The Commission presents a report on the functioning of Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on permanent crops. Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 covers two structural data collections on permanent crops:

orchard data collection on apple, pear, peach, nectarine, orange, lemon, small citrus fruit and olive trees and vines for table grapes; and vineyard data collection on vineyards producing grapes for wine, raisins and dual purpose grapes.

Three data collections have been organised: two on orchards (2012 and 2017) and one on vineyards (2015).

Main findings

The report states that Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 has not worked as was planned when it was adopted. This is due to the data content and the cross-tabulation of data being too detailed. These factors contributed to the heavy burden on respondents and high data collection costs, resulting in confidential data. The user needs also changed over the years and currently the Commission requires fewer details

With regard to orchard data collection, the Commission found two consequences from having the data variables (species group, colour of fruit, time of harvest, age, density) cross-tabled against each other: (i) Member States have to use very high sampling rates; (ii) the detailed breakdown of the data leads to costly and time consuming data collections. The average cost of the orchard data collection (per reference year) is approximately EUR 220 000 per country, ranging from EUR 2 500 to EUR 900 000. The labour input in statistical authorities ranges from 0.1 full time equivalent (FTE) to 6.2 FTE. There is also a very heavy burden on respondents due to very large samples and long questionnaires requiring a lot of area measurements.

The large investment made at national level for collecting very detailed information unfortunately does not bring the full benefit to the data users as some of the collected data cannot be released due to statistical confidentiality.

With regard to vineyard data, the obligatory link between the vineyard register set up in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 , and the vineyard data collection under the Regulation poses problems in several Member States as the register is not always up to date and it does not contain all the variables listed in the Regulation.

User needs have also changed over the past decade, and the Commission needs fewer details. The following variables are no longer needed: (i) species groups for apples and pears; (ii) colour of fruit for peaches, nectarines and table grapes; and (iii) the time of harvest for peaches, nectarines, apricots, oranges and small citrus fruits. In addition, there is no longer a need to cross-tabulate certain variables.

New Framework Regulation on Integrated Farm Statistics (IFS)

The structural data collections on orchards and vineyards will take place under the orchard and vineyards modules of Regulation 2018/1091 (IFS Regulation) adopted in July 2018. Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 has been repealed with effect from 1 January 2022. The IFS Regulation also covers the farm structure survey currently covered by the Regulation on farm surveys , the statistics on the structure of orchards and vineyards under Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 and some agri-environmental indicators.

The orchard data collection under the IFS orchard module will take place in 2023.

The collection of vineyard data under the IFS Regulation will take place in 2026. The 2020 vineyard data collection will still take place under Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 to allow enough time to align the statistical holding register with the vineyard register, which is necessary under the IFS Regulation.

The new legal basis for the structural data on orchards and vineyards will better meet user needs and it is expected to reduce the burden on respondents. The orchard and vineyard module data under the IFS Regulation will allow the holdings cultivating fruit trees and vines to be thoroughly analysed. This is thanks to ample possibilities offered by the delivery of micro data, which will allow the structure of the orchards and vineyards to be linked with the full structural 7 data of the farms. Therefore, this will strengthen the evidence base used for taking decisions affecting the sector.

PURPOSE: to update the common framework for the systematic production of permanent crop statistics.

LEGISLATIVE ACT : Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on permanent crops and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 357/79 and Directive 2001/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

CONTENT: following an agreement at first reading with the European Parliament, the Council adopted this Regulation concerning European statistics on permanent crops.

The aim of the Regulation is to update and simplify the legal framework for European statistics on permanent crops (vines and fruits). Since Regulation (EEC) 357/79 on vines and Directive 2001/109/EC on fruit trees came into force, both production conditions and the market situation have undergone significant changes.

The new Regulation:

· simplifies the breakdown of production and regions and takes into account recent changes in the categories of wines ;

· significantly adapts the permanent crop statistics by cancelling the annual statistics on changes to plantations and the detailed breakdown on wine production ;

· simplifies the variables and concepts involved;

· responds to changes in user need e.g for data on olive plantations;

· updates the transmission deadlines for data.

The main points are as follows:

List of permanent crops : the Regulation establishes a common framework for the systematic production of European statistics on the following permanent crops: (i) dessert apple trees; (ii) apple trees for industrial processing (optional); (iii) dessert pear trees; (iv) pear trees for industrial processing (optional); (v) apricot trees; (vi) dessert peach trees; (vii) peach trees for industrial processing (optional); (viii) orange trees; (ix) small citrus fruit trees (optional); (x) lemon trees; (xi) olive trees; (xii) vines intended for the production of table grapes; (xiii) vines intended for other purposes.

Coverage: statistics to be provided on permanent crops shall be representative of at least 95 % of the total planted area producing entirely or mainly for the market of each permanent crop referred to in each Member State. However, Member States may exclude holdings below a threshold of 0.2 ha of each permanent crop producing entirely or mainly for the market in each Member State. If the area covered by such holdings is less than 5% of the total planted area of the individual crop, Member States may increase that threshold provided that this does not lead to the exclusion of more than an additional 5 % of the total planted area of the individual crop.

Data production : save where the option referred to above has been exercised, only Member States with a minimum planted area of 1000 ha of each individual crop shall produce, during 2012 and every five years thereafter, the data referred to in Annex I.

Member States with a minimum planted area of 500 ha of vines for other purposes shall produce, during 2015 and every five years thereafter, the data referred to in Annex II.

Precision requirements : Member States conducting sample surveys in order to obtain statistics on permanent crops shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the coefficient of variation of the data shall not exceed, at national level, 3 % for the planted area for each crop.

Regional statistics : data with regard to statistics on permanent crops referred to above save vines for other purposes and further specified in Annex I to this Regulation, shall be broken down by NUTS 1 territorial units, save where a less detailed breakdown is specified in the Regulation. Data with regard to vines for other purposes shall be broken down by NUTS 2 territorial units.

Transmission to the Commission : the data set out in Annexes I and II must be transmitted by 30 September of the year following the reference period.

Derogation : where the application of the Regulation to the national statistical system of a Member State requires major adaptations and is likely to cause significant practical problems with regard to the permanent, the Commission may adopt implementing acts granting a derogation from its application to that Member State until 31 December 2012. Those Member States benefiting from a derogation shall continue to apply Directive 2001/109/EC.

Review: the Commission will review the functioning of the Regulation by 31 December 2018 and every five years thereafter, and shall also assess whether it is necessary to produce all the data referred to in the text. Where the Commission considers that some of those data are no longer required, it shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts that delete certain data from Annexes I and II.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 31/12/2011.

APPLICATION: 01/01/2012.

DELEGATED ACTS: the power to adopt the delegated acts is conferred on the Commission

for a period of 5 years from 31 December 2011 (tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than 3 months before the end of each period.) The delegation of power may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A delegated act shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of 2 months of notification of that act (extended by 2 months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.)

The European Parliament adopted by 610 votes to 15, with 9 abstentions, a resolution in the first reading of the ordinary legislative procedure and amended the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on permanent crops.

The amendments are the result of a compromise agreement between Parliament and Council. The main amendments to the Commission proposal are as follows:

List of permanent crops : the Regulation establishes a common framework for the systematic production of European statistics on the following permanent crops: (i) dessert apple trees; (ii) apple trees for industrial processing (optional); (iii) dessert pear trees ; (iv) pear trees for industrial processing (optional) ; (v) apricot trees; (vi) dessert peach trees; (vii) peach trees for industrial processing (optional); (viii) orange trees; (ix) small citrus fruit trees (optional); (x) lemon trees; (xi) olive trees; (xii) vines intended for the production of table grapes; (xiii) vines intended for other purposes.

Coverage : Member States may exclude holdings below a threshold of 0.2 ha of each permanent crop producing entirely or mainly for the market in each Member State. If the area covered by such holdings is less than 5% of the total planted area of the individual crop, Member States may increase that threshold provided that this does not lead to the exclusion of more than an additional 5 % of the total planted area of the individual crop.

Data production : save where the option referred to above has been exercised, only Member States with a minimum planted area of 1000 ha of each individual crop shall produce, during 2012 and every five years thereafter, the data referred to in the text.

Member States with a minimum planted area of 500 ha of vines for other purposes shall produce, during 2015 and every five years thereafter, the data referred to in Annex II.

Delegated acts : in order to take into account economic and technical developments, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts concerning the amendment of: (a) the breakdowns of species by groups, density classes and age classes set out in Annex I, and (b) the variables/characteristics, size classes, degree of specialisation and vine varieties set out in Annex II, except in respect of the optional nature of the required information

In exercising this power, the Commission must ensure that the delegated acts do not impose a significant additional administrative burden on the Member States and on the respondents.

Regional statistics : data with regard to statistics on permanent crops referred to above save vines for other purposes and further specified in Annex I to this Regulation, shall be broken down by NUTS 1 territorial units, save where a less detailed breakdown is specified in the Regulation. Data with regard to vines for other purposes shall be broken down by NUTS 2 territorial units.

Derogation : where the application of the Regulation to the national statistical system of a Member State requires major adaptations and is likely to cause significant practical problems with regard to the permanent, the Commission may adopt implementing acts granting a derogation from its application to that Member State until 31 December 2012. Those Member States benefiting from a derogation shall continue to apply Directive 2001/109/EC.

Review : the Commission will review the functioning of the Regulation by 31 December 2018 and every five years thereafter, and shall also assess whether it is necessary to produce all the data referred to in the text. Where the Commission considers that some of those data are no longer required, it shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts that delete certain data from Annexes I and II.

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development adopted the report drafted by Mariya NEDELCHEVA (EPP, BG) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning European statistics on permanent crops.

It recommends that the European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading, under the ordinary legislative procedure, amends the Commission proposal as follows:

List of permanent crops : Members consider that the list of permanent crops to which this Regulation applies constitutes an essential element (scope), which should be defined in the articles of the legislative act and should not be subject to amendment by delegated acts.

Coverage : with a view to reducing the administrative burden placed on small holdings, Members propose to amend the precision requirements, to exclude all small holdings of less than 0.2 hectares from the scope of the provisions and no longer requiring a breakdown by NUTS 3 region to be given for certain data on vines for purposes other than for the production of table grapes. The statistics on areas under vines should be compiled solely on the basis of the data available in the vineyard register.

Reference year : the report states that the statistics provided shall refer to the planted area after the usual planting period.

Transmission to the Commission : the existing deadlines for the transmission of data have been proved satisfactory in practice. However, the Commission proposed to bring this date to 31 July 2013 following the reference year, Members suggest retaining 31 September 2013 in the new Regulation.

By 30 September 2016, and every five years thereafter, Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with reports on the quality of the data transmitted and the methods used for the statistics on the crops.

Delegated acts : Members propose a series of amendments relating to delegated acts. The objectives, content, scope and duration of the delegation of power pursuant to Article 290 TFEU must be explicitly and meticulously defined in each basic act. The wording used is based on the Common Understanding agreed by the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission and approved by the Conference of Committee Chairs at its meeting of 15 February 2011.

PURPOSE: to update the common framework for the systematic production of permanent crop statistics.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

LEGAL BASE: Article 338(1) on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

BACKGROUND: Council Regulation (EEC) No 357/79 on statistical surveys of areas under vines and Directive 2001/109/EC concerning the statistical surveys to be carried out by Member States in order to determine the production potential of plantations of certain species of fruit trees provided for the establishment of an information system on the most important permanent crops statistics at European level. These legal acts have helped create national systems for collecting data on the production potential of these crops, from a business perspective and as regards structural characteristics of the production units. However, both users and producers of the data have underlined the need for an update. On the one hand, changes in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and market situation of these products since the existing legislation entered into force have created new or different user needs in terms of variables and breakdowns and more timely data. On the other hand, there is still scope for improving the comparability and completeness of the framework by doing more to harmonise the variables and concepts and to allow Member States more freedom to choose the methods and sources they use, including administrative sources, to collect the basic data needed to produce such statistics.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the following options were examined:

Option 1 (baseline option, i.e. no new EU). If the EU were to take no new action, the comparability and harmonisation of permanent crop statistics across Europe would be weakened and, in a setting where the share of permanent crops is predominant in a big part of EU regions, the opportunities to make efficient use of statistics compiled by partner countries on the basis of common concepts and reporting formats would not be fully exploited. Where permanent crop statistics from official sources are not harmonised or not available, or are only partially available because they are provided voluntarily, other sources must be used (stakeholders and traders' organisations). As a result, the quality of the data might suffer and this might have an adverse impact on policymaking. Option 2 (EU involvement as proposed). The proposed framework for European statistics makes the data more comparable and thus more relevant for users at both European and national level. Additionally, the use of common concepts and reporting formats can help to make the collection and use of permanent crop statistics more efficient.

CONTENT: the aim of this proposal is to update, simplify and optimise the existing legal framework for European statistics on permanent crops replacing the existing two legal acts mentioned above by a single one. The proposal revises some variables, greatly simplifying the breakdown of production and regions, and takes into account recent changes in the categories of wines . From a supply side perspective, the proposal responds to changes in user needs, e.g. for data on olive plantations. It also updates the data transmission deadlines .

The proposal further simplifies the variables and concepts and significantly adapts the permanent crop statistics to actual user needs by cancelling the annual statistics on changes on plantations and very detailed breakdown of wine production. Due account is taken also of the necessary trade-off between user needs and the burden on respondents and national statistical institutes. New variables or breakdowns are offset by some requirements under the existing legislation being dropped. The level of additional requirements, especially information from businesses, is intended to lower the overall burden. As regards the information to be collected from respondents, the burden is lowered by introducing thresholds at farm and territorial level that are expected to entail smaller samples.

Simplification : the proposal provides for simplification of administrative procedures for public authorities (EU or national) and for private parties. The reduced breakdown of supply-side data by regions, varieties, density classes, age classes and the withdrawal of production classes, the possibility of limiting the scope in terms of the size of the farms producing permanent crops and the withdrawal of transmission of annual data for changes in the vineyard area for wine will simplify the work of EU and national administrations.

The possibility of limiting the scope of data collection in regard to permanent crops will reduce the burden on respondents, especially micro-enterprises. Giving Member States the freedom to produce the necessary figures by using a combination of sources (surveys, but also administrative data or estimation procedures) is intended to lighten the burden on respondents – enterprises and households alike.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: the proposal has no implications for the budget of the European Union.

PURPOSE: to update the common framework for the systematic production of permanent crop statistics.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

LEGAL BASE: Article 338(1) on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

BACKGROUND: Council Regulation (EEC) No 357/79 on statistical surveys of areas under vines and Directive 2001/109/EC concerning the statistical surveys to be carried out by Member States in order to determine the production potential of plantations of certain species of fruit trees provided for the establishment of an information system on the most important permanent crops statistics at European level. These legal acts have helped create national systems for collecting data on the production potential of these crops, from a business perspective and as regards structural characteristics of the production units. However, both users and producers of the data have underlined the need for an update. On the one hand, changes in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and market situation of these products since the existing legislation entered into force have created new or different user needs in terms of variables and breakdowns and more timely data. On the other hand, there is still scope for improving the comparability and completeness of the framework by doing more to harmonise the variables and concepts and to allow Member States more freedom to choose the methods and sources they use, including administrative sources, to collect the basic data needed to produce such statistics.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: the following options were examined:

Option 1 (baseline option, i.e. no new EU). If the EU were to take no new action, the comparability and harmonisation of permanent crop statistics across Europe would be weakened and, in a setting where the share of permanent crops is predominant in a big part of EU regions, the opportunities to make efficient use of statistics compiled by partner countries on the basis of common concepts and reporting formats would not be fully exploited. Where permanent crop statistics from official sources are not harmonised or not available, or are only partially available because they are provided voluntarily, other sources must be used (stakeholders and traders' organisations). As a result, the quality of the data might suffer and this might have an adverse impact on policymaking. Option 2 (EU involvement as proposed). The proposed framework for European statistics makes the data more comparable and thus more relevant for users at both European and national level. Additionally, the use of common concepts and reporting formats can help to make the collection and use of permanent crop statistics more efficient.

CONTENT: the aim of this proposal is to update, simplify and optimise the existing legal framework for European statistics on permanent crops replacing the existing two legal acts mentioned above by a single one. The proposal revises some variables, greatly simplifying the breakdown of production and regions, and takes into account recent changes in the categories of wines . From a supply side perspective, the proposal responds to changes in user needs, e.g. for data on olive plantations. It also updates the data transmission deadlines .

The proposal further simplifies the variables and concepts and significantly adapts the permanent crop statistics to actual user needs by cancelling the annual statistics on changes on plantations and very detailed breakdown of wine production. Due account is taken also of the necessary trade-off between user needs and the burden on respondents and national statistical institutes. New variables or breakdowns are offset by some requirements under the existing legislation being dropped. The level of additional requirements, especially information from businesses, is intended to lower the overall burden. As regards the information to be collected from respondents, the burden is lowered by introducing thresholds at farm and territorial level that are expected to entail smaller samples.

Simplification : the proposal provides for simplification of administrative procedures for public authorities (EU or national) and for private parties. The reduced breakdown of supply-side data by regions, varieties, density classes, age classes and the withdrawal of production classes, the possibility of limiting the scope in terms of the size of the farms producing permanent crops and the withdrawal of transmission of annual data for changes in the vineyard area for wine will simplify the work of EU and national administrations.

The possibility of limiting the scope of data collection in regard to permanent crops will reduce the burden on respondents, especially micro-enterprises. Giving Member States the freedom to produce the necessary figures by using a combination of sources (surveys, but also administrative data or estimation procedures) is intended to lighten the burden on respondents – enterprises and households alike.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: the proposal has no implications for the budget of the European Union.