Disposable income in rural areas berthold.feldmann@cec.eu.int

Structure of my talk The algorithm Data request Next steps

AIM OF THIS TALK: Launch a discussion about a new project of collection variables for rural areas Explain the approach used for that project

Chapter 1 The algorithm

Definition of rural areas The Commission has as one of its key roles the target of reducing disparities in the EU, including rural areas (Article 158 of the Treaty) So far no harmonised approach for defining rural areas exists Many different approaches in the Member States A European approach should be simple and applicable It should be applied at NUTS level 3 regions

The OECD algorithm One single criterion: population density above or below 150 inhabitants per km2 If below  “rural” Three types of regions Mainly rural regions: more than 50% of the population lives in “rural” communes (LAU-2) Relatively rural regions: 15% - 50% of the population lives in “rural” communes (LAU-2) Urban regions: <15% lives in LAU-2

The results Eurostat did the necessary calculations using LAU-2 information (area and population necessary) The results seem quite plausible

Advantages and disadvantages Positive Comparable results across Europe Simple algorithm, based on one single criterion Robust over time Negative Assumption that LAU-2 communes have a comparable size across Europe This is not always the case

Chapter 2 The data request

Disposable income (Regional Accounts) No data request for individual NUTS level 3 regions Data request for all NUTS 3 regions of one type aggregated Hence 3 figures required: A value for the rural areas of the country A value for the relatively rural areas A value for the urban areas

Chapter 3 Next steps

The future Cooperation project with unit E3 (“rural development”) of Eurostat Unit E3 will have a task force meeting in December and a Working Party meeting in March 2005 Further statistics to be collected following this approach: employment, migration, education, tourism, poverty, transport infrastructure etc.

Thanks for listening ! Any Questions ?