Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the application of aerial-survey and remote-sensing techniques to the agricultural statistics for 1999-2003

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. On 14 November 1994, the Council adopted Decision 94/753/EC(1) on the continued application of remote sensing to agricultural statistics during the period 1994 to 1998 (the MARS project). The applications covered by the Decision aim in particular:

(1) OJ L 299, 22.11.1994, p. 27.

- to facilitate access to remote sensing in interested Member States with a view to improving their national systems for compiling agricultural statistics (Activity A: regional inventories),

- to supply estimates, before harvest, of the areas under principal crops and their potential production at European level and, where possible, at national level, in so far as currently available funding allows (Activity B: European rapid estimates).

In addition, the Council took formal note of the Commission's intention to continue a number of MARS measures under the Fourth Framework programme in the field of research and development that would require more research before they could be applied at European level. These activities are:

- the introduction of an advanced agricultural data system at Community level, through a combination of information from the various measures developed and tried out during the programme and, more especially, from information deriving from early estimates of crop areas and the agro-meteorological system for forecasting yields and monitoring crop condition, developed under the MARS project (Activity C: integrated system),

- the perfection of a method, similar to the one developed for the European Union, for making forecasts and early estimates of the harvests in various regions bordering the Union, especially in central and eastern Europe and possibly also the Maghreb, as part of the cooperation programmes with those countries (Activity D: monitoring and prediction of harvests outside the Community),

- continued research into the potential application, for statistical purposes, of new sensors such as radar that would complement the high-resolution and weather satellites currently used for the MARS project (Activity E: application of new methods and sensors).

2. Article 5 of Council Decision 94/753/EC stipulates that the Commission is to submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council by 31 July 1998 on the implementation of these measures and on the use of the financial resources put at its disposal for this purpose, "including, where necessary, proposals on the continued application of remote sensing to agricultural statistics".

The attached proposal reorganises and continues, for the period 1999-2003, those measures using remote-sensing and aerial-survey techniques that have been successful so far and which can thus meet the Commission's information needs.

3. In the first place, to meet both the Commission's and Member States' growing need for information on land use, on the multi-purpose role of agriculture and its environmental impact in particular and on the regional dimension of current developments in Community agriculture, etc., it is suggested that the possibilities offered by Europe-wide aerial surveys should be better exploited. These surveys should be based on a sample of areas representative of the Community territory as a whole. They are already used for more specific needs in the MARS project and are a pillar of the agricultural statistics system in some Member States.

These surveys allow direct estimates of crop areas to be produced, but they can themselves be sampled for other more selective surveys of the sampled areas. Using aerial surveys for statistical purposes may be useful especially in the context of Union enlargement, when it will become even harder to obtain harmonised national data by the required deadlines from which a Community-wide aggregate can be extrapolated.

4. The experience of these last few years has shown that estimating crop areas by remote sensing is not sufficiently reliable or early enough to meet our requirements in this regard and that, given current levels of know-how, there would need to be a significant increase in funding to meet these conditions. However, to maintain the technological lead that the Union has in this field and to test the possibilities offered by the new high-resolution satellites, the Joint Research Centre at Ispra should be able to exploit the Fifth Framework Programme for research and development to study alternatives or significant improvements to the current approach so that the reliability of the crop-area estimates can be increased, while keeping within the financial constraints dictated by available resources(2) Assuming however that the results of such work prove both satisfactory and valid over a sufficient period, provision should already be made to ensure that the new methods and techniques can be used for estimating areas without the need for a further Council Decision.

(2) See Chapter II.5 of the proposal for a Council Decision adopting a specific programme for research and technological development, including demonstration, to be carried out by means of direct actions for the European Community by the Joint Research Centre; COM(98) 305.

5. Lastly, a proposal is made to move from the experimental research phase to the operational phase in the case of the agro-meteorological system for forecasting and monitoring the condition of crops developed by the JRC in the first and second phases of the MARS project. The system enables crops to be monitored (water balance, stage of development, state of ripening, thermal stress, appreciation of the factors that might affect plant health, etc.) through their growing period up to harvest and also enables the potential impact of agro-meteorological factors on yields to be evaluated.

6. In view of the future enlargement of the Union and the significance this will have for agriculture in some neighbouring regions, it is proposed that the agro-meteorological, remote-sensing and aerial-survey measures to be implemented in the period 1999-2003 should cover not only the Fifteen but also the CEECs, European Russia, Turkey and the Maghreb. The Commission could implement these measures either directly or in cooperation with the national and Community bodies responsible for producing agricultural statistics, or bodies recognised by them.

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

on the application of aerial-survey and remote-sensing techniques to the agricultural statistics for 1999-2003

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas Council Decision 94/753/EC of 14 November 1994 on the continued application of remote sensing to agricultural statistics during the period 1994 to 1998 will lapse on 31 December 1998;

Whereas there is an especially felt need to have adequate information on land use and on the condition of crops in the context of new developments in the common agricultural policy and with a view to Union enlargement;

Whereas the detailed rules for implementing the measures contained in Council Decision 94/753/EC should be adjusted and reorganised in the light of the experience gained and the results achieved;

Whereas, in cooperation with the interested Member States, an aerial-survey system should be introduced to collect the necessary data on land use and other variables of interest;

Whereas the agro-meteorological system for forecasting yields and monitoring crop condition is now at the operational stage and should therefore be separated from those measures requiring further research;

Whereas the remote-sensing activities requiring further research and development in the period 1999-2003 are covered by the Fifth Framework Programme in the field of research and development;

Whereas provision should already be made to incorporate where appropriate the developments in methodology that may result from this research into the operational activities covered by this Decision;

Whereas the Commission should be able to delegate, under its supervision, the implementation of these measures to national or Community bodies responsible for the production of agricultural statistics, or bodies recognised by them;

Whereas the statistical measures employing remote-sensing and aerial-survey techniques comply with the principle of subsidiarity and ensure that the Member States and the Commission of the European Communities share responsibility for them and execute them in accordance with criteria of efficiency and feasibility;

Whereas these measures can contribute to improving the Community's statistical tools for conceiving, managing and monitoring the common agricultural policy,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The Commission is hereby authorised to apply remote-sensing and aerial-survey techniques to agricultural statistics over a five-year period starting on 1 January 1999. These techniques shall aim in particular to:

- create the tools for collecting data on land use and the other relevant variables needed to implement and monitor the common agricultural policy and analyse the interactions with other Community policies,

- provide acceptable estimates of the areas under the principal crops and their potential production both at European level and in regions of interest to the Community,

- ensure that the condition of crops during the growing period is monitored so that the potential impact on yields and agricultural production can be estimated.

Article 2

The Commission shall implement these measures within available funding limits, either directly or in cooperation with the national and Community bodies responsible for the production of agricultural statistics or with bodies recognised by them. In accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 3, the Commission shall report annually to the Member States on the implementing arrangements, the methods used, the utilisation of appropriations, the evaluation of the results and on the way that the work should be conducted in the following year.

Article 3

1. Where reference to the procedure laid down in this Article is made, the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics, hereinafter referred to as the Committee, shall be consulted, either at the initiative of its chairman or at the request of a representative of a Member State.

2. The Commission representative shall present to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. Where appropriate, a vote shall be taken.

3. The opinion shall be entered in the summary record. Each Member State shall also have the right to have its individual position entered in the record.

4. The Commission shall take full account of the Committee's opinion. It shall inform the Committee of the way in which it has done so.

Article 4

By 31 July 2003 at the latest, the Commission shall present a report to Parliament and the Council on the implementation of these measures, including in it any proposals on how remote-sensing and aerial-survey techniques may continue to be used for agricultural statistics.

Article 5

This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1. TITLE OF THE OPERATION

"Application of aerial-survey and remote-sensing techniques to agricultural statistics in the period 1999-2003"

2. BUDGET HEADING INVOLVED

B2-513: Restructuring of systems for agricultural surveys

3. LEGAL BASIS

Article 43 of the EC Treaty.

Council Decision 94/753/EC of 14 November 1994 on the continued application of remote sensing to agricultural statistics during the period 1994 to 1998.

4. DESCRIPTION OF THE OPERATION

4.1 General objective

As part of the implementation of Council Decision 94/753/EC, a number of measures were undertaken to provide the Commission with estimates, before the harvest and before the first official statistics become available, of both the areas under the principal crops and their production volume. These measures will terminate at the end of 1998. The attached proposal reorganises and continues for the period 1999-2003 those measures using remote-sensing and aerial-survey techniques that have been successful so far and which are thus capable of meeting the Commission's information needs.

4.2 Period covered by the operation and arrangements for its renewal

1999-2003. By 31 July 2003 at the latest, the Commission is to present a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of these measures, including in it any proposals on how remote-sensing and aerial-survey techniques should continue to be used for agricultural statistics.

5. CLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURE OR REVENUE

5.1 Non-compulsory expenditure

5.2 Differentiated appropriations

5.3 Type of revenue involved

6. TYPE OF EXPENDITURE OR REVENUE

Funding: 100%. However, the national statistics bodies may bear the extra expenditure needed to ensure that national crop-area estimates are representative.

7. FINANCIAL IMPACT

7.1 Method of calculating the total cost of the operation

The measure is divided into three parts:

A. Aerial surveys

The aerial surveys are to cover 370 000 points across Europe. Past experience suggests that the average cost to collect the information on land use at each point will be ECU 4 per point, giving a total of ECU 1.5 million, to which about ECU 500 000 must be added for coordination and implementation, including the subsequent data processing.

B. Application of remote sensing to crop-area estimation

From 1999, there will be no more operational applications of remote sensing for rapid estimation of crop areas. However, a technology watch in this area must be maintained. A "pour mémoire" has accordingly been entered for these measures.

C. Agro-meteorological system

The agro-meteorological system, developed in recent years at the JRC, enables crops to be monitored up until they are harvested so that the potential impact of agro-meteorological factors on yields can be evaluated. The system comprises an agro-meteorological model for forecasting yields and making objective observations using low-resolution satellites. As the project is still experimental, its cost has been borne by the JRC budget. As the research and experimental phase can now be considered at an end and the results are satisfactory, management of the project will be borne by Budget Heading B2-513 from 1999, since the measure will be operational. The annual cost (ECU 500 000) has been calculated on the basis of the observed costs of the measure in its experimental phase.

7.2 Itemised breakdown of funding

1 000 ECU

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7.3 Timetable for commitment/payment appropriations

1 000 ECU

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8. FRAUD PREVENTION MEASURES

As the recipient of the data, including data supplied under contract, the Commission will exercise direct monitoring of the operation. The Commission will also implement the measures either itself or in cooperation with the national and Community bodies responsible for compiling agricultural statistics, or bodies recognised by them.

9. ELEMENTS OF THE COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

9.1 Specific and quantified objectives, target population

- Specific objectives: to have early and/or independent information about the areas under various crops and on their condition, potential yields, land use and the spatial dimension of the agricultural policy. This will enable agricultural markets to be better managed and will also increase our understanding of the spatial and environmental impact that the agricultural policy has. It will also assist our understanding of current developments in Community agriculture. These tools will play an even more important role in the context of Union enlargement to include countries of eastern and central Europe.

- Target population: the Commission, national statistics institutes, national administrations, farming organisations.

9.2 Grounds for the operation

As explained in 9.1, the Commission needs early, objective information on potential production in various sectors, especially major crops, if it is to manage agricultural markets. Furthermore, both the Commission and Member States are experiencing a growing need for information on land use, on the multi-purpose role of agriculture and its environmental impact in particular and on the spatial dimension of current developments in Community agriculture, etc. In the case of information on crop areas in particular and land use in general, the need for Community-wide data collection systems will increase with Union enlargement when it will be harder to obtain harmonised national data by the required deadlines from which a Community-wide aggregate can be extrapolated.

9.3 Monitoring and evaluation of the operation

A monthly report on the operation of the agro-meteorological system (the MARS Bulletin) is sent to the Commission departments most directly concerned and to the Member States. In the case of the aerial surveys, the Commission will receive an estimate of areas sown to different crops before the end of June each year. On the measures as a whole, the Commission will be presenting an annual report to the Member States at meetings of the Committee for Agricultural Statistics, detailing the implementing arrangements, the methods used, the utilisation of appropriations, the evaluation of the results and the way that the work should be conducted the following year.