Amended proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL Amending Council Directive 96/16/EC on statistical surveys of milk and milk products (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty)

2003/0060 (COD)

Amended proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL Amending Council Directive 96/16/EC on statistical surveys of milk and milk products

1. Background

2 April 2003: adoption of the proposal by the Commission and its transmission to the Council and the European Parliament,

COM (2003) 158 final - 2003/0060 (COD)

2 September 2003: opinion of the European Parliament - first reading

2. The Commission's objective

Council Directive 96/16/EC concerns statistical surveys of milk and milk products. Article 8 of the above-mentioned Directive requires the Commission to present the Council with a report on experience with the surveys.

A final report was compiled following an interim report on 27 September 2000 N° COM (2000) 600 final, setting out the overall context of the drafting and implementation of the legislation in question.

The Commission's final report to the Council and the European Parliament contains a technical assessment of the various aspects of implementation of Directive 96/16/EC. In the light of the report's conclusions and of the experience acquired in this field, the legislation on milk statistics requires amendment so as to respond more fully to the present needs of the common agricultural policy.

By way of example, consideration was given to the growing importance of milk protein, but also to that of regional data on cow's milk production. In most Member States, milk quotas are, for practical reasons, allocated at regional level, even though the decision-making power and the management of the milk quota system remain the prerogative of the Member States. Another important question is the definition of the survey units. Lastly, special attention needs to be given to improving the methodology of milk statistics, for example, by using standard annual questionnaires compiled by the Member States on the basis of a model devised by the Commission.

3. Opinion of the Commission on the amendments presented by the Parliament

3.1. Amendments accepted by the Commission

The European Parliament has proposed six amendments, all of which have been accepted by the Commission.

In particular:

- amendment 1 concerns recital 3 and deletes the words "or even local";

- amendment 2 deletes the new recital 4 on the possibility of conducting the surveys among local production units;

- amendment 3 replaces Article 1(1) defining the survey units as local units for those Member States which do not obtain the agreement of the enterprises to lift confidentiality of the data;

- amendment 4 concerns Article 1(2). It abolishes the collection of data on the quantities of the main milk products reused in the production chain and allows a choice to continue to be made between the two methods: (i) an estimate of the protein content of fresh products (output) and (ii) the protein content of the products used (input), in order to assess the protein content of the main milk products;

- amendment 5 concerns Article 1(3). It simplifies the reference to the methodological reports, with a view to avoiding redundancy;

- amendment 6 concerns Article 1(4). It replaces the paragraph on the dissemination of confidential data.

Changing the survey unit from the "enterprise" to the "local production unit" would appear to entail difficulties with application in a number of Member States.

Most Member States have difficulty in collecting data on reuse within the sector. The collection of such data could prove very expensive and is liable to produce unreliable data which do not lend themselves to comparison.

As regards data measurement methods allowing calculation of the protein content of milk products, the Commission will endeavour to obtain comparable and reliable data.

The Commission accepts all six amendments proposed by the European Parliament and will take them into account in its amended proposal.

3.2 Amendments not accepted by the Commission:

None

3.3 Amendments rejected by the Commission

None

4. Conclusion

In the light of Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty, the Commission will, as indicated above, amend its proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 96/16/EC on statistical surveys of milk and milk products.