Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the continued application of areal surveys and remote-sensing techniques to the agricultural statistics for 2004-2007 and amending Decision 1445/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Decision No 1445/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council [1] concerns the application of areal surveys and remote-sensing techniques to the agricultural statistics for 1999 to 2003. In accordance with Article 1(3), the implementation of this Decision was confirmed by Commission Decision 2002/750/EC [2] on the continued application of these measures for 2002-2003.

[1] OJ L 163 of 4 July 2000, p. 1

[2] OJ L 244 of 12 September 2002, p. 38.

Article 6 of Decision No 1445/2000/EC stipulates that "by 31 July 2003 at the latest, the Commission shall present a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of these measures and on the use of the resources made available, accompanied, where appropriate, by any proposals on how areal survey and remote-sensing techniques may continue to be used for agricultural statistics."

As is clear from its report to the European Parliament and to the Council [3], the Commission considers that these measures should be continued for a further period of four years.

[3] COM (2003) [....]

This purpose of this proposal for a Decision is to continue the application of areal surveys and remote-sensing techniques to the agricultural statistics for 2004-2007, without in any way amending the content of the basic Decision.

2003/0085 (COD)

Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the continued application of areal surveys and remote-sensing techniques to the agricultural statistics for 2004-2007 and amending Decision 1445/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 285 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal by the Commission [4],

[4] OJ C.......

In accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 251 of the Treaty [5],

[5] OJ C.......

Whereas:

(1) Decision No 1445/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2000 on the application of areal survey and remote-sensing techniques to the agricultural statistics for 1999 to 2003 [6] will lapse on 31 December 2003.

[6] OJ L 163 of 4 July 2000, p. 1

(2) The need to have adequate information on land use and on the condition of crops is especially felt in the context of new developments in the common agricultural policy and with a view to enlargement, particularly for the analysis of interactions between agriculture, the environment and rural areas.

(3) The Commission's report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of these measures over the period from 1999 to 2003 [7] shows that it would be useful to continue them for a further four years.

[7] COM (2003) [...]

(4) The procedures for implementing the measures contained in Decision 1445/2000/EC should be continued and enhanced in the light of the experience gained and the results achieved.

(5) The remote-sensing activities requiring further research and development in the period 2004-2007 are covered by the Sixth Framework Programme in the field of research and development [8].

[8] OJ L 232 of 29 August 2002, p. 1

(6) This Decision lays down, for the entire duration of the programme, a financial framework constituting, for the budgetary authority, the principal point of reference within the meaning of point 33 of the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 6 May 1999 [9] on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure,

[9] OJ C 172 of 18 June 1999, p. 1

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Decision 1445/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council shall be amended as follows:

1. The following shall be added at the end of Article 1(1): "These measures shall be continued for a period of four years beginning on 1 January 2004".

2. Article 3 shall be replaced by the following:

"Article 3

The financial framework for the implementation of this programme for the period 2004 to 2007 is hereby set at EUR 7.85 million.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial perspective."

1. In Article 6, "31 July 2003" shall be replaced by "31 July 2007".

2. In Article 7, "31 December 2003" shall be replaced by "31 December 2007".

Article 2

This Decision shall take effect on the twentieth day following the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, [date]

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Policy area(s): Agriculture, Statistics

Title of activity:

Application of areal survey and remote-sensing techniques to the agricultural statistics for 2004-2007

1. BUDGET LINE(S) + HEADING(S)

B2-513: Restructuring of agricultural survey systems

2. OVERALL FIGURES

2.1 Total allocation for the activity (Part B): EUR 7.850 million for commitment

2.2 Period of application: 2004-2007

2.3 Overall multiannual estimate of expenditure:

a) Schedule of commitment appropriations / payment appropriations (financial intervention) (cf. point 6.1.1)

EUR million (to three decimal places)

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b) Technical and administrative assistance and support expenditure (cf. point 6.1.2)

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c) Overall financial impact of human resources and other administrative expenditure (cf. points 7.2 and 7.3)

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2.4 Compatibility with financial programming and financial perspectives

|X| Proposal compatible with existing financial programming to be taken into account under the new financial perspectives .

| | Proposal will entail reprogramming of the relevant heading in the financial perspectives,

| | including, if necessary, recourse to the provisions of the interinstitutional agreement.

2.5 Financial impact on revenue [10]

[10] For further details, see separate explanatory memorandum.

|X| Proposal has no financial implications (involves technical aspects regarding implementation of a measure).

OR

| | Financial impact - the effect on revenue is as follows:

- Note: All details and observations pertaining to the method of calculating the effect on revenue should be included in a separate annex.

EUR million (to one decimal place)

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(Please state each budget line involved, adding the appropriate number of rows to the table if there is an effect on more than one budget line)

3. BUDGET CHARACTERISTICS

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4. LEGAL BASIS

Article 285 of the Treaty

5. DESCRIPTION AND GROUNDS

5.1 Need for Community intervention

5.1.1 Objectives pursued

Activity A: LUCAS Project (Land Use/Cover Area frame statistical Survey)

The LUCAS pilot project aims to meet the need for information on land use, which is particularly strongly felt under the new common agricultural policy and with an eye to enlargement.

It also aims to meet the need for an analysis of the interactions between agriculture, the environment and rural areas. The European Council regularly mentions the need for greater account to be taken of the environment in the various Community policies, and particular mention was made of this in the conclusions of the Göteborg European Council.

The main aim of the LUCAS pilot project is to test the feasibility of an areal survey for obtaining harmonised information on land use, particularly in agriculture, with a speed and accuracy that are acceptable at EU level, and if possible at the level of the Member States too, and for collecting territorial information on the environment.

Activity B: MARS-STAT Project (Monitoring Agriculture with Remote Sensing)

The aim of the system for agrometeorological monitoring of crops and forecasting of yields developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) under the MARS project is to provide information on the impact of weather on harvests in a given year and to make yield forecasts for the main crops.

In accordance with the implementation procedures laid down in European Parliament and Council Decision 1445/2000/EC, the aim of the development activities conducted in recent years has been to make the agrometeorological system and the system for the processing of low-resolution NOAA and VEGETATION satellite data operational. These satellite images are used for analysis and monitoring of field crops in Europe and forecasting yields.

5.1.2 Measures taken in connection with ex ante evaluation

This proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision aims at extending the activities decided on in 2000 for a further four years. It is accompanied by a report to the European Parliament and the Council taking stock of activities conducted during the period 2000 to 2002, the results obtained and the problems encountered. Also, in accordance with the basic Decision, the Commission each year submits a report to the Member States on the implementation procedures, the methods used, the use of appropriations and the evaluation of results obtained, together with the work programme for the following year. Any adjustments needed in the light of experience are also discussed.

5.1.3 Measures taken in connection with ex post evaluation

Regarding the LUCAS project, it should first be pointed out that, because the basic Decision was adopted at a late stage, it has been possible to conduct only one area frame survey so far, and experience is therefore too limited for any final conclusions to be drawn. Nevertheless, several improvements have been identified that might be incorporated into the surveys in subsequent years. These include, in particular, a new sampling scheme, greater involvement of the Member States in the implementation of the survey, the use of photo-interpretation for collecting information on less accessible points and a land use classification.

Experience with the agrometeorological system has primarily shown that it was possible, with the technical assistance and supervision of the JRC, to contract out activities that had become operational, despite the need to transfer tools for the analysis and processing of relatively complex data to an outside firm. The ex-post evaluation of the results has also demonstrated the system's capacity for recording exceptional weather conditions in recent years and taking account of them in the yield forecasts. The experience gained will make it possible to further improve the performance of the system in coming years.

5.2 Activities envisaged and budgetary procedures

Activity A: LUCAS Project

LUCAS is a statistical survey conducted by means of area frame sampling (i.e. a survey based on visual observation of a sample of georeferenced points involving no contacts with farmers).

The LUCAS pilot survey used a two-level sampling plan comprising primary sampling units (PSUs) consisting of the cells in a regular grid measuring 18 km on each side, and secondary sampling units (SSUs) representing 10 points arranged in a rectangle (1 500 m x 600 m) within each PSU. The sample contains about 10 000 PSUs covering the entire EU territory. A total of about 100 000 points are therefore observed for the EU as a whole. Observations are made at the exact geographical locations of the SSUs in the sample.

The task of conducting these surveys is contracted out to private firms or statistical bodies selected by means of a public invitation to tender. General supervision and quality control are also carried out by an appropriately qualified contractor.

- Target population: national statistical bodies, Community statistical system, Community institutions, users of agricultural and environmental statistics;

- Specific objectives for the programming period: to continue the pilot phase so as to be able to draw more meaningful conclusions about the possible integration of this survey into the Community statistical system and the cost-effectiveness of the work; to collect the statistics needed for analysing the interrelationships between agriculture, the environment and rural areas; to enable agro-environmental indicators to be drawn up for evaluating the integration of environmental concerns into the common agricultural policy;

- Expected effects on the achievement of the general objective: harmonisation and enhancement of land use statistics; obtaining early information on agricultural areas; providing users of agricultural statistics and environmental experts with a homogeneous database on soil erosion, the landscape, natural hazards, noise etc.

- Budgetary intervention procedures: the cost of the project covers the implementation of the surveys in the field and the coordination, supervision and quality-control work. The rate of coverage is 100%. However, some Member States will be involved in the project on a voluntary basis, taking charge of a number of additional points with a view to improving the accuracy of the results.

Activity B: MARS Project

The MARS system for monitoring crops and forecasting yields falls into four sections:

* purchase of meteorological data, processing, calculations, interpolations and storage of derived meteorological data;

* use of meteorological data in the CGMS (Crop Growth Monitoring System) agrometeorological model. The results take the form of a series of indicators simulating the growth of the main crops. These indicators are stored in a georeferenced database, which allows the production of thematic charts of meteorological statistics and indicators for the various crops;

* acquisition of NOAA-AVHRR and SPOT-VEGETATION satellite images and processing of these data by the SPACE system. The indicators for the state of the vegetation are calculated by integrating the CORINE Land Cover data;

* establishment at the JRC of a group of experts specialising in the statistical analysis of the data and quantitative forecasts based on previous results.

The main result of this activity is the MARS Bulletin, of which six issues were published in 1999, six in 2000, seven in 2001 and seven in 2002, and of which six issues are scheduled for 2003 (last issue to appear at the end of November 2003). The Bulletin is sent to the various Commission departments concerned, the Member States, the statistical bodies and the various Ministries of Agriculture.

- Target population: national statistical bodies, Community statistical system, Community institutions, users of agricultural statistics, the scientific community;

- Specific objectives for the programming period: making available to the Commission and other institutions an even more effective tool for monitoring crops and forecasting yields; extending the application of this system to the new Member States and other neighbouring regions;

- Budgetary intervention procedures: the funds earmarked cover the total estimated costs for the various activities except for the costs of the staff working at the Commission.

5.3 Implementation methods

Direct management by the Commission with statutory or external staff. There is provision for using external contractors, selected by means of invitations to tender, for some of the work. The Member States will be regularly informed of the work under way and the results obtained through direct access to the information and at the periodic meetings of the working parties convened by Eurostat in Luxembourg.

6. FINANCIAL IMPACT

6.1 Total financial impact on Part B - (over the entire programming period)

6.1.1 Financial intervention

Commitments (in EUR million to three decimal places)

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6.2. Calculation of costs by measure envisaged in Part B (over the entire programming period)

Commitment appropriations in EUR million (to three decimal places)

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7. IMPACT ON STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE

7.1. Impact on human resources

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7.2 Overall financial impact of human resources

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The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months.

7.3 Other administrative expenditure deriving from the activity

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The amounts are total expenditure for twelve months.

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8. FOLLOW-UP AND EVALUATION

8.1 Follow-up arrangements

A work programme for the following year will be drawn up for each activity following consultation of the competent committee and working parties at Eurostat. Monitoring of the activity will be implemented on the basis of the information and reports received from the contractors in the course of the year, or at the periodic meetings with the experts and representatives of the Member States organised by the Commission departments. The implementation of the agrometeorological system will also be constantly monitored on the basis of information obtained by the Commission when drawing up the forecasts for the main crops.

8.2 Arrangements and schedule for the planned evaluation

At the technical meetings mentioned in 8.1, an interim evaluation will be made of the results obtained and the problems encountered, so that experience gained can be turned to advantage in the subsequent work.

9. ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES

Since the Commission will be the recipient of the information and the supply of this information is the subject of the contracts, the activities will be directly monitored. The Commission will also be responsible for the implementation of the activities, either directly or in cooperation with the Community and national bodies responsible for producing agricultural statistics.