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COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 571/88
of 29 February 1988
on the organization of Community surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings between 1988 and 1997
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposals from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Whereas trends in the structure of agricultural holdings are an important factor in determining the development of the common agricultural policy; whereas the series of surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings, carried out on a Community basis since 1966/67, should be continued;
Whereas such trends cannot be examined at Community level unless comparable data are available for all the Member States; whereas it is therefore necessary to continue previous harmonization and synchronization efforts;
Whereas the workloads of the Member States and of the Commission in the execution of this task must be reduced as much as possible;
Whereas , where at all possible, the characteristics, definitions and geographic units laid down for similar previous structure surveys should be retained;
Whereas, when determining the characteristics to be examined during the period 1993 to 1997, there must be an endeavour to curtail as far as possible the workload of persons concerned by the survey;
Whereas, in order to assess the situation of Community agriculture and monitor trends in agricultural structures, it is necessary to carry out at regular intervals statistical surveys in agricultural holdings which have a certain agricultural area utilized for farming or if they produce a certain proportion for sale or whose production exceeds certain physical thresholds;
Whereas, in view of the variety of statistical services in the Member States, the efficiency of sample survey methods and the necessity to obtain reliable information at reasonable cost, Member States should be allowed to decide whether the surveys they carry out are of a full or sample type, on condition that the results of the random sample surveys are reliable at the various levels of aggregation required;
Whereas it is nonetheless necessary to carry out, at least every ten years, a census (full survey) of all the agricultural holdings in order to update the basic registers of holdings and the other information required for the stratification of sample surveys;
Whereas, when the procedures to be employed for the Community census in 1989/90 are determined, account must be taken as far as possible of the recommendation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) regarding a world census of agriculture to be conducted sometime around 1990;
Whereas for the requirements of agricultural policy it is necessary to provide the statistical offices of the Member States and the Commission with a new system of analysing the data and disseminating the results of the surveys which is more flexible and rapid than the previous one, while alleviating the workload of the Member States;
Whereas the introduction of adequate procedures enabling the Commission and the Member States to make the best use of the statistics prepared from the data collected in surveys of the structures of agricultural holdings should be facilitated;
Whereas individual data are subject to statistical confidentiality;
Whereas it is necessary, when implementing a new system for the use of surveys and the circulation of their results,
- to take account of the positions of the Directors-General of the Member States' national statistical institutions on the preparation of rules on the confidentiality of statistics,
- to ensure close cooperation between the Member States in the analysis of the data;
Whereas the coordinating role of the Statistical Office of the European Community is necessary to meet the Community requirements for information in the field in question and to ensure uniform analysis of the results obtained;
Whereas, in order to carry out these surveys, considerable funding will be required from both the Member States and the Commission over a number of years, a large proportion of which will be used to meet the requirements of the Community; whereas provision should therefore be made for a Community subsidy to assist this programme;
Whereas, in order to facilitate the implementation of the provisions of this Regulation, close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission should continue, in particular via the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics set up by Decision 72/279/EEC (1),
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
As part of the programme of statistical surveys of the Community, Member States shall, between 1988 and 1997, carry out surveys on the structure of the agricultural holdings in their territories, hereinafter referred to as 'surveys'. The reference periods of these surveys are set out in Articles 2 and 3.
Article 2
1. In line with the FAO recommendation for a world census of agriculture, Member States shall carry out a basic survey in one or more stages in the form of a general census (full survey) of all agricultural holdings, between 1 December 1988 and 1 March 1991. It shall relate to the crop year corresponding to the crop to be harvested in 1989 or 1990.
Nevertheless, Member States may use random sample surveys hereinafter referred to as 'sample survey' for certain characteristics; the results thereby obtained shall be extrapolated.
2. However, Member States may bring forward or defer realization of the basic survey by 12 months at most, in which case they shall carry out a sample survey in addition to the basic survey, relating to one of the crop years (1989/90).
Article 3
The following surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings shall be carried out in one or more stages in the form of full or sample surveys:
(a) between 1 December 1992 and 1 March 1994, covering the crop year corresponding to the crop to be harvested in 1993 (structure survey 1993);
(b) between 1 December 1994 and 1 March 1996, covering the crop year corresponding to the crop to be harvested in 1995 (structure survey 1995); and
(c) between 1 December 1996 and 1 March 1998, covering the crop year corresponding to the crop to be harvested in 1997 (structure survey 1997).
Article 4
Member States conducting sample surveys shall take the necessary steps to obtain reliable results at the various levels of aggregation required, which are as follows:
- the regions referred to in Article 8,
- the districts referred to in Article 8 (for the base survey only),
and insofar as they are important locally
- the 'less-favoured agricultural areas' as defined in Article 3 of Directive 75/268/EEC (2) as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 797/85 (3) and the 'mountain areas' as defined in paragraph 3 of the same Article,
- the principal types of farming as defined in Decision 85/377/EEC (4),
- the particular types of farming as defined in the same Decision.
Article 5
For the purposes of applying this Regulation:
(a) 'agricultural holding' shall mean a single unit, both technically and economically, which has a single management and which produces agricultural products;
(b) 'agricultural area utilized for farming' shall mean the total area taken up by arable land, permanent pasture and meadow, land used for permanent crops and kitchen gardens.
Article 6
The surveys shall cover:
(a) agricultural holdings where the agricultural area utilized for farming is one hectare or more;
(b) agricultural holdings where the agricultural area utilized for farming is less than one hectare, if they produce a certain proportion for sale or if their production unit exceeds certain physical thresholds.
However, Member States which use a different survey threshold commit themselves to fixing this threshold at a level excluding only the smallest holdings which together contribute 1 % or less to the total standard gross margin (SGM), within the meaning of Decision 85/377/EEC, for the Member State concerned.
Before the surveys are carried out Member States shall inform the Commission of the methods used to fix their thresholds.
Article 7
1. In the case of combined crops, the agricultural area utilized for farming shall be allocated between the various crops in proportion to the amount of land the latter take up.
The procedure for this allocation and, if appropriate, exceptions to the general rule will be settled by the Member States in agreement with the Commission.
Furthermore, the area used for combined crops shall also be recorded separately from the utiized agricultural area (UAA) in accordance with the groupings listed in Annex I.
2. The area used for successive secondary crops shall be recorded separately from the 'utilized agricultural area.'
Successive secondary crops shall be enumerated in accordance with the groupings listed in Annex I.
Article 8
1. Member States shall take the necessary steps to ensure that the information collected in the surveys referred to in this Regulation complies with the characteristics listed in Annex 1. The changes to be made to that list of characteristics for the 1993 to 1997 surveys shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 15.
2. The definitions relating to the characteristics and to the regions and districts shall be those laid down in Decision 83/461/EEC (1), as amended by Decisions 85/622/EEC (2) and 85/643/EEC (3); any amendments shall be approved in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 15.
3. Where, for the purpose of applying the Community typology for agricultural holdings in certain Member States, standard gross margins have been established relating to subdivisions of certain characteristics listed in Annex 1, the Member States concerned shall collect all the information necessary to permit the application of these standard gross margins.
Article 9
Member States shall take all appropriate steps to carry out the surveys in their territories. In particular they shall:
(a) devise questionnaires appropriate to the collection of the information provided for in the list of characteristics mentioned in Article 8 (1);
(b) check whether the questionnaires have been completed in full and whether the replies are credible; where necessary and as far as possible, they shall complete missing data and correct inaccurate data.
Article 10
Member States shall forward to the Statistical Office of the European Communities the information mentioned in Article 8 (1) obtained from the census and sample surveys in accordance with the procedure described in Annex 2, hereinafter called 'Eurofarm project.'
Article 11
Member States shall supply the Statistical Office of the European Communities with any information it may require of them regarding the organization and methodology of the surveys covered by this Regulation; in particular, they shall provide detailes of the timetable for the data collection operations in the field.
Article 12
In the context of the Eurofarm project, the Statistical Office of the European Communities shall be responsible for disseminating the tabular results of the survey. The practical details of such dissemination shall be agreed by the appropriate committees and working parties.
Article 13
Every three years, and in the first instance not later than 31 December 1992, the Commission shall submit to the Council a report on the operation of the Eurofarm project. It shall propose any necessary changes to this Regulation.
Article 14
1. As a contribution to expenses incurred by the Member States in carrying, out the basic survey and the surveys provided for in Article 3, 20 ECU per holding for which complete survey results are forwarded to the Statistical Office of the European Communities shall be reimbursed up to a maximum per survey of:
- 100 000 ECU for Luxembourg,
- 500 000 ECU for Belgium and Denmark,
- 700 000 ECU for the Netherlands,
- 1 100 000 ECU for Ireland,
- 1 300 000 ECU for the United Kingdom,
- 2 000 000 ECU for Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy and Portugal.
The estimated appropriations required to cover the cost of all four surveys shall be entered in the general budget of the European Communities.
2. The financial resources considered necessary for the development and management of the Eurofarm project shall be granted to the Commission up to an annual maximum of:
- 480 000 ECU for 1989,
- 480 000 ECU for 1990,
- 240 000 ECU for 1991,
- 80 000 ECU for 1992 to 1998,
to be entered in the general budget of the European Communities.
Article 15
1. Where the procedure laid down in this Article is invoked, the matter shall be referred to the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics (hereinafter referred to as 'the Committee') by its Chairman, either on this own initiative or at the request of the representative of a Member State.
2. The Commission reprsentative shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall give its opinion on that draft within a time limit set by the Chairman having regard to the urgency of the matter. Opinions shall be delivered by a majority of 54 votes, the votes of the Member States being weighted as provided in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty. The Chairman shall not vote.
3. The Commission shall adopt measures which shall take immediate effect. However, if these measures are not in accordance with the Committee's opinion, the Commission shall submit them forthwith to the Council; in this case, the Commission may defer application of the measures it has adopted for not more than one month from the date of their submission to the Council.
The Council, acting by qualified majority, may take a different decision within one month.
Article 16
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 29 February 1988.