ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME FOR THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURAL SURVEYS IN GREECE - YEAR 1994 - (Article of Council Decision 85/360/EEC of 16 July 1985)
Date: 1996-06-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Greece, action programme, activity report, agricultural statistics, data processing

COMMISSION  OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 20.06.1996 
COM(96)  287  final 

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

ON THE IMPLEMENTATION  OF THE PROGRAMME 

FOR THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURAL 

SURVEYS IN GREECE 

(Article 5 of Council Decision 85/360/EEC of 16 July 1985) 

I. 

INTRODUCTION 

1.  The  plan  for  the  restructuring  of  agricultural  statistics  in  Greece  was  adopted  in  1985 
(Council  Decision  85/360/EEC  of  16 July  1985,  as  last  amended  by  Council  Decision 
92/582/EEC of  14 December  1992 - cf. Annex  1), with the following  objectives: 

- 

- 

- 

- 

to create a technical and administrative infrastructure  at central, regional and provincial 
level capable of dealing with all operations relating to agricultural  statistics now and in 
the years to come; 

to obtain improved bases for sampling, particularly by creating a register of agricultural 
holdings; 

to  introduce  computerized  inputting,  checking  and  processing  of  data  at  central, 
regional and subregional level; 

to  bring  about  the  gradual  introduction  of the  Community  programme  of  agricultural 
surveys  and  statistics  with  a view  to  providing  the  Community  with  the  information 
(statistical  data) required for the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy. 

As laid down  in Article  5 of Decision  85/360/EEC, the  Commission  each year  submits a 
report  to  the  Council  on  the  implementation  of  the  programme.  This  outlines  all  the 
applications  introduced,  the  activities undertaken  and the measures  adopted  during  1994 
by the  competent  authorities  (Statistical  Service  and  Ministry  of Agriculture)  and which 
were required to attain the objective of the programme. 

II. 

PROGRESS 

1. -  This report  takes account  of the comments made at the last  meeting  of the "Agricultural 
statistics"  group  of the  Council  (held  on  5 December  1995  in Brussels);  one  suggestion 
made  was  that  this  document  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  shorter  that  the  previous 
reports. 

2.  The work undertaken during  1994 - in particular the use of the new register of agricultural 
and  livestock  holdings and  the redesigning of all the surveys  - achieved  significant  results 
and  provided  the basis for  more  in-depth  reflection  on  further  improvements  to  the new 
system. 

3. 

In  general,  the  statistical  activities  planned  in  the  1994  programme  (presented  in 
Luxembourg  in  1993 at the meeting of the working  group  and the  SCAS  - cf.  Annex 2) 
match the data in this report. 

Nonetheless, there is a significant  difference  in terms of the level of expenditure shown in 
the table in Annex 3: thus, the programme made provision  for  DR  1 709 000 000 (about 
ECU  5.7  million)  whereas  the  report  of  work  undertaken,  presented  by  the  Greek 
authorities  in  1995,  shows  a  total  of  DR 927  306  932  (about  ECU  3.1  million).  This 
difference  can be attributed to the fact that the processing of the results of the agricultural 

surveys  conducted  in  1994  was  only  carried  out  in  1995  (for  the  reasons  mentioned  in 
point  1.1 of Annex 2), whereas the programme had scheduled this for  1994. 

4.  Although  computerization  has been  completed  at  central  and  regional  levels, the same is 

not true of the administrative infrastructure  (staff),  particularly at regional level. 

In  order  to  decentralize  the  data  processing  of all  surveys,  it  is vital  for  all the  regional 
offices  to have an adequate number of staff qualified  to use modern technologies. 

The  Greek  authorities  responsible  for  the  application  of  the  programme  have  promised 
repeatedly  to  take  steps  to  overcome this  problem,  but  even  now,  two  years  before  the 
end of the programme, the situation is far from  satisfactory. 

5.  The authorities  should  also focus  attention  on developing  data banks  and  on designing a 
general plan for  interconnection  and  communication  between the computer  system of the 
Ministry of Agriculture and that  oftheNSSG. 

6. 

In the timetable of activities for  1993-1996, presented by the Greek authorities during the 
procedure  leading  to  the  second  amendment  of  the  Council  Decision,  the  measures 
planned for  1994 included: 

- 

the development  of the geographic information  system (GIS); 

-  completion  of  the  transfer  of  the  survey  of  slaughterings  from  the  Ministry  of 

Agriculture to the NSSG. 

To our  knowledge,  little progress has been  made with regard  to  the first  measure, while 
the second is planned for January 1996. 

A N N EX  1 

TIMETABLE 

Originally, the aim was to  put the plan into effect  over  a period  of five years (1986-1990),  starting 
with the region of Thrace-Macedonia in 1986 and ending with the island of Crete in 1990. However, 
Greece  has twice  obtained  an  extension  of the  deadline  under  Council  Decisions  90/386/EEC and 
92/582/EEC, and the completion date has thus been postponed to  1996. The new timetable is set out 
below: 

1986  -  first year 
1987  -  second year 
1988  -  third year 

1989  -  fourth year 

1990  -  fifth  year 

1991  -  sixth year 

1992  -  seventh year 
1993  -  eighth year 

1994  -  ninth year 

1995  -  tenth year 
1996 - eleventh year 

Macedonia; 
Macedonia, Thrace, Thessaly and Epirus; 
Macedonia,  Thrace,  Thessaly,  Epirus,  Central  Greece  and  the Ionian 
Islands; 
Macedonia,  Thrace,  Thessaly,  Epirus,  Central  Greece,  the  Ionian 
Islands and the Péloponnèse; 
Macedonia,  Thrace,  Thessaly,  Epirus,  Central  Greece,  the  Ionian 
Islands, the Péloponnèse and Crete; 
Macedonia,  Thrace,  Thessaly,  Epirus,  Central  Greece,  the  Ionian 
Islands,  the  Péloponnèse,  Crete  and  the  Aegean  Islands  (North and 
South); 
first  trial of the new system in the whole of Greece; 
creation  of a sampling frame  based  on the results of the  1991 general 
survey of agriculture; 
extension  of remote  sensing to  cover  the whole  of the  mainland and 
the island of Crete; 
exploitation  of  the  synergies  between  the  central  and  regional 
technical  and  administrative  infrastructures  set  up  by  the  Statistical 
Office  and 
respectively,  when 
implementing the programme  of surveys undertaken  by the  Statistical 
Office; 
introduction of the new system for the whole of Greece; 
monitoring and critical  analysis of the results obtained  during the  first 
year of actual implementation. 

the  Ministry  of  Agriculture, 

In November  1997, the Commission  will present  to the Council  a report  on  the implementation  of 
the programme which will outline the results achieved. 

A N N EX  2 

IMPLEMENTATION  OF  THE  PLAN 
OF RESTRUCTURING  IN  1994 

1. 

Statistical  applications 

1.1.  NSSG 

During  1994,  all  the  sample  surveys,  taking  the  agricultural  holding  as  unit,  were 
redesigned  on the basis of the new register  created  in  1993 using data from  the  1991 
census of agriculture. 
lsl 

As  a  result,  new  programmes  for  processing  data  and  extracting  results  from  the 
1994  surveys  have  had  to  be  designed.  Given  the  magnitude  of  this  task,  it  was 
decided  to  entrust  the  design  and  implementation  of  a  new  system  of  agricultural 
statistics  encompassing  all  the  surveys  in  the  agricultural  sector  to  a  private 
organization. 

The  design  and  implementation  of the  new  system  were  completed  during  the first 
quarter  of  1995, thereby enabling all the data from  the  1994 surveys to be processed 
in this way. 

Eurostat  received  the results of these  1994 surveys between  October  and November 
1995. 

Apart  from  the  traditional  statistical  activities  (i.e.  survey  of  the  structure  of 
agricultural  holdings,  of  livestock,  of  fruit  trees,  of  vineyards,  of  cereals  and  the 
annual  agricultural  survey), the  following  statistical  surveys  were  also  conducted  in 
1994: 

- Survey of slaughterhouses: 

Although  this  survey  remains  the  responsibility  of  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture,  the 
NSSG conducted  it for the first  time on a pilot basis in  1993 and has been handling it 
on a regular basis since 1994. 

As  from  January  1996  the  plan  is  that  the  NSSG  will  transmit  the  results  of the 
surveys of slaughterhouses on a regular basis and that the Ministry of Agriculture will 
cease to conduct these surveys. 

- Survey of  yields by Area Frame Sampling: 

The  survey  of  cereals  production,  based  on  a  sample  obtained  by  Area  Frame 
Sampling  using  the  remote-sensing  agricultural  statistics  survey  (conducted  by the 

Ministry  of Agriculture),  was carried  out  in  1993 by the NSSG  in cooperation with 
the Ministry in  the Thessaly region. 

In  1994 this was extended to Crete and Epirus. 

The  aim  of  this  pilot  survey  is,  firstly,  to  enable  the  NSSG  to  study  the  survey  of 
yields  by  direct  interview,  via  the  existing  mechanism  for  conducting  surveys, and 
secondly,  to  enable the  Ministry  to  study the  implementation  of the  survey  of crop 
areas, with the aid of the sample obtained by area frame sampling. 

1.2.  Ministry of Agriculture 

The main activity undertaken  in the field of statistical  applications  since 1991 relates 
to the statistical estimates made with the aid of area frame sampling. 

In  1994, the programme was extended  to  Crete and Epirus, thereby covering almost 
the whole of Greece with the exception of the small islands. 

In  addition  to  the  field  enumeration  method  used  to  date,  the  points  methods  was 
tested on a restricted  area with a view to obtaining comparative date. 

The other statistical activities undertaken related to: 

•  statistics on milk and dairy products; 

•  statistics on plant production; 

•  monthly estimates of slaughterings - forecasts of animal production (meat); 

•  monthly statistics on production and trade in eggs for hatching and annual statistics 

on the structure and utilization of incubators; 

•  FADN. 

2. 

Computerization 

2.1.  NSSG 

The  process  of  acquiring  the  technical  hardware  and  software  needed  to  cover 
current  requirements  for  all  the  various  agricultural  statistical  applications  at both 
central and regional levels has been completed. 

Simultaneously,  the  "KLISTHENIS"  programme  (Commission  Decision  C(94)  1422 
of  29  July  1994  -  Modernization  of  government  departments)  guarantees  the 
extension,  replacement  and  correct  functioning  of  the  equipment  to  cover  future 
needs. 

While connection  between the centre and the province is possible at the level of the 
regional  development  services and the nomi, there is a shortage  of specialist  staff  to 
ensure  the  correct  functioning  of the  network.  This  is  only  fully  operational  when 
staffing  permits. 

In terms of computer equipment, the following measures were undertaken. 

•  9 RISC systems, used in a pilot phase by the central  service as client  servers, were 

installed in 1994; 

• 

in  order  to  increase  its  capacity,  the  central  system  was  extended  to  incorporate 
the  databases  of the farm  census and the register  installed  to  process  and  analyse 
the surveys; 

•  A juke  box optical  disk  system  was purchased  for  use  in  storing  information  and 

disseminating it to the various regional centres. 

2.2.  Ministry of Agriculture 

As  in  1993,  1994  saw  continued  support  for  the  computerization  of  statistical 
applications via the network of the Ministry of Agriculture. 

A call for tenders was launched at the end of 1994 to supplement the overall  software 
and  hardware  package,  primarily  with  a  view  to  the  successful  completion  of  the 
geographical  analysis of samples using satellite images and digitized slides. 

3. 

Staff/training 

3-L 

MM 

The previous report (1993) mentioned the one-year extension of the contracts of 419 
persons with fixed-term  private-law contracts. 

In February  1995, these staff became permanent. 

A large majority  of these persons work exclusively on agricultural statistics. 

The  need  for  specialized  staff  has  been  met  by  reemploying  the  staff  (150  persons) 
who  worked  on  a  contract  basis  until  1990  and  who  are  now  gradually  being 
reintegrated  into the various NSSG departments. 

All  the  above  staff  have  begun  to  attend  special  training  programmes  designed  to 
meet the immediate needs arising from  the installation  of the new equipment  and the 
use of modern technologies. 

Simultaneously,  courses  aimed  at  the  entire  staff  of  the  NSSG  were  held  in  1994; 
these dealt with the problems linked to the survey methodology, data processing, etc. 
These  courses  were  financed  from  other  sources  and  involved  officials  from  all the 
competent directorates. 

3,2.  Ministry of Agriculture 

During  the  first  half  of  1994, the  programme  called  on  the  services  of  52  contract 
staff (users and programmers). 

During  the  second  half  of  1994,  these  staff  became  permanent,  thereby  ensuring 
continued  back-up for the programme after  1996. 

these  were  aimed  at  staff  of  the 
Many  further  training  courses  were  held; 
"informatics",  "policy"  and  "agriculture"  directorates  who  are  generally  involved  in 
implementing the  "Greek  Plan". These courses were both  in-house and  external (via 
the office  of the Minister attached to the Prime Minister) and were not charged to the 
budget for the programme of restructuring of agricultural statistics. 

ANNEX  3 

INFORMATION ABOUT THE FINANCIAL 
ASPECTS OF THE PLAN OF 
RESTRUCTURING 

The table on the next page shows overall expenditure in 1994. 

It should be noted that, pursuant to Article 1(5) of Council Decision 90/386/EEC amending Decision 
85/360/EEC,  the  level  of  Community  participation  in  the  programme  is  two-thirds  of  overall 
expenditure since 1991, instead of the one-third which applied up to 1990. 

Ministry of Economic Affairs - Secretariat General of the NSSG 

Ministry of Agriculture 

Category  of expenditure 

Amounts  in  Dr 

254  850 087 

466 753 728 

154 675 994 
70618715 

84 057 279 

100174 093 
885 000 

99 289 093 

33 053 150 

33 053 150 

EXPENDITURE  ON  INFRASTRUCTURE 
Computerization 
SECRETARIAT-GENERAL  OF THE NSSG 
Purchase of hardware and  software 
Soil ware  support 

I. 
1. 
a) 
i) 
ii) 
iii)  Auxiliary equipment and  consumables 
iv)  Maintenance 
v)  Network  charges 
vi) 

18% VAT on i, ii, iii, iv and v 

Purchase of hardware and  software 
Software  support 

b)  MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE 
i) 
ii) 
iii)  Auxiliary equipment  and  consumables 
iv)  Maintenance 
v)  Network  charges 
vi) 
2. 

18% VAT on  i, ii, iii, iv and v 
Accommodation 
(i) Secretariat-General  of the NSSG 
(ii) Ministry of Agriculture 
Office  equipment 
(i) Secretariat-General  of the NSSG 
(ii) Ministry of Agriculture 
Training  equipment 
(i) Secretariat-General  of the NSSG 
(ii) Ministry of Agriculture 
Vehicles 
(i) Secretariat-General  of the NSSG 
(ii) Ministry of Agriculture 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

Other technical  and  administrative 

145 423 588 

7. 

8. 

II. 
a) 

(i) Secretariat-General  of the NSSG 

(ii) Ministry of Agriculture 
Staff  skill enhancement  (training) 
(i) Secretariat-General  of the NSSG 
(ii) Ministry of Agriculture 
Staff  skill enhancement  (training) 
(i) Secretariat-General  of the NSSG 
(ii) Ministry of Agriculture 

EXPENDITURE  ON STATISTICAL  APPLICATIONS 
SECRETARIAT-GENERAL  OF THE NSSG 
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 

Cereals 
Surveys of livestock 
Surveys of trees 
Annual  agricultural  survey 
Survey of vineyards 

6. 
7. 
8. 

Restructuring of agricultural  statistics 
Structure of agricultural  holdings 
Survey of yields 

b)  MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE 

1, 

Statistical applica'^u'v: 
Remote  sensing 

GRAND TOTAL (DRACHMAS) 

102 971 557 

42 452 031 

30 862 552 
2 564 351 

14 665 152 
32 704 131 
38 268 991 
81 271 639 
43 343 036 

1 603 939 
1 918 350 
574  000 

63  161  873 
183 042  093 

\0 

33 426 903 

214 349 238 

460 553 204 

246 203 966 

927 306 932 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(96) 287 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

17  03 

Catalogue number  : CB-CO-96-293-EN-C 

ISBN  92-78-05600-6 

Office for Official  Publications of the European Communities 

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