17.3.2010   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 67/1

(1)

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 577/98, it is necessary to specify the elements of the programme of ad-hoc modules covering the years 2013 to 2015.

(2)

There is a need for additional sources (2) for certain sectors with high risks of occupational accidents or diseases and other work-related health problems but which usually are not covered, or not fully covered, by national social security systems, such as ‘Fishing and aquaculture’ (division 03 of NACE rev. 2), ‘Mining and quarrying’ (section B of NACE rev. 2) or ‘Human health and social work activities’ (section Q of NACE rev. 2).

(3)

A new ad-hoc module on accidents at work and work-related health problems will provide considerable value added to the information obtainable from the European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW) and European Occupational Diseases Statistics (EODS), allowing, in particular, the data on accidents and occupational diseases to be directly linked to the situation of persons on the labour market and information to be obtained on emerging risks (e.g. work-related health problems not recognised as occupational diseases in national legislation).

(4)

The European Employment Strategy fully reflects the need to take into account the labour aspects of immigration, in particular the need to improve the labour market situation of migrants. The Employment Guidelines adopted by Council Decision 2008/618/EC (3), which are an integral part of the ‘Integrated Guidelines Package’, which is designed to spur growth and jobs in Europe as part of the relaunched Lisbon Strategy, call for particular attention to be paid to significantly reducing the employment gaps for people at a disadvantage, including the gap between third country nationals and EU citizens. They explicitly state that combating discrimination and integrating immigrants is essential and call for appropriate management of economic migration to improve matching of labour market needs. Appropriate data to monitor these issues are extremely important, especially since, given the ageing of the EU labour force and predicted skill shortages, the need for migrant workers will continue to grow in future years.

(5)

In the context of the ongoing debate on flexicurity and the expressed need for greater adaptability of both enterprises and workers in Europe, a key issue highlighted in the European Employment Strategy and the Employment Guidelines, it is necessary to have data from a large-scale European survey on the extent of application of various forms of new work organisation practices and working time arrangements and workers’ experiences with these.

(6)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the European Statistical System Committee,