Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Show full title

CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 Subject matter

This Regulation establishes a framework for the production of comparable Community statistics on the structure of agricultural holdings and for a survey on agricultural production methods.

Article 2 Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(a)

‘agricultural holding’ or ‘holding’ means a single unit, both technically and economically, which has a single management and which undertakes agricultural activities listed in Annex I within the economic territory of the European Union, either as its primary or secondary activity;

(b)

‘livestock unit’ means a standard measurement unit that allows the aggregation of the various categories of livestock in order to enable them to be compared. Livestock units are defined on the basis of the feed requirements of the individual animal categories, for which the coefficients shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 15(2);

(c)

‘sample surveys’ means statistical surveys based on stratified random sampling which are designed to provide representative statistics concerning agricultural holdings at regional and national levels. The stratification shall include the size and type of the agricultural holding to ensure that agricultural holdings of different sizes and types are adequately represented;

(d)

‘region’ means the NUTS 2 territorial unit defined in Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003;

(e)

‘location of the holding’ means the latitude and longitude coordinates within an arc of 5 minutes that avoid the direct identification of an individual holding. If a latitude and longitude location contains only one agricultural holding, then this holding shall be attributed to a neighbouring location, which contains at least one other agricultural holding.

Article 3 Coverage

1. The surveys specified in this Regulation shall cover:

(a) agricultural holdings where the agricultural area utilised for farming is one hectare or more;

(b) agricultural holdings where the agricultural area utilised for farming is less than one hectare, if those holdings produce a certain proportion for sale or if their production unit exceeds certain physical thresholds.

2. However, Member States which use a survey threshold above one hectare shall fix this threshold at a level that excludes only the smallest agricultural holdings which together contribute 2 % or less to the total utilised agricultural area excluding common land and 2 % or less to the total number of farm livestock units.

3. In any case, all agricultural holdings reaching one of the physical thresholds specified in Annex II shall be covered.

Article 4 Data sources

1. Member States shall use information from the Integrated Administration and Control System provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003(1), the System for the Identification and Registration of Bovine Animals provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000(2) and the organic farming registers set up pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 834/2007(3) provided this information is of at least equal quality to information obtained from statistical surveys. Member States may also use administrative sources associated with the cultivation of genetically modified crops and the specific rural development measures referred to in Annex III.

2. If a Member State decides to use an administrative source other than those specified in paragraph 1, the Member State shall inform the Commission in advance and shall provide details concerning the method to be used and the quality of the data from this administrative source.

Article 5 Precision requirements

1. Member States conducting sample surveys shall ensure that the weighted survey results are statistically representative of agricultural holdings within each region and are designed to meet the precision requirements set out in Annex IV.

2. In duly justified cases the Commission shall allow Member States exceptions to the precision requirements referred to in paragraph 1 for specific regions.

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 of 29 September 2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers (OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 1).

(2)

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 (OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1).

(3)

Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 (OJ L 189, 20.7.2007, p. 1).