EU parliament committee backs 'common' census plan

MEP have endorsed controversial plans to harmonise census data across the EU.

They were approved by members of the committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs on Wednesday.

Despite opposition from some deputies, the committee approved the plan by 24 votes to two against, with seven abstentions.

It has been claimed the move will enable the authorities to question women about their sexual history, an allegation denied by the commission.

The commission defends the proposal, saying it needs better quality data on how people live in order to improve policy making.

It has come up with an extensive list of questions it wants all member states to ask in their next census to improve data on housing and population.

In addition to data on nationality, size of family, ethnicity, it also wants to find out about computer literacy, number of cars owned, cooking facilities and "durable consumer goods possessed by the household".

One proposed question asks the "date(s) of the beginning of consensual union(s) of women having ever been in a consensual union: (ii) first consensual union and (ii) current consensual union". 

But the UK Independence Party said proposed questions about "consensual union" were too intrusive.

UKIP MEP Derek Clark said he was "appalled that the EU thinks it has the right to ask women such deeply personal questions and I defy anybody to give me a reason as to what use the answers will be".

He said the proposed census questions were "the work of a group of MEPs who must spend their private time peering over their neighbours' fences".

"I'd be incredibly interested to know how a green-fingered couple in possession of a wide screen TV who sleep together will help housing planning, but I've no doubt the EU will come up with some lunatic reason how it does."

Clark added: "This report is both crackers and deeply offensive."

A commission source said, "This definition has absolutely nothing to do with asking women about their sexual behaviour.

"Consensual union is in fact another term for unmarried partnership."

"Information on consensual unions may be needed in countries where statistics on marriages and on legal marital status do not provide sufficient information on the formation of partnerships."

"Consensual union, as well as information on dates/duration of marriage, is valuable for fertility statistics and extends the knowledge that can be derived from data on the number of live-born children."

He said the proposal contains "no questions related to sexual behaviour" or gardens, as UKIP has claimed.

"The commission proposal does contain a question related to durable consumer goods, but this refers to major items such as washing machines, fridges and PCs," he added.

The commission has said it needs more detailed information to plan better policy.

In a document setting out the proposals, it said: "The major objective is to give a sufficiently detailed picture of the structure and characteristics of the population that would allow the in-depth analysis required for planning, administration and monitoring in many policy areas.

"Many such policies have a European component, and the institutions of the EU as well as member states demand reliable comparisons in the European context." 

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