EN Official Journal of the European Union L 28/19

COMMISSION DECISION

of 1 February 2007

authorising certain Member States to use information from sources other than statistical surveys for the 2007 survey on the structure of agricultural holdings

(notified under document number C(2006) 7173)

(Only the Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Maltese, Slovenian, and Swedish texts are authentic)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2007/80/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 571/88 of 29 February 1988 on the organisation of Community surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings between 1988 and 1997 (1), and in particular Article 8(2) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) When determining the characteristics to be surveyed, an effort should be made to limit, as far as possible, the burden on respondents to the survey. In accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 571/88, certain Member States have asked to be authorised to use, in the 2007 survey on the structure of agricultural holdings, for certain characteristics, information that is already available from sources other than statistical surveys.

(2) The Member States asking for authorisation to use data from sources other than statistical surveys have provided the Commission with technical documentation as to the relevance and the accuracy of these sources. The Commission has examined the documentation and found it to be appropriate. The authorisations requested by the Member States should therefore be granted.

(3) The results of the Farm Structure Surveys are of great importance for the Common Agricultural Policy. For that reason, it is necessary to maintain a high quality of information, and the use of data from sources other than statistical surveys should only be accepted if these data are as reliable as those from statistical surveys. The Member States should therefore be required to take the necessary measures to ensure that the information submitted is of equal quality to that of information obtained from statistical surveys and to report on the quality.

(4) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

1. The Member States listed in the Annex are authorised to use information already available from sources other than statistical surveys in the Farm Structure Survey 2007 for certain characteristics.

Those sources shall be as set out in the Annex to this Decision.

2. The Member States concerned shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the information referred to in paragraph 1 is of at least equal quality to information obtained from statistical surveys.

They shall include an assessment of the quality of the information in the methodological reports to be delivered to the Commission with the validated survey data.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Slovenia, the Republic of Finland, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Done at Brussels, 1 February 2007. For the Commission Joaquín ALMUNIA Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 56, 2.3.1988, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1928/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 406, 30.12.2006, p. 7).