Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE on statistical surveys of milk and milk products
Date: 1995-09-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural holding, agricultural statistics, exchange of information, milk, milk product, statistical method

COMMISSION  OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  15.09.1995 
COM(95)  430 final 

95/0234 (CNS) 

Proposal  for a 

COUNCIL  DIRECTIVE 

on statistical surveys of milk and milk products 

(presented  by the  Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

The Directive  in  force  concerning  milk and  milk  product  statistics  dates  back  to  1972 
and has therefore been implemented for  22 years.  The provisions of  the Directive aim 
to  provide  the  Commission,  at  regular  intervals,  with  reliable  data  on  changes  in  the 
production  of  milk  and  its  use.  These  data  constitute  an  important  basis  for  the 
Common  Agricultural  Policy  and  in  particular  for  the  management  of  the  market  in 
milk  and  milk  products. 
In  the  course  of  time,  there  have  been  numerous 
developments  in  this  particularly  dynamic  and  important  agricultural  and  industrial 
field.  It therefore  follows that certain adjustments  also have to be made to the statistics 
for  them  better  to  answer  their  purpose. 
In  the  interest  of  transparency,  it  was 
considered preferable  to propose a new directive with an entirely  new,  better  structured 
In  particular,  the  new  text  is 
text  instead  of  amending  the  existing  text  yet  again. 
characterised  by the mitigation  of certain  obligations  - in exchange for  greater  accuracy 
and  stringency  in  terms of  others  which  are judged  more  important  - and  by  increased 
flexibility.  Unlike  the existing  Directive,  it  will allow  greater  account  to  be  taken  of 
individual  situations and possibilities in the various Member States. 

The  greatest  changes  in  relation  to  the  existing  Directive  concern  the  abolition  of 
weekly  surveys,  the breakdown  of  collection  by  Member  State,  the  redefinition  of  the 
scope  of  the  surveys  and  the  new  coverage  of  the  milk  protein  content  of  milk 
products.  Thus,  the  weekly  statistics  have  been  abolished  in  return  for  stricter 
compliance  with  the  deadlines  for,  and  greater  reliability  of,  the  monthly  and  annual 
statistics.  The  monthly  and  annual  data  on  collection  beyond  national  borders  are 
broken  down  by  the  country  in  which  collection  takes  place.  This  information  will 
enable  Eurostat  to  compile  a  "Delivery"  series  by  Member  State  in  addition  to  the 
"Collection"  series.  Where  the  scope of  the  surveys  is  concerned,  explicit  definitions 
of  dairies  and  producers  are  given  in  order  better  to  correspond  to  the  current  milk 
quotas  policy;  greater  flexibility  has  been  introduced  for  the  surveys  to  be  conducted 
on  agricultural  holdings  in  order  to  take  account  of  the  very  large  number  of  these in 
some  countries.  Lastly,  the  growing  importance  of  milk  protein  in  the  process  of 
producing  milk products dictates the need  to obtain data on  this  subject.  After  a three-
year trial  period,  a report  will be submitted  to the Council  which,  if  the conditions are 
met,  will require this new item of data to be included  in the national  questionnaires. 

The draft  Directive satisfies  the principles on which the European  Statistical  System  has 
been  organised:  the Member  States collect and assess the data  and  organise  the  surveys 
at  national  level,  whilst  the Commission  is  responsible  for  the collection,  coordination 
and  harmonisation  of  the  statistical  data  at  European  level  and  ensures  the  necessary 
harmonisation  of methodologies for  the implementation of Community  policies. 

Proposal  for  a 

COUNCIL  DIRECTIVE 

on statistical surveys of milk and milk products 

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 (2); 

Whereas Council Directive 72/280/EEC of 31 July  1972 on the statistical  surveys to be made 
by the Member  States on milk and milk products  v*) has been amended  on  several  occasions; 
whereas, in the light of new amendments, it is in the interest of transparency to reformulate  the 
provisions of the said Directive; 

Whereas  in order to carry out its duties  under the Treaty  and under  Community  provisions on 
the  common  organization  of  the  market  in  milk  and  milk  products  the  Commission  needs 
precise  information  about  the  production  and  use  of  milk  and  regular,  accurate,  short-term 
information  about the delivery of milk to enterprises which treat or process milk and about the 
production of milk products in the Member States of the Community; 

Whereas  surveys  on  the  production  and  use  of  milk  on  the  farm  should  be  conducted  in 
accordance with uniform  criteria and in greater detail, and monthly surveys should be made in 
all Member States in the enterprises which process milk; 

Whereas, in order to obtain comparable results, common criteria should be fixed as regards the 
scope of the survey, the characteristics to be noted and the survey procedure; 

Whereas  experience acquired  in  implementing  the previous  rules  has  shown  that  it  would  be 
useful to simplify the provisions, in particular by abolishing the requirement to provide weekly 
results; 

Whereas, in order to manage the Common Agricultural  Policy effectively,  and particularly  the 
market  for  milk and milk  products, the  Commission  must  receive  reliable  data  on  production 
and activity in this sector, regularly and within appropriate deadlines; 

Whereas the growing importance of the milk-protein content of milk products urgently  requires 
the availability of relevant  information; 

(l)OJN°C... 
(2)OJN°C... 
(3)  OJ N°  L179,  7.8.1972,  p.2.  Directive  last  amended  by the  Act  of  Accession  of  Austria, 
Finland and Sweden. 

\<*~ 

Whereas,  in  order  to  facilitate  implementation  of  the  provisions  of  this  Directive,  it  is 
appropriate to continue the close cooperation  between the Member  States  and the  Commission, 
particularly  in  the  Standing  Committee  for  Agricultural  Statistics  established  by  Decision 
72/279/EEC, 

HAS ADOPTED  THIS  DIRECTIVE: 

Article  1 

The Member  States: 

1. 

2. 

shall  survey the statistical  units specified  in Article 2 for  the data  specified  in Article  4, 
and shall  inform  the Commission of the monthly, annual  and triennial  results; 

shall  carry  out  annual  surveys  of  the  production  of  milk  and  its  use  among 
a) 
agricultural  holdings  as  defined  in  accordance  with the  procedure  laid  down  in  Article 
7. 

b) 
shall  inform  the  Commission,  in  accordance  with  Article  5 (4). 

Member  States  may  use data  from  other  official  sources.  In  such  cases,  they 

The surveys mentioned  in Article  1(1)  shall  cover: 

Article  2 

1. 

2. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

Enterprises  or  agricultural  holdings  which  purchase  whole  milk  or,  in  certain  cases, 
milk products, either directly  from  agricultural  holdings or  from  the enterprises  referred 
to  in point  2, with a view to transforming  it [them] into milk  products; 

Enterprises  which  collect  milk  or  cream  in  order  to  transfer  it  m  whole  or  in  part, 
without  any  processing,  to  the  enterprises  referred  to  in  point  1;  Member  States  shall 
take all measures  necessary to prevent duplication  of results. 

Article  3 

For  the  purpose  of  this  Directive,  "milk"  means  the  milk  of  cows,  ewes,  goats  and 
buffaloes.  The monthly surveys provided  for  in Article  4(1)  shall  cover  only  milk  from 
cows. 

The list of milk products  covered  by the survey  shall  be adopted  in accordance  with  the 
procedure  laid  down  in  Article  7.  This  list  may  be  amended  in  accordance  with  the 
same  procedure. 

The  standard  definitions  of the units  of measurement  to  be  used  for  communicating  the 
results  for  the various products  shall be drawn up  in accordance  with the procedure  laid 
down  in Article  7. 

Article  4 

The  surveys  referred  to  in Article  1(1)  must  permit  at  least  the  information  mentioned  in  points 
1  to  3  below  to  be  provided.  The  questionnaire  must  be  compiled  in  such  a  way  as  to  avoid 
duplication. 

The  information  shall  relate to: 

1. 

monthly: 

a) 
the  quantity  and  fat  content  of  the  milk  and  cream  collected  and  the  protein 
content  of the cows' milk collected; this  information  shall  be  broken  down  according  to 
the country  in which the products are  collected; 

the  quantity  of  certain  fresh  milk  products  processed  and  available  for  delivery 

b) 
and of certain manufactured  dairy products; 

2. 

annually: 

a) 

the quantity,  fat  content and protein content of the available milk and  cream; 

information  on  the  cows'  milk  collected  shall  be  broken  down  acording  to  the 

b) 
country  in which collection takes place; 

c) 
the  quantity  of  fresh  milk  products  which  have  been  processed  and  which  are 
available  for  delivery  to  the  consumer,  and  of  other  manufactured  dairy  products, 
broken  down  by type; 

d) 

e) 

f) 

the quantity  of milk fat  contained  in the milk  products; 

the use of raw materials in the form  of whole milk and  skimmed  milk; 

the quantity  of milk proteins  contained  in the milk  products; 

3. 

triennially  (as  from  31 December  1997): 

the number  of the survey units mentioned  in Article 2, broken down  by size class. 

The  surveys  and/or  the  official  sources  referred  to  in  Article  1  (2),  must  enable  at  least  the 
annual data on the availability  and uses of milk on the agricultural  holdings to be  provided. 

Article  5 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

Without  prejudice  to the  second  paragraph,  the  surveys  mentioned  in Article  1(1)  shall 
be exhaustive  in the case of dairies  accounting  for  at  least  98% of the milk  collected  by 
the Member  State, the balance to be estimated  on the basis  of  representative  samples  or 
using other  sources. 

In  Member  States  with  more  than  2  000  dairies,  the  monthly  surveys  mentioned  in 
Article  4 ( 1)  may  take  the  form  of  sample  surveys,  in  which  case  the  sampling  error 
may not exceed  1% of total  national  collection (with a confidence  interval  of 68%). 

The  surveys  mentioned  in Article  1 (2)  (a)  shall  take the  form  of  representative  sample 
surveys,  in  which  case  the  sampling  error  may  not  exceed  1%  of  the  total  national 
production. 

In  cases  where  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  the  data  referred  to  in  Article  4  (2)  (f),  the 
Member  States  may estimate the data using technical  coefficients. 

The  Member  States  shall  take  all  measures  necessary  to  obtain  comprehensive  and 
sufficiently  accurate  results.  They  shall  forward  to  the  Commission  all  information 
enabling the accuracy  of the results transmitted to be assessed,  in particular  : 

a) 

the questionnaires  used; 

b) 

c) 

3. 

a) 

the precautions taken to avoid double counting; 

the  methods  used  for  transposing  the  data  obtained  from  the  questionnaires  to 
Community tables. 

Article 6 

Tables for the transmission  of data shall be prepared  in accordance  with the procedure 
laid down in Article 7. 
These tables may be amended in accordance with the same procedure. 

The Member  States shall transmit the results referred  to in paragraph  3, including data 
which are deemed confidential  under national legislation or rules applied with regard to 
statistical  confidentiality,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Council  Regulation 
(Euratom,  EEC)  No  1588/90  of  11 June  1990 on the transmission  of  data  subject  to 
statistical confidentiality  to the Statistical Office of the European  Communities '8f 

The Member States shall send to the Commission as soon as possible after  summarising 
the information,  and at the latest: 

forty-five  days  after  the  end  of  the  return  month,  the  monthly  results  referred  to  in 
Article 4(1); 

b) 

in April of the year following the return year: 

the annual results referred to in Article 4 (2) (a) to (d); 

the results of the surveys referred to in Article  1  (2); 

c) 

d) 

4. 

in June of the year following  the return year, the annual  results  referred  to in Article 4 
(2) (e) and (f); 

in September of the year following  the year of the return date, the results  referred  to in 
Article 4 (3). 

The  Commission  shall  collate  the  information  sent  by  the  Member  States  and  notify 
them of the overall results. 

Article 7 

1.  Where the procedure laid down in the present Article is to be followed, the Chairman of 
the Standing  Committee for  Agricultural  Statistics  (hereafter  called  "the Committee") 
established  by  Council  Decision  of  31  July  1972  shall  refer  the  matter  to  the 
Committee,  either  on  his  own  initiative  or  at  the  request  of  a  representative  of  a 
Member State. 

2. 

The Committee is composed of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by 
the representative of the Commission. 

(4)OJN°L  151,  15.6.1990, p.l 

The  representative  of  the  Commission  shall  submit  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.  The 
opinion shall be delivered by the majority  laid down in Article  148(2) of the Treaty in 
the  case  of  decisions  which the  Council  is  required  to  adopt  on  a  proposal  from  the 
Commission.  The  votes  of  the  representatives  of  the  Member  States  within  the 
Committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in the above-mentioned  Article. The 
Chairman shall not vote. 

The  Commission  shall  adopt measures  which  shall apply  immediately.  However,  if 
these measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they  shall be 
communicated by the Commission to the Council  forthwith. 

In  that  event,  the  Commission  may  defer  application  of  the  measures  which  it  has 
decided for a period of not more than one month from the date of such communication. 

The  Council,  acting  by  a qualified  majority,  may  take a  different  decision  within  the 
time limit referred to in the previous paragraph. 

Article 8 

No  later  than  31  December  1998, the  Commission  shall  submit  to  the  Council  a  report  on 
experience  acquired  in  implementing  the  current  Directive,  with  particular  reference  to  the 
collection  of  data  on  milk  protein.  The  Commission  shall  avail  itself  of  this  opportunity  to 
propose such amendments as its considers necessary. 

Directive 72/280/EEC shall be repealed as from  1.1.1996. 

Article 9 

The references to the repealed Directive shall be construed as referring to this Directive. 

1. 

2. 

Article  10 

The Member States shall adopt the legal, regulator)' and administrative provisions necessary to 
comply with this Directive by  1.1.1996. 

When these provisions are adopted by the Member States, they shall contain a reference  to this 
Directive or shall be accompanied  by such a reference  at the time of their official  publication. 
The procedure for making such reference shall be adopted by the Member States. 

Article 11 

This  Directive  shall  enter  into  force  on the  20th  day following  its publication  in  the Official 
Journal of the European Communities. 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Article 12 

Done at 

For the Council 
The President 

ANNEX 

TABLE OF CORRESPONDENCE 

Current  Directive 

Directive  72/280/EEC 

A rt  1 

Art. 2 

Art.3 
Art. 4 

P °i nt  l 
point 2 a) 
- 
- 

point  1 
point  2 

indent 

first 
- 
point  1  a) 

b) 
: 

point  2  a) et  b) 

ç) 
: 
d) 
Ç) 

0 

Art.  1 

point  1 a) 

Art  2 

point  1 h) 
point 2 
point  1 
point 2 
-
point 3 

Art. 3 
Art. 4 

first 

indent 

point  1 
point  2  a) 

b) 
ç) 
point 3  a) 
b) 
ç) 

: 
-

: 

point 3 
Art. 5 

Art. 6 

Art.  7 
- 

Article  8 
Article  9 
Article  10 
Article  11 
Article  12 

paragraph  1,  first  indent 

second indent 

point 4 
Art. 5 

paragraph  1, first  indent 

paragraph  2 
paragraph  3 
paragraph  4 

paragraph  1 
paragraph  2 
paragraph 3 
paragraph 4 

; 

-
: 

paragraph  2 

paragraph  1 
- 
_____ 
paragraph 2 
paragraph 3 

__!__*! 

Art.  7 
Art. 8 
-
-
-

Article 9 

<o 

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