Proposal for a Council Decision amending Decision 96/411/EC on improving Community agricultural statistics
Date: 1997-10-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, agricultural statistics, exchange of information, report, statistical method

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 01.10.1997 
COM(97) 482  final 

97/ 0245 (CNS) 

Proposal  for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

amending Decision 96/411/EC on improving 
Community agricultural statistics 

(presented by the Commission) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

Introduction 
Council  Decision  96/411/EC  on  improving  Community  agricultural  statistics^) 
has  provided  the  Commission's  services  with  a  flexible  tool  which  makes  it 
possible  to  adapt  statistical  applications  to  changes  in  information  needs.  The 
Decision  has  already  been  implemented  and  technical  action  plans  adopted  for 
1996 and 1997. 

Initial  experiences  suggest,  however,  that  two  amendments  could  enhance  its 
effectiveness.  They relate to: 
a) 

the  submission  deadline  for  Member  State  reports  (Article  5 of  Decision 
96/411/EC); 
the  Commission's  report  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on 
progress in implementing the Decision (Article 11). 

b) 

Submission deadline for Member State reports 
Several  Member  States  have  indicated  that,  given  the  seasonal  nature  of  the 
phenomena  which  their  statistical  activities  are  designed  to  measure,  the 
31 March  submission  deadline  is  impracticable.  Putting  back  the  deadline  to 
31 July would enable the results of the activities to be assessed more  effectively. 

Commission report 
Certain activities performed  in accordance with the plans for  1996 and  1997 (e.g. 
improvement  of supply balance  sheets, meat  production  forecasts)  will not yield 
any results before  1999. 

This  precludes  any  possibility  of  assessing  the  implementation  of  Decision 
96/411/EC before  1 November  1997, which in turn  makes  it  impossible  for  the 
Commission to  submit  its report  under the conditions  set  out  in Article  11.  It is 
therefore proposed that the deadline for the report be put back by two years. 

(')OJ  L  162 of  1  July  1996, p. 14. 

J, 

PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION 

of 

amending Decision 96/411/EC on improving 
Community agricultural  statistics 

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,  Decision  96/411EC  of  the  Council,  from  25  July  1996,  concerning  the  improvement  of 

(3) 

Community  agricultural  statistics 
foresees the presentation  of reports, on the one hand, by the Member 
States to the  Commission,  and,  on the other,  by the  Commission  to the  European  Parliament  and  to  the 
Council; 

Whereas, the deadlines set for the transmission of these reports are proving to be too inflexible  taking into 
account the experience gathered; 

Whereas, it is necessary therefore to delay the dates foreseen  and to introduce more flexible deadlines, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS PRESENT DECISION: 

Decision 96/411/EC, is amended as follows: 

Article 1 

(i) 

in Article 5, the date "31 March" is replaced by "31 July", 

(ii) 

in Article  11, the year "1997" is replaced by "1999". 

Article 2 

This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 

The President 

cn 
(2) 

OJNo 
OJNo 
OJNoL162of  1.7.1996,p.l4 

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ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(97) 482 final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

17  03 

Catalogue number  :  CB-CO-97-493-EN-C 

ISBN  92-78-24864-9 

Office  for Official  Publications of the European Communities 

L-2985 Luxembourg 

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