The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development adopted the report by Viorica DĂNCILĂ (S&D, RO) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on integrated farm statistics and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1166/2008 and (EU) No 1337/2011.
The committee recommended that the European Parliament’s position, adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure, should amend the Commission proposal as follows:
Future CAP reforms: according to Members, the collection of statistical data, in particular the farm structure survey, should aim to inform the decision-making process with updated data with a view to future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms.
The report also stressed the importance of:
- ensuring coherence and compatibility of the data and the uniformity of the reporting formats;
- selecting the content of the data collection in a manner consistent with the aim of devising better targeted and more effective agricultural and rural development measures which take account, as a matter of priority, of the needs of producers and consumers in the Union;
- making available on the internet ready to use, cross-tabulated comparable data from all Member States including gender-specific information, among other aspects.
Scope: the data required by the proposed Regulation should cover 98 % of the utilised agricultural area (UAA) (with the exception of vegetable gardens) and 98 % of livestock units of the Member States. When collecting those data, Member States shall not make use of disproportionate measures, such as the introduction of fines, in order to attain the desired degree of representativeness.
Central structural data: Members said that annual application data, as verified by the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS), should also be considered as a source of data.
Data concerning aid payments under the CAP: Members considered that data concerning aid payments under the CAP constitute a valid source of statistics. The Member States, through the bodies which manage payments from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), shall compile from the documents dealing with the granting of direct aid the administrative information needed to properly assess the effectiveness of the instruments employed and provide a basis for future policy decisions.
Ad hoc data: the Commission shall adopt delegated acts (instead of implementing acts) to specify the information to be provided on an ad hoc basis, if deemed necessary. While preparing such delegated acts, potential extra costs and administrative burdens on agricultural holdings and Member States shall be taken in to account.
Quality and data transmission: the Commission shall ensure adherence to the same quality and transparency standards in the collation and publication of those statistical data. The collated data and statistics shall be published and made available in a transparent manner both for policy makers and for members of the public.
Derogation concerning Greece, Spain and Portugal: Members stated that derogation references to the survey reference year 2020 shall be read as the survey reference year 2019 in relation to Greece, Spain and Portugal.
Farm safety: Members emphasised the need for accurate information on the causes of farm accidents and the extent of risk taking on farms in order to implement policies to tackle this issue which have a very high social and economic cost.
Revision: Members stressed that the economic aspects of the Regulation should be reviewed for the period post-2020 taking into account the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and other relevant changes to Union instruments. Based on that review the Commission should propose relevant changes to this Regulation.