Council Regulation (EEC) No 357/79 of 5 February 1979 on statistical surveys of areas under vines

COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 357/79  of 5 February 1979  on statistical surveys of areas under vines
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Whereas the Commission, in order to fulfil its obligations under the Treaty and the Community provisions on the common organization of the market in wine, requires accurate up to date data on the production potential of the areas under vines in the Community and on medium-term trends in production and supply;
Whereas Article 1 of Regulation No 24 on the progressive establishment of a common organization of the market in wine (3) provided that Member States should, not later than 31 December 1964, prepare a viticultural land register which should thereafter be kept up to date;
Whereas Commission Regulation No 26/64/EEC of 28 February 1964 laying down additional provisions for the preparation of the viticultural land register, for its management and for keeping it up to date (4), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1456/76 (5), provides that the complete revision of the Community viticultural land register referred to in Article 3 (1) should take place every 10 years, beginning in 1979;
Whereas a land register in the strict sense involves major administrative work on the establishment, processing and constant updating of a list or register containing information on the owners and on all parcels of land under vines with sufficient details for their identification ; whereas viticultural land registers in this sense have been established only by some Member States, which have moreover been able to update them only partially and at irregular intervals ; whereas the surveys on the areas under vines carried out by certain Member States have different reference years ; whereas these national land registers and surveys do not therefore permit precise uniform synchronized observation of production potential and supply on the Community vine markets;
Whereas, in order to assess the Community wine market situation and developments therein, every 10 years basic statistical surveys covering the total areas under vines should be conducted in vine-growing holdings and, in between the basic surveys, smaller statistical surveys should be conducted only on the area under vines of wine grape varieties;
Whereas, for economic and technical reasons and in view of their limited significance on the Community wine market, vines cultivated in the open air in Member States with a total area under vines of less than 500 hectares, vines cultivated under glass and vines produced on very small areas solely for home consumption by the growers should all be excluded from the surveys;
Whereas detailed information is necessary on the use of the area under vines for the production of wine grapes, table grapes and material for vegetative propagation of vines, as well as on the varieties and the age of the vines ; whereas the overproduction of table wine in particular can create serious difficulties in the wine economies of certain producer countries ; whereas it is therefore necessary to record separately the area under vines intended for the production of quality wines psr and of table wines;
Whereas, in order to keep the development of wine production potential under constant observation, there should be annual intermediate surveys of any changes by way of grubbing, new planting or replanting in the area under vines of wine grape varieties;
Whereas the results of both the basic and the intermediate surveys should be forwarded to the Commission as quickly as possible;  (1)OJ No C 276, 20.11.1978, p. 1. (2)OJ No C 296, 11.12.1978, p. 58. (3)OJ No 30, 20.4.1962, p. 989/62. (4)OJ No 48, 19.3.1964, p. 753/64. (5)OJ No L 163, 24.6.1976, p. 13.
Whereas consideration should also be given to statistics resulting from the application of other Community provisions laying down measures for reorganizing Community wine production;
Whereas, since sample survey methods can produce accurate results at moderate cost over large areas under vines, Member States should be allowed to conduct the surveys either exhaustively or by sample, provided that standards of statistical reliability are laid down;
Whereas, in order to be able to assess the production of wine in the Community, information is required each year on yields per hectare and on the mean natural alcoholic strength of fresh grapes, of grape must and of wine ; whereas, in view of the existence of areas with widely differing yields, the area under vines of wine grape varieties should be subdivided into yield classes;
Whereas the Commission must submit reports in order to enable the Council to examine the extent to which the surveys carried out and the information communicated can help achieve the objectives of this Regulation ; whereas, where appropriate, it must propose the harmonization of the methods used;
Whereas Member States and the Commission must cooperate as fully as possible when applying this Regulation ; whereas the implementing rules must be laid down after consultation with the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics, set up by Decision 72/279/EEC (1);
Whereas the procedure to be followed by the Standing Committee for Agricultural Statistics must be laid down;
Whereas statistical surveys allow production potential to be adjusted to market demand in good time ; whereas such adjustment can considerably reduce the ever-increasing costs of managing the wine market ; whereas the Community should therefore be made financially responsible with regard to the expenses incurred by the Member States concerned in connection with the first basic survey under this Regulation;
Whereas the establishment of the survey system under this Regulation requires the consequent amendment of certain Community provisions in the wine sector,