INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK PROPOSED FOR SOCIAL PROTECTION STATISTICS.

• Position: Brief article

Statistics on social protection will soon have a well-structured, integrated framework based on common standards, definitions, classifications and accounting rules if the Council gives its blessing to a proposal for a Regulation tabled by the European Commission on January 20. The aim is to streamline the open method of coordination in the area of social policy, by way of timely and reliable data. The Commission justifies the initiative because of the need to improve the quality and timeliness of data collection. Member states already collect social security data, but use a variety of...