REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated farm statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1166/2008 and (EU) No 1337/2011
Date: 2024-04-09
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU statistics, agricultural holding, agricultural statistics, agricultural structure, data collection, data protection, personal data, statistical method

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 9.4.2024  COM(2024) 157 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated farm statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1166/2008 and (EU) No 1337/2011  
 
 
1  BACKGROUND 

The Commission (Eurostat) collects statistics on farms under Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the 
European  Parliament  and of  the  Council1.  Under  Article 18  of the  Regulation,  by  31 December 
2024 the Commission is required, after consulting the European Statistical System Committee, to 
report to Parliament and the Council on the implementation and achievement of the Regulation’s 
objectives. 

The  Regulation  applies  to  Member  States  and  to  Iceland,  Liechtenstein  and  Norway  (EEA 
relevance).  However,  Liechtenstein  is  exempted  from  the  data  reporting  obligation  under 
Article 23  of  Annex  XXI  (Statistics)  to  the  EEA  Agreement.  Switzerland  also  sent  data  and  a 
quality report to Eurostat. Candidate countries intend to produce and send to Eurostat integrated 
farm statistics and quality reports. However, none has done this so far. 

This  report  is  based  on  Eurostat’s  analysis  and  on  the  quality  reports  submitted  by  the  above-
mentioned reporting countries. Eurostat analysed the  2020 agricultural census data delivered by 
the reporting countries and assessed the completeness, user satisfaction, accuracy and reliability, 
timeliness and punctuality, coherence and comparability, confidentiality, accessibility and clarity 
and the cost and burden of the data collection exercise. 

This report covers the data and metadata of the EEA States and the declared costs of the Member 
States corresponding to the agricultural census 20202. 

2  MAIN FINDINGS 

The reporting countries collect information from individual agricultural holdings and, observing 
strict  rules  of  confidentiality,  forward  the  data  to  Eurostat.  The  information  collected  in  2020 
makes it possible to publish data on:  

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

the number of farms;  
land use and land tenure;  
livestock numbers;  
rural development measures, 
farm  management  and  farm  labour  input  (including  the  age  and  training  level  of  the 
holder  and  manager,  their  gender  and  relationship  of  the  workers  to  the  holder  of  the 
agricultural holding);  
•  other gainful activities; and  
•  animal housing and manure management. 

The data can then be aggregated by different geographic levels (countries, regions) and arranged 
by size class, legal status of the holding, standard output classes and farm type. The information 
is  made  available  for  free  online,  either  in  tabular  form  (in  Eurobase),  or  as  a  complement  to 
publications such as Statistics Explained articles or Key Figures booklets. 

1 Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on integrated farm 
statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1166/2008 and (EU) No 1337/2011 (Text with EEA relevance), OJ 
L 200, 7.8.2018, p. 1–29.. 
2 For Portugal, the reference period for the agricultural census is 2019 (derogation requested and accepted under 
Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091); for all the other reporting countries, the reference period is 2020. 

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Eurostat strives to continually improve the quality and availability of European statistics. It is also 
committed to reducing the burden on Member States and respondents. Through Regulation (EU) 
2018/1091, several measures were taken to reduce the burden on respondents in farm statistics: 

•  use of the modular approach, where the variables to be collected are allocated to different 
collection groups (core data and modules) varying in frequency or representativeness, or 
both; 

•  allowing the core data on small farms to be collected from the sample in the 2020 census 
year and no longer requiring module data on small farms in the intermediate survey years; 
•  promoting  the  use  of already-existing  administrative  data  sources (mostly  registers) and 

innovative approaches. 

The  overall  quality  for  the  census  is  good.  A  quality  management  system  is  in  place  in  22 
Member States and in Iceland. 19 Member States and Iceland reported improvements in quality 
procedures,  while  25  Member  States,  Iceland  and  Norway  have  reported  efficiency  gains  since 
the  last  data  transmission  to  Eurostat.  These  include  further  automation,  increased  use  of 
administrative data, use of online surveys, and improved training. However, the dissemination of 
aggregated  tables  by  Eurostat  is  progressing  at  a  slow  pace  and  the  underlying  IT  systems  are 
being analysed to improve the timeliness. 

The agricultural census and the related surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings provide 
reliable data on the structure of agricultural holdings in the EU. The data are commonly used by 
policymakers  to  monitor  the  implementation  of  EU  policies  such  as  the  common  agricultural 
policy (CAP). Data are also used to determine Sustainable Development Goals indicators, while 
anonymised microdata are provided to researchers, in agreement with the national data providers, 
in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) No 557/20133. 

The total EU contributions paid to the Member States were EUR 35 495 889.00, a financing rate 
of 13.25% of the estimated total eligible costs. 

2.1  RELEVANCE 

The agricultural census and the related surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings form the 
backbone of the current European Agricultural Statistical System. These provide reliable data on 
the  structure  of  agricultural  holdings  in  the  EU,  which  can  be  used  to  assess  the  state  of 
agriculture and to monitor trends. Since 1966, farm structure data have been used as a benchmark 
and basis (especially a sampling basis) for other agricultural statistics, and are commonly used by 
policymakers to monitor implementation of EU policies such as the CAP. 

Farm structure data are also used to determine some Sustainable Development Goals indicators; 
these are then provided to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 
Anonymised microdata are provided to researchers, in agreement with national data providers. 

3  Commission  Regulation  (EU)  No 557/2013  of 17 June  2013  implementing  Regulation (EC)  No 223/2009  of 
the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  European  Statistics  as  regards  access  to  confidential  data  for 
scientific purposes and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 831/2002 (Text with EEA relevance), OJ L 
164, 18.6.2013, p. 16. 

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2.1.1  Completeness 

The  automated  validation  procedures  guarantee  that  the  microdata  sets  that  are  transmitted  to 
Eurostat are complete. 

2.1.2  User satisfaction 

User satisfaction surveys have been conducted in 8 Member States. The surveys found that users 
were satisfied in 7 Member States and highly satisfied in 1 Member State. 

2.2  ACCURACY AND RELIABILITY 

The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the census in several EU countries. This mainly 
took  the  form  of  delays  to  various  activities,  especially  printing  questionnaires,  training 
interviewers  and  supervisors,  contracting,  data  collection  and access  to  administrative  registers. 
In  response,  the  European  Statistical  System  Working  Group  on  Structure  of  Agricultural 
Holdings set up a task force to discuss the practices used in Europe to minimise these difficulties. 
The task force prepared a report entitled ‘Minimising the impact of COVID-19 on data quality in 
the agricultural census’, which presents the best of these practices. Although  the practices apply 
to  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  they  are  also  applicable  in  any  other  similar  situation  of  general 
restrictions, and even in normal situations. 

Eurostat  collects  quality  reports  on  integrated  farm  statistics  corresponding  to  each  data 
transmission.  The  reports  describe  the  methods  and  quality  aspects  of  data  collection  based  on 
self-assessments  by  the  countries;  they  are  drawn  up  under  Implementing  Regulation  (EU) 
2020/405 specifying the arrangements for, and contents of, the quality reports to be transmitted 
under Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated 
farm statistics. Eurostat used the national quality reports to compile an EU-level quality report. 

A quality management system is in place in 22 Member States and in Iceland. 19 Member States 
and Iceland reported improvements in quality procedures, while 25 Member States, Iceland and 
Norway  reported  efficiency  gains  since  the  last  data  transmission  to  Eurostat.  These  included 
further  automation  and  increased  use  of  administrative  data  sources  such  as  the  Integrated 
Administration  and  Control  System  (EU  Regulation  1306/2013  and  Regulation  2021/2116), 
animal registers, organic farming registers or vineyards registers4. The use of online surveys and 
further training  were  also  indicated as  improvements.  Most  EEA reporting countries  found that 
sampling  errors  had  no  impact  on  data  quality  and  that  the  impact  of  coverage  errors,  non-
response errors, measurement errors and processing errors on data quality is low or absent. 

21 Member States, Iceland and Norway complied with all precision requirements in Regulation 
(EU)  2018/1091,  while  in  6  Member  States  the  rate  of  non-compliance  with  precision 
requirements was lower than 10%. The overall quality for the census is good. 

4  For  details  on  the  use  of  administrative  data  sources  by  countries  for  each  collected  variable,  metadata  is 
available  on  Eurostat  website  under  https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/agriculture/data/ancillary-data  (use  of 
administrative data sources) 

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2.3  TIMELINESS AND PUNCTUALITY 

Article 12(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 set a deadline of 15 months for the data and quality 
reports to be transmitted to Eurostat, from the end of the reference year 2020. 

Most EEA States have met the data and quality report submission deadlines. 

•  20 countries met the reporting deadlines laid down in Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 and, for 

the Member States, in their grant agreements signed with Eurostat. 

•  At the request of 3 Member States, their grant agreements with Eurostat were amended on 
the grounds of force majeure in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (under explicit 
provisions  foreseen  in  Article  II.15  of  the  grant  agreements).  The  amended  grant 
agreements  set  extended  deadlines  for  data  and  quality  reporting  that  exceeded  the 
deadline  in  Regulation  (EU)  2018/1091.  The  3  Member  States  have  met  the  extended 
deadlines  laid  down  in  the  amended  grant  agreements.  The  coronavirus  crisis  was 
considered an exceptional situation justifying the extension of the deadline. 

•  Minor delays of up to 13 days in transmitting the microdata (2 countries) or quality report 
(2  countries)  compared  to  the  deadlines  laid  down  in  either  the  grant  agreements  or 
Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 were observed. These minor delays are acceptable given the 
complexity  of  the  data  collections  and  in  some  cases  the  substantial  number  of  records 
and  exceptional  circumstances  caused  by  the  pandemic.  These  delays  did  not  affect  the 
dissemination of the data. 

•  1  Member  State  delivered  the  data  on  the  ‘animal  housing  and  manure  management’ 
module  with  a  delay  of  1  month  compared  to  the  deadline  in  the  grant  agreement. 
Eurostat  accepted  the  delay  on  the  grounds  of  force  majeure  related  to  the  COVID-19 
pandemic.  The  data  (and  the  quality  report)  met  the  deadline  in  Regulation  (EU) 
2018/1091 and the dissemination of the animal housing data was not affected. 

•  1 country met the deadline set in Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 for the quality report but not 

for the data. The data was sent to Eurostat 2 months after the deadline. 

Automatic validation of structure and content is applied to the data, and countries receive a report 
indicating whether there are any errors. If required, countries re-submit the data until no errors are 
reported. Under the post-validation procedure, if Eurostat identifies any inconsistencies, reporting 
countries are requested to check the data and the quality report and to submit corrected datasets 
and quality reports. Feedback and revisions were mostly sent within an appropriate timeframe. 

After  countries  transmit  the  microdata,  Eurostat  needs  to  process  it  and  apply  confidentiality 
methods  before  publishing  the  aggregated  indicator  tables  in  Eurobase.  This  is  a  complex  and 
lengthy procedure that can take up to several months for each of the published datasets. The data 
may  be  revised  at  any  time;  in  the  current  campaign  Eurostat  is  attempting  to  revise  published 
data dating back to 2005. 

Out  of  250  existing  farm structure  related  tables  on  Eurostat  public database,  30  priority  tables 
were selected for revision. The selection was made on the basis of relevance for data users5. One 
year after data validation ended, only 10 of the priority tables are published. Due to the specificity 

5 
https://www.iweps.be/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023March_NTTS-New-Techniques-and-Technologies-
for-Statistics-Eurostat-book_of_abstracts.pdf (Lampach, N. (2023) Strategy to Modernise Agricultural Statistics: 
New Pathways for the Future (abstract), p. 484-487) 

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of the datasets and particularly the volume of data to be handled, the underlying IT infrastructure 
was  not  able  to  process  the  data  and  perform  the  necessary  calculations  in  a  reasonable  time, 
adding unforeseen delays. Moreover, the instability of the hosting datacentre services provided by 
DG  DIGIT  for  SAS  (the  IT  system  used  to  perform  the  calculations)  provoked  several 
interruptions  in  the  long  calculation  process,  forcing  restarts  and  adding  additional  delays. 
Currently  Eurostat  and  DIGIT  are  in  the  process  of  attempting  to  solve  this  situation  in  the 
shortest delay possible. A detailed assessment of the IT system  is being performed to define an 
action plan to improve the performance and the response time of the system during the coming 
months. 

2.4  COHERENCE AND COMPARABILITY 

Eurostat published a handbook for the 2020 integrated farm statistics, which has further improved 
the coherence and the comparability of data between countries. 

For  the  period  covered  by  this  report,  the  core  data  can  be  considered  as  comparable  across 
countries.  However,  the  module  data  are  not  always  comparable  across  countries,  because 
Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 decreased the burden by not requiring module data on small farms. In 
countries where the main frame does not cover agricultural holdings accounting for at least 98% 
of the total utilised agricultural area (without kitchen gardens) and at least 98% of the country’s 
total  livestock  units,  it  was  possible  (but  not  mandatory)  to  send  module  data  for  the  farms  in 
what is known as a ‘frame extension’. 

The  length  of  the  farm  structure  time  series  varies  between  countries.  In  some  countries,  the 
online time series go back to 1990, while other countries started only in 2013. The core data are 
comparable  in  the  time  series  mainly  as  long  as  the  country  did  not  change  the  coverage 
thresholds between years. As for the module data, these are comparable in the time series mainly 
as long as the country did not change the coverage thresholds between years and as long as the 
2020  module  data  cover  agricultural  holdings  accounting  for  at  least  98%  of  the  total  utilised 
agricultural area (without kitchen gardens) and at least 98% of the country’s total livestock units. 

The EU-level quality report includes information about the coverage, possibilities and limitations 
of comparability across countries and comparability over time for each group of countries. 

For  the  2020 agricultural census  data  collection, a derogation  was  accepted for  Portugal  (under 
Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091), allowing the reference period to be 2019. Greece did 
not request a derogation. 

The 2020 agricultural census is part of the  World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2020. 
This enhances comparability with countries outside Europe, including the USA and Japan. 

2.5  CONFIDENTIALITY 

Microdata collected under integrated farm statistics are confidential. 

Based  on  the  microdata,  Eurostat  computes  aggregates,  which  are  disseminated  in  the  form  of 
statistical  tables.  For  the  aggregated  results,  Eurostat  applies  methods  related  to  primary 
confidentiality  and  reliability.  Eurostat  flags  and  suppresses  the  confidential  data  (with  too  few 
units and/or dominant contributors) and the unreliable data (with high sampling errors) in table 
cells. For cell values that are published, Eurostat rounds all published cell values (be they number 
of holdings, hectares, animal heads, etc.) to the nearest multiple of 10. 

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Eurostat  has  not  yet  applied  methods  related  to  secondary  confidentiality  in  farm  structure 
statistics. This is because the results of a 1993 study showed that additional data are lost without 
realistic risk of disclosure and because of the large number of interlinked tables disseminated on 
Eurostat’s  website and  following  ad hoc  requests  from  users.  As the  number  of  farms  has  been 
decreasing  and  more  data  cells  are  expected  to  become  confidential,  Eurostat  has  launched  a 
project to renew the analysis made in 1993 and to identify a set of methods that ensures a good 
compromise between realistic risks of disclosure and the amount of data available to users. While 
the  set  of  methods  would  include  secondary  confidentiality,  there  are  also  plans  to  explore 
alternatives to secondary confidentiality or at least to suppression of secondary confidential cell 
data. Alternatives include perturbation of cell values, implying smaller data loss. 

2.6  ACCESSIBILITY AND CLARITY 

2.6.1  Online database 

Eurostat’s public database6 provides European statistics on farms in more than 200 datasets. The 
main data tables are grouped under farm structure (ef). Revision of these datasets is ongoing, to 
better respond to user needs. Access to the tables is public and free of charge. 

2.6.2  Publications 

Eurostat publishes data and articles on farm structure in its online Statistics Explained collection 
and in statistical books. Farm structure data are also used by other dissemination products such as 
the key figures publication, Eurostat’s regional yearbook and the statistical atlas. 

2.6.3  Metadata 

Eurostat collects and publishes national quality reports with detailed information on the quality of 
the  data  and  on  the  methods  used  to  collect  them.  The  EU  level  quality  report  compiles  the 
information given in the national quality reports. 

2.6.4  Microdata access 

Eurostat only grants access to farm structure microdata for scientific purposes, in accordance with 
the above-mentioned Commission Regulation (EU) No 557/2013 as regards access to confidential 
data  for  scientific  purposes.  Access  to  microdata  is  restricted  to  protect  the  anonymity  of 
agricultural  holdings.  To  access  anonymised  microdata  (also  known  as  scientific  use  files), 
research organisations need to go through the eligibility procedure. The organisations have to be 
recognised as research entities. All research projects submitted by researchers are scrutinised by 
Eurostat and national statistical bodies. Eurostat applies several conditions for research proposals 
to  be  accepted,  namely:  scientific  content  of  the  proposal,  comparative  analysis  of  several 
countries,  proper  data  security  measures  in  place  and  publication  of  results.  In  addition,  each 
research proposal has to be accepted by the national statistical bodies. If access is not allowed by 
a national body, the data of that country are removed from the set. 

6 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database 

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2.7  COST AND BURDEN 

Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 further strengthened the use of administrative data sources and other 
methods or innovative approaches in addition to statistical surveys. The use of administrative data 
has increased markedly in recent years, causing the number of variables directly collected from 
farmers to decrease by 10% between 2013 and 2020. In contrast, the use of other administrative 
sources (such as those used for management of subsidies for CAP rural development measures, 
cadastral sources or other sources indicated by countries) increased from 2.1% in 2013 to 5.9% in 
2020.  Administrative  data  sources  are  mainly  used  to  directly  replace  variables,  to  pre-fill 
questionnaires  and  in  cases  of  non-response,  decreasing  the  burden  on  respondents  by  using 
existing data sources multiple times. 

Eurostat assessed the costs and cost-effectiveness of the 2020 agricultural census data collection 
under Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 using the grant applications from the Member States. 

The estimated total costs to carry out the 2020 agricultural census reported by the Member States 
in the grant applications were EUR 278 128 426.97, while the estimated total eligible costs were 
EUR 267 872 491.16. 

Eurostat does not know the real final costs for most of the Member States. For 2020, the national 
bodies  no  longer  needed  to  identify  the  actual  eligible  costs  covered  or  to  provide  supporting 
documents,  such  as  accounting  statements,  to  prove  the  amount  declared.  Member  States  only 
had to report the final costs if the final costs for at least one data collection component decreased 
by  more  than  20%  compared  to  the  estimated  costs.  Nevertheless,  Eurostat  aims  to  have  a 
realistic  picture  of  the  entire  costs  of  carrying  out  the  data  collection  required  under  EU 
legislation. To that end, it encouraged the Member States to report the entire costs starting with 
the 2020 data collection7. 

The total EU  contributions  paid to  the  Member  States  were  EUR 35 495 889.00,  representing a 
financing rate of 13.25% of the estimated total eligible costs. 

Cost-effectiveness  was  one  of  the  criteria  for  evaluating  grant  applications.  For  each  country, 
cost-effectiveness was assessed by relating the estimated costs to the number of variables planned 
to be collected and to the number of agricultural holdings for which data were planned to be sent 
to Eurostat. This approach  made it possible to compare cost-effectiveness across countries with 
very different numbers of agricultural holdings and collected variables. However, the pertinence 
of this approach was weakened by some countries not reporting the entire costs of data collection. 

Moreover, the cost reduction between 2016 and 2020 cannot be quantified in a meaningful way, 
even  if  the  2020  costs  are  inflation  adjusted.  The  form  of  financing  changed  between  2016 
(reimbursement of the eligible costs of the action) and 2020 (single lump sum contribution)8. For 
2020,  countries  were  more  inclined,  since  so  encouraged,  to  report  the  entire  costs  of  the  data 
collection. Before 2020, countries tended to report only part of the costs, namely the part that was 

7 Even if the 2020 grant application provided a good opportunity to report the entire costs, some national bodies 
did not do so. 
8 European Commission, Eurostat, ‘Decision authorising the use of a single lump sum contribution for the core 
structural data, frame extension and module data collections under the Integrated Farm Statistics 
Programme’. 

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easily supported by accounting statements and sufficient to obtain the maximum EU contribution 
laid down by the legislation). 

3  CONCLUSIONS 

Completeness of the data collections for integrated farm statistics and in particular  for the 2020 
agricultural  census  is  guaranteed  as  automated  procedures  for  validation  are  applied.  User 
satisfaction surveys at national level indicate users are satisfied.  

In terms of accuracy and reliability, the overall quality for the census is considered good. 

The data collections were run in a timely way. However, timeliness for agricultural census data 
dissemination at European level needs to be improved. 

The  coherence  and  comparability  of  the  data  collection  has  been  further  improved  by  the  new 
Eurostat data collection guidelines, the introduction of automated validation procedures,  and the 
use of administrative data sources and innovative methodologies. 

Microdata collected under integrated farm statistics are confidential, and confidentiality treatment 
is  applied  to  the  computed  aggregates,  which  are  disseminated  in  the  form  of  statistical  tables. 
Eurostat is investigating further improvements on confidentiality treatment. 

Access to the statistical tables is public and free of charge and the data feeds a range of different 
publications. An EU level quality report compiles the metadata provided by the data providers. 
Access to microdata is restricted to protect the anonymity of agricultural holdings, but scientific 
use files are made available for researchers under certain conditions. 

There have been measurable effects on reducing the reporting burden, thanks to the introduction 
of  a  modular  approach,  the  collection  of core data  on  small  farms  from  a  sample  in  the  census 
year 20209 and the promotion of the use of already-existing administrative data sources (mostly 
registers). In some countries, qualitative efficiency gains were also observed, as mentioned in the 
national quality reports. Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 enabled countries to reduce burden. 

However,  a  quantitative  burden  reduction  in  terms  of  costs  or  number  of  holdings  cannot  be 
meaningfully computed by comparing the 2020 data collection with the previous data collections. 
For one thing, the form of European financing changed in 2020 and countries were encouraged to 
report for 2020 the entire costs to Eurostat. For another, the number of holdings decreased over 
time, not only due to burden reduction but also to the concentration of agricultural activities, and 
the effects of these two factors cannot be clearly dissociated. 

4  RECOMMENDATIONS 

Eurostat strives to continuously improve the quality and availability of European statistics and is 
committed to reducing the burden on Member States and respondents. This effort is welcomed by 
data providers and should be continued in the future campaigns for farm structure data collection. 

9 In the 2023 and 2026 sample years, module data on small farms are not required. 

8 

 
 
 
 
The complexity associated with the post-processing of the datasets affects the timely publication 
of  all  aggregated  indicator  tables  in  Eurostat’s  public  database.  Eurostat  is  seeking  further 
automation to improve the timeliness of the dissemination of results. 

Integrated farm statistics data are widely used by policymakers to monitor the implementation of 
European  policies  such  as  the  CAP.  It  is  recommended  that  farm  structure  data  collections  are 
kept for the upcoming campaign, covering years 2030-2040. 

The total EU contributions paid to the Member States represent a financing rate of 13.25% of the 
estimated total eligible costs. It is recommended that the EU support be maintained in upcoming 
data collection campaigns. 

9