SPC expressed its general support for the proposal as regards quarterly statistics. However, Member States had strong reservations about the scope and the level of detail of the annual breakdowns.

Following the SPC opinion, the Regulation was amended, in particular in relation to the collection of annual structural data, which are now excluded from this legal text.

The revised proposal for a Regulation of the EP/Council has the broad support of the Directors-General of the National Statistical Offices and the ECB. All Member States agreed on the importance of having a clear and appropriate legal framework for the collection of quarterly job vacancy data. The policy need for annual structural job vacancy statistics will continue to be dealt with in the short term on a gentlemen's agreement basis. In the medium term, and based on the experience of the regulation on quarterly data, consideration should be given to the possibility of a new regulation to cope with the demands for annual data.

The intention of this legal basis is to establish a legal framework to cover current and identifiable future activities in the field of quarterly job vacancy statistics. This includes, in particular, guaranteeing a harmonised data collection to satisfy the demand from users in this area. The proposal for a Regulation respects the principles set out in the European Statistics Code of Practice, in particular the principle of cost-effectiveness, and special measures have been taken to minimise the burden on businesses and National Statistical Offices. The EP/Council Regulation needs to be complemented by an implementing regulation.

The financial provisions included in the Regulation should help Member States during the start-up phase to launch new statistics in this area or to complete work already undertaken under the gentlemen's agreement to improve the quality of short-term data collections and to meet users' requirements.

The financing will be covered by the Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity – PROGRESS, adopted by Decision 1672/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. The budgetary impact in commitment and payment appropriations related to these actions has been estimated at EUR 4.5 million for the period 2008-2010 .

COM(2007)0076
EUR-Lex