Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, June 1999

MISSOC goes on-line

The Mutual Information System on Social Protection in the European Union (MISSOC) is a DGV information system giving up-to-date comparable data on the social protection systems of the Member States. A printed volume is published annually but suffers from unwieldy size and currency problems, so the MISSOC web site was developed to make the data more widely accessible in a user friendly format as well as allowing for twice yearly updates on 1 January and 1 July. The official launch of the web site took place in March 1999 though parts of it are still under construction. Available in English, French and German, it contains a number of sections. Trends in Social Protection offers national reports and analysis of key measures and developments. For detailed information, select a member state flag. News and Trends, and Current Information are both sections still being developed but they are intended to contain MISSOC-Info, the regular information bulletin, and recent publications and events relating to social protection. The main section is Comparative Tables which details comparative information about the range of social benefits and the financing of social protection in the Member States. Full information is brought up by selecting the appropriate country flag. Note, however, that the search facility offered is not in fact a MISSOC search but simply brings up the Europa search engine.