Press Release 09/05/2013

STRUCTURAL INDICATORS. EUROPE 2020

The Basque Country maintains levels better than the European Union-27 in five of the eight Europe 2020 indicators

The indicators relating to employment show setbacks in the Basque Country, as in the case of Spain, while they remain steady in the EU-27

The Basque Country positioned itself above European Union-27 levels in five of the eight indicators selected in the Europe 2020 strategy, according to Eustat data. In some of them, relating to education, the objective set for 2020 was reached.

The Europe 2020 strategy, adopted by the European Council in 2010, is the common agenda for this 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 eight 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 and of the Renewable Energies Quota were below the European average. As regards the state as a whole, however, all of the indicators except the Renewable Energies Quota 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.

The Gross interior expenditure on R&D reached slightly higher figures in the Basque Country (2.06%) than in the EU-27 (2.03%), still some distance from the objective of 3%. However, the values from the previous year are maintained.

Primary energy consumption in the Basque Country has dropped progressively since 2008. A large part of this decrease 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 35%.



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) confront unforeseen expenses, 4) regularly eat meat, fish or equivalent proteins (alternate days), 5) spend a week on holiday outside the household, 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 index as for the three component indicators, the Population at risk of poverty or exclusion in the Basque Country has a more favourable rate than that of the European Union average or the Spanish average; more than four points below Europe in the case of the aggregate indicator of Risk of Poverty or Exclusion, which affects 20.4% of the Basque population, compared to 24.2% in the European Union as a whole and nearly seven points below Spain where the percentage of the affected population reached 27%.

On the less positive side, the Employment rate of 20 to 64 year-olds fell by two points in 2012 (65.7%) with respect to 2011 and was 9.3 percentage points short of the objective (75%) as a direct consequence of the economic crisis. This decrease was more pronounced in the case of men, falling from 73.1% to 69.9% (-3.2 percentage points), while for women the drop was less than one percent, falling from 62.2% in 2011 to 61.3% in 2012. The same trend is seen in the values for Spain, while for Europe as a whole the total rate and the male rate dropped slightly, as opposed to the female rate which increased by one-tenth.

Furthermore, two indicators, both in the climate section, produced worse figures than the EU-27 average: Greenhouse Gas Emissions, with an index of 99 against the 85 of the EU-27 for 2009, and the Quota of Renewable Energies in Gross Final Energy Consumption, which represented 8.2% in the case of the Basque Country and stood at 13% for the European average. However, compared to the previous year, gas emissions dropped both in the Basque Country and in Spain, in contrast to the EU, where they rose slightly.

As regards the use of renewable energies, the indicator was identical to that of the previous year: 8.2% in the case of the Basque Country, still some way not only from the objective (20%) but also from the European (13%) and Spanish (15.1%) averages which, in both cases, maintained a positive trend.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62 More press releases on Europe 2020 Indicators in the Basque Country.