Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation No 79/65/EEC setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Economic Community
Date: 2003-08-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community budget, administrative expenditure (EU), disclosure of information, farm accountancy data network

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 1.8.2003
COM(2003) 472 final

2003/0182 (CNS)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation No 79/65/EEC setting up a network for the collection of
accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings
in the European Economic Community

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The  field  of  observation  of  Council  Regulation  No  79/65/EEC  setting  up  a  network  for  the
collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings
in  the  European  Economic  Community  is  divided  into  divisions  (regions).  According  to
Article 2(d) thereof,  for the purpose of that Regulation a  “division” means the territory of a
Member  State,  or  any  part  thereof  as  delimited  with  a  view  to  the  selection  of  returning
holdings; a list of such divisions appears in the Annex to the Regulation.

At present, if the list of divisions has to be adapted, in order to reflect the different conditions
of  agriculture  in  the  Member  States,  it  is  necessary  to  amend  the  Regulation.  As  such
adjustments should be considered a part of the normal management of the FADN, it should be
possible  to  adapt  the  list  of  divisions  using  the  procedure  laid  down  in  Article  19  of
Regulation No 79/65/EEC.

Under Article 22 of Regulation No 79/65/EEC, appropriations to cover those costs of the data
network attributable specifically to payment of fees to accountancy offices in consideration of
their  performance  of  the  duties  referred  to  in  Articles  9  and  14  are  to  be  included  in  the
Community budget, in the Commission section.

The  data  network  set  up  by  Regulation  No  79/65/EEC  provides  the  Commission  with
objective  and  relevant  information  on  the  common  agricultural  policy.  The  network  is
therefore a useful tool that enables the Community to develop this policy and it serves, as a
consequence, the Member States as well as the Community. A proper legal basis is required
for the financing of the computerised systems on which the network relies and of studies into
and development activities of other aspects of the network. So far these operations have been
provided  for  in  the  remark  to  budget  line  B2-5120,  which  finances  the  Farm  Accountancy
Data  Network.  The  purpose  of  this  Regulation  is  to  include  these  operations  in  Regulation
No 79/65/EEC in order to create an appropriate legal basis for their financing.

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2003/0182 (CNS)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION

amending Regulation No 79/65/EEC setting up a network for the collection of
accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings
in the European Economic Community

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the third
subparagraph of Article 37(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission1,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament2,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee3,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions4,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The  data  network  set  up  by  Council  Regulation  No  79/65/EEC5  provides  the
Commission  with  objective  and  relevant  information  on  the  common  agricultural
policy.

For  management  reasons,  the  Commission  should  be  authorised  to  amend  the  list  of
divisions of Member States set out in the Annex to Regulation No 79/65/EEC, at the
request of a Member State.

The data network is a useful tool that enables the  Community  to develop this policy
and  it  serves,  as  a  consequence,  the  Member  States  as  well  as  the  Community.  The
costs  of  the  computerised  systems  on  which  the  network  relies  and  of  studies  and
development activities of other aspects of the network, should therefore be eligible for
Community financing.

(4)

Regulation No 79/65/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly,

1

2

3

4

5

OJ C …, …, p. …
OJ C …, …, p. …
OJ C …, …, p. …
OJ C …, …, p. …
OJ 109, 23.6.1965, p. 1859/65. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1256/97 (OJ L 174,
2.7.1997, p. 7).

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation No 79/65/EEC is hereby amended as follows:

(1)

The following Article 2a is added:

“Article 2a

At the request of a Member State the list of divisions is amended in accordance with
the  procedure  laid  down  in  Article  19,  provided  that  the  request  concerns  the
Member State’s divisions.”

(2)

Article 22(1) is replaced by the following:

“1. Appropriations to be included in the general budget of the European Union, in

the Commission section, shall cover:

(a)

(b)

those  costs  of  the  data  network  attributable  to  payment  of  fees  to
accountancy  offices  in  consideration  of  their  performance  of  the  duties
referred to in Articles 9 and 14;

all the costs of the computerised systems operated by the Commission for
the  reception,  verification,  processing  and  analysis  of  accountancy  data
supplied by the Member States.

The  costs  referred  to  in  point  (b)  include,  where  appropriate,  the  costs  of
disseminating the results of those operations and the costs of studies into, and
development of, other aspects of the data network.”

This  Regulation  shall  enter  into  force  on  the  seventh  day  following  its  publication  in  the
Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 2

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council
The President

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LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Policy area: Agriculture - Other agricultural operations

Activity: Policy Strategy and Coordination for DG Agriculture

TITLE OF ACTION: FARM ACCOUNTANCY DATA NETWORK (FADN)

1.

BUDGET LINE + HEADING

B2-5120

Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN)

2.

2.1

OVERALL FIGURES

Total  allocation  for  action  (Part  B):  EUR  4.7  million  in  commitment
appropriations

2.2

Period of application

2003-2006

2.3

(a)

Overall multiannual estimate of expenditure

Schedule  of  commitment  appropriations/payment  appropriations 
intervention) (see point 6.1.1)

(financial

EUR million (to three decimal places)

2003

2004

2005

2006

Total

Commitments

1,091

1,150

1,200

1,250

4,691

Payments

1,091

1,150

1,200

1,250

4,691

(b)

Overall financial impact of human resources

No impact

2.4

Compatibility with financial programming and financial perspective

X

Proposal is compatible with existing financial programming.

3.

BUDGET CHARACTERISTICS

Type of
expenditure

New

EFTA
contribution

Contributions from
applicant countries

Non-
comp.

Diff.

NO

NO

NO

Heading in
financial
perspective

3. Internal
policies

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4.

LEGAL BASIS

Third subparagraph of Article 37(2) of the Treaty

5.

5.1

DESCRIPTION AND GROUNDS

Need for Community intervention

5.1.1

Objectives pursued

The basic data required for the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) collected
via a system of annual surveys based on a sample of farm accounts in each Member
State is intended to:

(cid:1)  provide  the  Commission  departments  in  general,  and  the  administrators  of  the
common  agricultural  policy  (including  rural  development)  in  particular,  with
detailed information on the economic situation  of farms in all the Member States
and regions of the European Union;

(cid:1)  enable  the  Commission  to  respond  to  requests  for  quantitative  and  specific

information as regards:

– 

– 

the  evaluation  of  the  impact  of  the  existing  agricultural  policy  on  the
economic behaviour of farmers and on farm income, and

the simulation of the forecast impact of different existing alternatives of
CAP reform.

However, to ensure that it can provide a database that is available to all the Member
States  and  the  EU  and  that  supplies  comparable  information,  the  European
administration  has  to  keep  the  data  and  other  means  to  allow  it  to  respond
accurately  and  rapidly  to  inquiries  about  the  economic  situation  of  farms.  To  this
end it is necessary to develop IT systems, including studies on these systems, for use
by the Commission to receive Member States’ accounting data, and to check, handle
and  analyse  that  data,  including,  where  applicable,  dissemination  of  the  results  of
these  activities,  and  studies  on  other  aspects  of  the  data  network  referred  to  in
Article 1(1) of Regulation No 79/65/EEC and the development of that network.

5.2

Action envisaged and budget intervention arrangements

The data network set up by Regulation No 79/65/EEC provides the Commission with
objective and relevant information on the common agricultural policy. It is therefore
a useful tool  that  enables  the  Community  to  develop  this  policy  and  it  serves,  as  a
consequence,  the  Member  States  as  well  as  the  Community.  The  costs  of  the
computerised  systems  on  which the  network relies, and of  studies  and  development
activities of other aspects of the network, should therefore be eligible for Community
financing.

5.3

Methods of implementation

Direct management by the Commission.

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6.

6.1

FINANCIAL IMPACT

Total financial impact on Part B - (over the entire programming period)

6.1.1

Financial intervention

Commitments (in EUR million to three decimal places)

2003

1,091

2004

1,150

2005

1,200

2006

1,250

Total

4,691

Breakdown

Collection, processing,
analysis and
dissemination of FADN
data, development of
other aspects of FADN

TOTAL

1,091

1,150

1,200

1,250

4,691

7.

IMPACT ON STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURE

None

8.

8.1

FOLLOW-UP AND EVALUATION

Follow-up arrangements

Implementation  is  subject  to  ex-ante  and  ex-post  controls  by  the  departments
concerned in DG AGRI.

DG AGRI G.3 carries out monitoring and follow-up of the objectives of the operation
throughout its implementation.

9.

ANTI-FRAUD MEASURES

Since  the  operation  is  targeted  at  the  Commission,  it  will  carry  out  its  own  direct
checks.

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