78/463/EEC: Commission Decision of 7 April 1978 establishing a Community typology for agricultural holdings

COMMISSION DECISION  of 7 April 1978  establishing a Community typology for agricultural holdings  (78/463/EEC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to the Council Decision of 4 December 1962 on the coordination of policies on the structure of agriculture (1), and in particular Article 4 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation No 79/65/EEC of 15 June 1965 setting up a network for the collection of accountancy data on the incomes and business operation of agricultural holdings in the European Economic Community (2), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2910/73 (3), and in particular Article 4 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation No 70/66/EEC of 14 June 1966 organizing a basic survey as part of a programme of surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings (4), as last amended by Regulation No 35/67/EEC (5), and in particular Article 12 thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 75/108/EEC of 20 January 1975 on the organization of a structures survey for 1975 as part of the programme of surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings (6), and in particular Article 8 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3228/76 of 21 December 1976 on the organization of a survey on the structure of agricultural holdings for 1977 (7), and in particular Article 6 (1) thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 218/78 of 19 December 1977 on the organization of a survey on the structure of agricultural holdings for 1979/1980 (8), and in particular Article 7 thereof,
Whereas there are a large number of agricultural holdings in the Community of many different types and the analysis of their situation therefore necessitates the use of an appropriate Community typology;
Whereas this typology should be based on economic criteria concerning the two basic characteristics of the farm namely, its type of farming and its size;  (1)OJ No 136, 17.12.1962, p. 2892/62. (2)OJ No 109, 23.6.1965, p. 1859/65. (3)OJ No L 299, 27.10.1973, p. 1. (4)OJ No 112, 24.6.1966, p. 2065/66. (5)OJ No 33, 24.2.1967, p. 524/67. (6)OJ No L 42, 15.2.1975, p. 21. (7)OJ No L 366, 31.12.1976, p. 1. (8)OJ No L 35, 4.2.1978, p. 1.
Whereas the gross margin concept is, in the present state of knowledge, the most suitable for the purpose and can be determined in a standardized form in each region for each farm enterprise;
Whereas the typology in question should be available so that it may be applied both to data from Community surveys on farm structure or statistical censuses and to data from the farm accountancy data network ; whereas it should therefore constitute a common denominator enabling these two sources of information to complement each other;
Whereas this typology should allow the formation of groups of agricultural holdings to be combined or broken down variously according to the analytical requirements, while preserving the necessary coherence between the different levels of classification;
Whereas this typology should be capable of being modified where necessary, in particular in the light of experience and in response to changes in information needs;
Whereas the Standing Committee on Agricultural Structures has been consulted on the measures provided for in this Decision and the measures are in accordance with the opinion of the Community Committee for the Farm Accountancy Data Network of the EEC and the opinion of the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics,