1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B REGULATIONNo79/65/EECOFTHECOUNCIL
of15June1965
settingupanetworkforthecollectionofaccountancydataontheincomesandbusinessoperation
ofagriculturalholdingsintheEuropeanEconomicCommunity
(OJ P 109, 23.6.1965, p. 1859)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Regulation(EEC) No 2835/72 of the Coun cil of 29 December 1972 L 298 47 31.12.1972
►M2Regulation(EEC) No 2910/73 of the Coun cil of 23 October 1973 L 299 1 27.10.1973
►M3Council Regulation (EEC) No 2143/81 of 27 July 1981 L 210 1 30.7.1981
►M4Council Regulation (EEC) No 3644/85 of 19 December 1985 L 348 4 24.12.1985
►M5Council Regulation (EEC) No 3768/85 of 20 December 1985 L 362 8 31.12.1985
►M6Council regulation (EEC) No 3577/90 of 4 December 1990 L 353 23 17.12.1990
►M7Council Regulation (EC) No 2801/95 of 29 November 1995 L 291 3 6.12.1995
►M8Council Regulation (EC) No 1256/97 of 25 June 1997 L 174 7 2.7.1997
►M9Council Regulation (EC) No 806/2003 of 14 April 2003 L 122 1 16.5.2003
►M10Council Regulation (EC) No 2059/2003 of 17 November 2003 L 308 1 25.11.2003
►M11CommissionRegulation(EC) No 660/2004 of 7 April 2004 L 104 97 8.4.2004
Amended by:
►A1Act of Accession of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern IrelandL 73 14 27.3.1972
(adapted by Council Decision of 1 January 1973) L 2 1 1.1.1973
►A2Act of Accessionof Greece L 291 17 19.11.1979
►A3Act of Accessionof Spainan d Portugal L 302 23 15.11.1985
►A4Act of Accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland C241 21 29.8.1994
(adapted by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC) L 1 1 1.1.1995
►A5Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the
Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia,
the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic ofMalta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the SlovakRepublic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the EuropeanUnion is foundedL 236 33 23.9.2003
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 63, 5.3.1974, p. 34 (2910/73)
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REGULATIONNo79/65/EECOFTHECOUNCIL
of15June1965
setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the
incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the
EuropeanEconomicCommunity
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY,
Having regard to the Treaty 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 Parliament (
1),
Whereas the development of the common agricultural policy requires
that there should be available objective and relevant information onincomes in the various categories of agricultural holding and on thebusiness operation of holdings coming within categories which call forspecial 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 agricultural holdings
specially and suitably selected in accordance with common rules andmust be based onverifiable facts; whereas such data must reflect tech-nical, economic and social conditions on the holdings involved, be
taken from individual holdings, be available as quickly as possible, be
based on uniform definitions, be presented in a common form and beusable at all times and in full detail by the Commission;
Whereas these objectives can be attained only by means of a Commu-
nity network for the collection of farm accountancy data, based on thefarm accountancy offices existing in each Member State, enjoying the
confidence of the parties concerned and relying on their voluntary
participation;
Whereas the complexity, both at Community and at Member State
level, of the work involved in creating a Community network for thecollection of farm accountancy data is such that the setting up of theaccounting 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 othersources;
Whereas farmers must be given an assurance that their accounts and all
other individual details obtained in implementation of this Regulationwill not be used for taxation purposes or divulged by persons partici-
pating or having participated in the Community farm accountancy
data network;
Whereas, inorder that it may satisfy itself as to the objectivity an d
relevance of the data collected, the Commission must be in a positionto obtain all necessary details concerning the manner in which thebodies entrusted with the selection of agricultural holdings and theaccountancy offices 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 nationalauthorities;
Whereas, to facilitate implementation of the provisions envisaged, a
procedure should be provided for whereby the Member States and theCommissionmay co-operate closely withina Commun ity committee;1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 2
(1) OJ No 157, 30. 10. 1963, p. 2653/63.
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Whereas after the Community farm accountancy data network has been
inoperationfor a few years the Commissionwill be ina positiontoreport on experience gained and to propose any necessary amendments
to this Regulation;
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
CHAPTER I
Creation of a farm accountancy data network for the European
EconomicCommunity
Article 1
1. To meet the needs of the common agricultural policy, there shall
be set up a Community network for the collection of farm accountancydata, hereinafter called the ‘data network’.
2. The purpose of the data network shall be to collect the accoun-
tancy 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 ►
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particular, serve as the basis ◄for the drawing up of reports by the
Commissiononthe situationof agriculture an d of agricultural marketsas 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 regards type of farming andeconomic size as defined in the Community typology for agricul-tural holdings established 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 selection or returning hold-ings; a list of such divisions appears in the Annex to theRegulation.
(e) ‘accountancy data’ means any technical, financial or economic data
relating to an agricultural holding derived from accounts consistingof entries made systematically and regularly throughout theaccounting year.
Article 2a
At the request of a Member State the list of divisions shall be amended
inaccordan ce with the procedure laid downinArticle 19, provided thatthe request concerns the Member State's divisions.1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 3
(1) OJ No L 148, 5. 6. 1978, p. 1.▼M2
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CHAPTER II
Determination ofincomesonagricultural holdings
Article 3
The provisions of this Chapter concern the collection of accountancy
data for the purpose of making an annual determination of incomes on
agricultural holdings.
Article 4
1. The field of survey referred to inArticle 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 theCommunity typology.
2. To qualify as a returning holding, an agricultural holding shall:
(a) have an economic size equal to, or greater than, a threshold to be
determined in accordance with paragraph 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 survey.
3. The maximum number of returning holdings shall be 105000 for
the Community.
4. Detailed rules for the applicationof this Article, an d inparticular
the threshold for the economic size and the number of returning hold-
ings per division, shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
laid downinArticle 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’. ►
A4Austria, Finland and Sweden shall set up the said
Committee within a period of 6 months from their accession. ◄
►A5The Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania,
Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia shall set up a NationalCommittee by the end of the sixth month following the date of acces-sionat the latest. ◄
2. The National Committee shall be responsible for the selection of
returning holdings. To this end, its duties shall, in particular, includeapproval of:
(a) the plan for the selection of returning holdings, specifying in parti-
cular the distribution of returning holdings per category of holdingand the detailed rules for selecting the said holdings;
(b) the report onthe implemen tationof the planfor the selectionof
returning holdings.
3. The chairman of the National Committee shall be appointed by
the Member State from among the members of this Committee.
The National Committee shall take its decisions unanimously; in the
event of unanimity not being achieved, decisions 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 regional committee of thedata network, hereinafter called ‘Regional Committee’.1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 4
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The Regional Committee shall in particular have the duty of coop-
erating with the liaison agency referred to in Article 6 in selecting thereturning holdings.
5. Detailed rules for the applicationof this Article shall be adopted
pursuant to the procedure laid down in Article 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 detailed rules of application
concerning them and to ensure that those rules are properly imple-
mented;
(b) to draw up and submit to the National Committee for its approval,
and thereafter to forward to the Commission:
— the plan for the selection of returning holdings, which plan shall
be drawnup onthe basis of the most recen t statistical data,
presented in accordance with the Community typology of agri-cultural holdings,
— the report onthe implemen tationof the planfor the selectionof
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 contractsprovided for inArticles 9 an d 14;
(d) to assemble the farm returns sent to it by the accountancy offices
and to verify on the basis of a common inspection programmethat they have beenduly 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 mentionedin Article 16 and to forward the relevant answers to the Commis-
sion.
2. The detailed rules for the applicationof this Article shall be
adopted inaccordan ce with the procedure laid downinArticle 19.
Article 7
1. Each returning holding shall be the subject of an individual 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. The type of accountancy data to be given in a farm return, the
form in which such data are to be presented and the definitions andinstructions relating thereto shall be determined in accordance withthe procedure laid downinArticle 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 accoun-tancy office willing to complete the return for his holding inaccordance with the terms of the contract provided for in Article 9.1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 5
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Article 9
1. A contract shall be concluded annually on the authority of the
Member State between the competent authority designated by the latter
and each accountancy office chosen as provided in Article 8. Underthis contract the accountancy office will undertake, in consideration ofa standard fee, to complete farm returns in a manner consistent with theprovisions of Article 7.
2. The terms of this contract, which must be uniform in all Member
States, shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid downinArticle 19.
3. Where the duties of an accountancy office are carried out by anadministrative department, the latter shall be notified as to its dutiesthrough the normal administrative channels.
CHAPTER III
Collection of accountancy data for the purpose of a business
analysisofagriculturalholdings
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 procedure laid down
inArticle 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 ofeach 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 holding and anonymous. This farm returnshall include the accountancy data required under Article 7 (2) and allsuch further accountancy items and details as each particular analysismay require.
2. The type of accountancy data to be given in a special farm return,
the form in which such data are to be presented and the definitions andinstructions relating thereto shall be determined in accordance with theprocedure laid downinArticle 19.
3. Special farm returns shall be completed by the various accoun-
tancy offices chosen as provided in Article 13.
Article 13
A farmer whose holding is selected in accordance with the second
indent of Article 11 shall choose from a list compiled for the purpose
by the liaison agency an accountancy office willing to complete thespecial return for his holding in accordance with the terms of thecontract 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 andeach accountancy office chosen as provided in Article 13. Under thiscontract the accountancy office will undertake, in consideration of astandard fee, to complete special farm returns in a manner consistentwith the provisions of Article 12.1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 6
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2. The terms of this contract, which must be uniform in all Member
States, shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid downinArticle 19.
The supplementary terms which may be included in this contract by
Member States shall be determined in accordance with the same proce-
dure.
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 administrative 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 obtained in implementationof this Regulation, or to divulge or use such data for purposes other
thanthose specified inArticle 1.
2. It shall be prohibited for any person participating or having parti-
cipated in the data network to divulge any individual accountancy data
or any other individual details of which knowledge was acquired in theexercise 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 respec-
tive areas of responsibility, to furnish the Commission with anyinformation which the latter may request of them regarding thedischarge of their duties under this Regulation.
Such requests for information made to the National Committee, the
Regional Committees or to the accountancy offices and the relevantanswers shall be forwarded in writing through the liaison agency.
2. If the information supplied is inadequate or if such information
fails to arrive ingood time, the Commissionmay, with the collabora-tion of the liaison agency, send experts to work on the spot.
Article 17
There is hereby set up a Community Committee for the Farm Accoun-
tancy Data Network, hereinafter called the ‘Community Committee’.
Article 18
The Community Committee shall consist of representatives of the
Member States and be chaired by the Commission representative.
Article 19
1. The Commissionshall be assisted by the Commun ity Committee
for the Farm Accountancy Data Network.
2. Where reference is made to this Article, Articles 4 and 7 of Deci-
sion1999/468/EC (
1) shall apply.1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 7
(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.▼M8
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The period laid downinArticle 4(3) of Decision1999/468/EC shall be
set at one month.
3. The Community Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.
Article 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 network, 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 repre-sentative 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 datanetwork.
It shall be kept regularly informed of the working of the data network.
Article 21
The Chairman shall convene the meetings of the Community
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 be included in the general budget of the
European Union, in the Commission section, shall cover:
(a) those costs of the data network attributable to payment of fees to
accountancy offices in consideration of their performance of theduties referred to inArticles 9 an d 14;
(b) all the costs of the computerised systems operated by the Commis-
sion for the reception, verification, processing and analysis ofaccountancy data supplied by the Member States.
The costs referred to in point (b) include, where appropriate, the costs
of disseminating the results of those operations and the costs of studies
into, and development of, other aspects of the data network.
2. Costs in respect of the setting up and operation of the National
Committee, Regional Committees and liaison agencies shall not beincluded in the Community budget.
Article 23
Before ►
M31 January 1990 ◄the Commissionshall submit to the
Council a full report on the operation of the data network together
with any proposal for amending this Regulation, as appropriate.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
inall Member States.1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 8
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ANNEX
Listofdivisionsreferred toinArticle2(d)
Germany
1. Schleswig-Holstein
2. Hamburg
3. Niedersachsen
4. Bremen5. Nordrhein-Westfalen6. Hessen7. Rheinland-Pfalz
8. Baden-Württemberg
9. Bayern
10. Saarland11. Berlin
11. Berlin(SIC!)
12. Brandenburg13. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern14. Sachsen15. Sachsen-Anhalt
16. Thüringen.
France
1. Île de France
2. Champagne-Ardenne3. Picardie
4. Haute-Normandie
5. Centre6. Basse-Normandie7. Bourgogne8. Nord-Pas de Calais
9. Lorraine
10. Alsace11. Franche-Comté12. Pays de la Loire13. Bretagne14. Poitou-Charentes
15. Aquitaine
16. Midi-Pyrénées17. Limousin18. Rhône-Alpes19. Auvergne
20. Languedoc-Roussillon
21. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur22. Corse
Italy
1. Piemonte
2. Valle d'Aosta3. Lombardia
4. Alto Adige
5. Trentino1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 9
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6. Veneto
7. Friuli — Venezia Giulia8. Liguria
9. Emilia — Romagna
10. Toscana
11. Umbria
12. Marche13. Lazio
14. Abruzzi
15. Molise16. Campania
17. Puglia
18. Basilicata
19. Calabria
20. Sicilia21. Sardegna
Belgium
1. Vlaanderen
2. Bruxelles — Brussel
3. Wallonie
Luxembourg
Constitutes a single division
Netherlands
Constitutes a single division
Denmark
Constitutes a single division
Ireland
Constitutes a single division
UnitedKingdom
1. England — north region
2. England — east region
3. England — west region
4. Wales
5. Scotland
6. NorthernIrelan d
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 Vasco,
5. Navarra,
6. La Rioja,
7. Aragón,1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 10
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8. Cataluña,
9. Baleares,
10. Castilla-León,11. Madrid,12. Castilla-La Mancha,13. Comunidad Valenciana,14. Murcia,15. Extremadura,16. Andalucía,17. Canarias.
Portugal
1. Entre-Douro-e-Minho e Beira Litoral,
2. Trás-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 NorthernSweden
CzechRepublic
Constitutes a single division
Estonia
Constitutes a single division
Cyprus
Constitutes a single division
Latvia
Constitutes a single division
Lithuania
Constitutes a single division
Hungary
1. Közép-Magyarország
2. Közép-Dunántúl3. Nyugat-Dunántúl4. Dél-Dunántúl5. Észak- Magyarország6. Észak-Alföld7. Dél-Alföld1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 11
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Malta
Constitutes a single division
Poland
1. Pomorze and Mazury
2. Wielkopolska and Śląsk
3. Mazowsze and Podlasie4. Małopolska and Pogórze
Slovenia
Constitutes a single division
Slovakia
Constitutes a single division1965R0079 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 005.002 — 12