Commission Regulation (EC) No 198/2006 of 3 February 2006 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005 of the European Parliament and the Council on statistics relating to vocational training in enterprises (Text with EEA relevance)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 198/2006of 3 February 2006implementing Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005 of the European Parliament and the Council on statistics relating to vocational training in enterprises(Text with EEA relevance) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005 of the European Parliament and the Council of 7 September 2005 on statistics relating to vocational training in enterprisesOJ L 255, 30.9.2005, p. 1., and in particular Articles 7(3), 8(2), 9(4), 10(2), and 11(3) thereof,Whereas:(1)Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005 establishes a common framework for the production of Community statistics on vocational training in enterprises.(2)In order to implement Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005, measures concerning the sampling and precision requirements and sample size needed to meet these requirement, and the detailed NACE and size categories into which the results can be broken down, should be adopted.(3)The Commission should define the specific data to be collected with respect to the training and non-training enterprises and to the different forms of vocational training.(4)Implementing measures concerning the quality requirements for the data to be collected and transmitted for Community statistics on vocational training in enterprises, the structure of the quality reports and any measures necessary for assessing or improving the quality of the data should be adopted.(5)The first reference year for which the data are to be collected should be established.(6)Provisions should also be adopted concerning the appropriate technical format and interchange standard of the electronically transmitted data.(7)The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Statistical Programme Committee,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1This Regulation lays down measures to implement Regulation (EC) No 1552/2005 on statistics relating to vocational training in enterprises.

Article 2The first reference year for which the data are to be collected shall be the calendar year 2005.

Article 3The specific variables to be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) shall be as specified in Annex I.

Article 4Sampling and precision requirements, the sample sizes needed to meet these requirements, and the detailed specifications of the NACE and size categories into which the results can be broken down shall be as specified in Annex II.

Article 5Member States shall be responsible for data checking, error correction, imputation and weighting.Imputation and weighting of variables shall follow the principles laid down in Annex III. Derogation from these principles shall be fully justified and reported in the quality report.

Article 6Data shall be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) by the means and in the format specified in Annex IV.

Article 7Each Member State shall perform a quality evaluation of its data, to be presented in the form of a quality report. The quality report shall be prepared and presented to the Commission (Eurostat) in accordance with the format specified in Annex V.

Article 8With a view to achieving a high level of harmonisation of the survey results across countries, the Commission (Eurostat) in close cooperation with Member States, shall propose methodological and practical recommendations and guidelines for the implementation of the survey in the form of a "European Union Manual".

Article 9This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.ANNEX IVariablesNote 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. IVT stands for initial vocational training. NACE refers to the classification of 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
ENTERPR	ID		Enterprise ID
REFYEAR	ID		Reference year
WEIGHT	ID		Weighting factor. Two decimal positions — use "." as decimal separator
NACE_SP	ID		Sampling plan economic activity category
SIZE_SP	ID		Sampling plan size group
NSTRA_SP	ID		Sampling plan — number of enterprises in the stratum defined by NACE_SP and SIZE_SP, i.e. the population
N_SP	ID		Sampling plan — number of sampled enterprises from the sample-frame in the stratum defined by NACE_SP and SIZE_SP
SUB_SP	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
RESPONSE	ID		Response indicator (sampling unit type)
PROC	ID		Data collection mode
IDLANGUA	ID		Language of data collection
IDREGION	ID		Region identification NUTS — level 1
EXTRA1	ID		Extra variable 1 (see Annex III)
EXTRA2	ID		Extra variable 2 (see Annex III)
EXTRA3	ID		Extra variable 3 (see Annex III)

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

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
A1	Core	QM	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
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

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

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
A8		QL	Person or unit within the enterprise with responsibility for the organisation of CVT
A9		QM	Assessment of future skill needs of the enterprise
			Yes but not regularly (mainly linked to changes in personnel)
			Yes, it is part of the overall planning process in the enterprise
			No
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
A12		QM	Skills and competences important in the next few years (3 most important)
			General IT skills
			IT professional skills
			Management skills
			Team working skills
			Customer handling 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 leads 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 CVT
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

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
		QM	Participation in guided-on-the-job training
			Less than 10 % of all persons employed
			From 10 % to less than 50 % of all persons employed
			50 % or more of all persons employed
B2b	Core	QL	Provision of job rotation, exchanges, secondments or study visits in the reference year
		QM	Participation in job rotation, exchanges, secondments or study visits
			Less than 10 % of all persons employed
			From 10 % to less than 50 % of all persons employed
			50 % or more of all persons employed
B2c	Core	QL	Participation in conferences/workshops in the reference year
		QM	Participation in conferences/workshops
			Less than 10 % of all persons employed
			From 10 % to less than 50 % of all persons employed
			50 % or more of all persons employed
B2d	Core	QL	Participation in learning or quality circles in the reference year
		QM	Participation in learning or quality circles
			Less than 10 % of all persons employed
			From 10 % to less than 50 % of all persons employed
			50 % or more of all persons employed
B2e	Core	QL	Planned training by self-directed learning/e-learning in the reference year
		QM	Participation in self-directed learning/e-learning
			Less than 10 % of all persons employed
			From 10 % to less than 50 % of all persons employed
			50 % or more of all persons employed
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 CVT contributions (in euros)
B5b		QL	Existence of CVT receipts in the reference year
		QT	Amount of CVT receipts (in euros)
B6		QM	Measures from which the enterprise benefits
			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

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 2015 [(B1a or B1b) = yes], orenterprises providing other forms of CVT in 2015 [(B2a or B2b or B2c or B2d or B2e) = yes].Section 8 shall be addressed to non-training enterprises only.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 participants in all CVT courses
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		QM	Subjects covered (3 most important)
			General IT skills
			IT professional skills
			Management skills
			Team working skills,
			Customer handling 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
C6		QM	Providers (external CVT courses) (3 most important)
			Schools, colleges, universities and other higher education institutions
			Public training institutions (financed or guided by the government; e.g. adult education centres)
			Private training companies
			Private companies of which the main activity is not training
			Employers' associations, chambers of commerce, sector bodies
			Trade unions
			Other training providers

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 or payments for courses
		QT	CVT course costs — fees and payments for courses for employees (in euros)
C7b		QL	Existence of travel or subsistence payments
		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, rooms or teaching materials
		QT	CVT course costs — training centre, rooms and teaching materials for CVT courses (in euros)
C7sub		QL	Existence of "CVT costs 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 CVT costs — to be calculated (C7tot = 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
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 factors: level of training provided was appropriate to the needs of the enterprise
			Recruitment of individuals with the required qualifications, skills and competences
			Difficulties in assessing training needs in the enterprise
			Lack of suitable offers 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 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 competences was preferred
			Difficulties in assessing training needs in the enterprise
			Lack of suitable offers 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: initial vocational training (IVT)

Variable name	Variable group	Variable type	Variable description
F1	Core	QL	IVT participants usually employed in the enterprise
F2		QM	Reasons for providing IVT (if F1 = yes)
			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 reasons

ANNEX IISample1.Business registers referred to in Regulation (EC) No 177/2008 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (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 (OJ L 61, 5.3.2008, p. 6). 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 specifications:20 NACE Rev. 2 categories [B, C10-C12, C13-C15, C17-C18, C19-C23, C24-C25, C26-C28+C33, C29-C30, C16+C31-C32, D-E, F, G45, G46, G47, H, I, J, K64-K65, K66, L+M+N+R+S],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) (1000 and more) for Member States with 50 million inhabitants or more.3.A sample size shall be calculated to ensure a maximum half-length of 0,2 of the 95 % confidence interval 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 or more).4.The following formula may be used in determining the sample size:Where:rhthe anticipated response rate in the stratum cell, hcmaximum length of half the confidence intervaltehthe anticipated proportion of training enterprises in the stratum cell, hNhthe total number of enterprises (training and non-training) in the stratum cell, hANNEX IIIImputation principles and record weightingMember States 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 neither missing values shall be accepted nor imputation permitted, are:A1, A2tot, B1a, B1b, B2a(QL), B2b(QL) B2c(QL), B2d(QL) B2e(QL), F1.Key variables, for which every effort should be made to avoid missing values and for which imputation is recommended, are:A4, A5, C1tot, C3tot, C7sub(QT), PAC, C7tot.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.Rules for imputation are provided in the manual referred to in Article 8.Member States shall calculate and transmit a weighting factor — to be applied to each data record — together with the auxiliary variables, which may have been used in the calculation of this weighting factor. These auxiliary variables should be recorded as the variables EXTRA1, EXTRA2, EXTRA3 as necessary. The methodology adopted for establishing the weighting factors shall be detailed in the quality report.ANNEX IVData file format and transmission rulesData shall be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) in electronic form by means of a secure data transmission software application (STADIUM/EDAMIS) to be made available by the Commission (Eurostat).Countries shall transmit two checked data sets to ESTAT:(a)the data set prior to imputation with preliminary checks;(b)the fully checked data set after imputation.Both data sets shall contain the variables identified in Annex 1.Both files shall be presented in comma separated variable (.csv) format. The first record in each file shall be a header record containing the "variable names" as defined in Annex 1. Subsequent records shall detail the values of these variables for each responding enterprise.ANNEX VStandard quality reportMember States shall submit a standard quality report in accordance with the European Statistical System Standard Quality Report Structure. A copy of the national questionnaire shall be submitted together with the standard quality report.The standard quality criteria shall apply as follows:1.RELEVANCEImplementation of the survey and the degree to which statistics meet current and potential user needs. This covers a description of users and their individual needs and an evaluation to what degree these needs have been satisfied.2.ACCURACY2.1.Sampling errorsThis covers:Description of the sample design and of the effective sample.Description of the calculation of the final weighting factors 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 weighting factors at 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 gross sample and in the effective sample.Tables to be provided for the observed effective sample (broken down by NACE Rev. 2 and size classes according to the national sampling plan):Coefficients of variationThe 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. for the following key statistics.Total number of persons employed, total number of enterprises that provided any form of CVT, ratio of the total number of enterprises that provided any form of 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 any form of 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, ratio of the total number of enterprises providing IVT to the total number of enterprises.2.2.Non-sampling errors2.2.1.Coverage errorsThis 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 for the observed effective sample (broken down by NACE Rev. 2 and size classes according to the national sampling plan):Number of enterprises.Ratio of the number of enterprises for which the observed strata equals the sampling strata.2.2.2.Measurement errorsWhere appropriate an assessment of errors that occurred at the stage of data collection due 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 ensure 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 errorsThis 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 errorsThis covers an assessment of unit non-response and item non-response and a description of the measures undertaken regarding "re-contacts" as well as: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 for the observed effective sample (broken down by NACE Rev. 2 and size classes according to the national sampling plan):Unit response ratesThe unit response rate is the ratio of the number of in scope respondents to the number of questionnaires sent to the population selected..Item response ratesThe 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). for the following with respect to all respondents: total number of hours worked for all respondents and total labour cost for all respondents.Item response rates for the following with respect to enterprises offering CVT courses:Total number of participants in CVT courses for enterprises offering CVT courses.Total number of hours of all CVT courses for enterprises offering CVT courses, number of hours of internal CVT for enterprises offering CVT courses, number of hours of external CVT for enterprises offering CVT courses.Total costs of CVT courses for enterprises offering CVT courses.3.TIMELINESS AND PUNCTUALITYThis covers a table of dates when different 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 CLARITYThis covers the type of results sent to enterprises, a dissemination scheme of results and a copy of any methodological documents about the statistics provided.5.COMPARABILITYThis 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.COHERENCEThis 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 classes.Tables to be provided for the observed effective sample (broken down by NACE Rev. 2 and size classes according to the national sampling plan):Number of persons employed from structural business statistics and number of persons employed from CVTS.Percentage of differences (SBS — CVTS)/SBS.7.COST AND BURDENThis covers an analysis of the burden and benefit at national level through, for example, a consideration of average time for answering the 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 small and large enterprises and efforts made to reduce the burden.