CELEX: 31971L0286
Language: en
Date: 1971-07-26 00:00:00
Title: Council Directive 71/286/EEC of 26 July 1971 concerning the statistical surveys to be carried out by the Member States in order to determine the production potential of plantations of certain types of fruit trees

Official Journal of the European Communities                                     667
9.8.71                              Official Journal of the European Communities                           No L 179/21
                                                COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
                                                    of 26 July 1971
               concerning the statistical surveys to be carried out by the Member States in order to
                    determine the production potential of plantations of certain types of fruit trees
                                                     (71/286/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                       Whereas, in theory, surveys should be limited to
                                                               undertakings in which a minimum area of 1500
                                                               square metres is planted with apple, pear, peach or
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                   orange trees, with a view to fruit production for sale;
European Economic Community, and in particular                 whereas orchards less than 1500 square metres in
Article 43 thereof;
                                                               area may be disregarded because of their negligible
                                                               influence on market supply;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ;
Having regard to the Opinion of the European                   Whereas uniform surveys should be carried out in
Parliament1 ;                                                  each Member State on the main varieties of each type
                                                               of fruit endeavouring at the same time to establish
Whereas the Commission, in order to perform the                subdivisions according to variety which are as
task conferred upon it by the Treaty and by                    complete as necessary;
Community provisions governing the common
organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables,            Whereas, since the annual calculations of production
needs to be kept well informed on the production               potential should be based on the results of these
potential of plantations of certain species of fruit           surveys, indications as to the age of trees, the density
trees within the Community and to have available               of plantation and, where appropriate, irrigation
medium-term estimates of production and supply on              should also be obtained; whereas these results should
the markets;                                                   be notified to the Commission as rapidly as possible ;
Whereas surveys of fruit tree plantations are                  Whereas a Member State which, immediately before
currently carried out only by some Member States ;             the entry into force of this Directive, carried out or
whereas these surveys do not permit the precise,               prepared surveys on orchards should be permitted to
uniform     and   synchronised    observation    of   the      use the results of these surveys if the latter enable the
production and supply of fruit on the markets;                 objective of this Directive to be achieved and comply
whereas a medium-term estimate of production and               with essential Community criteria;
supply on the markets is now being made only by
some Member States;
                                                               Whereas the preparation of medium-term estimates
                                                               requires that each year Member States should
Whereas it is therefore advisable to carry out surveys         estimate and notify the Commission of the area of
concurrently in all Member States on plantations of            fruit trees which has been cleared ; whereas the
fruit trees of the same type in accordance with the            Commission should also be sent details every year of
same criteria and with comparable accuracy; whereas            new plantations of fruit trees of the above-mentioned
new plantations attain their full yield only after a           species;
certain number of years ; whereas these surveys
should therefore be repeated every five years;
whereas in this way reliable statistics may be                 Whereas, in any Member State where, since the last
obtained on production potential taking account of             survey on fruit tree plantations, exceptionally
the fruit trees which are not yet productive;                  extensive clearing has been noted, special and more
                                                               detailed surveys should be carried out on the volume
                                                               of clearing and the results thereof notified to the
1 OJ No C 11, 5.2.1971 , p. 32.                                Commission;
 ---pagebreak---  668                                Official Journal of the European Communities
Whereas consideration should also be given to                  4.      Any Member State which, during the two years
statistics resulting from the application of Council           preceding the entry into force of this Directive,
Regulation (EEC) No 2517/69 of 9 December 1969                 carried out surveys on its territory on orchards or
laying down certain measures for reorganising                  which prepared the material for them, may use the
Community fruit production,1 as last amended by                results of these surveys, provided that they meet the
Regulation (EEC) No 2476/702;                                  objectives defined and the essential Community
                                                               criteria fixed in this Directive. However, in
Whereas the Commission must submit reports so that             subsequent surveys, that Member State must observe
the Council may examine to what extent the surveys             the Community criteria and the timing of the survey
and estimates carried out enable the objective of this         fixed for the Community.
Directive to be achieved and must suggest, where
appropriate, that methods should, be aligned;
                                                                                        Article 2
Whereas, in the interests of optimum co-ordination,
all questions raised by the application of this                1 . In carrying out the surveys provided for in
Directive must be dealt with by consultation and               Article 1 , the following characteristics are to be noted
standing collaboration between the Commission and              in respect of the species of fruit referred to in Article
Member States;
                                                               1 ( 1 ).
Whereas the financial responsibility of the                    These surveys must be organised so that the results
Community needs to be established with regard to               may be presented in various combinations of these
expenditure incurred by the Member States for the              characteristics .
first survey laid down by this Directive;
                                                               A. Variety of fruit
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE :
                                                               For each species of fruit, and in order of importance,
                        Article 1                              enough varieties must be shown to enable a separate
                                                               assessment to be made for each Member State, by
1 . Member States shall carry out in 1972, and in              variety, of at least 80% of the total area planted with
the spring of each fifth year thereafter, surveys on           fruit trees of the species in question and, in any case,
plantations of fruit trees existing on their territory for     all varieties representing 3% or more of the total area
the production of dessert apples, dessert pears,               planted with fruit trees of the species in question.
peaches and oranges.
                                                               Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
2. The survey required under paragraph 1 shall                 do not need to distinguish between varieties of peach
apply to all undertakings having an area planted with          trees. The survey relating to orange trees shall be
the species of fruit trees referred to in paragraph 1 ,        carried out in France and Italy only, and in France no
                                                               distinction between varieties shall be made .
provided that the area covers at least 1500 square
metres and that the fruit produced are entirely or
mainly intended for sale.                                      B. Age of trees
The survey shall cover pure and mixed crops, that is           Age of trees must be calculated from the time of their
to say plantations -of fruit trees of several of the           planting in the orchard. The planting season
species referred to in paragraph 1 or of one or more           extending from the autumn to the spring shall be
of them together with other species .                          considered as a single period. When there has been
                                                               double grafting, the time when this was carried out
The survey shall also cover areas cultivated not only          shall be the determining factor.
for fruit production but also for other kinds of
agricultural production, provided fruit trees of the           The following classes of age shall be laid down :
species referred to in paragraph 1 are the main crop.
                                                               Less than
3 . The survey may be either exhaustive or based on            1 year              5 —   9 years
random sampling.
                                                               1 year            10 — 14 years
                                                               2 years           15 — 24 years
                                                               3 years           25 years and over
1 OJ No L 318, 18.12.1969, p. 15 .
2 OJ No L 266, 9.12.1970, p. 2.                                4 years
 ---pagebreak---                                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                     669
C. Net area planted, number of trees and. density of                                    Article 4
    plantation
                                                                1.    Member States shall notify the Commission of
The surveyors or departments responsible for                    the results of the surveys established in accordance
analysing the questionnaires shall determine the class          with the provisions of Article 2, as rapidly as
of the density of plantation by the net area planted            possible, but at the latest eight months after carrying
and the number of trees according to the following              out the survey and in any case, in respect of the first
table :
                                                                survey, before 1 September 1973 .
(a) Apple, pear and peach trees :                               2. The results referred to in paragraph 1 must be
                                                                supplied for each production area.
     —    less than 400 trees per hectare,
     —    from 400 to 799 trees per hectare,                    If Member States cannot establish the data by
     —    from 800 to 1599 trees per hectare,                   production area, statistics must be given for each of
                                                                the areas mentioned in the Annex.
     —    1600 trees and over per hectare.
                                                                3.    Mistakes of reporting and sampling errors
                                                                referred to in Article 3 must be notified at the latest
(b) Orange trees :
                                                                ten months after carrying out the survey.
     —    less than 250 trees per hectare,
     —    from 250 to 499 trees per hectare,                                            Article 5
     —    from 500 to 999 trees per hectare,
     —    1000 trees and over per hectare.                      1.    From 1973 the Member States shall make
                                                                annual estimates of the areas of fruit trees of the
                                                                species referred to in Article 1 ( 1 ) the clearing of
The actual density of plantation may also be                    which has been carried out on their territory during
surveyed and quoted directly.                                   the previous year and shall notify the results of their
                                                                estimates to the Commission by 31 July at the latest.
D. Irrigation                                                   If the survey applies to the extent of the clearing,
                                                                results shall be notified to the Commission by 31
1 . Mention must be made of the area irrigated                  August at the latest.
where irrigation is practised regularly; a distinction
must be made between sprinkling and other methods
of irrigation.                                                  2. If, within a Member State, the clearing referred
                                                                to in paragraph 1 has been particularly extensive and
                                                                if precise details on that subject are lacking, the
2.     If the Member States, in respect of the areas            Member State concerned shall, at the request of and
planted with fruit trees referred to in Article 1 ( 1 ),        in co-operation with the Commission, carry out
take note of additional characteristics complying with          surveys in the spring of the following year on the
the purpose of this Directive, bearing for example on           extent of the clearing carried out on its territory since
stock, the shapes of trees and the height of the trunk,         the last survey on the areas planted with fruit trees of
the corresponding results must also be notified to the          the species referred to in Article 1 (1 ). The Member
Commission .                                                    State concerned shall notify the results of the survey
                                                                to the Commission within eight months after carrying
                                                                it out. This provision shall not be applicable during
                                                                the survey years fixed in Article 1 ( 1 ), nor in the year
                          Article 3
                                                                preceding or following the survey year.
1 . Member States shall take appropriate measures               3.    Statistics obtained by applying measures relating
to limit mistakes of reporting and estimate their               to the clearing of apple, pear and peach trees taken in
effect on the whole of the area planted with fruit              pursuance of Regulation (EEC) No 2517/69 must be
                                                                taken into consideration .
trees of each species.
2. So far as the result of the surveys carried out by                                   Article 6
random sampling are concerned, Member States shall
take every measure to ensure that sampling error                From 1973 the Member States shall supply the
cannot be more than 3% for the whole of the area                Commission every year, by 31 December at the latest,
planted with fruit trees of each species.                       with details, gathered on their territory during the
 ---pagebreak--- 670                                   Official Journal of the European Communities
previous season, on new plantations of fruit trees of            expenditure incurred by them on the first survey
the species referred to in Article 1 ( 1 ). In so far as         referred to in Article 1 , up to the following maximum
possible these details must distinguish between                  amounts :
varieties .
                                                                                               Units of account
                          Article 7
                                                                 Germany                          42 000
                                                                 Belgium                          15 000
The Commission shall study the following in                      France                          196 000
consultation and standing collaboration with
Member States :                                                  Italy                           420 000
                                                                 Luxembourg                           300
(a) the results supplied in accordance with this                 Netherlands                      35 000
     Directive;
(b) the technical problems raised, in particular by              However, the Member States which, in accordance
     preparing and carrying out the surveys and the              with Article 1 , (3 ), carry out the surveys by random
      notifications referred to in this Directive ;              sampling shall be reimbursed for their expenditure up
                                                                 to the above-mentioned maximum amount at a flat
( c) the significance of the findings of the surveys and         rate of 7 units of account per hectare of fruit
      notifications referred to in this Directive.
                                                                 plantation actually covered by the survey.
                                                                 3.     The estimated total cost of the common action
                          Article 8                              to be borne by the Guidance Section of the European
                                                                 Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund shall
The Commission shall submit to the Council, by 1                 amount to 708 300 units of account. This amount
January 1975 , a report on experience acquired during            shall be entered on the budget for the 1973 financial
the first survey; the Commission shall also provide              year .
the Council, from 1 January 1976, with annual
reports on the subject of Articles 5 and 6. The                  4.     Requests for reimbursement, drawn up by
Commission shall, where appropriate, submit                      Member      States,    shall    be    submitted   to  the
proposals to the Council with a view to the                      Commission before 1 September 1973 .
harmonisation of the methods used by the Member
States. The Council shall act on these proposals in              5 . Detailed rules for applying paragraph 2 shall be
accordance with the voting procedure laid down in                adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down
Article 43 (2) of the Treaty.                                    in Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.
                          Article 9                                                       Article 10
                                                                 This Directive is addressed to the Member States .
1 . The first survey referred to in Article 1 shall
constitute joint action within the meaning of Article
6 (1) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/701 of 21               Done at Brussels, 26 July 1971 .
April 1970 on the financing of the common
agricultural policy.
                                                                                                       For the Council
2.     The    Guidance     Section     of  the    European                                              The President
Agricultural Guidance and - Guarantee fund shall
reimburse to the Member States the eligible                                                               A. MORO
1 OJ No L 94, 28.4.1970, p. 13.
 ---pagebreak---                 Official Journal of the European Communities         671
                                       ANNEX
                       List of areas referred to in Article 4 (2)
Germany:      1 . Schleswig-Holstein
              2 . Niedersachsen
              3 . Nordrhein-Westfalen
              4. Hessen
              5 . Rheinland-Pfalz
              6. Baden-Wiirttemberg
              7. Bayern
              8 . Saarland
              9. Hamburg
             10 . Bremen
             11 . Berlin
France :      1 . Nord, Picardie
              2. Basse-Normandie, Haute-Normandie
              3.  Bretagne, Pays de la Loire, Poitou-Charente
              4.  Centre, Région parisienne
              5.  Franche-Comté, Champagne, Bourgogne
              6.  Lorraine, Alsace
              7. Limousin, Auvergne
              8. Rhone-Alpes
              9. Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrenees
             10. Languedoc, Provence-Cote d'Azur-Corse
Italy:        1. Piemonte, Valle d'Aosta
              2. Lombardia
              3 . Veneto, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
              4. Liguria
              5. Emilia-Romagna
              6. Toscana                            ,
              7. Umbria, Marche
              8 . Lazio, Abruzzi
              9. Campania, Calabria, Molise
             10. Puglia, Basilicata
             11 . Sicilia
             12. Sardegna
Belgium:     Forms a single area
Luxembourg:  Forms a single area
Netherlands: Forms a single area