Glossary:Social protection scheme
In the European social protection statistics (ESSPROS) the statistical unit is called social protection scheme. It is defined as follows:
A social protection scheme is a distinct body of rules, supported by one or more institutional units, governing the provision of social protection benefits and their financing.
This definition calls for further clarification:
(i) Social protection schemes should at all times meet the condition that it must be possible to draw up a separate account of receipts and expenditures.
(ii) Preferably, social protection schemes are chosen in such a way that they provide protection against a single risk or need and cover a single specific group of beneficiaries.
An example of a social protection scheme is the National Family Allowances Fund - Caisse Nationale des Allocations Familiales (CNAF) in France.
Updated information about the national schemes for EU, EFTA and candidate countries is available from the "Qualitative information" page of the ESSPROS dedicated section in the Eurostat website.
Further information
Regulation (EC) No 458/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 April 2007 on the European system of integrated social protection statistics (ESSPROS)
Regulation (EC) No10/2008 of 8 January 2008 implementing Regulation (EC) No 458/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European system of integrated social protection statistics (ESSPROS)