Scope:

Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008 (Farm structure surveys, including the agricultural census)

Regulation (EC) No 1165/2008 (Livestock statistics)

Regulation (EC) No 617/2008 (Poultry statistics)

Regulation (EC) No 543/2009 (Annual crop statistics - including supply balance sheets)

Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011 (Permanent crop statistics - Statistics on orchards and vineyards )

Decision 97/80/EC (Milk statistics)

Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 (Economic Accounts for Agriculture)

Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 (Pesticide statistics)

Evaluation Findings:

An evaluation of the present European Agricultural Statistics System (EASS) was carried out as described in SWD (2017) 96.

The main evaluation findings are the following:

• The current agricultural statistics legislation does not adequately serve new and emerging data needs because their provision is not included in the legislative acts, and the acts are not flexible and integrated enough to answer to new needs in a timely manner.

• The quality of the agricultural statistics is "fit for purpose" for most of the requirements of the users, thanks to the quality management approach put in place overall in the European Statistical System.

• The EASS is not flexible enough and is not reacting sufficiently quickly to emerging needs, partly due to the inherent functioning of statistics, partly due to the way the regulations have been set up, but as well 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 partly different definitions and concepts in different agricultural areas. Agricultural, forestry, land use and environmental statistics are not sufficiently coherent because it has not been possible to properly integrate agricultural statistics with forestry, land use and environmental statistics, partly due to the different aims of the domains.

• The statistics could be produced more efficiently if the legislation is adapted so that various sources of information can be used and if Member States adapt to modern technology, but the burden and cost are appropriate considering the substantial budget of the EU Common Agricultural Policy and its impact on the economic situation in agriculture, including on the individual farms as well as the need for data to monitor, evaluate and plan the Common Agricultural Policy and the potential impact of agriculture on the environment.

However, the burden of providing data is perceived as high because data needs are increasing, data collection is not harmonised, and resources continue to shrink at EU and national level.

Estimated savings and benefits

The evaluation did not monetise or quantify the estimated benefits as it evaluated the agricultural statistics system, not possible strategies for improving the situation.

However, the total costs for Member States for carrying out farm structure surveys (FSS) are estimated by the Member States and Eurostat to have been (in million Euro):

• 318.990 for the FSS 2010 (census)

• 46.780 for the FSS 2013 (sample survey)

• 44.280 for the FSS 2016 (sample survey)

Eurostat has no information on the costs of the other agricultural data collections, as there are no reporting requirements and no co-funding involved.

Which objective(s) did the Commission pursue?

The proposals aim at increasing the availability of quality data needed for agricultural, environmental and climate change policies while simplifying the statistical system and keeping the burden moderate.

The current basic acts in the field of agricultural statistics for collecting various structural and production data will be repealed (Council Directive 96/16/EC, Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, Regulation (EC) No 1165/2008, Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008, Regulation (EC) No 543/2009, Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009, and Regulation (EU) No 1337/2011).

As the current Farm Structure Survey Regulation became obsolete in 2018 and as it was crucial that an agricultural census be organised in 2020, the Commission proposed a two-phased approach with the objective of integrating the existing basic acts and new statistical data needs under two framework regulations and related delegated/implemented acts so the first of those could enter into force before 2020. The aim was to:

• permit collection of existing and new data requested by users for new needs by having all data collection covered by legislation;

• increase the efficiency of the statistical system and the quality of collected data by keeping the burden on respondents and national statistical institutes moderate;

• increase the coherence and comparability of agricultural statistics by ensuring that common essential elements such as scope, precision and quality requirements are the same.

Estimated savings and benefits

The main direct costs for stakeholders relate to the adaptation to new statistical, organisational and technical systems. In the mid to long term, these costs and burdens are expected to pay for themselves by establishing a slightly lower burden, and more effective and efficient data production leading to cost savings by having to collect data from almost a fifth fewer farms for the integrated farm statistics regulation. This is estimated to represent about 18% savings in agricultural census years (or 56 million of 320 million Euro total costs, if applied to the year 2010), and comparative proportions for sample data collection years. Short-term adaptation costs are estimated at around 8% of total costs.

Outcome of legislative procedure

The final text of the integrated farm statistics Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 remained mainly as proposed by the Commission. The main modifications affecting REFIT aspects related to the posssibility for the Commission to suggest changes to the contents of statistics. All suggestions must be justified in great detail and cannot exceed certain thresholds, neither in the number of detailed topics nor in variables. In addition, the possibility for the Commission to suggest ad-hoc statistics on emerging needs was reduced. The other changes were of a more technical nature.

The final text for the Statistics on Agricultural Input and Output (Regulation (EU) No 2022/2379 was changed to some extent in the legal negotiatiations. The Regulation includes more safeguards against changes via delegated and implementing acts. In addition, the possibility for the Commission to suggest ad-hoc statistics on emerging needs was reduced. Thematically the biggest change is the inclusion of a transitional regime 2025-2027 for the plant protection product use statistics.

Estimated savings and benefits

The estimated savings indicated in the Commission proposal for IFS have not been updated because the changes in the adopted Regulation did not concern the areas where the savings occur. As regards the benefits, they remain largely the same even though the flexibility has been reduced.

For the SAIO Regulation an additional cost will occur, as the data collection on plant protection product use in 2026 will be funded by the Commission. These costs have not yet been estimated.