94/753/EC: Council Decision of 14 November 1994 on the continued application of remote sensing to agricultural statistics during the period 1994 to 1998

COUNCIL DECISION of 14 November 1994 on the continued application of remote sensing to agricultural statistics during the period 1994 to 1998 (94/753/EC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1),
Whereas the pilot project on remote sensing applied to agricultural statistics adopted by Decision 88/503/EEC (2), which expired on 31 December 1993, covered the first part of a development programme planned to last for 10 years;
Whereas the project was launched, in particular, because of the need to improve agricultural statistics systems in the Community and there continues to be a need for this, particularly in the context of the new common agricultural policy;
Whereas the abovementioned pilot project has met its objectives during the first five years, particularly with regard to the development and integration of certain advanced methods into the Community's agricultural information system;
Whereas some of the actions developed under the project have reached the operational stage according to schedule; whereas, therefore these measures should be separated from those actions which require further research;
Whereas the operational actions to be continued during the period 1994 to 1998 concern the application of remote sensing to provide early estimates of acreages and yields at European or national level and to improve the statistical systems of the Member  States;
Whereas the activities which require further development during the second phase of the 10-year programme initially planned are covered by the fourth framework programme for research and development;
Whereas, however, close complementarity must be ensured between the operational actions and those still being developed under the 10-year programme on the application of remote sensing to agricultural statistics;
Whereas the operational actions should benefit from the technical and methodological improvements resulting from the development work; whereas they will induce new research;
Whereas the actions concerning the application of remote sensing to agricultural statistics are consistent with the principle of subsidiarity, since the responsibility for and implementation of the various actions is shared between the Member States and  the Commission in accordance with criteria of efficiency and feasibility;
Whereas these actions help make technologial improvements to the Community's production of statistics and to methods of management and control of the common agricultural policy;
Whereas the technological lead gained by the Community and the Member States during the previous phase of the project needs to be maintained;
Whereas an amount of ECU 15,7 million is deemed necessary for the implementation of this multiannual programme,