Press Release 12/11/2019

STRUCTURAL INDICATORS. EUROPE 2020

The Basque Country improved in eight of the nine headline indicators of the Europe 2020 strategy in 2018

In comparison with the EU-28 European average, the Basque Country posted better results in four of the nine main indicators

The Basque Country improved in eight of the nine main indicators of the Europe 2020 strategy in 2018 with respect to the initial 2008 situation, according to Eustat data.

The Europe 2020 strategy, approved in 2010, was established in order to prioritise smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in the European Union in the current decade. Objectives are established in five thematic areas and each country sets individual targets in order to reflect its own reality and contribute to the common objectives.

The Basque Country stands out, above all, in the indicators relating to Education, for which it has more than achieved the targets set for 2020, both for the EU-28 and for Spain.

The evolution of the employment indicator, the rate of employment, also records advances compared to 2008, standing at just over 2 points from Spain’s target and slightly more than three points from that of the European Union.

The indicator relating to R+D showed modest advances, standing a long way from the objective set for the EU (3% of GDP) and slightly closer to that set for Spain as a whole (2%).

In the area of climate and energy the four indicators present better values than the reference year, but are still far from the targets and following some drops compared to 2014.

The established poverty indicator, the population at risk of poverty or exclusion, worsened compared to 2008, although from 2014 to 2018 it has recovered two percentage points, going from 22.7% to 20.7%, this 2018 figure being below Spain (26.1%) and the EU-28 (21.7%).

In comparison with the European average, four of the nine main indicators posted better values in the Basque Country: the population at risk of poverty or exclusion, primary energy consumption and the two education indicators.

With respect to Spain, better values were also posted in these four indicators as well as in the employment rate, gross interior expenditure on R+D and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the Basque Country values were worse in both the quota of renewable energies and final energy consumption.

Methodological note:

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 employment rate is the number of people employed in a specific age group (those aged 20-64 in the Europe 2020 strategy) as a percentage of the total population in the same age group.

Gross Interior Expenditure on R&D includes expenditure on research and development in Companies, Higher Education, Public Administration and Private Non-profit Institutions.

Greenhouse gases constitute a group of gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4), which contribute to global warming and climate change. Converting these gases into Carbon dioxide (or CO2) equivalents allows for comparisons and enables their individual and total contributions to global warming to be calculated. The indicator includes international aviation and indirect CO2, but excludes land use, change of land use and silviculture emissions

Renewable energy sources, also called Renewable energies, are energy sources that are naturally replaced (or renewed), such as solar, wind and tidal energy.

Primary energy consumption measures the total energy demand in a country. It covers consumption by the energy sector itself, losses during the transformation (for example, from oil or gas to electricity) and distribution of energy, and final consumption by the end users.

Final energy consumption is the total energy consumed by the end users, such as households, industry and agriculture. It is the energy that reaches the end user directly and excludes that used by the energy sector itself

The Education Drop-out Rate indicator is defined as the percentage of the population aged 18-24 with, as a maximum, lower secondary education and that has not undertaken any studies or training course in the four weeks prior to completing the survey.

Level of higher education is defined as the percentage of the population aged 30-34 that has successfully completed university or equivalent education, including advanced level vocational training.

The Population at risk of poverty or exclusion indicator refers to people’s circumstances, be they at risk of poverty, or severe material deprivation or who live in a household with a very low work intensity. The total number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion is lower than the total number of people in each one of the three forms of poverty or exclusion, given that those simultaneously affected by more than one of these circumstances are only counted once.

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 severe 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.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62