Amended 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 pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty)
Date: 2003-11-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU statistics, agricultural statistics, milk, milk product, statistical method

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 28.11.2003
COM(2003) 736 final

2003/0060 (COD)

Amended 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 pursuant to Article 250 (2)
of the EC Treaty)

2003/0060 (COD)

Amended 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

1.

BACKGROUND

2 April 2003: adoption of the proposal by the Commission and its transmission to the
Council and the European Parliament,

COM (2003) 158 final – 2003/0060 (COD)

2 September 2003: opinion of the European Parliament – first reading

2.

THE COMMISSION'S OBJECTIVE

Council Directive  96/16/EC concerns  statistical  surveys  of milk and  milk  products.
Article  8 of the  above-mentioned  Directive  requires the Commission  to  present  the
Council with a report on experience with the surveys.

A  final  report  was  compiled  following  an  interim  report  on  27  September  2000
N° COM  (2000)  600  final,  setting  out  the  overall  context  of  the  drafting  and
implementation of the legislation in question.

The Commission's final report to the Council and the European Parliament contains a
technical assessment of the various aspects of implementation of Directive 96/16/EC.
In the light of the report's conclusions and of the experience acquired in this field, the
legislation on milk statistics requires amendment so as to respond more  fully to the
present needs of the common agricultural policy.

By  way  of  example,  consideration  was  given  to  the  growing  importance  of  milk
protein, but also to that of regional data on cow's milk production. In most Member
States, milk quotas are, for practical reasons, allocated at regional level, even though
the decision-making power and the management of the milk quota system remain the
prerogative of the Member States. Another important question is the definition of the
survey  units.  Lastly,  special  attention  needs  to  be  given  to  improving  the
methodology of milk statistics, for example, by using standard annual questionnaires
compiled by the Member States on the basis of a model devised by the Commission.

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3.

OPINION  OF  THE  COMMISSION  ON  THE  AMENDMENTS  PRESENTED  BY  THE
PARLIAMENT

3.1.

Amendments accepted by the Commission

The  European  Parliament  has  proposed  six  amendments,  all  of  which  have  been
accepted by the Commission.

In particular:

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-

-

-

-

-

amendment 1 concerns recital 3 and deletes the words "or even local";

amendment  2  deletes  the  new  recital  4  on  the  possibility  of  conducting  the
surveys among local production units;

amendment 3 replaces Article 1(1) defining the survey units as local units for
those Member States  which  do not obtain the  agreement  of  the  enterprises  to
lift confidentiality of the data;

amendment 4  concerns Article 1(2).  It  abolishes  the  collection  of  data  on  the
quantities of the main milk products reused in the production chain and allows
a choice  to  continue to be  made between  the  two  methods:  (i)  an  estimate  of
the protein content of fresh products (output) and (ii) the protein content of the
products used (input),  in  order  to  assess  the  protein  content  of  the  main  milk
products;

amendment  5  concerns  Article  1(3).  It  simplifies  the  reference  to  the
methodological reports, with a view to avoiding redundancy;

amendment  6  concerns  Article  1(4).  It  replaces  the  paragraph  on  the
dissemination of confidential data.

Changing the survey unit from the "enterprise" to the "local production unit" would
appear to entail difficulties with application in a number of Member States.

Most Member States have difficulty in collecting data on reuse within the sector. The
collection of such data could prove very expensive and is liable to produce unreliable
data which do not lend themselves to comparison.

As regards data measurement methods allowing calculation of the protein content of
milk  products,  the  Commission  will  endeavour  to  obtain  comparable  and  reliable
data.

The Commission accepts all six amendments proposed by the  European Parliament
and will take them into account in its amended proposal.

3.2

Amendments not accepted by the Commission:

None

3.3

Amendments rejected by the Commission

None

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4.

CONCLUSION

In  the  light  of  Article  250(2)  of  the  EC  Treaty,  the  Commission  will,  as  indicated
above,  amend  its  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.

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