New indicators for sustainable developmentand a better quality of life
Policy issues for EU cities and regions
Open days 2010 – Committee of the RegionsBrussels, 5 October 2010
Vincent Tronet – Head of sectionKey indicators for European PoliciesIndicators for long-term developments
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Recent international initiatives
Renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy in 2006
OECD global project on measuring progress of societies(Istanbul declaration in June 2007)
Beyond GDP conference in Nov 2007(« GDP and Beyond » communication in Aug 2009)
Commission on the measurement ofeconomic performance and social progress(« Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi » report in Sept 2009)
Europe 2020 strategy (First half 2010)
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Sustainable Development Indicators in therenewed EU SD strategyImplementation, monitoring and follow up
33. The Commission will submitevery two years (starting inSeptember 2007) a progressreport on implementation of theSDS in the EU and Member States
33. the Commission will … draw on acomprehensive set of sustainabledevelopment indicators (SDIs), taking intoaccount the Eurostat SD MonitoringReport, to be updated every two years
34. … the indicators are to bedeveloped at the appropriate level ofdetail to ensure proper assessment ofthe situation with regard to eachparticular challenge
35. The Commission, in cooperationwith Member States through theworking group on SDIs , will furtherdevelop and review indicators
45. At the latest by 2011, the European Council will decide when acomprehensive review of the EU SDS needs to be launched.
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Eurostat – EU SDS monitoring report 2009
SDI theme Headline indicator Change
Socioeconomicdevelopment
GDP growth per capita
Climate change andenergy
Greenhouse gas emissions
Consumption of renewables
Sustainable transportEnergy consumption of transportand GDP
Sustainable consumptionand production
Resource productivity
Natural resourcesAbundance of common birds
Conservation of fish stocks
Public health Healthy life years (EU-25)
Social inclusion Risk of poverty (EU-25)
Demographic changes Employment rate of older workers
Global partnership Official development assistance
Good governance No headline indicator :
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Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
GDP growth percapita
Economic development
InvestmentRegional disparities of GDP (from 2001)
Household saving
Competitiveness, innovation and eco-efficiency
Labour productivitygrowth (from 2003)
R&D expenditure
Energy intensity
Employment
Employment
Female Employment
Disparities in regional employment
Unemployment
1 - Socioeconomic development
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Regional Disparities of GDP per inhabitant (NUTS3)
(%)
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
EU-27
MT
SE NL
DK ES
FI SI FR ATIT C
ZPT LT
UK BE EL
DE IE PL RO
SK
BG HU
EE LV
2001 2006
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Disparities in regional employment (NUTS2)
EU-27 (%)
10
11
12
13
14
15
200720062005200420032002200120001999
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Disparities in regional employment (NUTS2) (%)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
EU
-27
NL
SE
PT
EL
AT
PL
CZ
RO
DE
UK FI
FR
BG
ES
SK
BE
HU IT
2000 2007
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Evaluation without target
1 % growth
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Target path
Evaluation with target
> 95 %
80-95 %
0-80 %
< 0 %
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Consistency with theory
Political relevance Measurability
Stiglitz
GDP andBeyond
Europe 2020
The OECDTriangle forQuality ofIndicators
Recent European initiatives
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GDPThe best known measure of macro-economic activity
Developedin the1930s
Aggregates thevalue added ofall money basedeconomicactivities
Regarded as aproxy indicator foroverall societaldevelopmentand progress ingeneral
Clear methodology=> allows comparisons over timeand between countries
Lookssimple
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GDP and beyondNew century, new concerns, new priorities
CrisisLack of confidencein official statistics
Globalisation
Awareness ofthe limits ofthe planet andenvironmentalconcerns
Concernsfor well-being
More complexsocieties
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GDP and beyond (COM (2009) 433)Measuring progress in a changing world
Five key actions
1. Complementing GDP with environmental and social indicators
2. Near real time information for decision-making
3. More accurate reporting on distribution and inequalities
4. Developing a European Sustainable Development Scoreboard
5. Extending National Accounts to environmental and social issues
From to
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Stiglitz Sen Fitoussi report
Three pillars:
1. Classical GDP issues
2. Quality of life
3. Sustainable development and environment
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Europe 2020: key initiatives
Employment and skills
« An agenda for newskills and jobs »
Climate, energy andmobility
« Resource efficientEurope »
Innovation
« Innovationsunion »
Fighting poverty« European platform
against poverty »
Competitiveness
« An industrial policy forthe globalisation era »
Education
« Youth on the move »
Digital Society
« „A digital agenda forEurope »
Inclusive GrowthSustainable GrowthSmart growth
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Europe 2020 targets (EU Council 17. June 2010)
The strategy sets 5 measurable headline targets to beachieved by the EU by 2020. The EU targets have to betranslated into national targets
75 % of the population aged 20-64 should be employed
3 % of the EU's GDP should be invested in R&D (further reflectionon inclusion of “innovation intensity”)
The "20/20/20" climate/energy targets should be met
The share of early school leavers should be under 10 % and atleast 40 % of 30-34 years old should have completed a tertiary orequivalent education
20 million less people should be at risk of poverty and exclusion
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Europe 2020 on the Eurostat website
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Initiatives: similar concerns and issues
Overall awareness of the need to complement GDP tomeasure the progress of societies
Measure well - being of people(importance of subjective well-being)
Better assess inequalities and disparities (intra-generational)
Take into account environmental issues andsustainability (inter-generational)
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Some short-middle term actions
« Sofia Memorandum » on Measuring progress, well-being and Sustainable Development
Further work on well-being indicators and coordinate actionswith DG COMM (Eurobarometer) andEuropean Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Analysis of key distributional issues in social statistics
Study on short-term estimates of Green House Gas emissions based on energy statistics
Create legal basis on environmental accounts and Now-cast
Adoption by the Commission of a proposal for a new ESA (European System ofAccounts) regulation
Quarterly updates of the statistics on real disposable income, which were first deliveredin April 2010
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Well-being in the EU - Background
A growing demand for well-being measures in the international community(e.g. OECD global project on measuring the progress of societies)
Beyond GDP conference (Brussels Nov 2007)
– Speech Mr Barroso:“in this rapidly changing, globalising world of the 21st century, we findourselves with a sea of data, but, in some cases, lacking the tools weneed to take swift, well-informed and effective decisions that promotethe well-being of individuals, of societies, of the planet itself”
– Speech Mr Almunia:Time is ripe to take the measurement of well-being one step further
Renewed EU sustainable development strategy (2006):aims at the continuous improvement of the quality of life and well-being onearth for present and future generations
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Basic (Maslow) & psychological (Deci & Ryan) needs Rahman & capabilities approach
Standard of living
Health & longevity
Basic rights on health & income
Safety
Education
Physical environment
Doing professional/individual activities (selfactualisation) + autonomy / freedom (including time
division for these activities)Productive and valued activities
Social interactions: quantity, accessibility & time
Basic rights at social/societal level (discriminationetc)
Competence / self esteem -
Loving (relatedness / belonging) + doingsocial/societal activities (individual interactions &societal participation) (including time division for
these activities)
QoL / WB OUTCOME(S)Happiness & satisfaction
POSSIBLE WB DRIVERS
Physiological needs (food, water, health, shelter; andthe financial means for this) - present
Safety / security (factors guaranteeing physiologicalneeds in the future): trust, education, social security,
job security,…
Health & life expectancy
Well-being indicators - Eurostat feasibility studyConceptual framework
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Some results (1/2)Overall satisfaction with life and life expectancy at birth, 2006
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
DK FI SE LU ES AT NL CY IE BE UK IT SI DE FR EL PL CZ EE SK PT HU BG LT LV MT RO
Life
exp
ecta
ncy
atb
irth
inye
ars
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
10.0
Ave
rag
eo
ve
rall
sa
tisfa
ctio
nw
ith
life
Life expectancy at birth (left scale) Satisfaction with life (right scale)
(Data on satisf. w. life n/a)
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Regional Statistics on the Eurostat Website
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Regional Statistics at Eurostat - Yearbook
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Regional Statistics at Eurostat - Maps
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Regional Statistics at Eurostat – tables (1/2)
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Regional Statistics at Eurostat – tables (2/2)