Press Release 19/06/2014
The Basque Country has met the objective set in the Europe 2020 strategy for education indicators
For those relating to employment and poverty, however, there have been setbacks compared to the initial situation
The Basque Country positioned itself above European Union-28 levels in five of the nine indicators selected in the Europe 2020 strategy, according to Eustat data. In some of them, relating to education, the objective set for 2020 has been reached.
Regarding the evolution of the indicators, in comparison with 2009, positive performance has been observed for the indicators relating to R&D, climate and energy, and education, whereas those relating to employment and poverty have shown setbacks, as has occurred both in the European and Spain as a result of the economic crisis, though they were more noticeable in the latter.
The Europe 2020 Strategy, approved by the European Council in 2010, is the common agenda for the current decade. It prioritises intelligent, sustainable and inclusive growth as a means to overcome structural weaknesses in the European economy, to improve its competitiveness and productivity and to underpin a sustainable social market economy. Its five main objectives are:
1) 75% of the European population between the ages of 20 and 64 should be employed.
2) Internal expenditure on R&D should reach 3% of GDP.
3) The "20-20-20" objective for climate and energy should be achieved: a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, savings of 20% in energy consumption and promoting the consumption of renewable energies of up to 20%.
4) The school drop-out rate should be lower than 10% and at least 40% of the youngest generation should have completed higher education.
5) The risk of poverty in the EU should threaten 20 million fewer individuals.
The monitoring of these objectives is carried out via several main indicators, which Eustat has created and compiled for the Basque Country.
The Basque Country, compared to the European Union average, posted better results in five of these indicators: Internal Expenditure on R&D, Primary Energy Consumption, Education Drop-out Rate, Higher Education Level and Population at Risk of Poverty or Exclusion.
On the other hand, the values of Employment Rate, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, the Renewable Energies Quota and the Final Consumption of Energy were below the European average. As regards the state as a whole, however, all of the indicators except the Renewable Energies Quota and the Final Consumption of Energy produced better figures for our autonomous region than for Spain.
Nevertheless, it must be pointed out that the path towards the set objectives could have ups and downs in the various years analysed, and more in economic situations such as the current one that is already producing setbacks in some indicators compared to the initial values.
In 2012, the Gross Interior Expenditure on R&D in terms of GDP was higher in the Autonomous Region (2.12%) than in the EU-28 (2.07%), both of which were still far from the objective of 3% and very much above that of Spain (1.30%). Furthermore, the evolution remained positive despite the crisis, with an overall increase of 12 hundredths in relation to 2009.
Primary Energy Consumption in the Basque Country has decreased progressively since 2008, and Final Energy Consumption has decreased since 2010. A large part of these decreases can be attributed to a reduced level of economic activity as a result of the financial and economic crisis, more than to a convenient structural change in the pattern of energy consumption.
The Education Drop-out Rate of the population between the ages of 18 and 24 and the Higher Education Level of the population between the ages of 30 and 34 didn’t only show better comparative results, but they exceeded the objectives set by the EU (less than 10% and at least 40%, respectively), except the Level of Higher Education which remains at 36.5%.
The Population at risk of poverty or exclusion indicator is a combination of three indicators:
Population living in households with very low work intensity: Individuals who live in households with a household work intensity under the 20% threshold set.
Population at risk of poverty after receiving welfare: The poverty threshold set for this indicator is 60% of the average national median equivalised disposable income.
Population at risk of serious material deprivation: Individuals who do not have resources at their disposal to confront at least four of nine situations: 1) pay the rent and corresponding bills, 2) adequately heat his or her dwelling, 3) meet unforeseen expenses, 4) regularly eat meat, fish or equivalent proteins (alternate days), 5) spend a week on holiday outside of the home, 6) have access to a car, 7) have access to a washing machine, 8) have access to a colour TV, and 9) have access to a telephone.
Both for the composite indicator and two of the three that make it up, the Basque Country posted more encouraging rates than the European Union average, and almost five points below the average in the case of the aggregate indicator of Risk of Poverty or Exclusion, that affected 19.9% of the Basque population against 24.8% of Europe as a whole and 28.2% of the Spanish population in 2012, according to Eurostat data. Nevertheless, in relation to 2009 the four indicators showed setbacks, with increases in the population at risk of poverty or exclusion.
On the less positive side is the Employment Rate of 20 to 64 year-olds in the Basque Country. Although a slight positive upturn was observed in 2013 (66.2%) of half a point with respect to 2012 data, it is still 8.8 points away from the objective (75%) as a direct result of the economic crisis. There was a slight increase in the case of women as well as men. With respect to 2009, the drop in the total employment rate was just over two percentage points. In the European Union as a whole, the total and male employment rates decreased slightly in 2012 (one and two tenths respectively), in contrast to the female rate, which increased by three tenths. In the case of Spain, the negative tendency continued, with all three rates decreasing by one percentage point this year.
Furthermore, three indicators in the climate section produced worse figures than the EU-28 average: Greenhouse Gas Emissions, with an index of 101.1 against the 83.1 of the EU-28; the Quota of Renewable Energies in Gross Final Energy Consumption, which represented 7.6% in the case of the Basque Country and stood at 14.1% for the European average; and Final Energy Consumption, with an index of 93.1 against the 92.8 of the EU-28.
In relation to the previous year, an increase of almost two points was observed in gas emissions in the case of the Basque Country. As regards the use of renewable energies, the indicator decreased slightly with respect to that of the previous year: 7.6% in the case of the Basque Country, still some way not only from the objective (20%) but also from the European (14.1%) and Spanish (14.3%) averages which, in both cases, maintained a positive trend. Both indicators progressed slightly with respect to 2009.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel: 945 01 75 62
More press releases on Europe 2020 Indicators in the Basque Country.