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COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 1463/84
of 24 May 1984
on the organization of surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings for 1985 and for 1987
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 proposal 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 implementation of the programme of Community statistical surveys providing for a series of surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings should continue in 1985 and 1987, the most recent of such surveys having been conducted pursuant to Regulations (EEC) No 218/78 (3) and (EEC) No 449/82 (4);
Whereas such trends cannot be examined at Community level unless comparable data are available for all of the Member States; whereas it is therefore necessary to continue previous harmonization efforts;
Whereas it is necessary to achieve the stated aims while reducing as far as possible the burden of work on the Member States and the Commission;
Whereas, with minor changes, the characteristics and definitions laid down by Regulation (EEC) No 449/82 and Decision 83/461/EEC (5) and the Community outline of the schedule of tables, the standard code and the detailed rules for the transcription onto magnetic tape of the data, laid down in Decision 83/460/EEC (6), should be retained;
Whereas the coordinating role carried out by the Statistical Office of the European Communities is necessary to ensure uniform analysis of the results obtained and to meet the Community requirements for information in the field in question;
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 (7),
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Member States shall, as part of the programme of Community statistical surveys, carry out surveys on the structure of the agricultural holdings in their territories (hereinafter referred to as 'the surveys') covering the crop year corresponding to the crop to be harvested in 1985 and 1987 respectively.
Article 2
The surveys shall be conducted in one or more stages by means of exhaustive enquiries or random sample surveys between 1 December 1984 and 1 March 1986 and between 1 December 1986 and 1 March 1988 respectively.
Article 3
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 4
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 units.
Article 5
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.
2. The area used for secondary successive crops shall be recorded separately from the area used for farming.
Article 6
1. Member States shall take the necessary steps to ensure that the information collected relates to the characteristics listed in the Annex. The definitions relating to these characteristics shall be those laid down in Decision 83/461/EEC, and any changes shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 12 of this Regulation.
2. 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 the Annex, the Member States concerned shall collect all information necessary to permit the application of these standard gross margins.
Article 7
Member States conducting sample surveys shall as far as possible take the necessary steps to achieve for the needs of the communities results that are as reliable as possible at the various levels of aggregation required by Article 8 (b) and (c).
Article 8
For the purposes of the surveys, Member States shall:
(a) devise questionnaires appropriate to the collection of the information provided for in Article 6;
(b) subsequent to checking and correction, where appropriate, of the information collected, set out the results of each survey at national and regional levels in the form of tables drawn up in accordance with a Community outline. The schedule for these tables shall be drawn up in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 12;
(c) with the excpetion of the Netherlands, give the results of each survey in tabular form broken down by 'less-favoured agricultural areas' within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive 75/268/EEC (1), and by 'mountain areas' within the meaning of paragraph 3 of that Article. The Commission shall determine jointly with the Member State concerned, groupings of these areas;
(d) transcribe the tabular results referred to in (b) and (c) onto magnetic tape using a standard method for all Member States. The standard method and detailed rules for transcription of results shall be drawn up in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 12;
(e) subsequent to control and correction, where appropriate, of the tabular results, submit the magnetic tapes referred to in (d) to the Statistical Office of the European Communities in one or more stages at the latest by 1 March 1987 or 1 March 1989 respectively. If, by the deadline set out above, a Member State cannot submit all tabular results, the Member State concerned shall notify the Commission.
After bilateral contacts between the Commission and the Member State concerned, new deadlines for submitting the results shall be set; where the delay is considerable, the Commission shall set a new deadline in accordance with Article 12;
(f) furnish the Commission, as necessary, with any information it may request from them concerning the performance of their tasks under this Regulation.
Article 9
The results referred to in Article 8 (b) and (c) and in Article 11 shall be communicated to the Statistical Office of the European Communities in such a form that the holdings concerned cannot be identified.
Article 10
The Commission shall be responsible for:
(a) having the data provided for in Article 8 (d) aggregated to Community level by the Statistical Office of the European Communities;
(b) dissemination of the results of the surveys in consultation with Member States. This shall take place within six months following the delivery of definitive results from all Member States.
Article 11
1. Further tables or geographic levels may, for the needs of the communities, subject to an acceptable level of statistical reliability, be added to the schedule referred to in Article 8 in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 12; in such cases the cost to the Member States shall be taken into consideration.
2. If the Commission undertakes further studies, the Member States shall, as necessary and as far as possible, provide the information requested by the Commission. This shall be done by joint agreement between the Commission and the Member State concerned, subject, in particular, to the necessary guarantee of statistical confidentiality.
Article 12
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 his own initiative or at the request of the representative of a Member State.
2. The Commission representative 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 45 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 a qualified majority, may take a different decision within one month.
Article 13
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following 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, 24 May 1984.