COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1242/2008
of 8 December 2008
establishing a Community typology for agricultural holdings
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation 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), and in particular Articles 4(4), 6(2), and 7(3) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
The production structures and systems are very diverse in the Community. In order to make the analyses of structural characteristics of the agricultural holdings and their economic results easier, an appropriate and homogenous classification of agricultural holdings by economic size and type of farming was established by Commission Decision 85/377/EEC of 7 June 1985 establishing a Community typology for agricultural holdings (2).
(2)
The Community typology needs to be so arranged that homogeneous groups of holdings can be assembled in a greater or lesser degree of aggregation and that comparisons of the situation of holdings can be made.
(3)
Given the growing importance in the income of the farmers from gainful activities directly related to the holding other than the agricultural activities of the holding, a classification variable reflecting the importance of the other gainful activities (OGA) directly related to the holding should be included in the Community typology.
(4)
In order to achieve the objectives set by Articles 4(1), 6(1)(b) and 7(2) of Regulation 79/65/EEC, the implementing rules for the Community typology should be established. In addition, the Community typology should apply to returning holdings using the accountancy data collected through the Community Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN).
(5)
Pursuant to Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on farm structure surveys and the survey on agricultural production methods and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 571/88 (3) the farm structure survey carried out on the basis of a sample must be statistically representative in terms of the type and the size of the agricultural holdings in line with the Community typology. Therefore, the Community typology should also apply to holdings for which data are collected through the farm structure surveys.
(6)
The type of farming and the economic size of the holding should be determined on the basis of an economic criterion remaining always positive. Therefore it is appropriate to use the standard output. The standard outputs have to be established by product. The list of products for which standard outputs are to be calculated should be brought into line with the list of characteristics of the farm structure surveys established in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008. In order to allow the application of the typology to the holdings in the FADN, a table of correspondence between the characteristics of the structure surveys and the headings of the farm return of the FADN needs to be established.
(7)
The standard outputs are based on average values over a reference period of five years, but they should regularly be updated to take account of economic trends so that the typology may continue meaningfully to be applied. The frequency of the update should be linked to the years in which farm structure surveys are carried out.
(8)
In order to draw up the selection plan of the returning holdings to be included in FADN 2010 it should be provided that the typology defined in this Regulation is already applied to the farm structure survey for 2007. Moreover, in order to ensure the comparability of the analyses on the situation of the agricultural holdings classified according to this typology, it should be provided that it should be applied to the farm structures surveys and FADN prior to 2010. Therefore a derogation needs to be included, providing that standard outputs are calculated for the reference period 2004.
(9)
The standard outputs and the data needed for their calculation are to be transmitted to the Commission by the liaison agency designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation 79/65/EEC. It should be provided that the liaison agency can communicate directly to the Commission the relevant information through the information system established by the Commission. Moreover it should be foreseen that this system allows the electronic exchange of information required on the basis of models available to the liaison agency through this system. It should also be provided that the Commission is to inform the Member States on the general conditions for implementing the computer system through the Community Committee of the Farm Accountancy Data Network.
(10)
For reasons of clarity and taking account of the fact that the Community typology is a measure of general application, rather than a measure addressed to specific recipients, it is appropriate to replace Decision 85/377/EEC by a Regulation.
(11)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Community Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Subject-matter and scope
1. This Regulation sets up the ‘Community typology for agricultural holdings’, hereinafter referred to as ‘typology’, which is a uniform classification of holdings in the Community according to their type of farming and economic size and to the importance of the other gainful activities directly related to the holding.
2. The typology shall be used in particular for the presentation, by type of farming and by economic size class, of data collected through the Community farm structure surveys and the Community Farm Accountancy Data Network.
Article 2
Type of farming
1. For the purposes of this Regulation, the ‘type of farming’ of a holding shall be determined by the relative contribution of the standard output of the different characteristics of this holding to the total standard output of this one. The standard output shall be as laid down in Article 5.
2. Depending on the amount of detail required, the types of farming shall be divided into:
(a)
general types of farming;
(b)
principal types of farming;
(c)
particular types of farming.
The classification of holdings by type of farming shall be as set out in Annex I.
Article 3
Economic size of the holding
The economic size of the holding shall be determined on the basis of the total standard output of the holding. It shall be expressed in euro. The method of calculating the economic size of the holding and the economic size classes shall be as set out in Annex II.
Article 4
Other gainful activities directly related to the holding
The importance of the gainful activities directly related to the holding other than the agricultural activities of the holding shall be determined on the basis of the percentage of those other gainful activities in the final output of the holding. This ratio shall be expressed as a percentage band. Those percentage bands shall be as laid down in Part C of Annex III.
The final output, the definition and the method of estimating that ratio are set out in Parts A and B of Annex III.
Article 5
Standard output and total standard output
1. For the purpose of this Regulation, ‘standard output’ shall mean the standard value of gross production.
The standard output shall be determined for each region referred to in Annex IV of this Regulation and for each crop and livestock characteristics of the farm structure survey referred to in Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008.
The method of calculation for determining the standard outputs of each characteristic and the procedures for collecting the corresponding data are set out in Annex IV of this Regulation.
2. The total standard output of the holding shall correspond to the sum of the values obtained for each characteristic by multiplying the standard outputs per unit by the number of corresponding units.
3. For the purposes of calculating standard outputs for the farm structure survey for year N, ‘reference period’ shall mean the year N-3 covering the five successive years from year N-5 to year N-1.
The standard outputs shall be determined using average basic data calculated over a reference period of five years referred to in the first subparagraph. They shall be updated to take account of economic trends at least each time a farm structure survey is carried out.
The first reference period for which standard outputs shall be calculated corresponds to the reference period 2007 covering the calendar years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 or the agricultural production years 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10.
4. By way of derogation from paragraph 3, Member States shall calculate standard outputs for the reference period 2004 for the characteristics listed in the farm structure survey for 2007 as defined in Commission Regulation (EC) No 204/2006 (4). In this case, the reference period shall cover either the calendar years 2003, 2004, 2005 or the agricultural production years 2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06.
Article 6
Transmission to the Commission
1. The standard outputs and the data referred to in Part 3 of Annex IV shall be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) by the liaison agency designated by each Member State in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation 79/65/EEC or by the body to which this function has been delegated.
2. Member States shall transmit to the Commission the standard outputs for a reference period of year N and the data referred to in Part 3 of Annex IV before 31 December of the year N+3 or if necessary before a deadline established by the Commission after consultation of the Community Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network.
The standard outputs for the reference period 2004 shall be transmitted to the Commission by 31 December 2008.
3. For the transmission of the standard outputs and the data referred to in paragraph 1 Member States shall use the computer systems made available by the Commission (Eurostat) enabling electronic exchanges of documents and information between it and the Member States.
4. The form and content of the documents needed for transmission shall be laid down by the Commission on the basis of models or questionnaires made available via the systems referred to in paragraph 3. The provisions relating to the attributes of the data referred to in paragraph 1 shall be defined within the context of the Community Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network.
Article 7
Repeal
1. Decision 85/377/EEC is repealed.
However, Decision 85/377/EEC shall continue to apply in order to classify the holdings of the Farm Accountancy Data Network till the accounting year 2009 included and of the farm structure survey referred to in Council Regulation (EEC) No 571/88 (5) till the survey for 2007 included.
2. References to the repealed Decision shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex V.
Article 8
Entry into force and application
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from the accounting year 2010 for the Farm Accountancy Data Network and for the farm structure survey as of the 2010 survey.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 8 December 2008.