79/65/EEC - - - I
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
REGULATION No 79/65/EEC OF THE COUNCIL
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
(OJ No 109, 23. 6. 1965, p. 1859/65)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
Regulation (EEC) No 2835/72 of the Council of 29 December 1972 L 298 47 31. 12. 1972
Regulation (EEC) No 2910/73 of the Council of 23 October 1973 L 299 1 27. 10. 1973Council Regulation (EEC) No 2143/81 of 27 July 1981 L 210 1 30. 7. 1981Council Regulation (EEC) No 3644/85 of 19 December 1985 L 348 4 24. 12. 1985Council Regulation (EEC) No 3768/85 of 20 December 1985 L 362 8 31. 12. 1985Council regulation (EEC) No 3577/90 of 4 December 1990 L 353 23 17. 12. 1990Council Regulation (EC) No 2801/95 of 29 November 1995 L 291 3 6. 12. 1995
Amended
by:
A1 Act of accession of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern IrelandL 73 59 27. 3. 1972
(adapted by Council Decision of 1 January 1973) L 2 13 1. 1. 1973
A2 Act of accession of Greece L 291 64 19. 11. 1979A3 Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal L 302 235 15. 11. 1985A4 Act of Accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland C 241 21 29. 8. 1994
(adapted by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC) L 1 1 1. 1. 1995
Corrected
by:
C1 Corrigendum, OJ No L 63, 5. 3. 1974, p. 34 (2910/73)
79/65/EEC - - - I
IREGULATION No 79/65/EEC OF THE COUNCIL
of 15 June 1965
setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business opera-
tion of agricultural holdings in the European Economic Community
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC
COMMUNITY,
Having regard to the T reaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;
Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parlia-
ment (1),
Whereas the development of the common agricultural
policy requires that there should be available objective and
relevant information on incomes in the various categories
of agricultural holding and on the business operation of
holdings coming within categories which call for special
attention at Community level;
Whereas the accounts of agricultural holdings constitute
the basic source of essential data for any assessment of
incomes on agricultural holdings or study of their business
operation;
Whereas the data collected must be obtained from agricul-
tural holdings specially and suitably selected in accordance
with common rules and must be based on verifiable facts;
whereas such data must reflect technical, economic and so-
cial conditions on the holdings involved, be taken fromindividual holdings, be available as quickly as possible, be
based on uniform definitions, be presented in a common
form and be usable at all times and in full detail by the
Commission;
Whereas these objectives can be attained only by means of
a Community network for the collection of farm account-
ancy data, based on the farm accountancy offices existing
in each Member State, enjoying the confidence of the
parties concerned and relying on their voluntary participa-
tion;
Whereas the complexity, both at Community and at
Member State level, of the work involved in creating a
Community network for the collection of farm accountancy
data is such that the setting up of the accounting system
must proceed gradually, thus entailing for the first few
years a limited field of survey;
Whereas in selecting agricultural holdings and analysing
and evaluating the data collected it is necessary to refer to
data derived from other sources;
(1) OJ No 157, 30. 10. 1963, p. 2653/63.
79/65/EEC - - - I
IIWhereas farmers must be given an assurance that their ac-
counts and all other individual details obtained in imple-
mentation of this Regulation will not be used for taxation
purposes or divulged by persons participating or having
participated in the Community farm accountancy data net-
work;
Whereas, in order that it may satisfy itself as to the objec-
tivity and relevance of the data collected, the Commission
must be in a position to obtain all necessary details con-
cerning the manner in which the bodies entrusted with the
selection of agricultural holdings and the accountancy of-
fices participating in the Community farm accountancy
data network discharge their duties and, if necessary, to
send experts to work on the spot with the collaboration of
the competent national authorities;
Whereas, to facilitate implementation of the provisions en-
visaged, a procedure should be provided for whereby theMember States and the Commission may co-operate close-
ly within a Community committee;
Whereas after the Community farm accountancy data net-
work has been in operation for a few years the Commis-
sion will be in a position to report on experience gained
and to propose any necessary amendments to this Regula-
tion;
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
79/65/EEC - - - I
1CHAPTER I
Creation of a farm accountancy data network for the
European Economic Community
Article 1
1. T o meet the needs of the common agricultural policy,
there shall be set up a Community network for the collec-
tion of farm accountancy data, hereinafter called the ‘data
network’.
2 . T h ep u r p o s eo ft h ed a t an e t w o r ks h a l lb et oc o l l e c t
the accountancy data needed for, in particular:
(a) an annual determination of incomes on agricultural
holdings coming within the field of survey defined in
Article 4; and
(b) a business analysis of agricultural holdings.
3. The data obtained pursuant to this Regulation shall,
in particular, serve as the basis for the drawing up of re-
ports by the Commission on the situation of agriculture
and of agricultural markets as well as on farm incomes in
the Community; the reports are to be submitted annually
to the Council and the European Parliament, in particular
for the annual fixing of prices of agricultural produce.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Regulation:
(a) ‘operator’ means the natural person responsible for
the day-to-day management of an agricultural holding;
(b) ‘category of holding’ means a group of agricultural
holdings which belong to the same categories as re-
gards type of farming and economic size as defined in
the Community typology for agricultural holdings es-
tablished by Decision 78/463/EEC (1);
(c) ‘returning holding’ means any agricultural holding
making returns for the purposes of the data network;
(d) ‘division’ means the territory of a Member State, or
any part thereof as delimited with a view to the selec-
tion or returning holdings; a list of such divisions ap-
pears in the Annex to the Regulation.
(1) OJ No L 148, 5. 6. 1978, p. 1.79/65/EEC
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p. 34
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2(e) ‘accountancy data’ means any technical, financial or
economic data relating to an agricultural holding de-
rived from accounts consisting of entries made sys-
tematically and regularly throughout the accounting
year.
CHAPTER II
Determination of incomes on agricultural holdings
Article 3
The provisions of this Chapter concern the collection of
accountancy data for the purpose of making an annual de-
termination of incomes on agricultural holdings.
Article 4
1. The field of survey referred to in Article 1 (2) (a)
shall cover the agricultural holdings having an economic
size equal to, or greater than, a threshold expressed in
European size units (ESU), as defined in the Community
typology.
2. T o qualify as a returning holding, an agricultural hold-
ing shall:
(a) have an economic size equal to, or greater than, a
threshold to be determined in accordance with para-
graph 1;
(b) be farmed by a farmer holding accounts or willing
and able to keep farm accounts and willing to allow
the accountancy data from his holding to be made
available to the Commission;
(c) be representative, together with the other holdings
and at the level of each division, of the field of sur-
vey.
3. The maximum number of returning holdings shall be
80 000 for the Community.
4. Detailed rules for the application of this Article, and
in particular the threshold for the economic size and the
number of returning holdings per division, shall be
adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Ar-
ticle 19.
Article 5
1. Each Member State shall, before 1 February 1982, set
up a national committee for the data network, hereinafter
called ‘‘National Committee”. Austria, Finland and Sweden
shall set up the said Committee within a period of 6
months from their accession.
2. The National Committee shall be responsible for the
selection of returning holdings. T o this end, its duties shall,
in particular, include approval of:79/65/EEC
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3(a) the plan for the selection of returning holdings, spec-
ifying in particular the distribution of returning hold-
ings per category of holding and the detailed rules for
selecting the said holdings;
(b) the report on the implementation of the plan for the
selection of returning holdings.
3. The chairman of the National Committee shall be ap-
pointed by the Member State from among the members of
this Committee.
The National Committee shall take its decisions unani-
mously; in the event of unanimity not being achieved, deci-
sions shall be taken by an authority appointed by the
Member State.
4. Member States which have several decisions may, for
each of the divisions under their jurisdiction, set up a re-
gional committee of the data network, hereinafter called
‘‘Regional Committee”.
The Regional Committee shall in particular have the duty
of cooperating with the liaison agency referred to in Ar-
ticle 6 in selecting the returning holdings.
5. Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall
be adopted pursuant to the procedure laid down in Ar-
ticle 19.
Article 6
1. Each Member State shall appoint a liaison agency
whose duties shall be:
(a) to inform the National Committee, the Regional
Committees and the accountancy offices of the de-
tailed rules of application concerning them and to en-
sure that those rules are properly implemented;
(b) to draw up and submit to the National Committee for
its approval, and thereafter to forward to the Com-
mission:
— the plan for the selection of returning holdings,
w h i c hp l a ns h a l lb ed r a w nu po nt h eb a s i so ft h e
most recent statistical data, presented in accord-
ance with the Community typology of agricul-
tural holdings,
— the report on the implementation of the plan for
the selection of returning holdings;
(c) to compile:
— the list of returning holdings,
— the list of the accountancy offices willing and
able to complete farm returns in accordance with
the terms of the contracts provided for in Ar-
ticles 9 and 14;2143/81
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4(d) to assemble the farm returns sent to it by the ac-
countancy offices and to verify on the basis of a com-
mon inspection programme that they have been duly
completed;
(e) to forward the duly completed farm returns to the
Commission immediately after verification;
(f) to transmit to the National Committee, the Regional
Committees and the accountancy offices the requests
for information mentioned in Article 16 and to for-
ward the relevant answers to the Commission.
2. The detailed rules for the application of this Article
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 19.
Article 7
1. Each returning holding shall be the subject of an indi-
vidual and anonymous farm return.
2. The accountancy data provided by each farm return
must be such that it is possible:
— to characterise the accounting holding by reference to
the main elements of its factors of production;
— to assess the income of the holding in its various
forms;
— to test by means of spot-checks the veracity of the
information given.
3 . T h et y p eo fa c c o u n t a n c yd a t at ob eg i v e ni naf a r m
return, the form in which such data are to be presented
and the definitions and instructions relating thereto shall
be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 19.
Article 8
A farmer whose holding is selected as a returning holding
shall choose from a list compiled for the purpose by the
liaison agency an accountancy office willing to complete
the return for his holding in accordance with the terms of
the contract provided for in Article 9.
Article 9
1. A contract shall be concluded annually on the author-
ity of the Member State between the competent authority
designated by the latter and each accountancy office
chosen as provided in Article 8. Under this contract the
accountancy office will undertake, in consideration of astandard fee, to complete farm returns in a manner con-
sistent with the provisions of Article 7.2143/81
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52. The terms of this contract, which must be uniform in
all Member States, shall be determined in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 19.
3. Where the duties of an accountancy office are carried
out by an administrative department, the latter shall be
notified as to its duties through the normal administrative
channels.
CHAPTER III
Collection of accountancy data for the purpose of a
business analysis of agricultural holdings
Article 10
The provisions of this Chapter concern the collection of
accountancy data for the purpose of a business analysis of
agricultural holdings.
Article 11
There shall be determined in accordance with the pro-
cedure laid down in Article 19:
— the subjects of the analyses mentioned in Article 1
(2) (b);
— detailed rules concerning the selection and number of
returning holdings, these being established according
to the objectives of each particular analysis.
Article 12
1. Each returning holding selected in accordance with
the second indent of Article 11 shall be subject of a
special farm return, which shall be individual to that hold-
ing and anonymous. This farm return shall include the ac-
countancy data required under Article 7 (2) and all such
further accountancy items and details as each particular
analysis may require.
2 . T h et y p eo fa c c o u n t a n c yd a t at ob eg i v e ni nas p e c i a l
farm return, the form in which such data are to be pres-
ented and the definitions and instructions relating thereto
shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 19.
3. Special farm returns shall be completed by the vari-
ous accountancy offices chosen as provided in Article 13.79/65/EEC
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6Article 13
A farmer whose holding is selected in accordance with the
second indent of Article 11 shall choose from a list com-
piled for the purpose by the liaison agency an accountancy
office willing to complete the special return for his holding
in accordance with the terms of the contract provided for
in Article 14.
Article 14
1. A. contract shall be concluded on the authority of the
Member State between the competent authority designated
by the latter and each accountancy office chosen as pro-
vided in Article 13. Under this contract the accountancy
office will undertake, in consideration of a standard fee, to
complete special farm returns in a manner consistent with
the provisions of Article 12.
2. The terms of this contract, which must be uniform in
all Member States, shall be determined in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 19.
The supplementary terms which may be included in this
contract by Member States shall be determined in accord-
ance with the same procedure.
3. Where the duties of a (SIC! an) accountancy office
are carried out by an administrative department, the latter
shall be notified as to its duties through the normal admin-
istrative channels.
CHAPTER IV
General provisions
Article 15
1. It shall be prohibited to use for taxation purposes any
individual accountancy data or other individual details ob-
tained in implementation of this Regulation.
2. It shall be prohibited for any person participating or
having participated in the data network to divulge any
individual accountancy data or any other individual details
of which knowledge was acquired in the exercise of his
duties or otherwise incidentally to such exercise.
3. Member States shall take all appropriate measures to
penalise infringement of the provisions of paragraph 2.
Article 16
1. The National Committee, the Regional Committees,
the liaison agency and the accountancy offices shall be
bound, within their respective areas of responsibility, to
furnish the Commission with any information which thelatter may request of them regarding the discharge of their
duties under this Regulation.79/65/EEC
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7Such requests for information made to the National Com-
mittee, the Regional Committees or to the accountancy of-
fices and the relevant answers shall be forwarded in writing
through the liaison agency.
2. If the information supplied is inadequate or if suchinformation fails to arrive in good time, the Commission
may, with the collaboration of the liaison agency, send ex-
perts to work on the spot.
Article 17
There is hereby set up a Community Committee for the
Farm Accountancy Data Network, hereinafter called the
‘Community Committee’.
Article 18
1. The Community Committee shall consist of represen-
tatives of the Member States and of the Commission. Each
Member State shall be represented on the Community
Committee by not more than five officials.
The Chairman of the Community Committee shall be a
representative of the Commission.
2. Where the procedure laid down in Article 19 is ap-
plied, the votes of Member States shall be weighted as
provided in Article 148 (2) of the T reaty. The Chairman
shall not vote.
Article 19
1. Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to
be followed, matters shall be referred to the Community
Committee by the Chairman, either on his own initiative
or at the request of the representative of a Member State.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit tothe Committee a draft of the measures to be adopted. TheCommittee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a
time limit which the Chairman may lay down according to
the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered
by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the treaty
in the case of decisions which the Council is required to
adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of
the representatives of the Member States within the Com-
mittee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Ar-
ticle. The Chairman shall not vote.
3. The Commission shall adopt measures which shallapply immediately. However, if these measures are not in
accordance with the opinion of the Community Committee,
they shall forthwith be communicated by the Commission
to the Council. In that event the Commission may defer
application of the measures which it has adopted for not
more than one month from the date of such communica-
tion.
The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a
different decision within one month.2143/81
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8Article 20
1. The Community Committee shall be consulted
(a) for the purpose of verifying that the plans for the
selection of returning holdings are in conformity with
the provisions of Article 4;
(b) for the purpose of analyzing and evaluating the
weighted annual results furnished by the data net-
work, having regard in particular to data deriving
from other sources inter alia from farm accounts and
statistics generally and from national accounts.
2. The Community Committee may examine any other
matter raised by its chairman, either on his own initiative
or at the request of a representative of a Member State.
It shall examine each year, in October, the trend of farm
incomes in the Community, referring in particular to the
updated results of the data network.
It shall be kept regularly informed of the working of the
data network.
Article 21
The Chairman shall convene the meetings of the Commun-
ity Committee.
Secretarial services for the Community Committee shall be
provided by the Commission.
The Community Committee shall draw up its own rules of
procedure.
Article 22
1. Appropriations to cover those costs of the data net-
work attributable specifically to payment of fees to ac-
countancy offices in consideration of their performelance
(SIC! performance) of the duties referred to in Articles 9
and 14 shall be included in the Community budget, in the
Commission section.
2. Costs in respect of the setting up and operation ofthe National Committee, Regional Committees and liaison
agencies shall not be included in the Community budget.
Article 23
Before 1 January 1990 the Commission shall submit to the
Council a full report on the operation of the data network
together with any proposal for amending this Regulation,
as appropriate.2143/81
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9ANNEX
List of divisions referred to in Article 2 (d)
Germany
1. Schleswig-Holstein
2. Hamburg3. Niedersachsen4. Bremen
5. Nordrhein-Westfalen
6. Hessen7. Rheinland-Pfalz8. Baden-Württemberg9. Bayern10. Saarland11. Berlin
11. Berlin (SIC!)12. Brandenburg13. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern14. Sachsen15. Sachsen-Anhalt16. Thüringen.
France
1 . Î l ed eF r a n c e
2. Champagne-Ardenne3. Picardie4. Haute-Normandie
5. Centre
6. Basse-Normandie7. Bourgogne8. Nord-Pas de Calais9. Lorraine10. Alsace11. Franche-Comté
12. Pays de la Loire
13. Bretagne14. Poitou-Charentes15. Aquitaine16. Midi-Pyrénées17. Limousin18. Rhône-Alpes
19. Auvergne
20. Languedoc-Roussillon21. Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur22. Corse
Italy
1. Piemonte
2. V alle d’Aosta3. Lombardia4. Alto Adige5. T rentino6. V eneto2143/81
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107. Friuli - - - Venezia Giulia
8. Liguria
9. Emilia - - - Romagna
10. T oscana11. Umbria12. Marche13. Lazio14. Abruzzi15. Molise
16. Campania
17. Puglia18. Basilicata19. Calabria20. Sicilia21. Sardegna
Belgium
Constitutes a single division
Luxembourg
Constitutes a single division
Netherlands
Constitutes a single division
DenmarkConstitutes a single division
Ireland
Constitutes a single division
United Kingdom
1 . E n g l a n d --- n o r t h r e g i o n
2. England - - - east region3. England - - - west region4. W ales5. Scotland6. Northern Ireland
Greece
1.Μακεδονία —Θράκη ,
2.Ήπειρος —Πελοπόννησος —Νήσοι Ιονίου ,
3.Θεσσαλία ,
4.Στερεά Ελλάς —Νήσοι Αιγαίου —Κρήτη .
Spain
1. Galicia,
2. Asturias,3. Cantabria,
4. País V asco,
5. Navarra,6. La Rioja,7. Aragón,8. Cataluña,9. Baleares,10. Castilla-León,2143/81
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1111. Madrid,
12. Castilla-La Mancha,
13. Comunidad V alenciana,
14. Murcia,15. Extremadura,16. Andalucía,17. Canarias.
Portugal
1. Entre-Douro-e-Minho e Beira Litoral,
2. T rás-os-Montes e Beira Interior,3. Ribatejo-Oeste,4. Alentego e Algarve,5. Açores e Madeira.
Austria
constitutes a single division
Finland
1. Etelä-Suomi
2. Sisä-Suomi3. Pohjanmaa4. Pohjois-Suomi
Sweden
1. Plains of Southern and Central Sweden
2. Forest and mixed agricultural and forest areas of
Southern and Central Sweden
3. Areas of Northern Sweden3644/85
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