Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 96/16/EC on statistical surveys of milk and milk products
Date: 2003-04-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, agricultural statistics, dairy production, exchange of information, statistical method, statistics

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 2.4.2003
COM(2003) 158 final

2003/0060 (COD)

Proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

amending Council Directive 96/16/EC on statistical surveys of milk and milk products

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

Council  Directive  96/16/EC  concerns  statistical  surveys  of  milk  and  milk  products.  This
Directive 
the
implementation of the above-mentioned Council Directive on statistical surveys of milk and
milk products.

implemented  by  Decision  97/80/EC 

laying  down  provisions  for 

is 

Article 8 of the above Directive states that "No later than 1 July 1999, the Commission shall
submit to the Council a report on experience acquired in implementing this Directive. At the
same time it shall submit, in particular, the results of the analysis referred to in Article 4(2)
accompanied, where appropriate, by proposals regarding the definitive period."

A final report was drawn up following an initial interim report of 27 September 2000 (COM
(2000)600  final)  covering  the  whole  context  of  the  drafting  and  implementation  of  the
legislation concerned.

This  final Commission report to the Council and the European Parliament  gives  a  technical
assessment of the various aspects of the implementation of Directive 96/16/EC.

In the light of the conclusions of this report and of the experience acquired, the legislation on
milk  statistics  needs  to  be  amended  so  that  it  responds  better  to  the  present  needs  of  the
Common Agricultural Policy.

Account is taken, in particular, of the increasing importance of milk protein, since the changes
in milk and milk products call for reliable and comparable information on the protein content
of the main milk products.

However, the increasing importance of data on the regional production of cow's milk is also
taken into account. From a general point of view, regional statistics are important because the
Common  Agricultural  Policy  is  increasingly  becoming  a  territorial  policy,  which  requires
detailed information at regional or local level.

With specific reference to the milk sector, in most Member States milk quotas are allocated at
regional level for practical reasons, even if decision-making and the management of the milk
quota scheme remain the prerogative of the Member State. It is therefore very useful to know
the level of production in the various European regions. This information is a major input for
the analyses conducted under the Common Agricultural Policy.

Another  important  subject  is  the  definition  of  the  survey  units.  The  milk  industry  is
undergoing rapid change towards the concentration of enterprises. Comparable milk statistics
can only  be produced  on the  basis of comparable survey  units  and  at  a  sufficiently  detailed
level to avoid the problems of confidentiality but also to better define the information on the
structure of milk enterprises.

Lastly, particular attention should be paid to improving the methodology used to compile milk
statistics,  in  particular  by  using  standard  annual  questionnaires  compiled  by  the  Member
States on the basis of a model drawn up by the Commission.

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2003/0060 (COD)

Proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

amending Council Directive 96/16/EC on statistical surveys of milk and milk products

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article
285(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1,

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty2,

Whereas:

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

The  purpose  of  Council  Directive  96/16/EC3  is  to  provide  reliable  and  comparable
data on milk production and use and reliable, regular, short-term information on milk
deliveries to undertakings which treat or process milk and on the production  of  milk
products in the Member States;

In  view  of  the  growing  economic  importance  of  the  protein  content  of  milk,  it  is
becoming increasingly necessary to have statistical information on the protein content
of the main milk products;

Specialisation in agriculture is increasing in general, and the milk sector in particular,
is  currently  undergoing  regional  specialisation  which  gives  rise  to  enormous
differences  between  the  regions  of  a  single  Member  State,  requiring  detailed
information at regional or even local level;

It  is  necessary  to  record  the  production  and  use  of  milk  on  farms  according  to
standardised criteria, to improve the accuracy of such records and to conduct surveys
of local production units which treat or process milk;

To  guarantee  comparability  of  results,  methodological  reports  need  to  be  compiled
according to a standard format,

1

2

3

OJ C , , p. .
OJ C , , p. .
OJ L 78, 28.3.1996, p. 27.

3

                                                
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Council Directive 96/16/EC is amended as follows:

1. 

After Article 2(2), the following text is inserted:

"For the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) above, within the meaning of Council Regulation
(EEC)  No  696/93  on  the  statistical  units  for  the  observation  and  analysis  of  the  production
system  in  the  Community4  "the  survey  unit"  shall  be  taken  to  mean  an  enterprise  or  part
thereof  (e.g.  a  workshop,  factory,  warehouse,  office,  mine  or  depot)  situated  in  a
geographically  identified  place.  At  or  from  this  place  economic  activity  is  carried  out  for
which - save  for certain exceptions - one or  more  persons  work  (even  if  only  part-time)  for
one and the same enterprise. With the exception of the Member States where the agreement of
the enterprises to lift the confidentiality of the data has been obtained, the survey units shall
be local units."

2. 

Article 4 is amended as follows:

a) In paragraph (1)(b), the following text is inserted:

"iv)

The protein content of the main milk products;

v)
The  quantity  of  cow's  milk  produced  by  agricultural  holdings  on  a  regional  basis
(territorial unit NUTS 2) according to the most appropriate measuring or estimating method
for guaranteeing the reliability of the data."

vi)

The quantities of the main milk products reused by the sector.

b) paragraph 2 is deleted.

3. 

Article 5 is amended as follows:

in  paragraph  2,  the  last  sentence  is  replaced  by  the  following  text:  "The
a)
methodological reports shall be compiled in the form of a standard questionnaire drawn up by
the Commission in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 7."

b)

the following paragraph 3 is added:

"3. The Member States shall notify the Commission annually of the measuring or estimating
method  used  to  compile  the  data  referred  to  in  Article  4(1)  and,  where  appropriate,  of  any
updatings of the method used and the information required for interpreting them. The data on
regional milk production and on protein in the main milk products transmitted by the Member
States  shall  be  presented  in  a  reliable  manner  using  generally  recognised  statistical
methodologies".

4

OJ L 76, 30.3.1993, p. 1.

4

                                                
4. 

Article 6 is amended as follows:

a) the following text is added in paragraph 2:

"The  Commission  may  disseminate  confidential  data  on  condition  that  this  is  authorised  by
the survey units. The Member States shall ask the survey units for the authorisation and shall
inform the Commission of the response when transmitting the data to it."

b) Paragraph 3 is amended as follows:

- in subparagraph (b), the second indent is deleted.

- subparagraph (c) is replaced by the following:

"(c) in September of the year following the year of the reference date, the results referred to in
Article 1(2) and in subparagraphs (b)(v) and (c) of Article 4(1)."

Article 2

Member  States  shall  bring  into  force  the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative  provisions
necessary to comply with this Directive by 31 March 2004. They shall forthwith inform the
Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt these provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive
or shall be accompanied by such  reference on the occasion of their official publication. The
methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in
the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 3

Article 4

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament
The President

For the Council
The President

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