Second progress Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of Council Decision 96/411/EC on the improvement of Community agricultural statistics
Date: 2002-02-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, agricultural statistics, common agricultural policy, data collection, statistical method

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 13.2.2002
COM(2002) 79 final

Second progress report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the
Council

on the implementation of Council Decision 96/411/EC on the improvement of
Community agricultural statistics

Second progress report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the
Council

on the implementation of Council Decision 96/411/EC on the improvement of
Community agricultural statistics

SUMMARY

This report refers to the implementation of Council Decision 96/411/EC1, as amended
by Council Decision 2298/2000/CE2 of the European Parliament and of the Council of
28 September 2000, on the improvement of Community agricultural statistics, best
known as TAPAS3.

Paragraphs 2 and 3 describe the general framework in witch the TAPAS actions are
carried out, namely the ones that are consequence of the changes in Common
Agriculture Policy.

Paragraph 4 of this report summarises the actions undertaken during the period 1996-
2002 in terms of the following three categories:

a)

b)

c)

lightening of workload,

improvement,

new applications.

The progress with individual actions is described in detail
in Paragraph 5. The
summary tables in Annexes 1 to 3 supplement the information presented in the body of
the report.

Paragraph 6 (Conclusions) introduces considerations of a general nature. The result is
a positive assessment of the work carried out and the explanation of the arguments in
favour of the continuation of the adaptation efforts of Community Statistical System.
Thus the report recommends the continuation of the TAPAS actions during the period
2003-2007.

1.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

2.

INTRODUCTION

This report was drawn up in accordance with Article 11 of the Council Decision of 25 June
1996 (96/411/EC) on improving Community agricultural statistics, which stipulated that the
Commission should present it to the European Parliament and the Council before 1 November
2002 after having consulted the Standing Committee on Agricultural Statistics. Its aim is to
take stock of the situation concerning the implementation of the Decision and to put forward
"if necessary proposals for its extension". The current presentation of this report has been

1

2

3

O.J. N° L 162, of 1.7.1996, p.14.
O.J. N° L 263, of 18.10.2000, p.1.
"Technical Action Plan for Agricultural Statistics".

2

dictated by experience acquired during the adoption of Decision 2298/2000/EC. This report is
presented in accordance with this decision. It aims to give an overall view on the situation of
the different actions carried out in the framework of the Council decision, a first evaluation of
the achievements and some orientations for the future. The adoption process and the in-depth
discussions this necessitates in the different institutions and bodies compel the Commission to
make an early start on putting forward its proposals.

Following a presentation of the general framework, particularly concerning the main trends in
the development of the CAP, the report will seek to evaluate the results already achieved and
come up with proposed guidelines for future action. The present report is taking into account
in its evaluation all the technical action plans carried out since the beginning, including the
ones that have been analysed in the previous report. This is because the annual plans are very
often carried on in a multi-annual period and it is much more pertinent to make the evaluation
on all the actions. In addition the evaluation of all the work carried out can give a better idea
on the advantages and the eventual weaknesses of the action referred to.

Decision 96/411/EC, the first version of which was approved by the Council on 25 June 1996,
was the product of detailed analytical work conducted by the European institutions, national
decision-makers and agricultural statisticians. The aim of
this Decision is to make
Community agricultural statistics respond better to the information requirements resulting
from the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. To this end, provision has been made for
the Member States to take all the measures necessary to adapt their national systems of
agricultural statistics, taking account of the areas indicated in Annexes I and II of the Decision
and the objectives, characteristics and criteria indicated in Annex 3 of this Decision. The
actions to be carried out each year by the Member State in order to achieve these objectives
are set out in technical action plans. These annual plans are drawn up by the Commission,
after receiving the opinion of the Standing Committee on Agricultural Statistics. Participation
in the actions provided for in the action plans is voluntary.

The Community provides a financial contribution to the expenses incurred by each Member
State in adapting the national systems or in carrying out preparatory work relating to new or
increasing requirements provided for under the technical action plan. This contribution is
limited in time. It
is aimed at facilitating experimentation with, or implementation of,
collection methods and systems meeting the statistical information requirements indicated in
the technical action plan. Once the plan has been implemented, Member States should, in
principle, be in a position to transmit regularly to the Commission the requisite information
according to the methods and systems put in place.

3.

THE CAP AND STATISTICS

Under the review of Community agricultural statistics undertaken in the mid-1990s, two main
types of development were identified as requiring attention. This means, first of all, that
information needs to be available to the user more quickly, which entails shorter deadlines for
"delivering" data to Eurostat, all the Member States (MS) observing the deadlines set, and less
least
time taken by Eurostat
minimum common standards of reliability and harmonisation. These aspects formed the
specific focus of the first TAPAS annual action plans which succeeded in substantially
improving the situation, not just by slashing the time which elapsed before information
became available, but also by reinstating the collection and dissemination of information
which had not been gathered for some time.

to process the information received whilst maintaining at

3

The second aspect identified at this point as ripe for review was the thematic coverage of the
information to be collected, processed and disseminated. The topics selected dealt on the one
hand with environmental aspects (agri-environmental indicators and sustainable development
indicators, arising from the need to incorporate the environmental dimension into the CAP, as
into other Community policies), and on the other with the breakdown of information on "rural
areas". Although the latter covers thematic areas which extend well beyond the field of
agriculture, this document will only look at statistical information on agriculture related to
rural development, the "second pillar of the CAP". The TAPAS annual action plans have
helped strengthen the EU/MS partnership and, as a result, have led to effective action in
making the most urgent changes to Community agricultural statistics. There is, however, still
a long way to go in dealing with these latter aspects. Incorporating the environmental
dimension into agricultural statistics requires further painstaking work on structural statistics,
agricultural accounts and specific data collection programmes. Work on synthesising the data
still needs to be developed in order to produce the agri-environmental
the
sustainable development indicators and, more generally, the full range of information on the
'countryside' which will meet users' needs. This work means that TAPAS will be needed for
some years to come, as the priority changes will not be made if no such tool exists. One of the
main objectives of the recent plans has been to improve the quality of certain types of priority
information rather than to extend the scope of Community agricultural statistics. Efforts now
need to be made in this field.

indicators,

Aims such as expanding the scope of agricultural statistics do, however, entail a substantial
re-organisation of the statistical apparatus in the Member States, against a backdrop of not
just limited but constantly diminishing resources. Despite the steady gains in efficiency, there
are limits to human resources in particular which have to be borne in mind when decisions are
taken on this type of work. New priorities have to be set, and if necessary the methodologies
for collecting/processing certain statistics have to be ditched and/or changed more or less
radically (which may or may not have implications regarding the "coverage" of the
information to be provided). For example, solutions such as the better design of samples to
make surveys less expensive without detracting from their reliability or else "radical" changes
to the methodology for collecting certain information: replacing samples by panels of experts,
reducing the frequency of surveys, etc. Another approach is that of planning to further
simplify the information hitherto supplied to Eurostat, by for example restricting the number
of variables for certain surveys. This type of solution has already been developed as part of
the TAPAS programme, with significant simplifications having been made to the statistical
operations which form part of the "acquis communautaire" when the Council decision was
approved. This made it possible to free up the resources required to implement the action
plans approved up until now. These efforts will not stop the Commission presenting, if
justified, similar proposals to facilitate any necessary adaptations of the statistical systems
which would reduce the burden on MS.

4.

THE TAPAS TECHNICAL ACTION PLANS

Decision 96/411/EC was applied by means of annual "technical action plans" compiled by the
Commission and carried out in cooperation with the MS. Since 1996, five decisions, with the
same number of annual plans, have been published in the OJ. Their main components are
presented in Annex 1.

The other element of the basic decision, lightening the workload for the national statistical
services, has been the subject of various decisions amending the legislation in question so as

4

to facilitate the reorganisation of the statistical operations involved. Annex 2 contains the
legal provisions adopted to this effect.

There now follows an overview of the main adaptations to the system of Community
agricultural statistics introduced by TAPAS.

4.1.

Lightening the burden

The following fields have been involved (see too Annex 2) :

– Farm structure surveys: simplification and restructuring of the list of characteristics;

– Vineyard surveys: application of a more flexible approach regarding, in particular, the date

of the basic survey and the use of data from the vineyard register;

– Orchard surveys: optional transmission of certain data and greater flexibility regarding

various methodological aspects;

– Livestock surveys: application of the "agriflex" concept, i.e. adapting the frequency and

timetable of the surveys to take account of herd size in each Member State;

– Pig surveys: derogations granted to certain Member States regarding the number of surveys

and the flexibility of the survey dates;

– Milk statistics: elimination of weekly statistics; elimination of casein statistics; reduction

of certain annual statistics and simplification of statistics on the structure of dairies.

4.2.

Improvements

These actions related to:

– Statistics on the production of fruit and vegetables: improvements to the methodology and

rapid transmission of production data for certain fruits and vegetables;

– Supply balances for agricultural products and animal feed balances.

4.3.

New applications

The Commission provided a financial contribution to the development work undertaken by
Member States in the following areas:

– Early estimates of sowings of cereals and main crops

– Protein content of milk products

– Estimates of meat production

– Use of pesticides

– Agri-environmental indicators

– Environmental aspects of agricultural accounts.

5

Below is a summary progress report on these various actions. Annex 3 contains summary
tables for each action.

5.

ASSESSMENT OF THE ANNUAL ACTION PLANS

Under the four annual action plans (TAPAS 1996-97, TAPAS 1998, TAPAS 1999 and
TAPAS 2001) so far adopted by the Commission, the Community budget has allocated over
3.8 million euros to work on improving Community agricultural statistics. With TAPAS
2002, the final annual action plan to date, a further one million euros will be allocated to this
work. These amounts do, however, only represent one part of the actual expenditure, as the
total financial resources have been much greater with the real cost of most of the actions
exceeding, in a large number of cases, the Community stake. In actual fact, the amounts
allocated by the MS to cover the difference between the total cost of the actions and the
contribution from the Community budget is generally in excess of this contribution. The
catalytic effect of the latter has confirmed its considerable importance in the implementation
of actions to adapt agricultural statistics.

The difficulties encountered in implementing the budget for the first three plans led the
Commission to propose changes in the management process for TAPAS actions in 1999 when
the implementation period was extended. This involved replacing the method of setting the
budgets available to the MS in advance with an interactive consultation process which led to
firm commitments made by the Commission and the MS. This change, which was welcomed
by the EP and the Council, should lead to even more convincing results in the current actions
plans (TAPAS 2001 and 2002) and more significant budgetary implementation rates. The
progress thus far with TAPAS 2001, the first annual action plan to be developed within this
new framework, and reasonable projections for TAPAS 2002, would seem to suggest that
these objectives will be met in full.

The implementation of the two series of annual plans - the first on the basis of the 1996
Council Decision (TAPAS annual action plans for 1996-97, 1998 and 1999) and the second
following the substantial amendments introduced by the EP and the Council in 2000 (those
for 2001 and 2002) - has not, however, been problem-free. In addition to the normal problems
encountered when starting up new operations, there was also the very short implementation
period and the late publication of the decisions providing the framework for the annual action
plans. This is the specific reason why the 1996 and 1997 plans had to be combined and the
2000 plan deferred. Despite these difficulties, substantial progress has been made, as detailed
below, in terms of: 1) harmonisation and the consistency of the results sent to Eurostat by the
MS, 2) the reduction in the time taken to make data available, 3) the uniformity of the results
transmitted, 4) statistical coverage, 5) shorter transmission deadlines and especially 6) their
adaptation to users' needs, particularly the needs of the Community institutions.

5.1.

Early estimates of sowings

There is very widespread recognition of the need to have, at Community level, estimates of
winter and spring sowings for the main crops and, more particularly, for cereals and oil seeds
at a very early stage. Reliable, and above all early, information is necessary for the proper
management of agricultural markets and for drawing up reliable budgetary forecasts. Prior to
the application of TAPAS Decision, this information was only available for the European
Union as a whole at a very late stage.

6

In order to bridge this gap, a TAPAS action was launched under the first part of the
1996/1997 action plan. The vast majority of Member States participated in this action, with 14
Member States presenting an action under this action plan. The remaining Member State,
Luxembourg, although not presenting an action, nevertheless provided early estimate data
within the deadlines. In order to consolidate the tools put in place during this first action plan,
it was decided to extend Community support under the 1998 action plan.

The appended table gives an overall view of the actions undertaken in this context. It can be
investigations with
seen that most Member States implemented traditional statistical
interviews of a restricted sample of farmers. Only one Member State made use of regional
panels. Another carried out interviews of branch experts.

Comparing the TAPAS figures of February and May 1997 with the official data of October
1997 reveals entirely satisfactory results concerning the main survey crops (soft wheat,
barley, maize, rape, sunflower), for 12 out of the 14 countries which participated in the action.
In relation to the traditional data, figures are now available at least five months earlier.

In 1998, these positive results were achieved for all of the 14 Member States which took part
in the action. Since then, this information has been regularly updated by all 15 MS within the
agreed deadlines.

5.2.

Improvement and rapid transmission of statistics in the area of fruit and
vegetables

The statistical information available at Community level in the area of fruit and vegetables
was not sufficiently adapted to the requirements for managing this market. This situation was
due, in part, to the special features of this sector, the multiplicity and diversity of the products
it covers, the perishable nature of most of these products, the direct marketing of a good part
of production, and the high number of small holdings, etc.

In order to improve the quality and early availability of the statistical information in this
sector, a TAPAS action was launched under the 1996/97 action plan, with the following
objectives as summarised below:

(1)

(2)

Supply of data by Member States which provided no production estimates or which
provided it several years later;

Shortening of the deadlines for the transmission of production data by the Member
States;

(3)

Improving the reliability of area statistics.

Since 1997, 11 countries have completed actions to improve the quality or accelerate the
transmission of data concerning fruit or vegetables. 5 of these countries have proposed
separate actions for fruit and for vegetables, 3 countries have focused on fruit and 3 on
vegetables. In total, 19 actions have been undertaken. Of these 19 projects, 12 concerned
adaptations of existing surveys of holdings (9 of which were supplemented in part by the use
of other sources of information such as interviews with trade organisations), 4 concerned
panels and one concerned remote sensing. In 4 cases, administrative sources were used, which
also made it possible to reduce the burden on respondents. This annual action plan allowed 11
countries to improve their methods of estimation, provide more complete results and shorten
their data delivery times.

7

The disparity of the methods proposed and tried out, the different ranges of products surveyed
in the various countries and the need to carry out several surveys during the same agricultural
year in the Mediterranean countries and other factors suggested that the development of this
TAPAS action be spread out over a period of 3 plans. The actions in the last of these (TAPAS
1999) have just been completed and the results achieved can be described as remarkable. This
plan has helped the seven countries which took part to improve the reliability of their results.
The objectives set have been attained in all the participating countries.

The more visible results of these three annual actions have been: the completion rate for the
database, which is now much greater than it was before the action was implemented, the early
dispatch of the data and the availability of the results. The improvement in the completion rate
in particular has been extraordinary since it is now close to covering all production (the few
data still lacking concern countries where production is low). Despite the considerable
improvements made, Eurostat is continuing its efforts to further improve the situation and
achieve as full a completion rate as possible.

5.3.

Supply and animal feed balances

Supply balances constitute an essential instrument in the management of agricultural markets
under the Common Agricultural Policy. Numerous decisions with a direct, non-negligible
impact on the market (like, for example, the activation of certain market support measures)
are taken on the basis of the forecast balances drawn up by the Commission for the whole of
the European Union for the current year, or the following year, on the basis of the information
which it has available.

These balances are very onerous and complex statistical operations conducted on the basis of
“gentlemen's agreements”. Their importance in terms of instruments for monitoring the
market for each product varies depending on the situation in that market (tense or balanced).
Given the current situation of diminishing human and financial resources which characterises
most national administrations, if the markets are in balance, especially over long periods, it
tends to become less of a priority to update some of these balances. One of the aims of the
TAPAS actions launched since the implementation of this programme has been to counteract
this trend by developing more operational methodologies and procedures for updating them.
These objectives can be summarised as follows:

(1)

balances concerning vegetable and animal products:

– updating or drawing up supply balances,

– work and surveys for a better assessment of certain items in the balance (stocks,

consumption, etc);

(2)

animal feed balances:

– updating or drawing up animal feed balances,

– better knowledge of supplies and consumption of market products for animal feed,

– methodological work for a better assessment of certain items in the balance (e.g. stocks,

conversion coefficients, diversification of sources used, etc.).

The complexity of the subjects covered suggested that these actions needed to be spread over
a period of several years. The proposals for action by the MS in the 1996/1997, 1998, 1999

8

and 2001 technical action plans aimed to introduce structures which could guarantee that the
balances were drawn up in good time and to improve the less reliable items in the balance.

Eight MS benefited from, and completed, the actions on the supply balances for vegetable
increase in the response rate for these
products. This contributed towards a significant
balances: +14% in one year (from July 1999 to July 2000). This action enabled one group of
countries to resume work on processing and providing this type of information and helped
another meet the deadlines for transmitting the information and eliminate very late responses.
Beneficial effects on supply balances other than those directly concerned, and on other
statistical work (accounts, agri-industrial statistics, etc.), were also recorded.

As regards annual feed balances, the actions proposed by the Member States were aimed
essentially at understanding the items in the resources side of the balance (estimates of
wholesale feed production, surveys of the manufacture or sale of concentrated feed, etc) and
the sections of the balances in which progress was slowest and which were therefore less
reliable (e.g. stocks, conversion coefficients). Some Member States which did not have or no
longer had the resources to calculate an animal feed balance proposed putting (back) in place
a method derived from Eurostat's instructions for drawing up this animal feed balance which
was adapted to the national structures. Some of these "new" animal feed balances have
already been transmitted to Eurostat. In addition, the "demand" side of the balances has been
studied in detail using different sources: experts, bibliography, surveys, etc. It was therefore
possible to conduct work on the many types of feed which make up this section of the
balance, and the sources for the data used have been documented. With regard to demand,
detailed calculation systems have been provided and the respective national data taken into
consideration. In addition, animal feeds have been broken down by the different animal
species on the basis of the composition of animal feeds, the legislation on these feeds and
indications of the relevant technical standards. It should be stressed that major difficulties
arose during this work, and the basic regional data, for example, often turned out to be
insufficient. Furthermore, estimates often have to be made for some data, e.g. for the "supply"
side of the balance and the breakdown of feeds among the different animal species, and for
the parameters defining these.

The work on the animal feed balances should continue in the future. In order to gain more
information on supply, particularly the different forms of use, a system will need to be
developed for the further collection of data on output from grassland. The conversion
coefficients used should also be examined to look at their stability and the potential "demand"
by animals, in order to determine the precise consumption of fodder by the different species.

In the 1999 action plan, most of the work focused on the poultrymeat and animal feed
balances. Two MS developed activities on the wheat balance and the potato balance and
another presented an action to improve the processing of external trade data, which is
therefore of interest to balances in general. A total of eight countries took part in this action,
for which the total amount allocated by the Commission was

123 000.

€

Most of the changes made to the processes of calculating the data in the balances under
TAPAS 1999 have been of a methodological nature. They include improvements which are of
general interest, such as the Finnish work on the system of processing import and export data.
Most, however, relate to improvements achieved through a better methodology for estimates
(wheat balance in Italy, animal feed balance in Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands) and a
better coverage of the basic data (the same countries as before plus Sweden for the potato
balance). This better coverage is sometimes based on new surveys of farms or other operators
in the respective sectors.

9

The implementation of TAPAS 2001 has enabled eleven projects to be carried out.
200 000
will be spent by the European Commission to support this work. Eight countries are taking
part, some in more than one project.

€

In the field of animal production, some countries are working on improving poultry meat
balances (Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal). The aim of the studies under way is to improve
the methods used to estimate and collect all the information needed to calculate the various
headings of the poultry meat balances. It will also then be possible to send Eurostat the
monthly data on poultry slaughterings. In Austria, the work is intended to improve the milk
balance, with certain changes being made through the use of administrative data instead of
surveys.

As regards crop balances, four projects are under way. Austria is conducting a survey of crop
production, the purpose of which is to improve the quality of data and reduce the time taken
to make data available to users. The quality of the data is being verified and the costs of
producing these statistics reduced. Sweden is working on improving the potato balance. The
main object of this action is to ask farmers about the use of the previous winter's harvested
potatoes (fodder, seeds, sold for human consumption, sold to the processing industry, stored
on the holding or unusable). This project will result in an improvement in the quality of this
balance. The action being carried out by the UK will improve the quality of UK cereal
balances by examining their components, by means of surveys of agricultural holdings and
other operators in the sector. This is a follow-up to the TAPAS action submitted (and
completed) in 1998 that was restricted to cereals used for fodder on agricultural holdings in
England and Wales. Spain and Austria are also working on reviewing the procedures for
estimating their animal feed balances. Belgium will improve the quality of supply balances,
particularly for the "external trade" and "domestic use" headings.

5.4.

Improvements in meat production forecasts

In order to ensure the proper management of meat markets and draw up budgetary estimates,
it is essential to have, at regular intervals, reliable statistical information on livestock trends
and forecasts of gross domestic production for the various types of meat. For some time now,
the experts responsible for drawing up these forecasts in the Member States have come up
against increased difficulties in obtaining the necessary basic information in this area. At the
request of certain Member States, a study was initiated into the manner in which the
production forecasts were carried out, in particular from the results of the livestock surveys.

The Commission considered that it would be useful to improve this situation through actions
carried out in all Member States. These actions should enable, according to the terms of the
various Council Directives involved, a reliable estimate of gross domestic production in the
various Member States of the European Union. The forecasts should be drawn up on the basis
of all the available information (livestock, prices, slaughterings, artificial inseminations, etc).

The Commission wished to effect an improvement in the following areas:

– incorporation of sources of information other than livestock surveys,

– boosting of existing surveys,

– refinement of the forecasting methodology

– taking account of trends in consumption

In order to achieve these objectives, Member States proposed various actions, including:

10

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

the use of administrative data from national and Community sources,

improving existing models,

the analysis of data from previous years in order to develop an econometric model for
estimating and forecasting livestock, slaughterings, external trade figures and, finally,
gross domestic production,

replacing some of the livestock surveys by estimates based on data from other sources,
particularly data on slaughterings and those from trade associations

(5)

searches for correlations between economic data and data on slaughtering.

€

For the first TAPAS action plan, nine Member States presented proposals for actions on
animal production forecasts: 6 focused on livestock, especially gross domestic production in
the pig, beef and sheep/goat sectors, the other three on the pig sector. The implementation
reports for these actions were validated in 1999. Three countries have introduced projects for
TAPAS 2001: Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The Community financial
contribution was
44 000. The importance of the poultry rearing sector in Spain calls for
sound statistics, so much effort has to be invested in improving Spanish statistics on the
production of poultrymeat and eggs. In the Netherlands, the aim is to evaluate the various
sources and harmonise the data in order to improve production forecasts. The British project
has two main objectives: firstly to study the possibility of using administrative data to
improve quality and reduce the time taken to supply results on livestock, and secondly to
reduce the number of surveys of farmers.

These projects have enabled the MS participating in this action to calculate animal production
forecasts which are more complete, more reliable and better harmonised. These forecasts
demand a detailed knowledge of the stock and related trends (births, deaths and other
movements of cattle). They have also made it possible to rationalise the cost of producing
these statistics and to provide this information within shorter deadlines.

5.5.

Protein content of milk products

In view of the increasing importance of the protein component of milk, it is becoming more
and more essential to have statistical information on the protein content of the various milk
products. Council Directive 96/16/EC therefore stipulated that, in the three years following
the entry into force of the Directive, Member States should carry out pilot surveys or studies
aimed at analysing the scope for extending the annual statistical information to cover the
protein content of the main milk products, the aim being to decide whether this new
information should be included in the tables for transmitting annual data.

The Commission considered it important to support the national statistical institutes in putting
in place a system for collecting statistical information on the protein content of milk products
by financing a part of the costs deemed necessary to supplement the existing data, particularly
through methodological work aimed at collecting the missing data.

Four Member States did not wish to take part in the TAPAS action plan, but provided the
annual results on protein content requested under Article 4(2) of Directive 96/16/EC. The 11
countries which did participate in the action pointed out that there were numerous difficulties,
ranging from technical problems in measuring the survey variables to protecting the
manufacturing secrets of companies processing milk products.

The results sent by 6 Member States between December 1998 and January 1999 featured in a
summary report (Methods of Calculation and Estimation of Protein Content in Milk Products

11

– Years 1997-1998) which demonstrated the feasibility of this type of estimate. Data on
protein in the main milk products will be supplied regularly by the MS under a gentleman’s
agreement reached at the meeting of the milk statistics committee on 20-21 November 2000.

5.6.

Use of pesticides

One of the objectives of the EU's fifth action plan for the environment is to reduce the impact
of pesticides with a view to conserving natural resources and promoting sustainable
agriculture. The agri-environmental measures in the CAP (Council Regulation No 2078/92)
have been designed to promote a reduction in the use of pesticides by farmers by
compensating them for any loss of income attributable to lower levels of inputs, particularly
of pesticides. In order to gauge the effectiveness of these measures and achieve the above-
mentioned objectives, it is essential that detailed information is obtained on the use of
pesticides. Parallel research is under way at EU level with a view to providing the criteria for
classifying pesticides according to the impact
they may have on the environment. This
classification will, nevertheless, be of little value if basic data on the use of different active
substances are not available.

One key factor when examining the list of pesticides - under the terms of Council Directive
91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 - is the availability of information on the need, which can be
more or less pressing in agronomic terms, to use different pesticides. If the data on the use of
these products suggest that farmers cannot remain competitive without using a specific
pesticide and if no viable alternative is available, this should be taken into consideration as
part of the examination. Reliable data on use are therefore very important in conducting this
assessment. Information which reveals that a given pesticide is hardly used, or that safer or
more effective alternatives exist, may speed up the process of removing it from the list of
authorised products.

The Commission would therefore like to encourage the Member States to take measures to
continue the collection of data on the use of pesticides. Given that the list of chemical
substances used and crops treated is very large, the MS can carry out this work on a small
scale, which will enable them to accumulate experience in improving the method and
requisite organisational structure for this data collection.

€

1999 saw the start-up of statistical work at Community level on the use of pesticides in
agriculture. This initial TAPAS funding was allocated to countries which were prepared to
start collecting these data or were willing to embark upon methodological work with a view to
collecting the data at a later date. Ten countries volunteered to take part in this action,
generating a total of
170 000 of Community funding. The work was broad and varied.
Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden tested collection procedures which could be
used systematically. Finland carried out a study of potential information sources. Several
countries carried out pilot surveys (Austria, Portugal) or preparatory work (Spain). Other
carried out sample surveys (Belgium, Italy). The implementation reports for this work show
that different procedures and methods of collecting the information were used in different
Member States. Some of the solutions tried out are of general interest and could be used by
other Member States. The issues and the different experiences encountered were presented at
a seminar held at Eurostat on 20 February 2001.

The TAPAS 2001 annual action plan enabled Member States which had started work in 1999
to consolidate or expand this work to other regions or crops, or to exploit new sources. It also
enabled other Member States to start collecting this information. The different actions cover
methodological studies and data collection (see above) at country and/or regional level. Ten

12

countries have expressed a wish to continue to take part in this action. The Community
€
209 000. New pilot surveys on the use of
contribution earmarked for these projects is
pesticides for certain crops are under way in Greece and Belgium, and in Spain for fruit and
vegetables. In Portugal, the data collected under the previous action will be validated in order
to evaluate the possibility of carrying out wider-ranging surveys. Denmark, Finland and the
Netherlands are investigating methods of collecting regional data. Estimation methods based
on sales data are being tested and refined by Germany and Sweden. The possibility of making
better use of existing databases is being looked into by Italy.

The number of countries taking part in the work is very encouraging, as is the quality of the
work being done. The introduction of a new statistical information system is always a slow
and costly process. The contribution of the "technical action plan for the development of
agricultural statistics" has demonstrated, by making this work possible, the importance of this
tool in making the necessary changes to national statistical systems. The involvement of a
large number of Member States (11 out of 15) and the quality of work carried out to date
augurs well.

5.7.

Agri-environmental indicators

This theme which is new to the 2001 action plan is linked to the Communication from the
Commission to the Council and the EP entitled "Statistical Information needed for Indicators
to monitor the Integration of Environmental concerns into the Common Agricultural Policy"
(COM(2001) 144).

The Commission therefore supports proposals put forward by the Member States in this field.
Nine projects from eight countries were selected, with the Community committing
318 000
as its contribution. Once this work has been completed, much sought-after information will be
available on the use of fertilisers (B, DK, E, P), landscape studies (D, E) and the compilation
of indicators measuring the impact of agricultural activity on the environment (I, NL, UK).

€

The 2002 action plan selected ten projects submitted by nine countries. The Community
contribution amounts to over three hundred thousand euros. The actions selected focus mainly
on the use of mineral or organic fertilisers. There are also plans to improve understanding of
the practices used in more natural farming techniques (organic farming, rational farming,
integrated crop protection, etc.). Finally, pilot studies on changes in farmland will be
introduced: these will seek to determine new rural structure indicators based on the length of
hedges or separating walls. A number of projects cover the production of information at
regional level.

Interesting though they may be, these new statistical operations are very difficult to evaluate.
This is pioneering work in fields which have barely been touched and which require new
methodologies, so the results are by no means a foregone conclusion. The more frequently
stated objective in the proposals put forward is to establish new statistics, and this generally
involves introducing new methods which are suited to the data to be collected. The actions
concerning the use of fertilisers are more easily assessed than researches and analyses into the
environmental impact, the landscape or the sustainability of agriculture. The MS have,
however, accepted the high level of priority accorded by the Commission to this work. Whilst
the variety of the proposals does not yet match the broad range of needs expressed, the quality
of them suggests that the initial results will be promising.

13

5.8.

Environmental aspects of agricultural accounting

Under this heading, which was introduced in the 2001 Tapas action plan, the Commission
hoped to encourage the Member States to incorporate components of environmental interest
into existing economic accounting for agriculture and forestry. One of the topics to be
considered when compiling agricultural and forestry accounts was to be subsidies received in
respect of actions within the framework of environmental services. This action is being
implemented as part of the macroeconomic follow-up to support policies aimed at promoting
sustainable development.

It is appropriate, at the outset, to define a harmonised methodology by clearly setting out the
objectives and concepts of agricultural accounting and then studying the best method of
implementation in each country. Practical applications will then be carried out in order to
consider the actual weight of these environmental components. At the same time, more
targeted pilot studies will be carried out in some countries.

their names forward to start work in 2001 and 2002. This work
Eight countries put
concentrates on subsidies, identifying in particular those which are closely linked to the
environment and sustainable development, but also other aspects such as the compilation of
agri-environmental indicators on the basis of agricultural accounts or pilot studies at regional
level. One country (I) decided against starting work, whilst the seven others (B, DK, E, F, NL,
A and UK) agreed to carry out the planned work. Of these, two countries (B and A) are
carrying out in-depth studies of the classification of environmental aspects, and one country
(E) is carrying out a case study of a Spanish region (Sierra de Aljibe, Cadiz).

This work, which is still under way, will allow the Member States concerned to improve
coverage of the results of agricultural accounts. The information generated by the agricultural
accounts will thus be more exhaustive, and will include financial resources provided by the
State for agricultural holdings to invest in the environment and the share of production factors
involved in carrying out work to meet environmental requirements. This work will also help
with harmonising the concepts used as a basis for calculating the different agricultural
accounts, calculating new statistical indicators on the environmental aspects of farming and
measuring the impact of the remuneration of "environmental activities" on the income of
agricultural holdings.

5.9.

Rural development

The integrated development of rural areas is becoming an ever greater concern of sectoral
policy, including agricultural policy. After the regulation of markets in agricultural products,
rural development is the second most important aspect of the CAP. This generates new needs
in terms of statistical data, and particularly the availability of information on aspects of
farming that were previously less prominent.

These new requirements are for more detail in terms of the territorial breakdown of data
normally collected at national level. They also concern territorial divisions that often differ
from the administrative divisions used for most regional statistics. Requirements also extend
to information on the non-farming component of the income of holdings and families,
particularly activities that supplement farming activity and the community services provided
by farmers.

This new area of development of agricultural statistics has been spread across a number of
TAPAS proposals for 2002. Around 150 thousand euros will be allocated to this field by the

14

Community budget. The work proposed by the Member States has a pioneering aspect that
should be emphasised and encouraged. It is also very diversified from a thematic point of
view, ranging from income to the quantification of community services and studies aimed at
the more targeted use of existing structural information.

6.

CONCLUSIONS

Four annual action plans have been approved by the Commission since 1996. A fifth is
currently being drawn up for implementation in 2002. This plan will be the last unless the
period of implementation for Decision 96/411/EC is extended beyond 2002. The Community
system of agricultural statistics will face key challenges over the coming years (enlargement,
the environmental dimension into the Common Agricultural Policy,
incorporation of
consideration of the "multifunctional" role of agriculture, continuation of multilateral trade
negotiations, dwindling resources allocated to agricultural statistics in the Member States,
technological development of new data collection tools, etc.). In addition, the process of
adapting the national statistical systems to the needs arising from the reform of the CAP is far
from complete. As a result, TAPAS should continue for some years yet. This would make it
easier to effect the anticipated changes in the systems of agricultural statistics so that they
provide a better response to users' needs, particularly those of political decision-makers.

In order to improve the access to the results and to facilitate the methodological developments
achieved in the framework of the TAPAS actions,
the Commission will continue the
realisation of dissemination actions (workshops, publication of reports, etc.).

Nevertheless, when such decisions on renewal are taken, it is important to examine which
improvements or adaptations would be desirable, in the light of experience gained and bearing
in mind current developments in the Common Agricultural Policy.

It is the Commission's view that all deliberations on the future of TAPAS should take the
following considerations into account:

6.1.

Guidelines

• Any forthcoming Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on extending
TAPAS should cover the period from 2003 to 2007, i.e. a five-year period, so that this
action can fit into the Community Statistical Programme scheduled for the same period;

• The extension of TAPAS not only meets the needs for adaptation of the current
Community statistical system, but also takes on a specific interest for the Candidate
Countries considering the next enlargement of the European Union;

• The adaptations introduced in 2000 into Council Decision 96/411/EC seem to meet the
sought aims of simplification and effectiveness. Thus it is not necessary to envisage new
substantial amendments of the basic decision;

• The voluntary nature of participation by the Member States in the various actions should

not be called into question;

15

6.2.

Optimisation of resources

• The financial resources available at Community level will be relatively limited. They
should therefore be concentrated, as far as possible, on those actions and Member States
with the most pressing needs;

• Even if there were to be a reorientation towards a more targeted use of TAPAS resources at
Member State level, all the projects financed in this context should retain a definite
Community interest;

• With regard to pilot projects to try out new techniques or develop more effective means of
meeting statistical information requirements, coverage should be limited, if necessary, to a
few Member States or a single MS in order to rationalise the use of available resources.

6.3.

Work programming and assessment

• The above points would suggest that the planning of TAPAS actions should continue to be
carried out between the Commission and the Member States through the Standing
Committee on Agricultural Statistics;

• In this regard, specialised working parties in Eurostat should play an important role in the

follow up of actions undertaken and in the assessment of the results obtained;

• The Commission should, however, keep their competencies with regard to the choice of

the projects to be adopted and the evaluation of the results transmitted.

16

ANNEX 1

1996-2002 TAPAS actions - Legal framework

Year

Part(s)

Decision /OJ

Actions

1996/97

1 + 2

1996/97

1998

1999

2001

3

1

1

1

97/19/EC
(16 December 1996)
L 6 of 10/01/1997

97/599/EC
(30 July 1997)
L 240 of 2/09/1997

98/186/EC
(25 February 1998)
L 70 of 10/03/1998

1999/41/EC
(21 December 1998)
L 11 of 16/01/1999

2001/147/EC
(12 February 2001)
L 55 of 24/02/2001

– Early estimate of sowings.

– Improvement and rapid transmission of statistics in the area of fruit and

vegetables.

– Supply balances.

– Improving the forecasts of meat production.

– Protein content of milk products: methodological studies to meet the request

to supply regular statistics on this topic.

– Early estimate of sowings.

– Improvement and rapid transmission of statistics in the area of fruit and

vegetables.

– Supply balances.

– Improvement and rapid transmission of statistics in the area of fruit and

vegetables.

– Supply balances.

– Use of pesticides.

– Supply balances.

– Use of pesticides.

– Animal production forecasts.

– Agri-environmental indicators.

17

2002

1

Decision pending

– Physical data

– Environmental aspects of agricultural accounting.

– Environmental aspects of agricultural accounting

– Agri-environmental indicators

– Use of pesticides

– Rural development

18

ANNEX 2

Lightening the burden in agricultural statistics

Area

Basic legal act

OJ

Structural
surveys

Wine-growing
areas

Council
Regulation
(EEC) No 571/88

Council
Regulation
(EEC) No 357/79

L 56
of
2/3/1988

L 54
of
5/3/1979

Amendments to
legal act

Commission
Decision
(EC) No 377/98

Council Regulation
(EC) No 2329/98

OJ

L 168
of
13/6/1998

L 291
of
30 /10/1998

Fruit trees

Animal
surveys

Council Directive
(EEC) No 625/76

L 218 of
11/8/1976

Council
Directives
(EEC) No 23/93
(EEC) No 24/93
(EEC) No 25/93

(EC) No 77/97

L 149 of
21/6/1993

L 010
of 16/01/1998

Milk statistics

Council Directive
(EC) No 16/96

Council Decision
(EC) No 582/98

L 078 of
28/03/1996

L 281 of
17/10/1998

4

Legal procedure under way

19

(4)

Commission
Decisions:
(EC) No 94/432
(EC) No 94/433
(EC) No 94/434

(EC) No 95/380

(EC) No 98/718

(EC) No 99/47

(EC) No 99/547

(EC) No 2000/380

(EC) No 2000/554

Commission
Decisions:
(EC) No 97/80

(EC) No 98/325

(EC) No 99/309

L 179 of
13/07/1994

L 228
of 23/09/1995

L 342 of
17/12/1998

L 015 of
20/01/1999

L 209 of
7/08/1999

L 139 of
10/06/2000

L 235 of
19/09/2000

L 24 of
25/01/1997

L 142 of
14/05/1998

L 119 of
7/05/1999

ANNEX 3

Community expenditure under
the Annual Action Plans

Annual action plans

TAPAS
1996/97

TAPAS
1998

TAPAS
1999

TAPAS
2001

TAPAS
20025

Early estimate of sowings

Statistics in the area of fruit
and vegetables

Supply balances

Meat production forecasts

Protein content of milk
products

Use of pesticides

Agri-environmental
indicators

Environmental aspects of
agricultural accounting

Physical data

Rural development

Total allocated
Total paid
%

500 000
298 474
59.7%

450 000
294 156
65.4%

500 000
335 000
67.0%

500 000
428 880
85.8%

450 000
383 106
85.1%

800 000
328 661
41.1%

300 000
179 800
59.9%

225 000
162 490
72.2%

245 000
148 000
60.4%

250 000
123 000
49.2%

255 000
199 610
78.3%

253 000
200 000
79.1%

44 000
44 000
100.0%

209 000
209 000
100.0%

338 000
318 000
94.1%

115 000
87 000
75.7%

2 275 000
1 482 937
65.2%

1 450 000
927 630
64.0%

750 000
439 4006
58.6%

959 000
858 0006
89.5%

145.000

282.500

52.000

253.500

202.500

935.500

5

6

Predicted values (currently being discussed with the MS, to be followed, in principle, by the
Commission's approval).
This value includes amounts which may not ultimately be paid, but which correspond to actions
being implemented.

20