Brussels, 05/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - As we mentioned, on 30 October, the Commission adopted a communication setting to a new list of indicators that will be used in the summary report it will make for the Barcelona Spring Summit of 2002 (see EUROPE of 31 October, p.9).
Here are the contents of this communication:
Principles governing the new list of indicators: the new list was drawn up with a concern for continuity as well as flexibility, and the main change is the addition of a new field devoted to the environment the indicators for which cover four areas, highlighted at the Gothenburg Summit (see below). This list is short so that the political messages are simple, clear and targeted, and are intended to reflect the importance attributed to the different chapters of the Lisbon Strategy. In all, the communication sets out 36 indicators, with six fields: general economic context, employment, innovation and research, economic reform, social cohesion, the environment - which each comprise six.
New list of indicators: nine indicators have been added and eight withdrawn. Thus:
General economic context: the indicator concerning the debt of public administrations has been dropped, that on the economy's energy intensity has been transferred to the field of the environment, and the one on the level of unemployment has been transferred to the general chapter;
Employment: the indicator relating to the men/women wage difference has been included in the new list, like that of the quality of employment (accidents at work). The indicator on the level of female employment, on the other hand, has been merged with the level of employment;
Innovation and research: the new list comprises an indicator on the number of doctorates in science and technology, whereas the indicators on "money spent on ITC" and "export of high-technology" have been dropped;
Economic reform: an indicator on the market structure in network industries has been included, whereas those on commercial integration and on investment in companies have been dropped;
Social cohesion: the indicator on jobless households, which measures the risk of poverty and exclusion has been dropped, as to a certain extent it overlaps with the indicator on the level of poverty;
Environment: the new list has been enriched by six new indicators, two of which on the fight against climate change (greenhouse gas emissions, the economy's energy intensity), two on transport (volumes carried - tonnes of freight and number of passengers per km compared to GDP, modal distribution of transport), one on the quality of air in urban areas, and one on municipal waste;
Indicators in the process of being developed: in 2002, the Commission will continue work on developing indicators (such as the quality of employment, demography, the knowledge-based economy, information society ….) for the summary report of 2003.