COMMISSION DECISIONof 7 June 1985establishing a Community typology for agricultural holdings (BLK0)LA ORG="CCF EN /(BLK0)LA
(85/377/EEC)THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,Having regard to Council Decision No 79/65/EEC of 15 June 1965 setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Economic Community (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2143/81 (2).Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1463/84 of 24 May 1984 on the organization of the surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings for 1985 and 1987 (3), and in particular Article 6 (2)thereof,Whereas Commission Decision 78/463/EEC of 7 April 1978 establishing a Community typology for agricultural holdings (4), as last amended by Decision 84/542/EEC (5), defines in Article 1 the two factors on which the Community typology is based, namely, the type of farming and the economic size of the holding; whereas these two factors are determined on the basis of the standard gross margin (SGM);Whereas the standard gross margin as defined in Article 1 (d) of the aforementioned Decision is an economic criterion, expressed in monetary terms; whereas such a criterion is bound to undergo changes in the course of time;Whereas the standard gross margins set out in Annex I to the aforementioned Decision are based on average values over a reference period; whereas, therefore, they should regularly be updated to take account of economic trends so that the typology may continue meaningfully to be applied for the purposes specified in Article 3 of that Decision; whereas for this purpose a frequency as far as possible linked to the years in which farm structuresurveys are carried out should be provided for;Whereas such updating should be carried out on the basis of the average gross margins observed over a reference period of several years;Whereas the list of characteristics for which gross standard margins are established should be brought into line with the headings used in the farm structure surveys;Whereas there is a need for the classification scheme adopted by Decision 78/463/EEC to be amended in order better to take account of regional circumstances, especially in the Member States which have joined the EEC since that Decision entered into force, and of the changes made to the list of headings used in the structure surveys;Whereas, however, the scheme must as far as possible be kept as it is, in order to ensure sufficient continuity in time and hence permit trend analyses;Whereas the European Size Unit constitutes a basic unit expressed in terms of monetary value for a given reference period; whereas this value undergoes changes in the course of time under the influence of changes in the various factors determining agro-economic trends; whereas, for the European Size Unit to remain totally meaningful in the context of the Community typology, its definitions should be regularly updated at the same time as the SGMs are adjusted;Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Community Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network of the EEC and the opinion of the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics; HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
CHAPTER ICommunity typology for agricultural holdings
Article 1
For the purpose of this Decision, 'Community typology for agricultural holdings` (hereinafter called 'typology`) shall mean a uniform classification of holdings in the Community based on their type of farming and economic size, so arranged that homogeneous groups of holdings can be assembled in a greater or lesser degree of aggregation.The type of farming and the economic size of the holding shall be determined on the basis of the standard gross margin.
Article 2
1. The typology shall be designed to meet in particular the information needs of the common agricultural policy.2. The purpose of the typology shall be to supply an instrument making possible, at Community level:- an analysis of the situation of holdings based on economic criteria;- comparisons of the situation of holdings- between the various classes in the typology;- between Member States or regions of the Member States;- between different periods.3. The applications of the typology shall principally comprise the presentation, by type of farming and by size class, of data collected through the Community farm structure surveys and the Community Farm Accountancy Data Network.CHAPTER IIStandard gross margin
Article 3
For the purpose of this Decision, 'standard gross margin` (SGM) shall mean the balance between the standard value of production and the standard value of certain specific costs as laid down in Annex I; this balance shall be determined for the various crop and livestock characteristics within each region.
Article 4
The total standard gross margin of the holding shall correspond to the sum of the values obtained for each characteristic by multiplying the SGM per unit by the number of corresponding units.
Article 5
The standard gross margins shall be determined using average basic data calculated over a reference period of several years. They shall be updated to take account of economic trends.Annex I lays down the procedures for collecting the data, the method of calculation and the frequency for determining the SGM.CHAPTER IIIType of farming
Article 6
For the purposes of this Decision the 'type of farming` of a holding shall be determined by the relative contribution of different enterprises to its total standard gross margin.
Article 7
Depending on the amount of detail required, the types of farming shall be divided into:- general types of farming,- principal types of farming,- particular types of farming,- subdivisions of certain particular types of farming.These subdivisions shall be optional for those Member States in which the number of holdings in this type of farming is small.The classification of holdings by type of farming shall be as set out in Annex II.CHAPTER IVEconomic size of the holding
Article 8
The economic size of the holding shall be determined on the basis of the total standard gross margin of the holding. It shall be expressed in terms of European Size Units (ESU). This unit shall be defined in accordance with Annex III A. The method of calculating the economic size of the holding shall be as laid down in Annex III B.
Article 9
The economic size classes of holdings shall be as laid down in Annex III C.CHAPTER VGeneral provisions
Article 10
Decision 78/463/EEC shall remain in force for applications relating to the period prior to 1985. Subsequent applications shall be based on the present Decision.The first such application shall utilize SGMs corresponding to the reference period '1982` (calendar years 1981, 1982 and 1983 or for the agricultural production years 1981/82, 1982/83 and 1983/84) established as laid down in Chapter II.
Article 11
The Commission, assisted by the Member States, shall review at least every ten years the experience gained in applying this Decision and any new Community needs arising in the field. After such review, the provisions of this Decision may be amended as required.
Article 12
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 7 June 1985.