EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 2.2.2021

COM(2021) 37 final

2021/0020(COD)

Proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on statistics on agricultural input and output and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1165/2008, (EC) No 543/2009, (EC) No 1185/2009 and Council Directive 96/16/EC

(Text with EEA relevance)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

·farm-level data with micro-data transmission, based on a modular approach with core variables, modules and satellites,

·economic accounts for agriculture, and

·aggregated agricultural input/output statistics with tabular data.

•Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area

·produce high-quality statistics that meet users' needs efficiently and effectively; and

·improve the harmonisation and coherence of European agricultural statistics.

•Consistency with other Union policies

·a European Green Deal with the underlying farm to fork and biodiversity strategies

·an economy that works for people.

2.LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY

•Legal basis

•Subsidiarity (for non-exclusive competence)

•Proportionality

The proposal complies with the proportionality principle, in view of the following:

It will ensure the quality and comparability of European agricultural statistics collected and compiled by applying the same principles across Member States. Similarly, it will ensure that European agricultural statistics remain relevant and are adapted to respond to user needs. The Regulation will make the production of statistics more cost-effective while respecting the specific characteristics of Member States' systems.

In accordance with the principle of proportionality, the proposed regulation confines itself to the minimum required to achieve its objective and does not go beyond what is necessary for that purpose.

•Choice of the instrument

3.RESULTS OF EX-POST EVALUATIONS, STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

•Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation

·the current legislation on agricultural statistics does not adequately serve new and emerging data needs because their provision is not included in that legislation. Moreover, the legal acts are not flexible and integrated enough to respond to new needs in a timely manner;

·the EASS is not sufficiently flexible and is not reacting quickly enough to emerging needs, partly due to the inherent functioning of statistics, partly due to the way the regulations have been set up, but also because of a lack of budget and human resources;

·the data collections are not harmonised and coherent to a satisfactory degree because new data needs are emerging, legislation has been developed separately over many years, and there are sometimes different definitions and concepts in different agricultural areas;

·the statistics could be produced more efficiently if the legislation were adapted to enable various sources of information to be used and if Member States adapted to modern technology.

A public consultation was carried out for the evaluation, and the results are detailed in a separate report 9 .

•Stakeholder consultations

•Collection and use of expertise

•Impact assessment

(1)baseline – No EU action on agricultural structural data : this option would leave the collection of the data to Member States, resulting in a patchwork of different approaches and qualities.

(2)prolongation of Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008: this option would continue the status quo.

(3)single legal framework for all agricultural statistics: this option would integrate the collection of all agricultural statistics data in a single new framework regulation.

(4)two-step integration of agricultural statistics: this option would preserve the advantages of option 3 while increasing flexibility and reducing time pressure by creating two new framework regulations in two distinctive stages.

•Regulatory fitness and simplification

•Fundamental rights

4.BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS

5.OTHER ELEMENTS

•Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements

•Compliance monitoring of the statistics produced

•    Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal

2021/0020 (COD)

Proposal for a

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

on statistics on agricultural input and output and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1165/2008, (EC) No 543/2009, (EC) No 1185/2009 and Council Directive 96/16/EC

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 338 (1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

Whereas:

(1)A statistical knowledge base is necessary to design, implement, monitor, evaluate and review policies related to agriculture in the Union, in particular the common agricultural policy (‘CAP’), including rural development measures, as well as Union policies relating to, among other things, the environment, climate change, land use, regions, public health and the sustainable development goals of the United Nations.

(2)The collection of statistical data, in particular on agricultural input and output, should aim, among other things, to inform the decision-making process with updated data to support the European Green Deal with the related ‘farm to fork’ and ‘biodiversity’ strategies and future CAP reforms.

(3)High quality harmonised statistical data are important to assess the state and trends of agricultural input and output in the Union, the functioning of markets, and food security and to assess the sustainability as well as the environmental, economic and social impacts of Union and national policies. Those data include, but are not limited to, livestock and meat statistics, the production and use of eggs, and the production and use of milk and milk products. Statistics on the area, yield and production of arable crops, vegetables, various permanent crops and grasslands and commodity balances are also important. Increasingly, statistics on the sales and use of plant protection products and fertilisers are needed.

(4)An international evaluation of agricultural statistics led to the creation of a global strategy to improve agricultural and rural statistics of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations that was endorsed by the United Nations Statistics Committee in 2010. European agricultural statistics should, where appropriate, follow the recommendations of that global strategy.

(5)Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 12 ) provides for a framework to develop, produce and disseminate European statistics based on common statistical principles. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 establishes quality criteria and refers to the need to minimise the response burden on survey respondents and to contribute to the more general objective of reducing the administrative burdens.

(6)The strategy on agricultural statistics for 2020 and beyond ( 13 ), endorsed by the European Statistical System Committee (‘ESSC’) in November 2015, envisages the adoption of two framework regulations covering all aspects of EU legislation on agricultural statistics, with the exception of the economic accounts for agriculture. This Regulation is one of those two framework regulations and should complement the already adopted framework Regulation (EU) 2018/1091( 14 ).

(7)European statistics on agricultural inputs and outputs are currently collected, produced and disseminated on the basis of a number of legal acts. This structure does not provide proper consistency across the individual statistical domains, nor does it promote an integrated approach towards the development, production and dissemination of agricultural statistics. This Regulation should replace those legal acts for the purposes of harmonisation and comparability of information, and to ensure consistency and coordination across European agricultural statistics, facilitate the integration and streamlining of the corresponding statistical processes, and enable a more holistic approach. It is therefore necessary to repeal Regulations (EC) No 1165/2008 ( 15 ), (EC) No 543/2009( 16 ) and (EC) No 1185/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 17 ), and Council Directive 96/16/EC ( 18 ). The numerous related European Statistical System (ESS) agreements and gentlemen’s agreements on data transmission should be integrated into this Regulation where there has been evidence that the data fulfil user needs, that the agreed methodology works and that the data are of appropriate quality.

(8)The statistics required in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 617/2008 ( 19 ) have been collected by the ESS, meeting some, but not all of its quality standards. Those statistics support European and national policies in the longer term and should be integrated as European statistics to guarantee the availability and quality of the data. In order to avoid double reporting from the Member States, the statistical requirements under Regulation (EC) No 617/2008 should be removed.

(9)A large part of the European agricultural area consists of grasslands. The production of those areas was not considered to be important in the past, so no production data have been included in crop statistics. As the impact of grasslands and ruminants on the environment has become more important due to climate change, statistics on grassland production and animal grazing are needed.

(10)For the purposes of harmonisation and comparability of information on agricultural input and output with information on the structure of agricultural holdings and to further implement the strategy on agricultural statistics for 2020 and beyond, this Regulation should complement Regulation (EU) 2018/1091.

(11)Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 20 ) does not cover agricultural price statistics, but their availability and coherence with the economic accounts for agriculture (‘EAA’) should be ensured. As the EAA are a satellite account of national accounts, it is not appropriate to include agricultural price statistics in Regulation (EC) No 138/2004. Statistics on agricultural input and output should therefore cover statistics on agricultural input prices that are coherent with the EAA. Absolute agricultural output price data should be available in Member States to allow EAA calculations and comparable price indices.

(12)Data regarding the placing on the market and use of pesticides to be submitted pursuant to Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 21 ) and Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 22 ) should be used in accordance with the relevant provisions of that Directive and of that Regulation for the purposes of the requirements of this Regulation.

(13)Comparable statistics from all Member States on agricultural input and output are important to determine the development of the CAP. Standard classifications and common definitions should therefore be used insofar as possible for variables.

(14)The data needed to compile statistics should, where possible, be collected in a manner with the least costs and administrative burden. It is therefore necessary to identify possible owners of sources of the required data and ensure that these can be used for statistics.

(15)The datasets to be transmitted cover several statistical domains. In order to maintain a flexible approach that allows the statistics to be adapted when data requirements change, only the domains, topics and detailed topics should be specified in the basic regulation, with the detailed data sets specified in implementing acts.

(16)Organic production is becoming increasingly important as an indicator of sustainable agricultural production systems. It is therefore necessary to ensure that available statistics on organic farming are consistent with other agricultural production statistics by integrating those in the datasets. Those organic production statistics should also be coherent with and use the administrative information produced under Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 23 ).

(17)In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 24 ), territorial units should be defined in accordance with the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (‘NUTS’) classification.

(18)It should be possible to collect data on ad‐hoc subjects related to agricultural input and output at a specific time in order to supplement the data collected on a regular basis with complementary data on subjects that require more information, emerging phenomena or innovations.

(19)In order to decrease the administrative burden on Member States, exemptions from certain regular transmissions of data should be allowed if Member States’ contributions to the EU total for these data are low.

(20)In order to improve the efficiency of the statistical production processes of the ESS and to reduce the administrative burden on respondents, national statistical institutes (‘NSIs’) and other national authorities should have the right to access and use, promptly and free of charge, any administrative data that are gathered for public purposes, irrespective of whether they are held by public or private bodies. NSIs and other national authorities should also be able to integrate those administrative data with statistics, to the extent that such data are necessary for developing, producing and disseminating European agricultural statistics, in accordance with Article 17a of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.

(21)Member States or responsible national authorities should endeavour to modernise data collection modes insofar as possible. The use of digital solutions should be promoted.

(22)In order to ensure flexibility and to reduce the administrative burden on respondents, NSIs and other national authorities, Member States should be allowed to use statistical surveys, administrative records and any other sources, methods or innovative approaches, including scientifically based and well documented methods such as imputation, estimation and modelling. The quality, and in particular the accuracy, timeliness and comparability of statistics based on these sources, should always be ensured.

(23)Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 includes provisions on the transmission of data from Member States to the Commission (Eurostat) and on the use of such data, including on the transmission and protection of confidential data. Measures taken in accordance with this Regulation are to ensure that confidential data are transmitted and used exclusively for statistical purposes in accordance with Articles 21 and 22 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.

(24)Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 provides for a reference framework for European statistics and requires Member States to comply with the statistical principles and quality criteria specified in that Regulation. Quality reports are essential for assessing, improving and communicating the quality of European statistics. The ESSC has endorsed the single integrated metadata structure as the ESS standard for quality reporting, thereby helping to satisfy, through uniform standards and harmonised methods, the statistical quality requirements laid down in Article 12 (3) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. That ESS standard is to contribute to the harmonisation of quality reporting under this Regulation

(25)An impact assessment has been carried out in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, in order to focus the statistical programme established by this Regulation on the need for effectiveness in achieving the objectives and in order to incorporate budgetary constraints.

(26)Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the systematic production of European statistics on agricultural input and output in the Union, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States because a coordinated approach is required, but can rather, by reasons of consistency and comparability, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.

(27)In order to take into account emerging data needs mainly stemming from new developments in agriculture, from revised legislation and from changing policy priorities, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union should be delegated to the Commission in order to amend the detailed topics listed in this Regulation and to establish the topics and detailed topics to be provided and other practical arrangements for the collection of ad hoc data as laid down in this Regulation. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during the preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations are conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Inter-institutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making ( 25 ). In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member State experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

(28)In order to ensure uniform conditions for this Regulation’s implementation, the Commission should be given implementing powers to specify the datasets linked to the topics and detailed topics listed in the Annex and the technical elements of the data to be provided, to establish the lists and descriptions of the variables and other practical arrangements for the collection of ad hoc data, and to set out the practical arrangements for and contents of the quality reports. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 26 ).

(29)Where this Regulation’s implementation would require major adaptations to the national statistical system of a Member State, the Commission should, in duly justified cases and for a limited period of time, be able to grant derogations to the Member States concerned. Such major adaptations may arise in particular from the need to adapt the data collection systems to include the new data requirements, including the access to administrative sources.

(30)The financial interests of the Union should be protected through proportionate measures throughout the expenditure cycle, including the prevention, detection and investigation of irregularities, the recovery of funds lost, wrongly paid or incorrectly used and, where appropriate, administrative and financial penalties.

(31)This Regulation should apply without prejudice to both Directive 2003/4/EC ( 27 ) and Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 ( 28 ).

(32)Collaboration and coordination between the authorities within the framework of the ESS should be strengthened to ensure coherence and comparability of European agricultural statistics produced in accordance with the principles laid down in Article 338(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Data is also collected by other Union bodies beyond those referred to in this Regulation and by other organisations. Cooperation between such organisations and those involved in the ESS should therefore be reinforced in order to take advantage of synergies.

(33)The ESSC has been consulted,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:    

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation establishes a framework for aggregated European statistics related to the inputs and outputs of agricultural activities, as well as the intermediate use of such output within agriculture and its collection and industrial processing.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions of ‘agricultural activity‘, ‘utilised agricultural area‘, ‘livestock unit’, ‘agricultural holding‘ and ‘common land agricultural unit‘, as laid down in Article 2, points (a), (b), (d), and (e) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 shall apply.

In addition, the following definitions shall apply:

(1)    ‘dairy enterprise‘ means an enterprise or agricultural holding that purchases whole milk or, in certain cases, milk products, in order to transform them into milk products; and enterprises that collect milk or cream in order to transfer it in whole or in part, without any processing, to other dairy enterprises ;

(2)    ‘slaughterhouse‘ means an officially registered and approved enterprise with permission to slaughter and dress animals, the meat of which is intended for human consumption;

(3)    ‘hatchery‘ means an enterprise for incubating eggs, hatching and supplying chicks;

(4)    ‘reporting unit‘ means the unit that supplies the statistical data;

(5)    ‘observation unit‘ means an identifiable entity about which data can be obtained;

(6)    ‘domain‘ means one or several data sets that cover particular topics;

(7)    ‘topic‘ means the content of the information to be compiled about the observation units, each topic covering one or more detailed topics;

(8)    ‘detailed topic‘ means the detailed content of the information to be compiled about the observation units related to a topic, each detailed topic covering one or more variables;

(9)    ‘data set‘ means one or several aggregated variables organised as a table;

(10)    ‘variable‘ means a characteristic of a unit being observed that may assume more than one of a set of values;

(11)    ‘pre-checked data‘ means data verified by the Member States, based on agreed common validation rules, wherever available;

(12)    ‘ad hoc data‘ means data that are of a particular interest for users at a specific point in time but that are not included in the regular data sets;

(13)    ‘administrative data‘ means data generated by a non-statistical source, usually held by a public or private body, the main aim of which is not to provide statistics;

(14)    ‘metadata‘ means information that is needed to be able to use and interpret statistics and which describes data in a structured way;

(15)    ‘professional user’ means any person who uses plant protection products in the course of their professional activities, including operators, technicians, employers and self-employed people, in the farming sector.

Article 3

Statistical population and observation units

1.    The statistical population to be described shall consist of statistical units such as agricultural holdings, common land agricultural units, enterprises providing goods and services to agriculture or buying or collecting products from agricultural activities, and enterprises processing these agricultural products, especially hatcheries, dairy enterprises and slaughterhouses.

2.    The observation units to be represented in the statistical frame shall be the statistical units referred to in paragraph 1 and, depending on the statistics to be reported, the following:

(a)    land used for agricultural activity;

(b)    animals used for agricultural activity;

(c)    imports and exports of products from agricultural activities by non-agricultural enterprises;

(d)    transactions and flows of production factors, of goods and services to and from agricultural activities.

3.    The reporting units shall be the statistical units referred to in paragraph 1 and other enterprises and institutions handling information about the data requirements referred to in Articles 5 and 6.

Article 4

Coverage requirements

1. The statistics shall be representative of the statistical population that they describe.

2. For the domain of animal production statistics as referred to in Article 5(1), point (a), the data shall cover 95 % of the livestock units of each Member State and the related activities or outputs.

3. For the domain of crop production statistics as referred to in Article 5(1), point (b), and the topic of nutrients as referred to in Article 5(1), point (d)(i), the data shall cover 95% of the total utilised agricultural area (excluding kitchen gardens) of each Member State and the related production volumes.

4. For the topic of plant protection products as referred to in Article 5(1), point (d)(iii), the data shall cover the plant protection products placed on the market as defined in Article 3, point 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 .

5. The Commission may adopt implementing acts further specifying the coverage requirements referred to in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15(2).

Article 5

Regular data requirements

1.    The statistics referred related to the inputs and outputs of agricultural activities shall cover the following domains and topics:

(a)    animal production statistics

(i)    livestock and meat

(ii)    eggs and chicks

(iii)    milk and milk products

(b)    crop production statistics

(i)    crop production

(ii)    crop balances

(iii)    grasslands and grazing

(c)    agricultural price statistics

(i)    agricultural price indices

(ii)    absolute input prices

(iii)    agricultural land prices and rents

(d)    statistics on nutrients and plant protection products

(i)    nutrients in agricultural fertilisers

(ii)    nutrient balances

(iii)    plant protection products

2.    The detailed topics shall be as set out in the Annex.

3.    The data shall be transmitted to the Commission in the form of aggregated data sets.

4.    The data on organic production and products that comply with Regulation (EU) 2018/848 shall be integrated into the data sets.

5.    Regional data shall be provided at NUTS2 level as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003.

6.    Where a variable has low or zero prevalence in a Member States, the values of that variable may be excluded from the transmitted data sets, if the Member State concerned has duly justified its exclusion to the Commission (Eurostat).

7.    Relevant price information on agricultural input and output, including the characteristics and weights of the goods and services, shall be collected by Member States for compiling comparable price indices and for the variables necessary for the economic accounts for agriculture covered by Regulation (EC) No 138/2004.

8.    The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 14 amending the detailed topics set out in the Annex.

9.    The Commission may adopt implementing acts to define the data sets to be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat). Those implementing acts shall specify the following technical elements of the data to be provided, where appropriate:

(a)the list of variables;

(b)the descriptions of the variables;

(c)the variables on organic production and products;

(d)the variables at regional level;

(e)the observation and reporting units;

(f)the precision requirements;

(g)the methodological rules;

(h)the deadlines for transmitting the data.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15(2) not later than 9 months before the beginning of the reference year.

10.    Member States shall transmit pre-checked data and related metadata using a technical format specified by the Commission (Eurostat) for each data set. The single entry point services shall be used to transmit the data to the Commission (Eurostat).

Article 6

Ad hoc data requirements

1.    The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts supplementing this Regulation in accordance with Article 14 concerning specifying the information to be provided on an ad hoc basis, where collection of additional information is deemed necessary. Those delegated acts shall specify:

(a)the topics and detailed topics to be provided in the ad hoc data collection and the reasons for such additional statistical needs;

(b)the reference periods.

2.    The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts referred to in paragraph 1 starting with the reference year [insert 2 years after entering into force of the regulation] and with a minimum of 2 years between each ad hoc data collection.

3.    The Commission may adopt implementing acts to provide:

(a)a list of variables to be transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat);

(b)the descriptions of variables;

(c)the precision requirements;

(d)the data transmission deadlines.

Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15 not later than 12 months before the beginning of the reference year.

Article 7

Transmission frequency of the data sets

1.    The transmission frequency of the data sets shall be as set out in the Annex. The Commission may adopt implementing acts to further specify each transmission frequency.

2.    A Member State may be exempted from certain regular transmissions of the data where the impact of the Member State on the EU total of a variable is limited. The Commission may adopt implementing acts defining thresholds for variables according to specific methodology in such a way that the application of those thresholds does not reduce the information on the expected EU total of the variable in the reference year by more than 5%. The thresholds shall be revised so that they correspond to the trends of EU totals, initiated by the Commission (Eurostat).

3.    The Commission may adopt implementing acts to further specify the following:

(a)the threshold under which the production of a variable is considered to have a limited impact on the expected EU total aggregate;

(b)the source of the data and the methodology to be used for defining the threshold;

(c)the variables to which this exemption applies.

The implementing acts referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15(2).

Article 8

Data sources and methods

1.    For the purpose of obtaining statistics related to the inputs and outputs of agricultural activities, Member States shall use one or more of the following sources or methods, provided that the information allows for the production of statistics that meet the quality requirements laid down in Article 10:

(a)statistical surveys or other statistical data collection methods;

(b)the administrative data sources specified in paragraph 2;

(c)other sources, methods or innovative approaches.

2.    Member States may use any information from the integrated administration and control system (‘IACS’) established by Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 29 ), the system for the identification and registration of bovine animals established by Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 30 ) and the system for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals established by Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 ( 31 ), the vineyard register implemented in accordance with Article 145 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 32 ), and the organic farming registers set up pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/848.

3.    The statistics on plant protection products as referred to in Article 5(1), point (d)(iii) shall be provided using the records kept and made available in accordance with Article 67 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.

4. For that purpose, the Member States shall request from professional users of plant protection products, in electronic format, records covering at least the name of the plant protection product, the dose of application, the main area and the crop where the plant protection product was used in accordance with this Regulation.

5.    Member States which decide to use the sources, methods or innovative approaches referred to in point (c) of paragraph 1 shall inform the Commission (Eurostat) during the year preceding the reference year during which the source, method or innovative approach will be introduced, and shall provide details concerning the quality of the data obtained.

6.    National authorities responsible for complying with the requirements of this Regulation shall have the right to access and use, promptly and free of charge, data, including individual data on enterprises and agricultural holdings in administrative files compiled on their national territory pursuant to Article 17a of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. The national authorities and the owners of the administrative records shall establish the necessary cooperation mechanisms for such access. That access shall also be granted in cases where the competent authority has delegated tasks to be carried out on its behalf to private or semi-public bodies.

Article 9

Reference period

The information collected shall refer to a single reference period that is common to all Member States by a reference to the situation during a specified timeframe.

The reference period for each detailed topic shall be as specified in the Annex. The first reference periods shall begin in calendar year [insert the year starting on 1 January following 18 months after adoption].

The Commission may adopt implementing acts to further specify the reference periods. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15(2).

Article 10

Quality and quality reporting

1.    Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure the quality of the data and metadata transmitted.

2.    Member States shall ensure that the data obtained using the sources and methods laid down in Article 8 give accurate estimates on the statistical population defined in Article 3 at national level, and, where required, at regional level.

3.    For the purpose of this Regulation, the quality criteria defined in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 shall apply.

4.    The Commission (Eurostat) shall assess the quality of the data and metadata transmitted in a transparent and verifiable way.

5.    For that purpose, Member States shall transmit a quality report describing the statistical processes to the Commission (Eurostat), for the first time by 31 December of the year [insert the year starting 1 January following 30 months after adoption], and thereafter every 3 years, for the data sets transmitted during the period, including in particular:

(a)metadata describing the methodology used and how technical specifications were achieved by reference to those laid down by this Regulation;

(b)information on compliance with the coverage requirements as described in Article 4, including in developing and updating it.

6.    Separate methodological reports for the detailed topic ‘Weights and re-based indices’ shall be transmitted at the same time as the data.

7.    The Commission may adopt implementing acts setting out the practical arrangements for the quality reports and their contents. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15(2).

8.    Member States shall, where necessary, inform the Commission (Eurostat) about any relevant information or changes with regard to the implementation of this Regulation that could significantly influence the quality of the data transmitted.

9    At the request of the Commission (Eurostat), Member States shall provide necessary additional clarification to evaluate the quality of the statistical information.

Article 11

Union contribution

1.    For the implementation of this Regulation, the Union may provide grants to the national statistical institutes and other national authorities referred to in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 in order to cover the implementation costs of an ad hoc data collection.

2.    The Union financial contribution shall not exceed 90% of the eligible costs.

Article 12

Protection of the financial interests of the Union

1.    The Commission shall take appropriate measures to ensure that, when actions financed under this Regulation are implemented, the financial interests of the Union are protected by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by effective checks and, if irregularities are detected, by the recovery of the amounts wrongly paid and, where appropriate, by effective, proportionate and dissuasive administrative and financial penalties.

2.    The Commission or its representatives and the Court of Auditors shall have the power of audit, on the basis of documents and on-the-spot checks, over all grant beneficiaries, contractors and subcontractors who have received Union funds under the programme.

3.    The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 33 ) and Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 ( 34 ) with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with a grant agreement or grant decision or contract funded under the programme.

4.    Without prejudice to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, cooperation agreements with third countries and with international organisations, contracts, grant agreements and grant decisions resulting from the implementation of this Regulation shall contain provisions expressly empowering the Commission, the Court of Auditors and OLAF to conduct such audits, and investigations, in accordance with their respective competences.

Article 13

Derogations

1.    Where the application of this Regulation or of the implementing measures and delegated acts adopted pursuant to them necessitates major adaptations in a national statistical system of a Member State, the Commission may adopt implementing acts granting derogations to Member States for a maximum duration of two years.

The relevant Member State shall submit a duly reasoned request for such a derogation to the Commission within three months of the date of the entry into force of the act concerned.

The impact of such derogations on the comparability of Member States’ data or on the calculation of the required timely and representative European aggregates shall be kept to a minimum. The burden on respondents shall be taken into account when granting the derogation.

2.    The implementing acts referred to in paragraph 1, first subparagraph shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15(2).

Article 14

Exercise of delegation

1    The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2.    The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 5(8) and Article 6(1 and 2) shall be conferred on the Commission for an undetermined period from [Publications Office: please insert exact date of entry into force of the Regulation].

3.    The delegation of power referred to in Article 5(8) and Article 6(1 and 2) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

4.    Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Inter-institutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.

5.    As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

6.    A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 5(8) and Article 6(1 and 2) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

Article 15

Committee procedure

1.    The Commission shall be assisted by the European Statistical System Committee established by Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

2.    Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Article 16

Amendment to Regulation (EC) No 617/2008

Regulation (EC) No 617/2008 is amended as follows:

(1)    in Article 8, paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 are deleted;

(2)    Article 11 is deleted;

(3)    Annex III and IV are deleted.

This amendment shall apply from 1 January [of the year following 18 months after adoption].

Article 17

Repeals

1.    Regulations (EC) No 1165/2008, (EC) No 543/2009, (EC) No 1185/2009 and Directive 96/16/EC are repealed with effect from 1 January [of the first calendar year starting at least 18 months after adoption].

2.    References to the repealed acts shall be construed as references to this Regulation.

Article 18

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January [of the year following 18 months after adoption].

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1.FRAMEWORK OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE

1.1.Title of the proposal/initiative

1.2.Policy area(s) concerned

1.3.The proposal/initiative relates to

1.4.Grounds for the proposal/initiative

1.5.Duration and financial impact

1.6.Management mode(s) planned

2.MANAGEMENT MEASURES

2.1.Monitoring and reporting rules

2.2.Management and control system

2.3.Measures to prevent fraud and irregularities

3.ESTIMATED FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE

3.1.Heading(s) of the multiannual financial framework and expenditure budget line(s) affected

3.2.Estimated impact on expenditure 

3.2.1.Summary of estimated impact on expenditure

3.2.2.Estimated impact on operational appropriations

3.2.3.Estimated impact on appropriations of an administrative nature

3.2.4.Compatibility with the current multiannual financial framework

3.2.5.Third-party contributions

3.3.Estimated impact on revenue

LEGISLATIVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1.FRAMEWORK OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE 

1.1.Title of the proposal/initiative 

1.2.Policy area(s) concerned (Programme cluster)

1.3.The proposal/initiative relates to: 

◻ a new action 

◻ a new action following a pilot project/preparatory action 35  

◻ the extension of an existing action 

X a merger or redirection of one or more actions towards another/a new action 

1.4.Grounds for the proposal/initiative 

1.4.1.Requirement(s) to be met in the short or long term including a detailed timeline for roll-out of the implementation of the initiative

1.4.2.Added value of Union involvement (it may result from different factors, e.g. coordination gains, legal certainty, greater effectiveness or complementarities). For the purposes of this point 'added value of Union involvement' is the value resulting from Union intervention which is additional to the value that would have been otherwise created by Member States alone.

1.4.3.Lessons learned from similar experiences in the past

1.4.4.Compatibility and possible synergy with other appropriate instruments

1.5.Duration and financial impact 

◻ limited duration

◻    in effect from [DD/MM]YYYY to [DD/MM]YYYY

◻    Financial impact from YYYY to YYYY for commitment appropriations and from YYYY to YYYY for payment appropriations.

X unlimited duration

Implementation with a start-up period from 2022 to 2024, followed by full-scale operation.

1.6.Management mode(s) planned 36  

X Direct management by the Commission

X by its departments, including by its staff in the Union delegations;

◻    by the executive agencies

◻ Shared management with the Member States

◻ Indirect management by entrusting budget implementation tasks to:

◻ third countries or the bodies they have designated;

◻ international organisations and their agencies (to be specified);

◻the EIB and the European Investment Fund;

◻ bodies referred to in Articles 70 and 71 of the Financial Regulation;

◻ public law bodies;

◻ bodies governed by private law with a public service mission to the extent that they provide adequate financial guarantees;

◻ bodies governed by the private law of a Member State that are entrusted with the implementation of a public-private partnership and that provide adequate financial guarantees;

◻ persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions in the CFSP pursuant to Title V of the TEU, and identified in the relevant basic act.

If more than one management mode is indicated, please provide details in the ‘Comments’ section.

Comments

2.MANAGEMENT MEASURES 

2.1.Monitoring and reporting rules 

Specify frequency and conditions.

2.2.Management and control system(s) 

Justification of the management mode(s), the funding implementation mechanism(s), the payment modalities and the control strategy proposed

2.2.1.Information concerning the risks identified and the internal control system(s) set up to mitigate them

2.2.2.Estimation and justification of the cost-effectiveness of the controls (ratio of ‘control costs ÷ value of the related funds managed’), and assessment of the expected levels of risk of error (at payment & at closure) 

2.3.Measures to prevent fraud and irregularities 

Specify existing or envisaged prevention and protection measures, e.g. from the Anti-Fraud Strategy.

3.ESTIMATED FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE PROPOSAL/INITIATIVE 

3.1.Heading of the multiannual financial framework and new expenditure budget line(s) proposed 

The financial impact of the proposal is not known at the time of the adoption of the regulation. The Union contribution is not applicable to regular statistical data collection, but only to the ad hoc data collections specified in Article 6. The first ad hoc data collection can be done at the earliest 2 years after the first reference year if there is a well justified unexpected data need identified. Because of this, it is not possible to identify the financial impact at this stage.

3.2.Estimated impact on expenditure 

3.2.1.Summary of estimated impact on expenditure 

EUR million (to three decimal places)

This section should be filled in using the 'budget data of an administrative nature' to be firstly introduced in the Annex to the Legislative Financial Statement , which is uploaded to DECIDE for interservice consultation purposes.

EUR million (to three decimal places)

EUR million (to three decimal places)

3.2.2.Summary of estimated impact on appropriations of an administrative nature

◻    The proposal/initiative does not require the use of appropriations of an administrative nature

x    The proposal/initiative requires the use of appropriations of an administrative nature, as explained below:

EUR million (to three decimal places)

The appropriations required for human resources and other expenditure of an administrative nature will be met by appropriations from the DG that are already assigned to management of the action and/or have been redeployed within the DG, together if necessary with any additional allocation which may be granted to the managing DG under the annual allocation procedure and in the light of budgetary constraints.

3.2.2.1.Estimated requirements of human resources

◻    The proposal/initiative does not require the use of human resources.

x    The proposal/initiative requires the use of human resources, as explained below:

Estimate to be expressed in full time equivalent units

The human resources required will be met by staff from the DG who are already assigned to management of the action and/or have been redeployed within the DG, together if necessary with any additional allocation which may be granted to the managing DG under the annual allocation procedure and in the light of budgetary constraints.

Description of tasks to be carried out:

3.2.3.Third-party contributions 

The proposal/initiative:

x    does not provide for co-financing by third parties

◻    provides for the co-financing by third parties estimated below:

Appropriations in EUR million (to three decimal places)

3.3.Estimated impact on revenue 

x    The proposal/initiative has no financial impact on revenue.

◻    The proposal/initiative has the following financial impact:

–◻    on own resources

–◻    on miscellaneous revenue

please indicate, if the revenue is assigned to expenditure lines ◻    

EUR million (to three decimal places)

For assigned revenue, specify the budget expenditure line(s) affected.

Other remarks (e.g. method/formula used for calculating the impact on revenue or any other information). 

(1)    SWD(2017)96 - Commission Staff Working document evaluation accompanying the document Strategy for Agricultural Statistics 2020 and beyond and subsequent potential legislative scenarios (Available only in English).

(2)     https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/agriculture/methodology/strategy-beyond-2020 (available only in English).

(3)    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 (OJ L 200, 7.8.2018, p. 1).

(4)    Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 December 2003 on the economic accounts for agriculture in the Community (OJ L 33, 5.2.2004, p. 1).

(5)    Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2013 on the European statistical programme 2013-17 (OJ L 39, 9.2.2013, p. 12).

(6)    Regulation (EU) 2017/1951 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2017 amending Regulation (EU) No 99/2013 on the European statistical programme 2013-17, by extending it to 2020 (OJ L 284, 31.10.2017, p. 1).

(7)    COM (2018) 441

(8)    Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164).

(9)    Eurostat public consultation webpage: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/about/opportunities/consultations/eass       Open public consultation report:     http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/10186/6937766/Agricultural-Statistics-Strategy-2020-Report.docx  (Available only in English).

(10)     SWD (2016)430 .

(11)     Impact assessment , Impact assessment summary , Regulatory Scrutiny Board Opinion (Available only in English).  

(12)    Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Council Regulation (EC) No 322/97 on Community Statistics, and Council Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities (OJ L 87, 31.3.2009, p. 164).

(13)     https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/agriculture/methodology/strategy-beyond-2020  

(14)    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 (OJ L 200, 7.8.2018, p. 1).

(15)    Regulation (EC) No 1165/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 concerning livestock and meat statistics and repealing Council Directives 93/23/EEC, 93/24/EEC and 93/25/EEC (OJ L 321, 1.12.2008, p. 1).

(16)    Regulation (EC) No 543/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 concerning crop statistics and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 837/90 and (EEC) No 959/93 (OJ L 167, 29.6.2009, p. 1).

(17)    Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 concerning statistics on pesticides (OJ L 324, 10.12.2009, p. 1).

(18)    Council Directive 96/16/EC of 19 March 1996 on statistical surveys of milk and milk products (OJ L 78, 28.3.1996, p. 27).

(19)    Commission Regulation (EC) No 617/2008 of 27 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards marketing standards for eggs for hatching and farmyard poultry chicks (OJ L 168, 28.6.2008, p. 5).

(20)    Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 December 2003 on the economic accounts for agriculture in the Community (OJ L 33, 5.2.2004, p. 1).

(21)    Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides (OJ L 309, 24.11.2009, p. 71).

(22)    Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC (OJ L 309, 24.11.2009, p. 1).

(23)    Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 1).

(24)    Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) (OJ L 154, 21.6.2003, p. 1).

(25)    OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.

(26)    Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission’s exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13.).

(27)    Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information and repealing Council Directive 90/313/EEC (OJ L 41, 14.2.2003, p. 26).

(28)    Regulation (EC) No 1367/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on the application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community institutions and bodies (OJ L 264, 25.9.2006, p. 13).

(29)    Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 637/2008 and Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 608).

(30)    Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 (OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1).

(31)    Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 of 17 December 2003 establishing a system for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals and amending Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and Directives 92/102/EEC and 64/432/EEC (OJ L 5, 9.1.2004, p. 8).

(32)    Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671).

(33)    Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 September 2013 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (Euratom) No 1074/1999 (OJ L 248, 18.9.2013, p. 1).

(34)    Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities’ financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2.)

(35)    As referred to in Article 58(2)(a) or (b) of the Financial Regulation.

(36)    Details of management modes and references to the Financial Regulation may be found on the BudgWeb site: https://myintracomm.ec.europa.eu/budgweb/EN/man/budgmanag/Pages/budgmanag.aspx  

(37)    Diff. = Differentiated appropriations / Non-diff. = Non-differentiated appropriations.

(38)    EFTA: European Free Trade Association.

(39)    Candidate countries and, where applicable, potential candidates from the Western Balkans.

(40)    Technical and/or administrative assistance and expenditure in support of the implementation of EU programmes and/or actions (former ‘BA’ lines), indirect research, direct research.

(41)    Technical and/or administrative assistance and expenditure in support of the implementation of EU programmes and/or actions (former ‘BA’ lines), indirect research, direct research.

(42)    AC= Contract Staff; AL = Local Staff; END = Seconded National Expert; INT = agency staff; JPD= Junior Professionals in Delegations.

(43)    Sub-ceiling for external staff covered by operational appropriations (former ‘BA’ lines).

(44)    As regards traditional own resources (customs duties, sugar levies), the amounts indicated must be net amounts, i.e. gross amounts after deduction of 20 % for collection costs.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 2.2.2021

COM(2021) 37 final

ANNEX

to the

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council

on Statistics on agricultural input and output and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1165/2008 , (EC) No 543/2009, (EC) No 1185/2009 and Directive 96/16/EC

ANNEX

Domains, topics and detailed topics, and transmission frequencies and reference periods per detailed topic

(a)Animal production statistics

(b)Crop production statistics

(c)Agricultural price statistics

(d)Statistics on nutrients and plant protection products