Labour force sample survey in the Community

OBJECTIVE: to establish comparable statistics on the level and structure of employment and unemployment in the Union. SUBSTANCE: the proposal aims to define the arrangements for an annual statistical survey based on a sample of the labour force in the Union. The survey will be continuous, providing quarterly and annual data to be carried out in a sample of households or individuals living in the economic territory of the Member States. The Member States which are not in a position to carry out a continuous survey are authorized to carry out only an annual survey (in the Spring). In addition to setting the units (individuals or households) and scope of the survey (activity status and under-employment), the proposal sets: - the rates to be respected to ensure the representativeness of the sample (including setting the standard error in relation to the regions where the surveys are carried out); - the survey characteristics: demographic background (marital status, sex, etc.), labour status (e.g. actual type of work, etc.), employment characteristics (e.g. professional status, permanency of job, etc.), hours worked, previous work experience, characteristics of underemployment (e.g. type of employment sought, numbers of hours of work wished for, etc.), income, etc.; - arrangements for the conduct of the survey: the Member States may make it compulsory to reply to the survey; - time limits for forwarding the data. The data specified in the proposal may be supplemented by an additional set of variables set by the Commission in the framework of a multiannual programme of ad hoc modules. It will be assisted in its work by the Statistical Programme Committee set up under Decision 89/382/EEC/EURATOM. A report on the implementation of this proposal will be submitted by the Commission to the Parliament and the Council every three years beginning in the year 2000 in order to evaluate the statistical methods used in the framework of this survey. �