COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 385/2012
of 30 April 2012
on the farm return to be used for determining the incomes of agricultural holdings and analysing the business operation of such holdings
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 of 30 November 2009 setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Community (1), and in particular Articles 7(2), 8(3), 12 and 13(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
The type, definition and presentation of the accountancy data referred to in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 and collected by means of the farm return drawn up for the purpose of reliably determining the incomes of agricultural holdings must be identical, irrespective of the returning holdings surveyed. For reasons of simplification and data readability, provision should also be made for that individual return to include additional particulars and details meeting the specific requirements of an analysis of the business operation of the agricultural holdings selected under Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009.
(2)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 868/2008 of 3 September 2008 on the farm return to be used for determining the incomes of agricultural holdings and analysing the business operation of such holdings (2) lays down rules on the collection of accountancy data.
(3)
The data collected by means of the farm return should take account of the experience acquired since the network was set up and of developments in the common agricultural policy (CAP) and should comply with the definitions laid down in the relevant Regulations, and in particular Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 (3), Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 of 19 January 2009 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1290/2005, (EC) No 247/2006, (EC) No 378/2007 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 (4), Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 of 20 September 2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (5), Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 (6) as regards areas eligible for aid under the Structural Funds, and Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (7).
(4)
The data collected by means of the farm return should further take account of changing economic environment and policy challenges and in particular those as outlined in the strategy ‘Europe 2020’ (8) and in the Communication ‘The CAP towards 2020’ (9).
(5)
As a consequence, the increasing importance of environmental aspects in the CAP calls for a stronger emphasis on environment-related elements in the farm return. Selected variables which facilitate measuring the environmental impacts of farm activity should therefore be introduced.
(6)
Effective monitoring of the farm sector can be improved by simplifying data collection and, in particular as far as data on assets are concerned and to the extent applicable, by adhering to International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 of 3 November 2008 adopting certain international accounting standards in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (10). Where appropriate, definitions and methodologies should take into account the classification used by the farm structure survey as defined in 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 (11) to further simplify and harmonise data collection.
(7)
In order to improve data accuracy, it is necessary to better distinguish data entries related to agricultural activities from other gainful activities directly related to the holding.
(8)
With a view to simplifying the administrative management and to widening the possibilities of data aggregation for the environmental analyses, the often changing commune codes should be replaced by geo-reference.
(9)
It is appropriate to revise the classification of data into groups and categories under Regulation (EC) No 868/2008 in order to reflect changes in agriculture and the use of the data in policy analysis.
(10)
As the preparation for data collection on quantities of certain substances in fertilisers may be time-consuming, Member States should be allowed to defer the transmission of those data.
(11)
Duly completed farm returns should be sent to the Commission by the liaison agency appointed by each Member State in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009. Provision should be made for the liaison agency to send the information concerned directly to the Commission via the computerised system set up by the Commission for the purposes of that Regulation and for that system to allow the required information to be exchanged electronically on the basis of the models made available to the liaison agency via that system. Provision should also be made for the Commission to inform Member States of the general conditions for implementing the computerised system via the Community Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network.
(12)
Having regard to the extent of the developments relating to the CAP and the type of information required for analysing data since Regulation (EC) No 868/2008 was adopted, that Regulation should be replaced by a new act for reasons of clarity. Regulation (EC) No 868/2008 should therefore be repealed with effect from 1 January 2014, but it should continue to apply to accounting operations concerning accounting years preceding the 2014 accounting year.
(13)
The Community Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its Chair,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Farm returns and accountancy data
The nature and form of presentation of the accountancy data to be given in the farm return required for the annual determination of the incomes of holdings and analysis of their business operation in accordance with Chapters II and III of Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 as well as definitions and instructions related thereto are laid down in the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2
Transmission to the Commission
1. The farm returns and data referred to in Article 1 shall be transmitted to the Commission by the liaison agency referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1217/2009 via the computerised system set up by the Commission for the purposes of that Regulation, allowing the required information to be exchanged electronically on the basis of the models made available to the liaison agency via that system.
2. Member States shall be informed of the general conditions for implementing the computerised system referred to in paragraph 1 via the Community Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network.
Article 3
Deferred transmission of certain data
By way of derogation from the second paragraph of Article 5, when a Member State needs more time to prepare the annual gathering and transmission of the data on quantities of certain substances in fertilisers used, as referred to in codes 3031, 3032, 3033 of Table H ‘Inputs’ in Section III of the Annex, it may start the transmission of those data as from the accounting year 2017.
In that case, that Member State shall notify the Commission of the deferred transmission and the reasons therefore by 31 October 2013. It shall also draw up a plan concerning its preparation for the gathering and transmission of those data and submit that plan to the Commission and to the Community Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network by 31 March 2014. The Member State shall annually inform the Commission and the Community Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network about the implementation of that plan.
Article 4
Repeal
Regulation (EC) No 868/2008 is repealed with effect from 1 January 2014.
However, it shall continue to apply to accounting operations relating to accounting years preceding the 2014 accounting year.
Article 5
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from the 2014 accounting year.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 30 April 2012.