Commission Regulation (EU) No 822/2010Show full title

ANNEX

1. Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 198/2006 is replaced by the following:

“‘ANNEX I VARIABLES

Note to the table:

The values “core” and “key” in the column “variable group” are explained in Annex III. The value “ID” means that the variable is an “identification variable” (no missing allowed). In the column “variable type” the value “QL” refers to “Qualitative variable” of type Yes/No, “QM” to “Qualitative variable” with multiple categories as described in the table and “QT” refers to “Quantitative variable”. CVT stands for Continuing Vocational Training. NACE refers to economic activity according to NACE Rev 2.

1. Variables to be collected from all enterprises: sample characteristics

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
COUNTRY	ID		Country code
REGION	ID		Region identification NUTS — level 1
REFYEAR	ID		Reference year
RESPID	ID		Enterprise ID
RESPWEIGHT	ID		Weighting factor Two decimal positions — use “.” as decimal separator
RESPEXTRA1	ID		Extra variable 1 (see Annex III)
RESPEXTRA2	ID		Extra variable 2 (see Annex III)
RESPEXTRA3	ID		Extra variable 3 (see Annex III)
SP_NACE	ID		Sampling plan economic activity category
SP_SIZE	ID		Sampling plan size group
SP_NSTRA	ID		Sampling plan – Number of enterprises in the stratum defined by NACE_SP and SIZE_SP, i.e. the population
SP_N	ID		Sampling plan — Number of sampled enterprises from the sample-frame in the stratum defined by NACE_SP and SIZE_SP
SP_SUB	ID		Sub-sample indicator, shows if enterprise belongs to sub-sample
N_RESPST	ID		Number of responding enterprises in the stratum defined by NACE_SP and SIZE_SP
N_EMPREG	ID		Number of persons employed according to the register
INTRESP	ID		Response indicator (sampling unit type)
INTMETHOD	ID		Data collection mode
INTLANG	ID		Language of data collection

2. Variables to be collected from all enterprises: background data

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
A1	Core	QL	Actual NACE CODE
A2tot	Core	QT	Total number of persons employed on 31 December of the reference year
A2m		QT	Total number of males employed on 31 December of the reference year
A2f		QT	Total number of females employed on 31 December of the reference year
A3	Key	QT	Total number of persons employed on 31 December of the previous year
A4	Key	QT	Total number of hours worked in the reference year by persons employed
A5	Key	QT	Total labour costs (direct + indirect) of all persons employed in the reference year
A6		QL	Introduction of any new or significantly new improved products or services or methods of producing or delivering products and services during the reference year.

3. Variables to be collected from all enterprises: CVT strategies

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
A7		QL	Own or shared training centre
A8		QL	Person or unit within the enterprise with responsibility for the organisation of CVT
A9		QL	Assessment of future skill needs of the enterprise
A10		QM	Reaction to future needs through
			Continuing vocational training of current staff
			Recruitment of new staff with the suitable qualifications, skills and competences
			Recruitment of new staff combined with specific training
			Internal reorganisation to better use existing skills and competences
A11a		QM	Reviews of future skill and training needs of individual employees
			Yes, mainly by way of structured interviews
			Yes, but mainly by way of other methods
			No
A11b		QM	The reviews of future skill and training needs of individual employees focus on:
			Occupations or groups of occupations
			Skills and competences
			Working tasks and activities
			Formal qualifications
A12		QM	Skills and competences important in the next few years
			General IT skills
			IT professional skills
			Management skills
			Team working skills, customer handling skills, social skills
			Problem solving skills
			Office administration skills
			Foreign language skills
			Technical, practical or job-specific skills
			Oral or written communication skills
			Numeracy and/or literacy skills
			None of these
			Do not know
A13		QL	Planning of CVT in the enterprise lead to a written training plan or programme
A14		QL	Annual training budget, which includes provision for CVT
A15		QL	National, sector or other agreements between the social partners, which cover the provision of CVT
A16a		QL	Staff representatives/committees involved in the management process of continuing vocational training
A16b		QM	Aspects covered by staff representatives/committees
			Objective setting of training
			Establishing criteria for the selection of participants or specific target groups
			Form/type of training (e.g. internal/external courses; other forms such as guided on-the-job training)
			Content of training
			Budget for training
			Selection of external training providers
			Evaluation/assessment of training outcomes
A17		QM	Sources of information about CVT
			Public information centres/services and authorities
			Private training providers
			Personnel/staff representatives
			Others
			Do not use any such source of information

4. Variables to be collected from all enterprises: CVT characteristics

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
B1a	Core	QL	Provision of internal CVT courses in the reference year
B1b	Core	QL	Provision of external CVT courses in the reference year
B2a	Core	QL	Provision of guided on-the-job training in the reference year
		QT	Number of participants in guided on-the-job training
B2b	Core	QL	Provision of job rotation in the reference year
		QT	Number of participants: job-rotation, exchanges, secondments or study visits
B2c	Core	QL	Attendance at conferences/workshops in the reference year
		QT	Number of participants in conferences/workshops
B2d	Core	QL	Participation in learning and quality circles in the reference year
		QT	Number of participants in learning or quality circles
B2e	Core	QL	Planned training by self-directed learning/e-learning in the reference year
		QT	Number of participants in self-directed learning/e-learning
B3		QL	Provision of CVT courses in the year before the reference year
B4		QL	Provision of other forms of CVT in the year before the reference year
B5a		QL	Existence of CVT contributions in the reference year
		QT	Amount of contributions CVT (in euros)
B5b		QL	Existence of CVT receipts in the reference year
		QT	Amount of receipts CVT (in euros)
B6		QM	Measures the enterprise benefits from
			Tax incentives (tax allowances, tax exemptions, tax credits, tax relief, tax deferrals)
			Receipts from training funds (national, regional, sector)
			EU subsidies (e.g. European Social Fund)
			Government subsidies
			Other sources
			None of these

The following sections 5 and 6 shall be addressed to enterprises providing CVT courses in the reference year [(B1a or B1b) = YES].

Section 7 shall be addressed to all training enterprises in the reference year, i.e.:

• enterprises providing CVT courses in 2010 [(B1a or B1b) = YES], or

• enterprises providing other forms of CVT [(B2a or B2b or B2c or B2d or B2e) = YES].

Section 8 shall be addressed to non-training enterprises.

5. Variables to be collected from enterprises which provided CVT courses: CVT participants, subjects and providers

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
C1tot	Key	QT	Total number of CVT course participants
C2m		QT	Number of CVT course participants — males
C2f		QT	Number of CVT course participants — females
C3tot	Key	QT	Paid working time (in hours) spent on all CVT courses
C3i		QT	Paid working time (in hours) for internal CVT courses
C3e		QT	Paid working time (in hours) for external CVT courses
C4		QT	Share of training hours spent on obligatory courses for health and safety at work
C5		QL	Subjects covered
			General IT skills
			IT professional skills
			Management skills
			Team working skills, customer handling skills, social skills
			Problem solving skills
			Office administration skills
			Foreign language skills
			Technical, practical or job-specific skills
			Oral or written communication skills
			Numeracy and/or literacy skills
			None of these
C5Main		QL	Main subject (with respect to volume of training hours)
C6		QL	Providers (external courses)
			Schools, colleges, universities and other higher education institutions
			Public training institutions (financed or guided by the government; e.g. adult education centre)
			Private training companies
			Private companies whose main activity is not training
			Employer’s associations, chambers of commerce, sector bodies
			Trade unions
			Other training providers
C6Main		QL	Main provider (with respect to volume of training hours)

6. Variables to be collected from enterprises which provided CVT courses: CVT costs

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
C7a		QL	Existence of fees
		QT	CVT course costs — fees and payments for courses for employees (in euros)
C7b		QL	Existence of travel costs
		QT	CVT course costs — travel and subsistence payments (in euros)
C7c		QL	Existence of labour costs of internal trainers
		QT	CVT course costs — labour costs of internal trainers (in euros)
C7d		QL	Existence of costs of training centre and teaching materials etc.
		QT	CVT course costs — training centre, or rooms and teaching materials for CVT courses (in euros)
C7sub		QL	Existence of “Sub-total only” (no sub-categories)
	Key	QT	CVT costs sub-total (in euros)
PAC	Key	QT	Personal absence cost — to be calculated (PAC=C3tot*A5/A4 in euros)
C7tot	Key	QT	Total cost CVT — to be calculated (C7sub + B5a – B5b (in euros)

7. Variables to be collected from enterprises which provided CVT courses or other forms of CVT: CVT quality, outcomes and difficulties

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
D1		QM	Aspects considered to ensure the quality of CVT
			Certification of external providers (e.g. use of national registers)
			Continuous training of internal trainers
			Continuing vocational training and certification is based on national/sector recognised standards or frameworks
			Others
			No particular aspect considered
D2a		QM	Assessment of the outcomes of CVT activities
			Yes, for all activities
			Yes, for some activities
			No, proof of participation is sufficient
D2b		QM	Methods of assessment
			Certification after written or practical test
			Satisfaction survey amongst participants
			Assessment of participants’ behaviour or performance in relation to training objectives
			Assessment/measurement of the impact of training on performance of relevant departments or the whole enterprise
			Other
D3		QM	Factors limiting CVT provision in the reference year
			No limiting factor: level of training provided was appropriate to the enterprises needs
			Recruitment of individuals with the required qualifications, skills and competencies
			Difficulties in assessing training needs in the enterprise
			Lack of suitable offerings of CVT courses in the market
			High costs of CVT courses
			Higher focus on IVT provision than on CVT
			Major efforts in CVT realised in recent years
			Limited time available for staff to participate in CVT
			Other reasons

8. Variables to be collected from non-training enterprises: reasons for the non-provision of CVT activities

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
E1		QM	Reasons for not providing CVT in the reference year
			The existing qualifications, skills and competences were appropriate to the current needs of the enterprise
			Recruitment of individuals with the required qualifications, skills and competencies was preferred
			Difficulties in assessing training needs in the enterprise
			Lack of suitable offerings of CVT courses in the market
			High costs of CVT courses
			Higher focus on IVT provision than on CVT
			Major efforts in CVT realised in recent years
			No time available for staff to participate in CVT
			Other reasons

9. Variables to be collected from all enterprises: IVT

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
F1tot	Core	QT	Total number of IVT participants in the enterprise during the reference year
F2		QM	Reasons for providing IVT (if F1Tot > 0)
			To qualify future employees according to the needs of the enterprise
			To choose the best apprentices for future employment after completion of initial vocational training
			To avoid possible mismatch with enterprise needs in case of external recruitment
			To make use of the productive capacities of IVT participants already during their initial vocational training
			Other (e.g. to make the enterprise more attractive to potential staff)

Optional variables

Member States can transmit complementary variables to the Commission (Eurostat) on an optional basis in a harmonised format as described in the “European Union Manual” referred to in Article 8.’;”

2. Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 198/2006 is replaced by the following:

“‘ANNEX II SAMPLE

1. Business registers referred to in Regulation (EC) No 177/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 establishing a common framework for business registers for statistical purposes(1) shall be taken as the main source of the sampling frame. A nationally representative stratified probability sample of enterprises shall be taken from this frame.

2. The sample shall be stratified by NACE Rev.2 and size category according to the following minimum specification:

• 20 NACE Rev.2 categories [B, C10-C12, C13-C15, C17-C18, C19-C23, C24-C25, C26-C28 and C33, C29-C30, C16+C31-32, D-E, F, G(45), G(46), G(47), I, H, J, K(64,65), K(66), L+M+N+R+S],

• Member States can cover other sectors and use additional categories for the stratification (e.g. O, P, and Q) on an optional basis,

• 3 enterprise size categories, according to their number of persons employed: (10-49) (50-249) (250 and more) for countries with fewer than 50 million inhabitants,

• 6 enterprise size categories, according to their number of persons employed: (10-19) (20-49) (50-249) (250-499) (500-999) (1 000 and more) for Member States with 50 million inhabitants and more.

3. A sample size shall be calculated to assure a maximum half-length of the 95 % confidence interval of 0,2 for the estimated parameters, which are a proportion of “training enterprises” (after allowance for the non-response rate in the sample) for each of the 60 stratified elements identified above (120 stratified elements for Member States with 50 million inhabitants and more).

4. The following formula may be used in determining the sample size:

n_h = 1/[c² × te_h + 1/N_h] / r_h

Where:

r_h

=

the anticipated response rate in the stratum cell, h

c

=

maximum length of half the confidence interval

te_h

=

the anticipated proportion of training enterprises in the stratum cell, h

N_h

=

the total number of enterprises (training and non-training) in the stratum cell, h”

3. Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 198/2006 is replaced by the following:

“‘ANNEX III Imputation principles and record weighting

Countries shall take all appropriate measures to reduce item and unit non-response. Prior to imputation countries shall make all reasonable efforts to use other data sources.

Core variables, for which no missing value shall be accepted, nor imputation permitted are:

• A1, A2tot, B1a, B1b, B2a(QL), B2b(QL) B2c(QL), B2d(QL) B2e(QL), F1tot.

Key variables, for which every effort should be made to avoid missing values and for which imputation is recommended are:

• A3, A4, A5, C1tot, C3tot, C7sub, C7tot, PAC.

Imputation for item non-response shall be recommended within the following general limits:

1.

When a record contains less than 50 % of variables presented then this record shall normally be considered as a unit non-response.

2.

For a single NACE Rev.2/size cell imputations shall not be allowed if more than 50 % of the responding enterprises have missing data for more than 25 % of the quantitative variables.

3.

For a single NACE Rev.2/size cell, no imputation shall be performed on a quantitative variable if the proportion of responding enterprises for that particular variable is less than 50 %.

4.

For a single NACE Rev.2/size cell, no imputation shall be performed on a qualitative variable if the proportion of responding enterprises for that particular variable is less than 80 %.

Quantitative and qualitative variables are identified in Annex I.

Member States shall calculate and transmit a weight to be applied to each data record together with any auxiliary variables, which may have been used in the calculation of this weight. These auxiliary variables should be recorded as the variables RESPEXTRA1, RESPEXTRA2, RESPEXTRA3 as necessary. The methodology adopted for establishing the weights shall be detailed in the quality report.’;”

4. Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 198/2006 is replaced by the following:

“‘ANNEX V QUALITY REPORT FORMAT

Member States shall submit quality reports to be written according to a standard quality-reporting format provided by the Commission (Eurostat). A copy of the national questionnaire shall accompany the quality report.

1. RELEVANCE

Implementation of the survey and the degree to which statistics meet current and potential users’ needs. This covers a description of users and their individual needs as well as an evaluation of to what degree these needs have been satisfied.

2. ACCURACY

2.1. Sampling errors

This covers:

• Description of the sample design and the realised sample.

• Description of the calculation of the final weights including non-response model and auxiliary variables used, estimator used, e.g. Horvitz-Thompson estimator, variance of the estimates according to the sample strata, variance estimation software, in particular, a description of the auxiliary variables or information used should be reported in order to recalculate the final weights within Eurostat since it is needed for variance estimation.

• In case of non-response analysis, a description of the biases in the sample and results.

Tables to be provided (broken down by NACE Rev.2 and size classes according to the national sampling plan):

• Number of enterprises in the sampling frame.

• Number of enterprises in the sample.

Tables to be provided (broken down by NACE Rev.2 and size classes according to the national sampling plan, however allocation according to the observed enterprise characteristics):

• Coefficients of variation(2) for the following key statistics.

• Total number of persons employed, total number of enterprises that provided CVT, ratio of the total number of enterprises that provided CVT to the total number of enterprises.

• Total number of enterprises that provided CVT courses, ratio of the total number of enterprises that provided CVT courses to the total number of enterprises.

• Total number of persons employed in enterprises that provided CVT, total number of participants in CVT courses, ratio of the total number of participants in CVT courses to the total number of persons employed, ratio of the total number of participants in CVT courses to the total number of persons employed in enterprises that provided CVT.

• Total costs of CVT courses.

• Total number of enterprises providing IVT, total number of participants in IVT, ratio of the total number of enterprises providing IVT to the total number of enterprises.

2.2. Non-sampling errors

2.2.1. Coverage errors

This covers:

• Description of the register used for sampling and its overall quality, information included in the register, and its updating frequency.

• Errors due to the discrepancies between the sampling frame and the target population and sub-populations (over-coverage, under-coverage, misclassifications).

• Methods used to obtain this information and notes on the processing of misclassifications.

Tables to be provided (broken down by NACE Rev.2 and size classes according to the national sampling plan, however allocation according to the observed enterprise characteristics):

• Number of enterprises.

• Ratio of the number of enterprises for which the observed strata equals the sampling strata.

2.2.2. Measurement errors

Where appropriate an assessment of errors that occurred at the stage of data collection due for example to:

• The questionnaire design (results of pre-tests or laboratory methods; questioning strategies).

• Reporting unit/respondent considering the data collection mode used (e.g. problems and strategies to find the appropriate respondent(s) in the enterprise, memory problems, errors when filling the forms, assistance to the respondent). This includes a description and assessment of measures taken to assure the high quality of the information related to “participants” and to assure that “participant events” were not collected.

• Existence/use of relevant information systems and administrative records in the enterprise, e.g. correspondence between the administrative and survey concept (reference period, availability of individual data).

• Methods used to reduce this kind of errors, problems with the questionnaire as a whole or with single questions.

2.2.3. Processing errors

This covers a description of the data editing process such as processing system and tools used, errors due to coding, editing, weighting or tabulation, quality checks at macro/micro level and corrections/failed edits.

2.2.4. Non-response errors

This covers an assessment of unit non-response and item non-response and a description of the measures undertaken regarding “re-contacts” as well as:

• Full report on imputation procedures including methods used for imputation and/or re-weighting.

• Methodological notes and results of non-response analysis or other methods to assess the effects of non-response.

Tables to be provided (broken down by NACE Rev.2 and size classes according to the national sampling plan, however allocation according to the observed enterprise characteristics):

• Unit response rates(3).

• Item response rates(4) for the following with respect to all respondents: total number of hours work as a function of all respondents and total labour cost as a function of all respondents.

• Item response rates for the following with respect to enterprises offering CVT courses:

  • Total number of participants in courses, males, females as a function of enterprises offering CVT courses.

  • Total number of hours on CVT courses as a function of enterprises offering CVT courses, number of hours on CVT courses managed internally and externally as a function of enterprises offering CVT courses.

  • Total costs of CVT courses as a function of enterprises offering CVT courses.

• Item response rates for the following with respect to enterprises offering IVT: Total number of participants in IVT as a function of enterprises offering IVT.

3. TIMELINESS AND PUNCTUALITY

This covers a table of dates when each of the following phases of the project started and ended such as fieldwork (considering the different data collection modes), reminders and follow-up, data checking and editing, further validation and imputation, non-response survey (as appropriate) and estimations as well as data transmission to Eurostat and dissemination of national results.

4. ACCESSIBILITY AND CLARITY

This covers the type of results sent to enterprises, a dissemination scheme of results and a copy of any methodological documents relating to the statistics provided.

5. COMPARABILITY

This covers the deviations from the standard European questionnaire and definitions provided in the manual referred to in Article 8 and a description of links done with other statistical sources (use of certain data available in registers, survey linked to another national survey).

6. COHERENCE

This covers a comparison of statistics for the same phenomenon or item from other surveys or sources and an assessment of coherence with structural business statistics for the number of persons employed as a function of NACE Rev.2 and Size Group.

Tables to provide (broken down by NACE Rev.2 and size classes according to the national sampling plan, however allocation according to the observed enterprise characteristics):

• Number of persons employed from structural business statistics and number of persons employed from CVTS.

• Percentage of differences (SBS — CVTS)/SBS.

7. COST AND BURDEN

This covers an analysis of the burden and benefit at national level through, for example, a consideration of average time for answering to each questionnaire, problematic questions and variables, variables most/least useful in describing CVT at national level, estimated or actual satisfaction level of data users at national level, difference of burden between for small and large enterprises and efforts made to reduce burden.”

(1)

OJ L 61, 5.3.2008, p. 6.’;

(2)

The coefficient of variation is the ratio of the square root of the variance of the estimator to the expected value. It is estimated by the ratio of the square root of the estimate of the sampling variance to the estimated value. The estimation of the sampling variance must take into account the sampling design and changes of strata.

(3)

The unit response rate is the ratio of the number of in scope respondents to the number of questionnaires sent to the population selected.

(4)

The item response rate for a variable is the ratio of the number of available data to the number of available and missing data (equal to the number of in scope respondents).’