Press release dated 13/04/2011
The Basque Country performed on a par with or better than the European Union-27 in five out of the eight Europe 2020 indicators
In terms of Education, the Basque Country exceeded or was very close to the target set by the EU-27, but was under the European average in two areas related to climate and energy
In five of the eight indicators selected in the Europe 2020 strategy, the Basque Country performed on a par with or better than the levels of the European Union-27, according to Eustat data.
The Europe 2020 Strategy was introduced by the European Commission in March 2010 in order to emerge from the recession in a stronger position and prepare the European Union economy to face the next decade. The Commission focuses on three inter-dependent priorities:
Intelligent growth: developing an economy based on knowledge and innovation.
Sustainable growth: promoting an economy that uses the resources more efficiently, is greener and competitive.
Inclusive growth: encouraging high-employment and fostering social and territorial cohesion.
In order to define its position in 2020, these three priorities are transformed into five key objectives:
To get 75% of EU citizens aged between 20 and 64 into work.
2) To invest 3% of the EU GDP in research and development.
3) To reach the “20/20/20” climate and energy targets: A reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions of at least 20%, a 20% reduction in energy use and 20% of energy consumption to come from renewable resources.
4) to bring the school drop-out rate to below 10% and to ensure that at least 40% of young people receive a higher education diploma.
5) To bring the number of Europeans at risk from poverty to below 20 million.
Eight main indicators, which have been prepared and compiled for the Basque Country, are used to monitor the process.
With respect to the European Union average, the Basque Country posted better or similar values in five of these indicators: Energy intensity of the economy, Early school drop-out rates, Higher education level, Population at risk of poverty or exclusion and Internal expenditure on R&D.
The values were under the European average in the other cases. In terms of Spain overall, however, the figures for all of the indicators except two (Share of renewable energies and the Percentage of population that lives in households with very low work intensity) were better in the case of our Autonomous Community than for Spain as a whole.
Energy intensity is an indicator that measures the dependency of GDP growth on energy consumption and which measure the energy efficiency. Therefore, a lower figure indicates less environmental pollution and destruction of resources.
The Early school drop-out rates of the population aged 18 to 24 years old and the Higher education level of the population aged 30 to 34 years old not only scored better comparatively speaking, but also exceeded EU targets for women (less than 10% and at least 40% respectively). The target for the level of higher education for the total population was also reached.
The Population at risk of poverty or exclusion indicator is a combination of three indicators:
Population that lives in households with very low work intensity: They are the people who live in households with a work intensity of the household under the threshold set at 20%.
Population at risk of poverty after social transfers: The poverty threshold set for this indicator is 60% of the national median equivalised disposable income.
Population in severe material deprivation: They are the people that do not have resources to deal with at least four of nine situations: Paying their rent or utility bills, 2) keeping their home adequately warm, 3) facing unexpected expenses, 4) eating meat, fish or a protein equivalent every second day, 5) spending a week of holiday away from home once a year), 6) running a car, 7) having a washing machine, 8) having a colour TV or, 9) having a telephone.
Both in terms of the composite indicator and for the three components, the Basque Country posted better rates that the European Union average, nearly four points lower in the case of the aggregate Risk of poverty or exclusion indicator, which affected 19.3% of the Basque population compared to 23.1% for the European population overall, and to 23.4% of the population of Spain.
The Employment rate of the population aged 20 to 64 years old was slightly lower than the European average, 68.5% for the Basque Country compared to 69.1% for Europe, and six and a half points from the target (75%).
On the less positive side, two indicators, both regarding climate, posted figures under the EU-27 average: Greenhouse gas emissions, with an index of 120.6 compared to 88.7 for the EU-27 in 2008 and the Share of renewable energies in the gross final energy consumption, which represented 6.5% in the case of the Basque Country, while the European average stood at 10.3%. However, the 2009 figures showed improvement in both indicators: the first stood at 108.0 and the percentage of renewable energies rose to 7.4%.
For further information:
Basque Statistics Office
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Tel:+34-945-01 75 00 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 E-mail: eustat@eustat.es
Contact: Mariví García Olea
Tel:+34-945-01 75 10 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01